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Canadian pop-rock singer Avril Lavigne has been staying in Japan since January 23rd to promote her latest single “What The Hell”, and she got to meet up with one of the nation’s top idols!
AKB48 member and solo artist Itano Tomomi arrived at Tokyo’s Tower Records to meet the famous star. Through a translator, Itano confessed that she’s been listening to Avril Lavigne’s music since her middle school days, and that she feels nervous about being the only solo artist to debut from AKB48. The two celebrities also traded copies of their latest singles.
This annual program is known for delivering hilarious and astounding stages with Korea’s hottest idols and stars. The show’s lineup has recently been revealed, with the dance battle will being divided into its two usual teams: the Blue Team (led by Park Hwisoon) and the White Team (led by Kim Shinyoung).
Check out the lineup below!
–
***[LEFT: Blue Team || RIGHT: White Team]***
Round 1:Park Hwisoon & Nam Changhee (‘High High’) vs. Lee Sungbae & Hwang Jaesung (‘Single Ladies’)
Round 2:Miss A vs.4minute
Round 3:Soohyun & Jang Youngran(‘I Need A Girl’) vs. Kim Kyungjin (‘Yayaya’)
Round 4: Hong Jinyoung (‘Sonata of Seduction’) vs. Yoo Chaeyoung(‘Good Day’)
Round 5: Jewelry (‘Funny’ + Wacking [type of dance]) vs.Teen Top (Trot medley)
Round 6:Dal Shabet (‘U-Go-Girl’ & ‘Brand New’ ) vs. Han Groo (‘Diva medley’)
Round 7: ZE:A(performance + ‘Mackerel’ by Kwanghee) vs. INFINITE (‘Baby’ + ‘Like a G6’)
Round 8: SISTAR vs. Rainbow(‘Buttons’)
Round 9:MBLAQ (‘Hip Song’ + ‘Michael Jackson tribute’) vs. Park Jungmin (in process)
Round 10:T-ara (in process) vs. After School(‘London Boys’)
–
You can tell just from this initial lineup that 2011’s show will be amazing!
Earlier, it was reported that 2PM’s Nichkhun headed overseas to appear in Wilber Pan’s music video. Additional details of their hot collaboration were recently unveiled!
The two recorded the music video for “Drive” from Wilber Pan’s eighth album, “808.” Although the album was just released, ”808″ is already dominating eight major charts in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
The music video was shot at a studio late at night due to 2PM’s busy schedule, but despite the long hours, Nichkhun and Wilber Pan were said to have had a lot of fun filming for it.
Nichkhun commented, “It was a fun and exciting experience, and I’m looking forward to the music video. I hope you all look forward to it with me.”
The music video is scheduled for release online on January 31st.
2AM’s eliminated member, eiki, made his debut on the January 27th episode of “M! Countdown” where he showcased his powerful yet sweet voice through his song, “While I Cry“.
As soon as he released his album, high levels of interest allowed him to rank at #1 for the ‘most searched’ on various internet sites. The ballad artist revealed in a prior interview that he was preparing to join 2AM, but was dropped in favor of Lee Chang Min. Reportedly, Park Jin Young believed that Chang Min’s vocals would fit better with 2AM’s.
The music video for “While I Cry” consists of clips from the upcoming drama “Superstar: Black City“. This work is gaining a lot of interest because SS501’s Kim Hyung Jun, Son Ho Young, and Bae Seul Gi were spotted in the video.
Check out his MV and “M. Countdown” performance below!
On this week’s episode of Strong Heart, 2AM’s very own Jo Kwon and SS501’s Park Jung Min had a kkab dance battle.
Jo Kwon revealed pictures of his top three best moments of kkab and proved to the audience why he is called “Kkab-kwon”. He showed off his “three levels of kkab dance”, ending it with his trademark vibration dance. After watching Jo Kwon dance, the MCs stated that Park Jung Min had also shown off his kkab dance on an earlier episode and he began to show off his “sexy kkab” by performing a series of waves and pelvic thrusts, causing the audience to erupt in squeals and screams.
Afterwards, the two had a couple kkab dance, making the fellow celebrity guest members explode into laughter and amazement. It was during the couple dance that Park Jung Min revealed his trump card: his butt dance, but his effort proved to be futile as Jo Kwon’s kkab ferocity overpowered Park Jung Min.
