We are finally at the end of the road.  Usually I would have a good guess on who would win, but this season it could have either gone to Bernard Park or Sam Kim.

In this post, I’ll do a super short recap and then I’ll give you guys my final comments and opinions on the whole season.

The judges met together to decide on a “mission” for Sam and Bernard for the finale.  Really these “missions” were just suggestions on what they could do to have the best performance.  I couldn’t understand what they wanted from Sam, but for Bernard they wanted him to find and sing a Korean song that would suit his tone.

Round 1: Judges Mission

Sam Kim- “Lies” by Big Bang

I thought that his performance okay.  Maybe I expected too much because “Lies” is one my all time favorite songs.  It’s that song that started Big Bang’s career and it’s a hard song to cover.  But the guitar that he borrowed though, I don’t know much about guitars but it made the song sound a lot better.

Bernard Park- “사랑하기 때문에” by Yoo Jae Ha

Bernard hit this one out of the park!  The only problem with the Korean songs he picked before was that his Korean sounded super awkward.  You could tell that he worked really hard and it paid off, he sounded so natural when he sang this song.  Plus, this is one of my favorite songs too.

Round 2: Own Choice

Sam Kim- “Englishman in New York” by Sting

Sam, Sam, Sammie boy.  What can you not do?  All the judges were surprised that he even knew this song.  Sam looked a lot more comfortable performing this song.  JYP noted that Sam’s situation in Korea was similar to Sting’s when he lived in New York.  It made the performance a lot more natural and groovy.

Bernard Park- “I Believe I Can Fly” by R.Kelly

I guess Bernard just has that tone where he just sounds sad.  I’m not saying that this performance was bad or anything.  It was good (minus all the tacky CG in the background).  For some reason, it sounded sad.  Not depressing, just sad.  This song is supposed to be uplifting, but I guess it’s the tone in his voice that makes it sound sad.

After all the performances, the winner of K-Pop Star 3 is Bernard Park!  Congrats man, congrats!  A new thing this season is that the winner had to pick the entertainment company they wished to sign with.  At first I was like, what?  Shouldn’t he pick based on like contract conditions and stuff?  But then I saw all the judges trying to court him and looking all flustered.  It was great from an entertainment standpoint.

Anyways, in the end he stayed loyal and decided to sign with JYP.  Even after YG tried to make him sign with him after mentioning that AKMU did top the charts with their new album and singles.

Extra Performances:

JYP Special Stage

YHY Special Stage

Special Appearance by BoA

Comeback Stage- 15& “Can’t Hide”

Final Comments

When I first started this season, truthfully I wasn’t that excited.  There weren’t a lot of standouts in my opinion and a lot of favorites didn’t make it.

I didn’t think that Sam and Bernard would make it this far.  Towards the end of the season, everybody’s performances were great.  Literally, they were so close to perfection.

As usual, the k-pop world delivers and I’m always excited to see what’s coming next!

I hope you enjoyed this season of K-pop Star.  Don’t forget to share our posts and follow on Twitter @QT_KPOP.

Thanks, Q.