K-pop News Archive

Cable channel tvN conducted a poll where 150 foreign students from twenty countries were asked which idol they thought was the hottest.

Lately, the K-Pop Wave has been capturing much interest in the world as its reach spreads far beyond the United States. Who is the top idol whose looks have attracted the attention of the world?

The first round was conducted, where foreigners were selected on the street to answer the question of who is the “number one pretty idol?” Americans who were interviewed selected YoonA of Girls’ Generation as the most attractive female idol. When asked why they chose YoonA they praised her for her natural beauty. Wonder Girls’ Yoobin ranked number one with students from South Africa, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.

Girls’ Generation and the Wonder Girls were strong in the survey. IU and Lee Hyori were looking to capture the love and support of the foreigners.  Yet, who would ultimately come out on top as the worldwide favorite?

As the final round came to a close, ten male foreigners representing France, Italy, the United States, Korea and other countries combined their scores. When all the votes were tallied 2NE1’s Sandara Park received 57 points in total bringing her to third place, Seohyun of Girls Generation accumulated 71 points taking second place, and Wonder Girls’ Yoobin topped the chart with a total of 77 points.

Those who had chosen Yoobin as the prettiest idol responded saying, “She is so charming and beautiful. She has so many great qualities, I’m so happy that my favorite was chosen as number one,” and “Those overseas seem to favor your tan skin, I do not want to bother trying to lighten your skin.”

 

Incoming search terms:

• top ten beautful kpop idols
• tannest kpop idol
• tan kpop idols
• tan skin k-pop
• top 10 beautiful skin kpop idol
• top 10 beautiful korean girl idol
• top 10 beautiful female idol in malaysia
• the hottest k-pop girls
• Tan kpop singers
• qualities of a kpop idol

Queens native Heejun Han sings “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” by Michael Bolton at the Pittsburgh Auditions of American Idol Season 11. He is one of the top 24 finalists.

( Michael Becker / FOX / Courtesy )

BOSTON — Perhaps you’ve heard of Heejun Han, the 22-year-old Korean American from Flushing, Queens, who also happens to be a semi-finalist on American Idol Season 11.

To many, he may seem an unlikely star. He’s known for his likable personality, but also for shaking his arms before each performance to get the nerves out. Idol judge and Aerosmith leading man Steven Tyler said Han’s song selection on Tuesday night — Robbie Williams’ “Angel” — was a miss.

But when he opens his mouth to sing — that’s when US pop star Jennifer Lopez gets a little teary. His voice on Tuesday was “smooth as silk,” J Lo said. His initial performance “really impressed and shocked” another judge, music producer Randy Jackson. Even Tyler said previously he thought Han “could be the next American Idol.”

Han isn’t the first Asian American to be on American Idol, but the overwhelming love and attention he’s getting on camera and off makes it seem that way.

Most talented Asian-American singers have struggled to break into the US music scene. But even as Asian Americans have trouble getting the attention of US music producers — a problem many artists blame on racial barriers — imported K-pop, or Korean pop music, is growing in popularity in the US.

K-pop groups have landed on stages like Madison Square Garden and the Letterman show, while most Asian-American artists are self-supported, reaching their audience primarily through YouTube.

And many more Asian Americans are making the reverse journey to Asia in search of opportunities to perform.

K-pop’s American secret

Consider Korea’s infatuation with singer Ailee and the more veteran Jay Park, who rank No. 7 and No. 9, respectively, on the “K-pop Hot 100” Billboard music chart. What do these two singers have in common? Both are from the US; Ailee is a New Jersey native, and Jay Park is from Seattle.

The trend is nothing new, according to Oliver Wang, a music journalist and assistant professor, who teaches pop culture at California State University Long Beach.

“When I was in college in the early ‘90s, people would talk about the LA Boyz who found far greater fame and success in Taiwan than they did here,” Wang, 39, said. 

LA Boyz, a Taiwanese-American boy band formed in 1992, brought American hip-hop from Los Angeles to Taiwan. Solid, a Korean-American trio, did the same but with RB in Korea, becoming the country’s first RB group.

“I do think that for many Asian Americans, frustrated by the lack of opportunities locally, they see Asia as a potential avenue where racial differences won’t matter as much. It’s certainly no guarantee — Asian countries generate so much local talent it’s not like they need our ex-pats to go over there — but it’s been a 20-year trend thus far,” Wang said.