As Jo Kwon was crowned the winner, Park Jung Min stated that “while we were dancing, we made eye contact and I could tell that he had the eyes of a kkab god!”, drawing laughter from the studio.
Japan’s legendary rock band, X JAPAN,has signed a contract with American label EMI Music and they’re preparing to release their first single, “Jade“.
EMI Music’s director said, “It’s an honor to have X JAPAN with our EMI Label/Caroline family. I think this is perfect timing, following the success of their North American tour last fall.”
The executive VP of EMI Music Services North America, Dominique Pandiscia, commented, “We can’t contain our excitement over working with X JAPAN.”
While the single will be released here in North America, negotiations for international sales (including Japan) are still in session. Before the year ends, the band plans on releasing a new album and completing another tour.
And for those who have satellite radio, leader YOSHIKI will have his own regular radio program on Sirius XM Radio called, “YOSHIKI RADIO“. The program will air once a month for one hour.
Girl group After School will be advancing to Japan in March.
On January 27th, Pledis revealed to Money Today that, “After School has signed a contract with Japan’s best record label and will start activities in Japan at the end of March. We are planning on creating a new Japanese song or using After School’s current albums. After School will focus on promoting both in Korea and Japan.”
The Korean music industry representatives believe that because of the disagreement between KARA and DSP Media, Korean artists are having a hard time advancing overseas.
In reply to this, Pledis answered, “It is true that because of the Dong Bang Shin Ki and KARA issue, there have been a lot of unpleasant rumors about the Korean Wave. After School will do their best so that overseas fans will get the correct image of the Korean Wave.”
Currently, After School members are studying hard to learn Japanese. Along with their advancement to Japan, After School is planning on restarting their activities in Korea at the same time, thus creating a tight schedule for members to participate in both Japanese and Korean activities.
On the other hand, last January, After School won the “K-pop New Artist of the Year” award at the Billboard Japan Music Awards. Because of their slim S-line body and powerful performances, After School is receiving a lot of interest from their Japanese fans.
KARA’s agency, DSP Media, and the representatives for three of the group’s members (Kang Jiyoung, Jung Nicole, Han Seungyeon) met for a second round of negotiation talks regarding the existing schedule and group members.
In a news item released on January 27th, it was revealed that as a result of the second talks, KARA will remain as a five-member group and will work together to continue their scheduled activities.
DSP Media representatives said, “The reached agreement for the five members to work together was in order to not cause problems for the scheduled activities.” Adding on, “In a restaurant in Gangnam, Seoul, the CEO of DSP and the parents of Kang Jiyoung, Jung Nicole, and Han Seungyeon met for the first time since the dispute occurred and talked for 8 hours. Because no negotiations were reached in the last meeting on the 25th between the legal representatives, this meeting was initiated.”
DSP Media continued, “At this meeting, the parents of the three members who were leaving the agency and the DSP Media CEO tried to agree on their demands. Thus, the urgent issue of the existing scheduled activities was resolved.”
Furthermore, DSP Media added, “The results of the issues discussed and plans of future meetings were not determined.”
Singer BoA’s new and unique hair style is becoming a hot issue among netizens.
On January 28th, BoA tweeted, “SM Town in Tokyo… On the second day, I tried changing my hair style! I’ve been told my bangs look like a cinnamon roll,” and posted a photo to accompany her words.
In the photo, BoA is seen wearing luxurious eye makeup and sporting a unique hairdo, seemingly getting ready to go onstage.
Netizens left positive comments such as, “Nothing less from BoA, this hair style looks good too,” “BoA can join the honey skin club!” and “Her selca looks like a photo shoot.”
In another round of odd polls, Rain has been chosen as the star who seems most likely to “make it rain” for New Year’s.
In a recent poll at monkey3, he was picked first place with 1,122 out of 1,725 votes, getting 65%. The general consensus seems to be that because Rain is known to love children so much, he would probably give kids more New Year’s money than usual.
Comedian Yoo Jae Suk came in 2nd with 21% of the votes, while Kang Ho Dong and Bae Yong Joon tied at 3rd with 6%.
