K-pop News Archive

Pixie Lott, K-pop ambassador.

A pop star in her own right in her native UK, with three No. 1 singles under her belt, she’s all set to fly the flag for Korean boy and girl bands.

First step?

Collaborating with G-Dragon and T.O.P. from K-pop quintet Big Bang on her new song Dancing On My Own, which will be featured in the Asian Deluxe version of her second album Young Foolish Happy, out in early May.

Lott drops by Singapore on May 18 for an invite-only showcase at Zirca.

She will be signing copies of her latest album Young Foolish Happy for fans on May 17 at Bugis Junction.

Speaking to LOUD over the phone from her home in London, Lott, 21, was enthusiastic about her love of the genre.

“I think it was the first time I went to Japan, and got to know about the bands that were starting to get big there,” she said.

“I just loved the whole vibe of it. The music videos are so crazy, so futuristic,” she said. “I was so interested in the whole craze, and how huge it had become.

“It’s a really fresh sound.”

Plotting a K-pop collaboration, she settled on working with the Big Bang boys, who were just as keen on partnering up with her.

Incoming search terms:

• young foolish happy asian deluxe version

When I was in first year high school (1999), the biggest k-pop girl group was “S.E.S.” They actually came into the scene as the first all girl k-pop group. They were quickly followed by another all girl group, “Pinkle.” These two groups definitely paved the way for all the female groups that we know of now, such as “Girl’s Generation,” “2NE1,” “Wonder Girls” and so many more.

A member of “Pinkle” remains active in the industry. Many don’t know that “Hyo-ri” was a member of once top female group “Pinkle.” After 13 years in the industry, Hyo-ri, through her bubbly, fun personality and envious curves may be tagged as the Jennifer Anniston of Korea, for being the nation’s undisputed sweetheart.

In a recent one-on-one interview on a Korean network, she revealed her triumphs as well as struggles in her career; and even the loneliness she constantly deals with. Her fourth self-titled album was criticized for lacking originality and some of her producers were charged with fraud and violation of intellectual property and artistic rights, forcing her to discontinue the promotion abruptly.

This incident caused her to avoid the public eye for quite some time. To this day, she admitted, the trauma remains. She also came clean to having sought professional psychiatric help after years of stress.

The pressures of the industry drove her to the edge. She constantly overworked and over-exerted herself in fear of being forgotten and ultimately returning to life of poverty, which scarred her deeply when she was young.

More than an entertainer, she has been called “Social-tainer” for being loved by the public, not only for who she is on stage: covered in thick make-up and costume, but also as the girl-next-door in her participation in various reality shows where she often appears to have next to no make-up, wearing casual clothes and even at time pajamas.

Through what she calls “Healing Camp,” she went on a journey of self-realization and developed determination to help herself. Through this, she found new, more powerful meaning in her life – helping others.

She found true happiness by turning away from the pressure and torture of basing her life’s meaning in how much the public loves and accepts her. She shared that only by loving herself did she finally come to love others and everything truly important in her life.

She dedicates her time in saving animals and promoting awareness of animal rights in Korea. She also prays that in the future, she will be able to extend more positive influence from the entertainment world to socio-economic levels.

Unfortunately, not many people from her industry were able to successfully save themselves from a dreary end. Many succumbed to depression, which seems more common in an industry driven to please the entire public – an impossibility.

We have, over the past years, heard the sad news of many talented Korean artists committing suicide. The gift of self-love and realization Hyo-ri shared with us can be a step-by-step procedure that everyone can follow. Then, many lives will be saved.

But kudos to Hyo-ri for her triumph in overcoming challenges that life throws at us. For sure it’s not the end of the battle, but surely she will serve as a model to many young female artists who will be subjected to similar situations.

(“Korean by birth and Filipino at heart” is the best and the common description Grace Lee has received from people she loves. After living in the Philippines for 18 years, she has come to consider the Philippines her home, calling it definitely a privilege.)