Producer Jae Chong, an original member of Solid, later went to Taiwan to write and produce for the LA Boyz, as well as Asian-American artist Coco Lee and more recently Aziatix, an Asian-American RB/hip-hop group that won Best New Artist at Mnet Asian Music Awards 2011.

Indeed, Asian countries welcome artists with Asian roots and American culture; they are seen as an alluring blend.

“Asian-American artists are both American and Asian so it’s strange and exotic [to them],” said Tatsu Aoki, Japanese American founder of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival.

Entertainment companies in Asia, especially Korea, frequently hold worldwide auditions in search for the next K-pop star. Often the top contestants include Asian Americans who may or may not speak fluent Korean.

“There’s like 10 of them [audition shows] in Korea,” Heejun Han said. “When I see those shows with people who sing so well and have perfect English, I’m curious why they don’t try in the US.”

Paul Kim and John Park did try. Both made it to the top 24 of American Idol, like Han — Kim was part of American Idol’s sixth season (2007); Park, the ninth (2010).

But where are they now?

Asian-American artists flounder in US

Park’s American Idol fame propelled him overseas. A native of Northbrook, Ill., Park was cast in a Korean cable show SuperStar K. He flew to Korea for the show, improved his Korean performing K-ballads and nailed his version of “Man in the Mirror” to score the runner-up position in the whole competition.

Park, 23, just released his first album on Feb. 22 in Korea.

Kim, a California native, also released his debut Korean single earlier this month. But in the US, the response was much cooler.

“Before and after being on the show [American Idol], I had meetings with major labels, and people loved my music. But it was too big of a risk for them to invest that much money in an Asian,” Kim, 30, said in a recent telephone interview. “They told me to keep in touch but they’d have to wait and see how Asians do in the market.”

America’s mainstream prefers mainstream music from Asia, said music festival founder Aoki.

More from GlobalPost: K-pop born in Korea, headed for the USA

“America still welcomes foreign good[s]. K-pop is a foreign good. America mainstream music is not interested in Asian Americans but Asia,” Aoki said. “We need more producers who are willing to work with, to produce Asian-American singers in America.”

“I struggled for years… I spent so much time chasing a record deal,” Kim said.

Although he’s been hurt by a US recording industry hesitant to sign Asian-American talent, Kim says he’s optimistic the climate for Asian-American artists in the US will change.

“Soon all major labels will pick their one Asian act, like all major labels had to find their own Britney,” he said. “They [Asian-American artists] are going to be dollar signs in their [major labels’] eyes.”

And there have been some encouraging signs.

Could self-producing be the answer?

Asian-American singer-songwriters Clara Chung and David Choi have been gaining a presence on YouTube.

“If I didn’t have YouTube, I wouldn’t be here. I would still be doing music but no support, no tour, nothing I’m doing now,” said Choi, who ended his Southeast Asia and Australia tour in July and performed in both Korea and Japan in December.

Chung and Choi aren’t mainstream artists, but they have succeeded in creating their own brand without a major label or budget, and big companies are starting to take note.

Last January 2011 TC Helicon of TC Group Americas, a company that makes vocal harmony processing products, sponsored Far East Movement, the first Asian-American group to land No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart and iTunes with their hit single “Like a G6.”

Recently, TC Helicon added Chung to their list of sponsors. “We just saw a young, fresh artist,” Laura Davidson, 32, marketing manager of TC Group Americas, said of Chung.

Chung’s upcoming April tour will be fully funded by TC Helicon and Guitar Center, making every show free for her fans. 

A singer-songwriter herself, Davidson said she’s picky when it comes to which artists she likes, but “it was a no brainer to work with her.”

“When I see a black artist or white or Asian I just see if they’re good. I’m not color blind, but I never think, ‘My, we’re lacking Asian-American artists in this industry!’ But are they good. Are they making good music?” she said.

Aziatix agrees that only the music matters.

“I wish they had a label for ‘Good Music’ and hopefully we would be in that category,” said Nicky Lee, vocalist of Aziatix, which launched its 2012 US Tour on Feb. 24 and will perform in Boston on Feb. 29.

David Choi is also preparing for the second half of his US tour. He said it’s harder to make it in the US than Asia.

“In Korea it’s possible to become an overnight celebrity,” he said. “Here [in the US], it can happen but it’s a lot harder.”

One YouTube user, pisthobranch, commented on a video of American Idol hopeful Heejun Han: “Heejun should move to Korea and become a mega world pop star!”