The 16th episode of KBS 2TV’s “Dream High” will mark the completion of the series, and there are no plans for any special extensions.
A representative of KBS spoke with Star News on January 27th and revealed, “‘Dream High” was originally scheduled to complete its series on February 22nd, but because of the Asian Cup on January 25th, the ending has been pushed back to February 28th.”
The drama is currently enjoying viewer ratings in the upper 15%, and has been ranking first in its time slot. KBS suffered lackluster viewer ratings prior to “Dream High”, which lead many to believe that they’d go ahead and push to extend the series in response to its success. Yet representatives revealed that the cast members’ individual schedules left no choice but to end the show at the 16th episode.
Representatives further stated, “KBS and the production company discussed the issue, and decided that an extension would be out of the question. Instead, we have decided to release a special broadcast on March 1st. The special will feature a concert-style broadcast, something a bit different from the other specials.” Source : AllKpop
It was revealed that on January 22nd and 23rd, KARA’s Goo Hara had gone to Kangnam Nonhyun-dong to look for a new house.
On the 26th, a real estate agent expressed, ‘Goo Hara came with one associate on the 22nd to look for a house. She called to ask questions before her visit, and I heard that she also visited other real estate agents in the area.‘
It seems the sudden decision to find a new home is because she moved out of her dorm in Haengdang-dong in early January and has no where else to stay immediately.
Singer/actor Rain is no longer computer illiterate!
On January 26th, Rain posted on his Twitter a picture of him next to the Eiffel Tower and a caption saying, “I finally hatched out of my egg. I’m a guy that can upload pictures now.”
In the picture, Rain is wearing a coat with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Rain’s face is not very visible, but he strikes a pose that attracts a lot of attention.
Rain had garnered interest for being computer illiterate by previously stating, “I had Twitter for over a year already but I still don’t know how to do anything on it.”
Upon reading his latest tweet, netizens commented, saying, “Finally you’re computer literate!”, “That’s a really good picture of yourself.”, and “Congratulations on uploading a picture!”.
Despite the controversy surrounding their team, KARA’s popularity in Japan is still riding strong.
allkpop had previously reported about how the girls were selected to be the new models for the Japanese aesthetics company, “TBC.” Japanese fans will be able to see the girls on various advertisements such as television, transportation ads, and magazines starting February 1st.
In their TV advertisement, the girls will be using the pronunciation of their own name, which means ‘because’ in Japanese, to deliver phrases such as “Because everyone can become pretty” and “Because everyone can become cool.”
Their Japanese advertisement company commented, “KARA’s healthy and shining image and outstanding promotions were what led us to choose the girls as our model. Due to issues surrounding KARA’s future, they’ve been receiving widespread attention in Japan, and we felt that this was the appropriate timing to start this campaign.”
They continued, “Not only Korea, but Japan is very worried about KARA’s future as well. We have decided to add another segment to their campaign in support of the group.”
AKB48 member Akimoto Sayaka will be challenging the “Tokyo Marathon 2011“, which will be held on February 27th. Although she has tried the half marathon two years ago, this will be the first time she has challenged the full marathon of just over 42 km.
Akimoto confessed that she is weak on long-distance running, despite being quite athletic. According to Akimoto, the biggest reason why she would challenge the full marathon is related to the scandal which was reported back in October 2010. Because of the scandal, Akimoto resigned as the captain of Team K. ”Since I made my fellows and fans, who have been supporting me, worried last year, I wanted to show them a person that can re-start for 2011“, Akimoto expressed.
She also said, “I also want to meet ‘my new self’ who challenges hard tasks without running from them, but rather overcomes them.”
She is currently training with Ozaki Akemi, who was the winner of “Athens Classic Marathon” in 2009.
Other than Akimoto, there will be other celebrities who are challenging the “Tokyo Marathon 2011″, such as Kokubun Taichi (TOKIO), Yoshizawa Hitomi, Papaya Suzuki, Ohkushi Erika, and so on, and it will be broadcasted on Fuji TV at 9:00 AM on February 27th.
Actor No Min Woo and newbie actress Seo Ju Ae have joined the cast of SBS’s upcoming Monday/Tuesday drama, “Midas.” They’ll be lining up with popular actors Jang Hyuk, Kim Hee Ae, and Lee Min Jung, who have all confirmed their participation for the new drama.