Incoming search terms:

• grace lee phillipin korea
• healing camp korean entertainment
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups causes of poverty in the united states
• who has sweetheart in k-pop stars

As we reported earlier, for the final mission of the last episode of “SBS K-Pop Star” the two finalist contestants will do something interesting. The mission is for the final contestants Park Jimin and Lee Hai to sing songs that made each other famous. Park Jimin will sing Duffy’s “Mercy” while Lee Hai will sing Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”  

However, the Korean public and also the Korean music industry have issue with the fact that “SBS K-Pop Star” is closer to “SBS Pop Star.” Besides

“Korean Ilbo” criticized the final mission because the contestant Park Jimin has basically continued to sing pop songs throughout the show. A reporter stated that “It is a shame that they are ending the show with Pop, when the show itself has gained so much momentum. Did they really have to end the show with the record of having the youngest winner of an audition show, with pop songs?” 

Incoming search terms:

• korea musician stars picture
• Mercy by Jimin Park
• park jimin mercy
• shayne orok star idol championship

BoA and JYP will both hold special performances on the final episode of “SBS K-Pop Star” which will broadcast on April 29. A representative of the show stated, “On April 29, BoA and JYP each will have a special performance. JYP is also planning on another performance with the disqualified contestants.”

“SBS K-Pop Star” has had diverse special stages, such as collaborations with currently popular singers (Girls’ Generation, miss A, and GDT.O.P.)

All of the contestants on the show that were a part of the live component will be on stage.

Also, for the final showdown between contestants Park Jimin and Lee Hai, the two will sing songs that made each other famous. Lee Hai will sing Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” while Park Jimin will sing Duffy’s “Mercy.”

Incoming search terms:

• kpop star special stage boa
• jiyoon wikipedia
• michelle chia

The nine young women of Girls’ Generation sauntered onto the performance stage of “Late Show With David Letterman.” Flanked by a DJ and live drummer, the South Korean pop group wore lacy black mini-dresses and thigh-high leather boots, as if they were hosting a goth cocktail party. It was a rare American network television performance from a South Korean music group.

The song they performed on the January show, a slinky bit of minor-key dance-pop called “The Boys,” owed an obvious debt to Kelis’ catcalling hit “Milkshake.” The band’s gently lascivious choreography underscored the track’s sex-appeal boasts: lead singer Kim Taeyeon made come-hither hand gestures while her bandmates pulled PG-13 versions of Lady Gaga’s alien body bends. The song was in English, but the message was clear in any language. This was something new yet uncannily familiar on the American pop scene.

“As soon as I heard that we’d be performing there, I ran screaming and crying up and down our house,” said Girls’ Generation’s Diamond Bar-raised, Korean American singer Tiffany. “The other members were just like, ‘Huh?’”

Girls’ Generation is arguably the biggest name in an effervescent, operatic Korean pop music culture that quietly has won a fervent fan base of young Korean Americans, and plenty of non-Koreans as well. K-pop artists pull from techno, hip-hop, RB and top-40; singles are often focused vehicles for elaborate music videos and rarely less than bonkers good fun. Traditional Korean culture can be patriarchal, but K-pop’s most famous acts, whose members often have roots in California, are groups of women deploying butt-kicking superhero imagery.

Poised at the intersection of two countries’ fast-moving pop cultures and cutting-edge media technology, the sprawling genre colloquially known as K-pop has operated outside the American pop limelight. But that’s changing. A-list producers like will.i.am, Diplo and Kanye West are lining up to work with South Korean artists like 2NE1, GDTOP and JYJ.

K-pop comes alongside a tide of Korean filmmaking (the cult-favorite films of Joon-ho Bong) and culinary interest (L.A.’s Kogi truck, progressive Korean barbecue joints like LaOn Dining) turning heads in L.A. and in the U.S. As K-pop makes its first big moves into America this year with English-language tracks on U.S. major labels, a big question is this — does this music, at the vanguard of global pop, even need mainstream America at all?