Another user, chonmaya1, said: “If Heejun doesn’t make it on American Idol SM Entertainment or JYP are most likely to make him a K-pop star.”

But even if he is eliminated on Thursday, Han says he has no plans to pursue music in Korea. He wants to stay and try his luck in the US.

“I don’t know how far I’m going to go [on the show] but I want to pursue singing here. There has been no Asian-American singer really out there in America. I don’t want to be a lawyer or a doctor. I want to break those stereotypes,” Han said.

“I just want to be an ordinary nerdy Asian guy that pursues his dream in the US,” he said.

More from GlobalPost: Iranians hooked on Korean TV drama

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120228/asian-american-idol-heejun-han-k-pop-photos

Incoming search terms:

• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups part d
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups la cultures
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups beach beauties
• asian american idol
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups black lover
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups korean news in english
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups illinois department of
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups los angeles regional center
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups regional center
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups secret of the old clock

• Comments(2)
• 
• 

• Text Size
• 
• 

k-pop

The power of K-Pop hallyu wave has replicated itself from groups such as Girls’ Generation, KARA, TVXQ, Super Junior, Wonder Girls, SHINee, f(x), Big Bang, 2NE1, 2PM, JYJ and more is quite impressive.

As previously reported on KpopStarz the country’s image is closely related to K-Pop. For instance Korea as a country becomes more widespread as number views on YouTube video is more than 2.3 billion total from 235 countries.

In the past it was difficult to image Korean culture to enter and become center stage of entertainment field around the world. Even last year people were still skeptical of K-Pop fans who have gathered in Paris and London.

It’s not a complicated to come up with the reason why K-Pop has come to be so successful. It was the perfect preparation executed by the label companies that were very systematic in casting, training, producing and global promotion. As only few out of many make it to endure the hardship of being a trainee not only that the advent of social media couldn’t have been better with YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

However what made the impossible, possible was the hard work, tears and sweat of the trainees who endured to become the stars they have longed to be. No one can imagine the hardship they faced as a young teenager to be trained for more than 7 years in different fields such as dance, singing, acting, languages and others.

Regardless of the field, there’s no difference in other fields to become successful even in golf. Seri Park was a hero of Korea 10 years ago as she was the first Korean to win the WPGA golf championship which no one thought it was possible. She shared that she climbed the stairs 20 flights going up and down every day, practiced in the cemetery to become braver. Kyoung Joo Choi who won the PGA 8 times shared, “If you set a goal to hit the ball 1000 times a day and hit 999 then you lose.”

Now days the buzz has been around Jeremy Lin. Before his popularity and fame, none of the basketball team wanted him to join their teams, he failed to be picked up in the draft.

Kobe Bryant, one of the best players in NBA who didn’t know the existence of Lin before the game shared after their match, “Players don’t come out of nowhere, if you track back his past, he probably possessed the skill but no one noticed it from the beginning. He didn’t give up and continued on. It’s a great testament to perseverance and hard work. I am sure he had to put a great amount of work to have the belief he has for himself. And now he has the opportunity to show it.”

It may be true that Jeremy Lin came in the spotlight because he was too good or because of his race, but many say that it’s because no one had expected him to do well. And now he is being loved and giving courage to many others.

The way to achieve an impossible goal is to do your best to the point of death. Looking at the great stars before us, we learn that impossible can be possible and anything can happen. Let’s go on with hope remembering the saying of Barak Obama, “Yes we can.”

• 

  2NE1 Denim Fashion Photos

• 

  B2ST Photo Gallery

• 

  SHINee ‘High Cut’ Fashion Magazine shoot

• 

  KARA’s Cute Youthful Fresh Photo

• 

  Girls’ Generation Ceci Photoshoot

• 

  JYJ Photo Collection

• 

  2NE1 ‘I Am The Best’ Digial Single and Japan 1st Mini-Album Gallery

• 

  Super Junior Super Show 4 in Singapore

• 

  Wonder Girls Group Photos

• 

  2PM Meet Fans at Singapore

• 

  K-Pop Heal the World Concert Photos

• 

  TVXQ’s Yunho Performing at Michael Jackson Tribute Concert [PHOTO]