The story revolves around business takeovers and mergers in Korea. No Min Woo (who you may recognize as either Dong Joo from “My Girlfriend is a Nine Tailed Fox” or T-ara’s estranged prisoner in their “Yayaya” music video) has been casted to play the role of Kim Hee Ae’s younger brother, ‘Myung Joon‘. Unlike his previous roles, Myung Joon is a character who is described as a rich and conceited player. Rumor has it that he’ll be involved a love triangle with Lee Min Jung’s character.
A Core Contents Media representative revealed, “Writer Choi Wan Gyu and PD Kang Shin Hyo have high expectations for No Min Woo, as he has been cast for an important role in the drama… Therefore, in order exhibit a perfect performance, No Min Woo has been immersed in acting practice.”
On the other hand, the ulzzhang of Ewha Women’s University, Seo Ju Ae, has been cast as Suzy, a core member of Yoo In Hye’s hedge fund. A Glorious Entertainment representative stated, “[Seo Ju Ae] is a new actress whom you can expect great things from in 2011.”
“Midas” is scheduled to air its first episode on February 21st.
SuperJunior’s Eunhyuk revealed a picture of his new haircut to his fans on Twitter.
On January 26th, Eunhyuk updated his Twitter with this photo and wrote, “Now that I cut my hair, I sweat less. I should’ve done this a long time ago!”
The picture of him shows a brand new Eunhyuk with his hair moussed skyward, and it looks like he’s feeling pretty confident about his new do.
He wrote, “I don’t get to have my hair flip around when I dance, which looks cool, but this isn’t bad!”
Netizens wrote, “He looks so much better looking now that he’s showing his forehead,” “I never knew he was so good looking,” and “He looks like Jang Woo Hyuk of H.O.T”.
The artists of SM Entertainment successfully completed their two-day “SM Town Live in Tokyo” concert amidst the cheers of 24,000 fans!
Although the concerts were held on weekdays this year, fans still experienced a fierce competition to grab tickets, as over 400,000 K-pop aficionados in Japan swarmed ticketing sites to purchase their seats. Those fans who weren’t able to nab tickets were seen hanging in groups outside the concert stadium, hoping to catch echoes of performances.
Because of the numerous amounts of fans who held up placards requesting for additional concert dates, SM Entertainment decided to go ahead and add two more concerts at the Tokyo Dome for April 9th and 10th.
The Tokyo Dome will be able to seat 50,000 fans.
Rewinding back to the “SM Town LIVE IN TOKYO” concerts (held on January 25th and 26th), the three-hour musical bonanza brought together Kang Ta, BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, SNSD, SHINee, f(x), Trax’s Jung Mo, J-Min and many others.
Super Junior’s Yesung, Ryeowook, and SHINee’s Onew earned an especially explosive response from the audience for teaming up with a Japanese tenor artist, Masafumi Akikawa, to perform “Sen no Kaze ni Natte.”
KBS Drama ‘Dream High,’ which is currently 1st in it’s time slot, has caught the attention of many when it was recently revealed that the set of the drama costs nearly $800,000 USD.
Normally, a set of a drama costs around $200,000 – $300,000 USD, showing an extremely big gap for Dream High. The set of ‘Dream High,’ which is located in Kyungkido Goyangsi Ilsan, didn’t remodel the Girin High School that was already there but instead built a brand new two-story building. Including interior designing, and the construction cost the set was to have cost nearly $800,000 USD.
Meanwhile, the set of ‘Dream High’ will be open for fans to visit once the drama ends.
f(x) fans have long awaited this day – a new photo was revealed on January 26th, in which all five members of f(x) can finally be seen together!
The picture shows members Victoria, Luna, Krystal, Sulli, and Amber standing in a line in what looks like their rehearsal room. This is the first official glimpse fans have received of the completed group in almost seven months due to Amber taking a leave of absence to treat her ankle injury.
