No matter where you go in the world, the pop scene is full of uncertainties. Your success can be reliant on other people, your image, an event, promotion... there are so many factors it would be difficult to list them all. The way to be successful would logically be to try and avoid all risks and stick to what you know. Play it safe.
How about this for a formula? You take one of the singers from a girl group (who are arguably best known for their ballads) and put them on their own for the first time with a song everyone knows by a much more successful artist (which was only released two years previously) and give her a raunchier image at the risk of alienating her fans. Sound like a recipe for disaster? It was a risk former Sugar member Ayumi was willing to take when she debuted with Cutie Honey a cover of song made famous by Japanese singer Koda Kumi (but originally sung by Yoko Maewaka).
The song starts as a mix of genres, the bass sounds somewhat jazz while the beat over the top seems to clash with it. It works though. Being familiar with the song in its original Japanese, it's strange hearing it for the first time in Korean. The lyrics seem less hitting due to, well, the way Korean sounds. The song is broken up fairly evenly, after a verse and chorus the song returns to the style of the intro then repeats the formula. Around half way through the song has a sort of instrumental, with Ayumi's soft and cute vocals being fed through a synthesizer over the top. Then the song returns to the way it started towards the end.
While the song is enjoyable, it seems that there is something lacking and it's hard to place what that is. Having said that, the song is enjoyable on face value, which is surely what most pop songs are aiming for.