• 

  CN Blue Asia Tour ‘Blue Storm’ in Bangkok

• 

  2PM Hands Up Asia Tour Nanjing Concert

• 

  TVXQ’s ‘Live Tour 2012: Tone’ Sapporo

• 

  Girls’ Generation’s Dior Endorsement Collection

• 

  After School Nana ‘allure’ Magazine shoot

• 

  CN Blue ‘Jung Yong Hwa’ for ‘THE SUIT HOUSE’

• 

  Wonder Girls ‘Sunye’ ‘Sohee’ W, COSMOPOLITAN Magazine shoot

• 

  SNSD MC Taeyeon, Tiffany Seohyun MBC Music Core

• 

  BoA ‘BAZAAR’, ‘COSMOPOLITAN’ and ‘HIGH CUT’ Fashion Magazine Shoot

• 

  4Minute ‘Marie Claire’, ‘HIGH CUT’ and ‘Ceci’ Fashion Magazine Shoot and more

• 

  Big Bang’s ‘Blue’ Album Cover Collection

• 

  INFINITE Paradise Photo Collection

• 

  Girls’ Generation Jessica Coming Step Dazed Confused Official Pictures

• 

  ETUDE Girl 2NE1 Sandara Park

• 

  SHINee’s Jonghyun and Taemin’s on W Korea Magazine

• 

  2PM’s Taecyeon Various Fashion Style

Most Commented

• Block B’s P.O. Hospitalized Over Controversy
  143

• JYJ’s Jaejoong Twitter Exceeds 750,000
  25

• Fans Complain Block B’s Interview Being Distorted
  21

• G-Dragon vs. Lee Hong Ki – Who Looks Better with the ‘Croissant Hair’?
  14

• SNSD Reason of Success in Japan
  11

Incoming search terms:

• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups training magazine
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups country companies
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups draft
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups regional hospital of jackson
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups youtube movies
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups best movies ever made
• bigbang vs snsd
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups people magazine web
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups disc golf tournament
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups serie b

While ratings stay high for the popular Korean TV drama, “The Moon That Embraces The Sun,” the single to its soundtrack continues to rule the K-Pop Hot 100. Female vocal virtuoso, Lyn, sits comfortably atop the chart for her fourth consecutive week. Lyn may find herself tying (and possibly breaking) a K-Pop Hot 100 record as the longest track at the No. 1 spot as IU’s “You and I” reigned just one week longer than Lyn a few months back. As the drama is reaching its final episode (set to air on the March 8th), one can only wonder if the soundtrack’s single will still continue its reign next week and the next?

 

K-Pop Hot 100: Singer IU Spends Fifth Week at No. 1

 

Elsewhere on the chart, K.Will shoots up to the No.2 spot as he began promotions for the title track to his new EP, “I Need You.” The versatile male vocalist took the No. 2 spot from former K-Pop Hot 100 chart-toppers duo Davichi’s “I’ll Think of You,” which is down to No. 4. “Fiercely” by boy band F.T. Island managed to keep their their No. 3 slot. One of Asia’s biggest girl groups, T-ara, round out the Top 5 with “Lovey Dovey,” which hit No. 1 earlier this year.

 

 

Rookie female soloist Ailee earns her way into the Top 10 with her track “Heaven,” an emotional RB ballad with a melody that recalls Bruno Mars‘ hook on the Bad Meets Evil track “Lighters.” An American-born Korean, the vocalist has made a name for herself with her YouTube covers and TV appearances in both the U.S. and Korea. Her big moment came with her first place on Korean television show “Singers Trainees” with a cover of Beyonce‘s “Halo” (which the song sounds somewhat similar to). The beautiful harmonies on the verses (no doubt helped by her training with mentor, Wheesung, who’s also on the chart at No. 25 with “Road of Tears”) and the catchy, repetitious “heaven” hook make this one likely to stick around for a promising new act.

 

 

Another American-born Korean, big time solo male act Jay Park, makes his way to the Top 10 too at No. 9 with “Know Your Name.” A sonic combination of Euro-electro pop and RB, the club banger has a production that wouldn’t sound out of place with on a Jay Sean or Jason DeRulo album. With a lot of English lyrics in the track, perhaps the song could make its way to their ears? The song kicks off with underground rapper Dok2 spitting some raps before Jay (Park, not Sean, keep up) takes over the track. Yet where Jay Park may have other male vocalists beat is in the dark department with Jay showing off slick solo moves and tight choreography with his dancers.