Excited fans commented, “Finally, they are complete,” “Even if I can’t see their faces, I can already feel their presence,” and “I’m so excited through just this one picture!” Source : AllKpop
“Women Chosun” has reported that a former member of KARA, Kim Sung Hee, will be getting married Yang Won Joon (31), the eldest son of voice actor Yang Ji Woon. The two have been dating for about a year, and they plan to tie the knot on May 7th at a small wedding hall in Kyungkido, Paju.
The two first met approximately 2 years ago through their religious community, and grew close while attending various musical activities around the world. It’s been confirmed that the parents of the lovers met a year into their relationship, and agreed to set a wedding date.
Reflecting on his approval over his son’s choice, Yang Ji Woon said, “People can’t guess how cute our future daughter-in-law is when she does things. My wife is absolutely taken by her charms. Long ago, my son has gone through some hard times, but I look forward to him creating an ideal family by meeting a good wife.”
Yang Won Joon has spent time in jail for refusing to fulfill his military duties for religious reasons in June of 2009.
Turning back to Kim Sung Hee, the former KARA member shocked the music industry in 2008 when she announced that she was going to officially withdraw from the group. There were various rumors floating around as to why she decided to quit, but the most prominent was how her idol group activities were ‘interfering with her religious life.’ Currently, she works as a vocal instructor for aspiring singers.
Singer and voice actress Aya Hirano (best known for her work in “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya“) will soon be releasing her very first “Best Of” album on April 20th!
The album, which is to contain both original and character songs, will come in three different editions. One such package includes a special collector’s edition that will contain a DVD as well.
Although not much more has been said about the album, additional details will be available as the release nears its finalized stage.
Aya will also be releasing a DVD/Blu-ray of her live shows and performances from last year, titled “AYA HIRANO Special live 2010 ~Kiss♥me~“, on May 3rd.
A rare picture of 2PM’s Nichkhun with miss A’s Fei has been receiving a lot of attention ever since it was uploaded onto a popular community site on the morning of January 25th.
With the picture of Nichkhun and Fei, netizens commented, “Seeing them like this, they really look the same”“JYP Nation forever~~”. Other fans have been curious as to where the picture was uploaded, as it was never uploaded on either of their official Twitters. and
After some research, it turned out that the picture of Nichkhun and Fei was in fact uploaded onto Fei’s Chinese version of Twitter, called “Weibo“.
As Twitter is currently blocked by an internet firewall in China, many have been using Weibo as their source of a micro-blogging system. The term “Weibo” was derived from the terms “Wei”, meaning ‘micro’, and “Boke”, meaning ‘blogging’.
Not only do miss A’s members use Weibo, but so do celebrities who have promotions in China or ones who just want to keep their Chinese fans up to date. Some of these Korean stars include Chae Yeon, Lee Jung Hyun, Han Ji Hye, and Lee Da Hae.
Earlier today, Rain made a special appearance at the MCM store in London England, where he shook hands with crowds of fans. If you were willing to pay enough money to purchase a leather Stark backpack where the cheapest one starts at £365, he signed autographs on your purchases which included a photo with Rain himself.
This isn’t the first time that the singer has made a special appearance for MCM. Last year, Rain/Bi was at the MCM store grand opening at the Lotte Department Store in Seoul.
For all those who couldn’t make it, here’s a fancam of the event!
On this week’s episode of KBS Joy’s ‘T-ara’s Hello Baby’, T-ara created dumplings with the three Moon brothers in celebration of the Korean New Year.
Fierce competition was seen amongst the members of T-ara during this episode, as each member was given the task to create their dumplings with their own thought-out concept.
To begin, member Hwa Young proudly held up her ginormous dumplings and stated, “My dumplings were made for samgyetang (chicken soup with ginseng). These dumplings contain chicken in them.”
Soyeon quickly refuted Hwa Young’s explanation, as she said, “It’s bad to lie on broadcast. We didn’t even buy chicken as an ingredient…”
Meanwhile, the episode also showed Boram at her musical for ‘The Three Musketeers”.
SNSD will be releasing a new photobook on February 8th titled, “ALL about Girl’s Generation Paradise in Phuket DVD Preview.”
The photobook details the girls’ trip to Phuket, Thailand, and features 300 pages of never-before-seen photos, starting from their arrival at the airport, to their recording for the Eco music video, pajama parties, interviews with the members, and cute paparazzi shots that cannot be seen anywhere else.