For years, Korean pop lived in the shadow of Japan’shyper-kinetic music and fashion scene, whose anime culture stormed American television. But in 2009, one single instantly transformed the country’s role in the Asian pop landscape. Girls’ Generation’s “Gee” was the K-pop equivalent of Elvis walking into Sun Studios: It drew the blueprint for a culture to come.

The song, written by the South Korean duo E-Tribe, used double-time electronic drums, fluorescent synthesizers and a cute-cloying repetition of the song’s title. It’s so insistent and poppy, it’s almost avant-garde.

“It’s just really good pop music. It’s very hooky and fast and just doesn’t sound like Western pop,” said James Brooks of electronica band Elite Gymnastics, who wrote an essay on K-pop for the influential music website Pitchfork.

The track stormed Asia — the official version of the video where the nine girls dance around a clothing store clocking in at just over 70 million plays on YouTube. The song topped South Korean pop charts for two months and made Girls’ Generation the first non-Japanese Asian girl group to top Japan’s singles charts.

It also set a template that, alongside a broad array of peer acts like the more rap-inclined 2NE1 and dance-heavy group Wonder Girls, suggested that South Korea’s pop music culture was coming into its own. Though the term “K-pop” is as reductive as referring to diverse U.S. artists like Lady Gaga, Skrillex and Lil Wayne as “A-pop,” it captures the scope of the South Korean music celebrity scene.

The overwhelmingly single-gender bands, cast by talent agencies for Korean corporate label conglomerates like SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment, created fierce and ever-evolving loyalties — imagine picking your favorite Beatle or Rolling Stone if there were 10 of them.

Songs and especially videos were quickly passed over high-speed Internet and mobile devices several times faster than what’s available in America. Sites like AllKPop and magazines like KoreAm chronicled the exploits of the young, fashionable and lightly transgressive stars — when GDTOP and pop singer Hyuna saw singles banned by South Korea’s major broadcasting networks, that made for delicious scandal. In August, Billboard launched a K-Pop Hot 100 chart to track the genre’s sales.

Catching on in U.S.

The fan scene in America has been largely centered on major immigrant hubs like Los Angeles and New York, where Girls’ Generation sold out Madison Square Garden with a crop of rising K-pop acts including BoA and Super Junior. But until very recently, due to the high cost of touring and marketing, fans’ interaction with artists has been limited to Internet and social media.

“There’s been a combination of distance and needing to go where it’s lucrative. You could do two weeks in Japan and do better than a full U.S. tour,” said David Zedeck, a CAA agent who handles American management of several K-pop groups including 2 AM, 2 PM and Wonder Girls. “But that’s changing. Wonder Girls have spent two years living and working largely in America, and their tour with Jonas Brothers taught K-pop managers that American audiences are open to something that seems foreign. These are Americans coming to their shows, the same fans going to see Gaga and Bieber.”

Many of their U.S. fans are young, culture-mixing Asian Americans who maintain an interest in Korean pop culture, but are just as conversant in American pop. That some K-pop stars are actually American-born or raised, like Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany, influences their personalities and deepens their connection to U.S. audiences.

“There were so many more opportunities in K-pop for a young Asian American singer,” the 22-year-old Tiffany, born Stephanie Hwang, said. “It took some adjusting to move there in my teen years. But fans respected that this group wasn’t put together overnight, it took a lot of practice to learn our different values and strengths.”

Several major K-pop acts have recent or upcoming releases that suggest they have wider ambitions than appealing solely to Korean Americans. Girls’ Generation’s 2011 single “Run Devil Run” was originally sung as a demo by Kesha, and its minor-key electronic jitters would be entirely at home on American radio as would “The Boys,” the title track of its first American major-label release in January for Interscope. Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas is reportedly helming 2NE1′s American debut album, and the group’s future-noir swagger (its recent smash single was called “I Am the Best”) would seem a natural fit for Will’s sci-fi dance pop sensibility.

