Today we’re going to take a look at the fun and bright new track from Girl’s Day, Female President!
Concept
Straight off the bat, considering the title of this track is Female President, I had been hoping for a concept that was a little more fierce and empowering perhaps, rather than the fairly standard cute/sexy mix that it actually has. With a name like Female President, I had maybe thought something along the lines of Beyonce’s Who Run The World….but, well, this is Girls Day, so the concept is pretty toned down. Again, I had been expecting a pretty severe or dark colour scheme like in Who Run The World, but this MV is full of neon colours combined with monochrome. Having said that, this colour scheme definitely fits with the sound of the song better than a darker palette.
So, slight disappointment aside at the lack of fierce and powerful girls, this concept suits the band very well and matches with the sound of the song. It’s visually pleasing despite being nothing groundbreaking or unusual for kpop.
In the actual MV, there are no place-specific locations and most of the scenes consist of the girls dancing in different places. There are a few pretty provocative scenes where the girls are dancing behind screens which are lit up from behind so all you see is the girls stripping off clothes and dancing. I think if the song was a sexy track, this part of the concept might be too much, considering the revealing clothing and dancing throughout the rest of the MV, but the track is upbeat and light which brightens it all up and tones the sexiness down.
The outfits worn in this MV, again, are pretty standard for this kind of kpop concept; matching hot pants and crop tops with fringing, thigh high stockings that are paired with more hot pants so the tops of them aren’t covered, a nude coloured dress covered in a tattoo pattern. These outfits are incredibly revealing when combined with the dancing, and I said I’d move away from this but again, I might have hoped to see them power-dressed, like in some kind of suit or something to go with the title of the track. It would have been interesting to see perhaps an emulation and homage to the women already in power in the choice of outfits instead of wearing very short shorts, high-heels and crop tops. Saying that though, for some women, wearing that kind of clothing is very empowering, so who am I to say otherwise?
All around, this isn’t a bad concept, and I can see it holding a fairly mass appeal to people in the UK, but perhaps it would suit better if the song had a different title?
UK Potential: 3.5/5
Choreography
Aside from the proper MV, there is also a dance version of this MV which I completely recommend watching as there are a lot of cool dance moves in that version which aren’t shown in the full MV!
Most noticeably, during the chorus this choreography contains a fair amount of, well, ass-shaking. Again, it could look a little uncomfortable and seem like too much if the song wasn’t as upbeat as it is, but the fun sound of the song takes the sexy edge off of this dance move. I was also happy to see a part where they salute, which was finally something that seemed to fit with the title.
The choreography isn’t particularly intricate or difficult, but it still looks pretty cool and quite energetic. The good thing about that is that the moves would be easily emulated, and I can imagine that the memorable butt-shaking would be copied a lot.
A notable part of the choreography for me was part of the beginning of the dance where only half of the members were dancing at one time. I’m a big fan of when bands are split up into units or smaller groups during dance routines as it’s always visually interesting, so I adored that part of this dance.
UK Potential: 3/5
Song
Female President is an upbeat pop-dance track with a cool mix of singing and a sort of rapping. There seems to be no English spoken in this song at all, apart from ‘come on, like this’, which is refreshing, but might put off a few people if this song were to be released in the UK as people would find it difficult to sing along.
The song is pretty much about girls making the first move on guys that they like, and stating that it’s not something that should be looked down on, because, well, South Korea has a female president, so what is there that girls can’t do now? The song is more about being able to confess more freely than anything to do with women in positions of power, but it is quite an empowering and uplifting message nonetheless.
I think that despite the lack of English in this song, the infectious beat and fun sound of the song would appeal to a lot of people in the UK as it’s the kind of song that just makes you want to move, so no understanding of what’s being said is strictly necessary.
UK Potential: 3.5/5
Highlight: – The girls standing on the podiums as if they’re giving speeches looks awesome!
Overall UK Potential: 10/15 – I am a big fan of Girl’s Day, and I’m pretty excited that most everything about this MV from the bright concept, the unusual dance and overall upbeat sound could stand a good chance of appealing to a UK audience. I don’t think the lack of English would really be a huge problem seeing as the song is just so catchy and infectious; I think it’s the kind of song you listen to once, and then just want to listen to it on repeat.
What do you guys think of this song? Do you agree with what I’ve said? Let us know! And if you haven’t seen the MV yet, make sure to check it out below!