 

Meanwhile, male soloist Lee Seung Chul‘s soundtrack single “Did You Forget” is this week’s top debut landing at No. 6. Se7en continues to slowly descend down the Top 10 with “When I Can’t Sing” falling from No. 5. And female soloist Lee Young Hyun crawls from No. 21 to No. 10 in her second week on the chart with “Love Over Thousand Years.” Keep an eye out for acts like miss A and BIGBANG to make big moves on the chart next week as these two highly anticipated comebacks have just begun.

 

(Additional reporting and editing by Jeff Benjamin, Billboard)

Incoming search terms:

• china hot model lyn

• Comments(0)
• 
• 

• Text Size
• 
• 

“Diversity is what we need. That will create a benevolent cycle of Korean Wave,”  said Na Yunseon, a Jazz vocalist based in Europe. 

She is the pioneer of Korean Wave at least in Europe. She moved to Paris 17 years ago, studied Jazz and debuted in France. At that time, it was a road not taken.

Last year, she had a peak of her career in Europe and also had successful activities in Korea. At an interview before she leaves Korea, she talks about the first days of Korean Wave in Europe. 

“In Europe, Korea was first known for its electronics products. Then, people started to talk about Korean movies. From several years ago, it was K pop and You Tube vidieos that became the talk of the town.”

While being amazed by the popularity of K pop in Europe, she worries about its downright commercialism. “Commercialism is in the way in pursing diversity,” She takes the example of Jazz music. “Jazz was created by African Ameican musicans 100 years ago. How did it spread to all over the world? it was not through the power of the capital. It was through the power of the spirit.” She also argues that Korean should accept more diverse culture from all around the world as much as Korean culture is introduced to other countries. “I think that is the way Korea can produce leading pop trend, which is more open and inclusive than right now.”

About her invidual goals, she said she wants to remain as a musician who always studies. “I want to change continuously, always making new attempts and new projects,: 

She plans to release her 8th album next year. 

• 

  TVXQ’s Yunho Performing at Michael Jackson Tribute Concert [PHOTO]

• 

  CN Blue Asia Tour ‘Blue Storm’ in Bangkok

• 

  2PM Hands Up Asia Tour Nanjing Concert

• 

  TVXQ’s ‘Live Tour 2012: Tone’ Sapporo

• 

  Girls’ Generation’s Dior Endorsement Collection

• 

  After School Nana ‘allure’ Magazine shoot

• 

  CN Blue ‘Jung Yong Hwa’ for ‘THE SUIT HOUSE’

• 

  Wonder Girls ‘Sunye’ ‘Sohee’ W, COSMOPOLITAN Magazine shoot

• 

  SNSD MC Taeyeon, Tiffany Seohyun MBC Music Core

• 

  BoA ‘BAZAAR’, ‘COSMOPOLITAN’ and ‘HIGH CUT’ Fashion Magazine Shoot

• 

  4Minute ‘Marie Claire’, ‘HIGH CUT’ and ‘Ceci’ Fashion Magazine Shoot and more

• 

  Big Bang’s ‘Blue’ Album Cover Collection

• 

  INFINITE Paradise Photo Collection

• 

  Girls’ Generation Jessica Coming Step Dazed Confused Official Pictures

• 

  ETUDE Girl 2NE1 Sandara Park

• 

  SHINee’s Jonghyun and Taemin’s on W Korea Magazine

• 

  2PM’s Taecyeon Various Fashion Style

• 

  KARA’s ‘KARASIA’ Seoul Concert Photo

• 

  Girls’ Generation Individual Member ‘The Boys’ Concept Gallery

• 

  Bing Bang T.O.P’s Fashion Magazine Shoot

• 

  Girls’ Generation in Jeans Showing Off Their Slim Figure

• 

  Kara Goo ha ra’s Casual Fashion style collection

• 

  4minute Hyuna’s Photo Collection

• 

  Girls’ Generation Poses for May Issue of Japan Sweet Magazine

• 

  Super Junior Siwon’s Photo shoot

• 

  2AM Group Photo Collection

• 

  KARA Girls Gallery

• 

  Girls’ Generation Photo shoot “Girl”

Most Commented

• Block B’s P.O. Hospitalized Over Controversy
  137

• Fans Complain Block B’s Interview Being Distorted
  19

• FIRST EVER Asian Girl Group Hits Number 1 in US, Beats Girls’ Generation
  13

• Big Bang “Blue” Lyrics Reveal Their True Feelings [M/V]
  9

• SNSD Reason of Success in Japan
  9

Incoming search terms:

• pioneer korea
• European girl in big bang blue
• jin au yeung album covers
• jiyeon park plastic surgery
• pioneer kpop spread

• Comments(1)
• 
• 

• Text Size
• 
• 

Who do you think is the most anticipated Kpop singer or group in the US?