“In the past, it was the norm to reach out to the Asian music market and/or the Korean communities abroad before reaching out worldwide,” said Joon Ahn, executive vice president for the Music Business Division at CJ Entertainment Media, one of the dominant media conglomerates in K-pop. “However, we believe that now … it’s necessary to directly reach out to the world market.”

But while K-pop has a lively Internet presence, America lacks a dominant media hub for first encountering K-pop culture. If one emerges, it might the Culver City-based Mnet. Its cable channel, a division of CJ Entertainment, is heavily focused on K-pop and broadcasts a mix of video countdown shows like “M! Countdown,” “Jjang!” (a celebrity gossip show) and “Hello Pop!” (a social-media-themed show whose 21-year-old host, Chrissa Villanueva, is L.A.-raised and Filipina).

“We want to organize the space. K-pop has penetrated the U.S. without radio or iTunes support, so the fan base is there,” said Adam Ware, the former president and CEO of Mnet (who recently left his position). “There’s just been no advocate for Asian pop yet in the way that MTV was an early advocate for hip-hop.”

Mnet hosts the annual MAMA awards (the Asian pop equivalent of the Grammys) and through its sister company M-Live, the station is beginning to present Korean acts in L.A. concert venues, like last fall’s set from the rapper Drunken Tiger at the Wiltern and a Nokia Theatre show by FT Island and CN Blue. The Korean Music Festival, an annual K-pop compendium, hits the Hollywood Bowl on April 28.

So 2012 may be the year that a K-pop artist makes a genuine American pop crossover. But some fans like Brooks don’t want the genre’s idiosyncrasies diluted for American audiences. “The last thing I’d want on a K-pop song is a Ludacris verse,” he said. “I don’t want it to become like harajuku culture in Japan, where the face of it here is Gwen Stefani.”

But if Girls’ Generation can headline a sold-out Madison Square Garden as virtual unknowns to the American mainstream, K-pop may have already rendered that crossover question pointless.

For artists with roots in both countries, K-pop’s late rise in America (and what it means for Korean culture everywhere) is sweet but just the start. “Coming back to America to pursue music is a dream,” Tiffany said. “Not just because it’s America, but because this is just the beginning.”

august.brown@latimes.com

Incoming search terms:

• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups forbes regional
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups gestures in different cultures
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups latest hollywood gossip
• artis korea search
• asian americans in thailand kpop
• korean k-pop song
• LA Times: “K-pop enters American pop consciousness”
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups jonas brothers dress up games

SEOUL — Since its 2009 debut in South Korea, CN Blue has been a bastion of rock in a music scene dominated by danceable electro-pop.

The band’s lasting success has comforted some about the continuing mainstream appeal of rock, while detractors accuse it of peddling innocuous poppy sounds, even calling the group a “fake band.”

In a recent interview with the four members, front man Jung Yong Hwa, 22, bassist Lee Jung Shin ,20, guitarist Lee Jong Hyun, 21, and drummer Kang Min Hyuk, 20, seemed to weigh in little on the controversy.

Rather than theorizing or rationalizing about their career, the quartet revel in it with ample humility, as sometimes even they are at a loss to describe the reason behind their success.

“Compared to when we were touring (East) Asia with the single “Love,” (from their second EP “Bluelove”) nowadays K-pop is riding on a much bigger wave,” Jung says, adding that their audience and fan base have expanded thanks to the collective expansion of Korean pop music in the last year. “The stages are bigger for us. Most of our fans used to be in their 30s or 40s; now we have more in their 20s or younger.”

Much like their K-pop colleagues, CN Blue has gone from a group of nobodies to superstars almost overnight, starting with the debut Korean EP “Bluetory” and its catchy lead single “I’m a Loner.” Most recently, the band released its third mini-album titled “Ear Fun,” with the single off it, “Hey You,” topping domestic charts.

The band’s continuing run of hits in South Korea and even its rise to Japanese stardom was a surprise to many, simply because it stood nowhere near the usual dancing troupe model of K-pop, now gaining popularity overseas. There were many critics, however, including popular Korean rocker Shin Hae Chul, who publicly accused CN Blue of plagiarism.