The preview pictures released feature the girls expressing their innocent charms in lovely all-white outfits. Fans are already expressing their anticipation for the full photobook, claiming that it looks as if the girls have returned to their younger debut days with “Into the New World.”
Meanwhile, SNSD is performing at the ‘SM Town Live in Tokyo‘, held on January 26th.
The Korea Times‘ “9th Annual Korean Music Festival“is returning to the Hollywood Bowl!
For the past 9 years, the Korea Times has brought your favorite K-pop artists to Los Angeles for their annual ‘Korean Music Festival’. While this year’s artist line-up has yet to be revealed, we anticipate that this event will be just as star-studded as its previous years’.
Here are the details:
Date: Saturday, May 14th
Time: 6:30pm – 10:30pm
Location: Hollywood Bowl (2301 N. Highland Ave Los Angeles, CA 90068)
Tickets sales begin on Saturday, January 29th at 10AM PST and can be purchased in three ways:
1. In person: Go to the Korea Times Ticket Office (4525 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90010)
2. Over the phone: Call (323) 692-2055 or (323) 692-2070 or (323) 692-2178
In an upcoming movie, “Comic Battle” by Director Lee Jun-Ik, there is a character who goes to the military twice. In relation to that concept, a poll was created asking netizens to pick, “Which actor will do well in the military?”
On the portal site Nate, this poll began on January 17th and resulted in singer/actor Rain receiving 68% of the votes and ranking 1st. Following Rain was Hyunbin in 2nd, Kang Dongwon in 3rd, and Kim Namgil in 4th.
Also, on Cine21, another poll asked netizens to pick, “Who will fit the character of NamGun’s(played by Ryu Seungryong) Cold Pyongyang Man (a play on words with “Cold City Man”) the best?”
In this poll, Hyunbin ranked 1st with 59%. Following him was Park Shinyang, Park Shihoo, and Ok Taecyeon.
Jang Geun Seok started his career at a young age. He made his debut as a child actor in 1997. He continued his acting career, and in 2008 starred in the hit MBC drama, "Beethoven Virus". Jang Geun Seok starred in the hit SBS drama, "You're Beautiful" in 2009, alongside Park Shin Hye, Lee Hong Ki, and Jung Yonghwa. His latest project is "Mary Stayed Out All Night", with co-star Moon Geun Young.
Although Jang Geun Seok has released songs for many OSTs, he has never released any music on his own. However, this is slated to change, as Pony Canyon revealed today that Jang Geun Seok will be releasing his first solo album on March 23, 2011. He will also be holding a showcase in Japan on March 27th. Pony Canyon also revealed that there will be both a regular and a limited edition version of the album.
Fans have been awaiting Jang Geun Seok's official debut as a singer for a very long time. Are you looking forward to the album?
Oricon Style announced that AKB48’s 18th single “Beginner” (released in October 2010) has reached sales of 1,001,000 copies after including the sales of the latest Oricon Weekly Chart for January 31st.
This is AKB48’s first single that has totaled a million sales since their major debut in 2006, and “Beginner” is the 243rd single with a million sales in Japanese singles history.
As we reported earlier,”Beginner” sold 827,000 copies on the first week of its release, and thus, AKB48 has beat the existing record for a female group made by SPEED’s single, “ALL MY TRUE LOVE” (released in October 1998), which sold 601,000 copies in the first week over 12 years ago. It even exceeded the best record of this century for the single’s first week sales, which was set by Utada Hikaru and her song, “Can You Keep A Secret?” (784,000 copies on the first week).
It’s been 10 years and 11 months since any female group’s single has reached a million sales, as Morning Musume’s “Koi no Dance Site” in February 2000 marked the last time the feat was accomplished (released in January 2000, and sold 1,236,000 copies).
Back in November, we reported that “Beginner” was certified as “Million” by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), and for those of you who don’t understand the RIAJ’s “Million” certification, RIAJ’s million certification is based on their own equation, which is “All shipments from the maker – returns > a million”.
Canadian pop-rock singer Avril Lavigne has been staying in Japan since January 23rd to promote her latest single “What The Hell”, and she got to meet up with one of the nation’s top idols! 