Kpopstarz is conducting a poll that is currently taking place with TVXQ 21.5% followed closely by SNSD 20.9%, and JYJ by 13.6%.

K-Pop stars started to gather US attention as Wonder Girls opened the tour of Jonas Brothers, 2NE1 voted as MTV Iggy’s Best New Band 2011, then SNSD US network TV debut. As K-Pop stars start to make their US debut, eyes are now on other popular K-Pop stars to join.

The poll started on February 23 with SNSD and TVXQ fiercely battling out for first place. JYJ jumped to third place with Big Bang, 2NE1, Super Junior following.

The poll will be closed on February 29.

• 

  TVXQ’s Yunho Performing at Michael Jackson Tribute Concert [PHOTO]

• 

  CN Blue Asia Tour ‘Blue Storm’ in Bangkok

• 

  2PM Hands Up Asia Tour Nanjing Concert

• 

  TVXQ’s ‘Live Tour 2012: Tone’ Sapporo

• 

  Girls’ Generation’s Dior Endorsement Collection

• 

  After School Nana ‘allure’ Magazine shoot

• 

  CN Blue ‘Jung Yong Hwa’ for ‘THE SUIT HOUSE’

• 

  Wonder Girls ‘Sunye’ ‘Sohee’ W, COSMOPOLITAN Magazine shoot

• 

  SNSD MC Taeyeon, Tiffany Seohyun MBC Music Core

• 

  BoA ‘BAZAAR’, ‘COSMOPOLITAN’ and ‘HIGH CUT’ Fashion Magazine Shoot

• 

  4Minute ‘Marie Claire’, ‘HIGH CUT’ and ‘Ceci’ Fashion Magazine Shoot and more

• 

  Big Bang’s ‘Blue’ Album Cover Collection

• 

  INFINITE Paradise Photo Collection

• 

  Girls’ Generation Jessica Coming Step Dazed Confused Official Pictures

• 

  ETUDE Girl 2NE1 Sandara Park

• 

  SHINee’s Jonghyun and Taemin’s on W Korea Magazine

• 

  2PM’s Taecyeon Various Fashion Style

• 

  KARA’s ‘KARASIA’ Seoul Concert Photo

• 

  Girls’ Generation Individual Member ‘The Boys’ Concept Gallery

• 

  Bing Bang T.O.P’s Fashion Magazine Shoot

• 

  Girls’ Generation in Jeans Showing Off Their Slim Figure

• 

  Kara Goo ha ra’s Casual Fashion style collection

• 

  4minute Hyuna’s Photo Collection

• 

  Girls’ Generation Poses for May Issue of Japan Sweet Magazine

• 

  Super Junior Siwon’s Photo shoot

• 

  2AM Group Photo Collection

• 

  KARA Girls Gallery

• 

  Girls’ Generation Photo shoot “Girl”

Most Commented

• Block B’s P.O. Hospitalized Over Controversy
  137

• Fans Complain Block B’s Interview Being Distorted
  19

• FIRST EVER Asian Girl Group Hits Number 1 in US, Beats Girls’ Generation
  13

• Big Bang “Blue” Lyrics Reveal Their True Feelings [M/V]
  9

• SNSD Reason of Success in Japan
  9

Incoming search terms:

• tvxq tone concert
• 2ne1 will be bigger than snsd in the states
• sohee g dragon news2012
• tiffany snsd tour in bang kok 2012
• tvxq japan kpop popularity poll
• tvxq news 2012
• who has better shot in us 2ne1 wondergirls or poll
• who is the most anticipated k-pop singer or group in the us? 2012
• who is the most anticipated Kpop singer or group in the US
• snsd marie claire photoshoot hq

We’re in a basement restaurant of the Seoul Finance Centre.
Every table is occupied by South Koreans tearing naan — a staple in the home of the country’s best-known statesman Ban Ki-moon.
If you take a two-hour flight north of Seoul to Beijing, capital of India’s largest trade

partner China, you won’t find an Indian eatery pack such a crowd. An Indian presence is emerging on every major street of the Asian tiger best known for K-pop, kimchi, (pickled cabbage) smartphones and the missiles aimed from its belligerent Northern half.