But since its debut, seeing guitars and a drum set on the stage of weekly pop music shows has become less alien, and Big Bang, the biggest K-pop boy band that relies heavily on dance, recruited a live band on stage. Even indie band Busker Busker, the runner-up on the third season of Korea’s “American Idol” equivalent “Superstar K,” is now gaining mass-market attention, with its recent major-label debut topping charts.

The group is also looking further afield when it comes to giving back. In March, a school named after it was opened in a small village in southwestern Burkina Faso in West Africa, partially funded by the proceeds of the band’s earnings.

“A lot of times we want to help but don’t know how,” Jung says. “We recently got to watch a video clip of the school, now all finished and in operation. We are very proud of this.”

The band’s management agency, FNC Entertainment, stated that the contribution to the Burkina project, organized by the Korea Food for Hungry International, will continue on a consistent basis.

Now in their third year as a part of CN Blue, the members seem to reflect much longer when asked about their future plans and ambitions.

“The lyrics of foreign bands are so much more varied. Some of the subjects are simply unimaginable to me,” Jung says, adding that the group are also stepping away from the syrupy lovesick words the fans have come to associate with them. “I want to be alone, maybe travel — alone.”

“I want life to be a bit more spectacular,” Lee Jung Shin says. “Our career has progressed endlessly. We need a break.”

“I want to space out for a little while,” adds Lee Jong Hyun, laughing.

The quartet were off to an amusement park outside Seoul for their next appointment. Hardly the break they might want, but Lee Jong Hyun glows with hope: “We’re going to be together for 20 to 30 years, at least,” he says.

Other Music this week

STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Three seminal albums hit the 10-year mark

By IAN MARTIN

LISTENING POST

2NE1 “Collection”

By IAN MARTIN

LISTENING POST

80Kidz Turbo Town

By PATRICK ST. MICHEL

Incoming search terms:

• electro pop music asia
• is k pop mainstream in europe
• magazine interview cnblue
• mc jin hot

A large crowd of Japanese K-Pop fans gathered at Tokyo Haneda Airport on April 24 to greet the K-Pop artists that are to attend the cable channel Mnet ‘M! Countdown Hello Japan.’

‘M! Countdown Hello Japan’ is to take place at Japan Saitama Super Arena on April 25 which will be streamed on April 26 on various Asian networks such as Mnet Space Shower TV, Mnet Japan and tvN.

There are a total of 16 K-Pop artists that will perform at the concert. From them Busker Busker, SECRET, A Pink, MBLAQ, U-KISS, Yoon Mirae, John Park, Supernova, Tiger JK, FTISLAND have arrived through Haneda Airport on April 24. There were many Japanese fans that came early in the morning to see their favorite artists a bit earlier and fans gave enthusiastic cheers whenever their favorite artists made an entrance.

Like Us on Facebook :

Several hundreds of fans flocking at the airport were stirred as the news of K-Pop artists arrival were heard, the quiet airport was suddenly filled with cheers of fans whenever the stars made an appearance. In particular Supernova’s appearance brought cheers that seemed to explode the airport drew a lot of attention. Supernova is a group that has received a lot of love in Japan known as ‘hallyudols.’

FTISLAND’s popularity was also overwhelming. The group members including Lee Hongki have gained a lot of awareness through drama ‘You’re Beautiful’ have received a lot of love from fans. The members themselves also seemed by the popularity and thanked their fans as they left the airport.

The Korea girl group fever also has continued onto Japan as well. Although A Pink hasn’t started any promotional activities yet received numerous shouts from fans excited to see them. SECRET also greeted the Japanese fans with a smile. Also Yoon Mirae stopped her footstep as a Japanese fan welcomed her in fluent Korean.

It’s exciting to expect what the K-Pop artists have prepared for their fans at ‘M! Countdown Hello Japan.’

Photo: CJ EM

Incoming search terms:

• m countdown hello japan sold out

KARA, BEAST has confirmed to perform at ‘K-POP NON-STOP LIVE’ in Sapporo Dome on August 1.

This is the first concert for a K-Pop artist to take place at Sapporo Dome. Popular K-Pop artists such as KARA, BEAST, MBLAQ, 4minute, Rainbow is expected to stir up K-Pop sensation in Hokkaido with a maximum number of capacity is 53,800 audience that is same scale as Tokyo Dome.

The first lineup of artists has been confirmed such as KARA, BEAST, MBLAQ, 4minute, and Rainbow. The next round of artists will be released soon.

Like Us on Facebook :

The tickets are sold in 3 different types the performance will take place at August 1 the doors open at 3:30PM and performance begins at 6:30PM, local time.

K-POP NON STOP LIVE official website

Incoming search terms:

• k-pop non-stop live
• K-POP non-stop live 2012 in sapporo
• beast in taiwan kara
• K POP NO STOP LIVE
• K POP NON STOP LIVE
• k pop nonstop live
• K-POP NON-STOP LIVE afterschool

Some of South Korea’s top pop bands, with millions of fans and followers around the world, could be headed to New Zealand for a huge pop music festival with the aim of spreading “Hallyu” – or the Korean cultural wave.

As part of celebrations to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between South Korea and New Zealand, the Korean Society is planning to bring the country’s most popular female group, Girls’ Generation, with other top pop groups such as 2PM and Kara, for a K-pop festival in the summer.

Celebrations to mark the “Korea-New Zealand Year of Friendship” start on Saturday with Korean Day at the North Shore Events Centre, where K-pop will be taking centre stage.

The South Korean Embassy will also be backing New Zealand’s first national K-pop competition, to take place this year.

“K-pop has become a very important part of Korea’s modern and dynamic culture, which has been gaining popularity around the world,” said the republic’s ambassador to New Zealand, Yongkyu Park.

“Its popularity is growing in New Zealand, and in a very short time, the number of K-pop fans here has grown into the thousands and there are many fan groups here.”

Mr Park said New Zealand’s participation in the Korean War more than 60 years ago started a relationship with South Korea that was still flourishing.

More than 60,000 South Koreans visit New Zealand each year, 30,000 live here, and 15,000 are in the country as international students.

“The potential for our relationship can be seen in the strong personal connections and friendships which are flourishing between the two peoples,” he said.

A New Zealand K-Pop fans Facebook page, set up last year, has a following of more than 1200 fans.

Girls’ Generation were last year named PR ambassadors for Visit Korea Year 2012 and headlined a sold-out K-pop show in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Millions around the world have come to share a common obsession with South Korean pop music and dramas in the Hallyu phenomenon.

Other events planned to commemorate the anniversary year include a Korean film festival and a food festival.

South Korean student Josie Lee, 21, said: “I think K-pop fans will be even more crazy than those who follow One Direction.”

British pop band One Direction performed at three sold-out New Zealand concerts, and brought chaos to the streets of Sydney, where a dozen young female fans fainted.

Society spokesman Ted Min said the likely venue would be either “a stadium or a vineyard” that could accommodate the expected large crowd for the K-pop festival.

By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln

Incoming search terms:

• Korean culture has gained popularity

The reign of K-pop

Before Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, washed over Singapore, there was Japanese mania.

It hit Singapore hard in the 1980s and 1990s, first with singers and actors such as Seiko Matsuda and Momoe Yamaguchi, followed by the likes of SMAP, X-Japan, Speed and Namie Amuro. Their posters and laminated photos sold briskly at retail outlets catering to idol-loving hormonal teens and young adults.

Oshin, about the travail and triumphs of a Japanese woman from childhood through motherhood, was among the first huge Japanese drama successes in Singapore when it aired here in the 1980s, long before Korean matinee idol Bae Yong Joon was a twinkle in the eyes of his housewife fans here. Subsequently, Japanese drama serials such as Beach Boys (1997) and GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (1999) fired up the small screen, even if it was in a language most Singaporeans could not understand.