“Ten years ago, I didn’t know what is tandoori chicken,’’ says Seoul-based journalist Sang-hun Choe.

“Now, it’s everywhere.’’ I spotted the Agra, Mughal and Taj crammed between cafes selling five-dollar grain latte in a gritty neighbourhood housing the US garrison (and Hooker’s Hill).

Chennai native Shanthi Prince, CEO of four Chakraa restaurants, began outsourcing curries from her kitchen a decade ago.

Her business was born on the subway when Indian techies in Samsung complained of hunger pangs. South Korea has 7,500 NRIs though it’s not like a Singapore with its own Little India. 

The Million-dollar-question 

The Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea opened last year. Asked to name the main barrier to expanding ties, the chamber’s secretary-general Kook Hyun Chang gave a simple answer. “We need more information on India,’’ said Chang. He made an example of the Incredible India branding campaign. Young South Koreans who watched the video were left confused by the sheer diversity.

Tagore for techies

Kim Yang-shik, 81, was preparing to tour India when we met in the only Indian art museum in the country, a year-old exhibit of her art and music instruments. “I wept tears of joy when I first landed in Delhi,’’ said Kim. The president of the 60-member Tagore Society began writing poetry after reading Crescent Moon as a child. Seoul’s latest Indian symbol is a bust of Rabindranath Tagore who is revered for his poem predicting the return of Korea’s golden age.

Desi-dancing

South Korean women learn kathak at the India culture centre launched last year. “We get many inquiries about yoga, kathak and Hindi classes”, said Banu Prakash, the centre’s director.

Robert Koehler, editor of Seoul Selection magazine put it like this. “Until recently, there was a family crisis if a child wanted to be anything other than a doctor or lawyer.” For a second, I presumed he was discussing the great Indian family.

Incoming search terms:

• banu prakash korea
• banuprakash korea

Koike Koh, the CEO of Japan’s Oricon Charts, made an important comment regarding the influx of Korean artists into Japan. He stated, “The metabolism of Korean artists and music seems too fast for Japanese market. Japanese fans might get tired of them since way too many of them are rushing to enter the market. This might negatively effect Hallyu, the Korean wave.”  

Oricon Charts is considered the ultimate measure of success in Japan for many Korean artists. Oricon started compiling daily, weekly, and monthly charts based on sales records of approximately 26,000 music record stores all over Japan. Oricon charts’ influence and credibility measure up to that of the U.S.’s Billboard Charts. Oricon Charts is well known to Koreans as many K-pop artists like BoA, Jang Geun Suk, Kara, and Girls’ Generation have been ranked high on them. 

Koike Koh visited Korea to partake in Gaon Charts K-Pop Awards. When asked about the future of K-pop in Japan, he pointed out that K-pop might have some roadblocks ahead. He commented, “For now, the feminine looks and images of Girls’ Generation and Kara are attracting many fans, but this is a very limited side of K-pop. Korean artists need to be more diversified to continue their success in Japan. Japanese fans expect something new that these artists have never shown before, not even in Korea. Recently, many Korean artists are staying in Japan only for a short period of time, remaining within the metropolitan areas. While this is working for now, this may pose as a roadblock in the future of K-pop in gaining more wide ranged popularity within Japan.”  

Koh added, “For Korean artists to continue their success, the roles of leading Hallyu figures like TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, and Kara are very important. They have had huge success in Japan. But once their popularity and impact start to diminish, so will K-pop in general. Then people will see Hallyu as a temporary phenomenon.”  

However, Koh was not entirely pessimistic about K-Pop. He highly valued the strategic preparation of K-pop and Korean artists and their strong fan base. He pointed out, “When you look at the Korean artists who’s made it to the top of Oricon charts, they have great musical talent and very unique visual concepts that have been strategically prepared for. Most of their songs were ranked highly on Oricon charts almost instantly after their releases. Also, many fans were previously aware of these artists through the Internet before they made their official Japanese debuts. Therefore, these artists gain a very solid fan base upon their debut.”  

Koh also talked about the recent anti-Hallyu movement, which led to the cancellation of Kim Tae Hee‘s Tokyo CF promotion. He dismissed this anti-Hallyu movement as a phenomenon restricted to a very small population. He said, “In my opinion, Kim Tae Hee and her agency overreacted in this case. The anti-Hallyu movement is not a major thing at all. Most Japanese people view Korean artists and entertainment very favorably. They enjoy K-Pop and K-Drama very much. Korean artists should not pay much attention to the distorted and disturbing opinions of the few.”

Incoming search terms:

• j pop artists
• koren pop tara
• Sri lankan president like kpop
• srilankan kpop fans
• tara korean pop 2012

What exactly does it mean to have “potential” when it comes to recent audition programs?

On the episode of “K-Pop Star” that aired on February 26, the last battle to proceed to the live broadcast round took place. All of the contestants who fell under second place had one last chance to become part of the top ten.

Two contestants were especially drawing much attention: Son Mi Jin, who has textbook vocalization and Park Ji Min, who is called the “queen of rhythm.” Judges had to choose only one person from these two contestants and eventually, Park Ji Min was chosen. Son Mi Jin shed hot tears as she delivered her last thoughts and statements, creating a teary atmosphere for the judges and the viewers.

Park Ji Min, who was always considered a strong candidate to be the winner of the entire show, was surprisingly placed in the 2nd place survival round. BoA stated, “Even Park Ji Min probably didn’t imagine that she would be in this current situation. I think she struggled because of that. However, she still had her basic skills so I viewed her performance well.”

Park Jin Young stated, “Son Mi Jin passed through each level by level very well. And I liked that she showed us a new attempt,” as he praised her for her last performance. On the other hand, Park Jin Young said to Park Ji Min, “I don’t know if it’s because you are still young but when situations become pressing, you keep going toward a negative way. Since you’re heart is pressed, you keep going back to the techniques and tones that you think you are the best at.” Park Jin Young continued, “It was a very difficult decision today but we had to bring it down to who had more potential to grow. Today, Park Ji Min showed a higher potential.”

Son Mi Jin’s last performance was “Don’t You Worry About A Thing” by Incognito. It was a difficult song with many upbeats and half-key notes but Son Mi Jin executed it perfectly and received high praise. However, she was not able to move on to the next round. Instead, judges chose Park Ji Min, who showed high levels of nervousness.

Therefore, the judges’ standards have been questioned in terms of fairness and accuracy. Before these battle auditions began, Park Jin Young stated, “No matter how good you were in the past, we will solely be looking at today’s performance. Whoever is good today will be chosen. Whoever is not good today will be eliminated.”

Viewers proclaimed, “Park Ji Min was good but Son Mi Jin had just as much potential,” “I think Son Mi Jin did far better than Park Ji Min today so I don’t understand,” “If the judges followed what they said about only looking at today’s performances, Son Mi Jin should have been chosen,” and others.

On the contrary, other viewers exclaimed, “It’s too hard to judge contestants with just one performance,” “If you think about the past potential and singing skills, Park Ji Min would have no problem going into the live broadcast round,” “Park Ji Min showed just as good of a performance as Son Mi Jin,” and more.

Meanwhile, the top ten contestants for “K-Pop Star” have been confirmed: Kim Na Yoon, Park Jae Hyung, Park Ji Min, Baek Ah Yeon, Baek Ji Woong, Yoon Hyun Sang, Michelle Lee, Lee Seung Hoon, Lee Jung Mi and Lee Ha Yi.

Here is the performance of “Don’t You Worry About A Thing” by Son Mi Jin:

Here is “Yeah” (Yolanda Adams) by Park Ji Min:

Incoming search terms:

• sbs kpop star finalists
• kpop finalist 2012
• k-pop star winners
• kpop star 28-2-2012
• kpop star online poll jimin
• sbs kpop star finalist
• SBS kpop star finalists 2012
• winners of k-pop star

K-Pop took to Thunder Valley on Saturday night in the form of 4 acts. I am reliably infromed K-pop is is a musical genre consisting of Pop, dance, electropop, hip hop, rock, RB and electronic music originating in South Korea.

They were all great performers and thrilled the predominatly Korean audience, although the young men and ladies in the bands originated either from here in the USA or from other parts of Asia.

One of the bands was a group of 5 girls made up from South Korea, China, India, Japan and the Phillipines, they perfomed a highly energetic set and then ran off to get a flight to Orlando, FLA to perform at NBA Allstar Weekend on Sunday!!!

The finale was the trio of guys from Aziatix which was highly anticipated by both the male and female fans……….they weren’t disappointed!!

Incoming search terms:

• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups valley news