These days, from Girls’ Generation to Lee Min Ho and Kim Hyun Joong, it is almost all about Korean pop culture with Singaporeans – and it has taken only a decade for K-pop to not only erase Japanese pop culture’s 20-year headstart, but surpass it considerably.

What happened?

Part of the answer lies in the example of Japanese rock band L’Arc-En-Ciel holding their first-ever concert in Singapore on Saturday only after 20 years and selling 40 million records.

The quartet – among Japan’s biggest bands – told Life! they never came to Singapore before simply because they had no idea they had a following here. And it is quite a sizeable following too – a few categories of tickets to the concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium are already sold out.

Although local supporters say there is no official fan club established here, some of them are passionate enough about L’Arc-En-Ciel that they have flown all over the world to watch them perform at concerts.

According to Warner Music marketing director James Kang, the fact that J-pop stars have always been more ‘distant’ and insular compared to K-pop stars played a part in the Korean takeover.

He says even at the height of their popularity, girl group Speed, boyband SMAP, pop queen Namie Amuro, visual rock group Glay and current hot group Arashi gave Singapore shores a miss – so no fan meets, no concerts, no showcases.

Japanese rock music fan Fabian Soh, 22, has also noticed that big-name Japanese singers and groups do not tour here as often as their Korean counterparts – a probable reason why they are not as popular.

The library office administrator says: “You can definitely find people in Singapore who are crazy about J-pop now, but it’s not easy as finding people who are very vocal about K-pop.”

A fan of underground J-rock bands such as Tokyo Pinsalocks and Sakanaction, Soh says he would probably have to travel to Japan if he ever wanted to see them live because there is “pretty much no chance of them ever coming here”.

In contrast, K-pop stars are less shy about stepping out of their country. To be frank, they are all too eager to promote themselves. Sometimes, it seems they are willing to go anywhere in the world for even the opening of an envelope, as long as it is an opportunity for more publicity and the price is right.

Indeed, K-pop acts tour Singapore more often than the Japanese, with popular groups such as Girls’ Generation, FTIsland and Beast having recently performed here.

Not enough material for a full-length concert? No worry, there is always this thing called a ticketed fan meet. Last December, K-pop boyband TVXQ were in town for a two-hour fan party at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, where they sang a few songs, autographed merchandise and took photos with fans.

Later next month, Korean idol Kim Hyun Joon, who played the princely Yoon Ji Hoo in the idol drama Boys Over Flowers (2009), will also be in town for a fan meet at the Indoor Stadium.

More recently, the Mnet Asian Music Awards, one of the biggest star-studded annual K-pop awards events, was held here last November. It is still the clearest sign that the K-pop market has a strong foothold in Singapore.

Assistant professor Liew Kai Khiun of Nanyang Technological University, whose research areas include television dramas and popular music in Southeast Asia, partly attributes the Hallyu revolution to the Korean government’s push to promote all things Korean abroad.

He says: “Unlike their Japanese counterparts, the Korean government and the media industry invest significantly in promoting the K-wave in the world as part of the efforts in strengthening the republic’s soft power.”

In Singapore, the Korean government has previously organized and co-funded Korean pop concerts, and has supported the Korean Film Festival, which has been held here annually for the last five years.

In 2006, a website was even set up by the Korea Tourism Organization which combined cast details of popular Korean dramas with information about filming locations to attract visitors.

Another sign that Japanese pop culture has loosened its hold on the region: Boys Over Flowers is a popular Japanese manga series that started in 1992 which got overshadowed in East Asia, first by the Taiwanese TV adaptation of it in 2001 (Meteor Garden), and in 2009 by the Korean TV series also called Boys Over Flowers.

Sandwiched between these two versions was the Japanese TV series which never achieved the same level of interest in Singapore.

Industry veterans say there is another reason why the Korean Wave eclipsed the Japanese mania in the early to mid-2000s: the high cost of bringing Japanese content into Singapore.

When Man Shu Sum was the executive director of the Taiwan office of Television Corporation of Singapore (now MediaCorp), he brought in Korean dramas for local television in the late 1990s because they were a cheaper alternative to titles from Japan.

According to him, Korean drama serials back then cost around US$800 an episode compared to up to $15,000 an episode for a Japanese drama.

“We decided to acquire Korean drama, which looked very primitive in production value but the faces were refreshing and the story lines were quite engaging,” he says.

It worked. Singaporeans became hooked on K-drama. Popular shows would easily attract a viewership of more than 200,000, notes Man, who is now managing director of Raintree Pictures. Some of the memorable Korean dramas that emerged from that time include the love story Winter Sonata (2002), which starred Korean television heart-throb Bae, and the weepie TV series Autumn In My Heart (2001).

Currently, at least 24 Korean dramas are airing weekly in Singapore on several cable TV channels such as VV Drama, KBS World, ONE, E City and tvN.

Liew says of the appeal of Korean dramas to Singaporeans: “With the melodramatic family-friendly scripts in both historical and contemporary soap operas, K-dramas seem to be more universally appealing to local audiences. J-dramas, on the other hand, are more realistic of the portrayal of small family households, and in recent years, seemed to place less emphasis on historical dramas that regional audiences enjoy watching.”

Marketing communications staff Leow Si Wan, 30, says: “Japanese dramas are too subtle in the way emotions are expressed and the plot development can be slow. K-drama is more dramatic and allows you to immerse yourself in a make-believe world.

“Also, for the series Boys Over Flowers, the Korean version of the four guys is also definitely better looking than the cast in the Japanese version.”

Even in music, Korean material seems more attractive, says Warner’s Kang.

He says Japanese content ‘was getting stagnant’ while K-pop ‘was starting to evolve with a fresher young pop sound’.

“Their music videos started to be striking and creative, and the stars are more exciting in image and music.”

Indeed, the Korean stars do not just perform watered-down versions of their concerts back home. When Girls’ Generation and Super Junior staged their concerts here at the Indoor Stadium, they were grand, lengthy affairs with elaborate stage designs – even if the bigger stages meant selling fewer tickets.

Even J-pop fans are converts.

Kang adds: “Unfortunately, J-pop has been slow in its growth to produce fresh sounds and superstar idols. Ever since the peak popularity of Ayumi Hamasaki and Utada Hikaru in the early 2000s, we have not seen bigger stars with ‘idol influence’ emerge from the land of the rising sun.”

Even J-pop fans have become K-pop converts. Operations associate William Neo, 30, a J-pop fan since his teens, really got into Korean girl groups After School and T-ara last October.

He says: “Their music is nice, performances are very good and all the girls are quite pretty – the whole packaging is good.

“I used to listen to Namie Amuro, Ayumi Hamasaki, but then I lost track of them. In Singapore, they never promote their albums and you seldom hear about them on the Internet unless you really go and search for their songs.”

Jason Ng, 31, a relationship manager in an investment bank, says he prefers the idols from Korea to Japan in recent years because of the ‘difference in quality’, which he attributes to more money and time being spent on grooming Korean idols.

He thinks that a Japanese girl would be able to debut in a girl group such as AKB48 almost immediately “if she met the basic criteria of age and looks”.

“But the girls in Girls’ Generation, I believe, spent about five years training their vocals and dancing after they had placed highly in a talent competition.”

But die-hard J-pop fans such as National University of Singapore law student Alan Koh, 22, is optimistic that J-mania will survive the test of time.

He says: “The interest in K-pop is just a passing phase. I think K-pop will always have its devotees, and the J-pop fan base has relatively lost its strength, but it’s okay when everyone’s not fighting with you for tickets to a J-pop concert.”

Incoming search terms:

• albums from the 50s-60s
• asia big woman hot
• l\arc en ciel singapore arrive airport
• singapore k-pop j-pop