YG’s First Official Announcement of “Big Bang is Coming”…Greatest Promotion
‘K-Pop Star’ Casting War Once Again Over Lee Michelle and Park Ji Min
– January 21, 2012Posted in: K-pop News
Kara becomes first Asian girl group to rank in Oricon’s top 5
Korean female idols Kara will become the first Asian girl group to place in the top 10 on Japan’s prestigious Oricon chart, according to Japanese publication Oricon Style on Tuesday….
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Jay Chou catches ‘Viral Agent’
– January 21, 2012Posted in: Mandopop
“[It] is so far the movie where I made my biggest breakthrough in terms of personal image,” said Chou on Jan. 18, referring to Jon, his character in the film, who is often trapped in dangerous situations, fighting barehanded with a bullet in his head that cannot be taken out. Seeking to reunite with his father and his elder brother Wan Yang, played by Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) of Hong Kong, Jon finds himself moving away from his principles as a special agent to the realities of his life. Fight Back from Adversity Dante Lam is known for shoot-em-up action movies such as his award-winning “Beast Stalker” (證人) in 2008. Lam tends to tell sad and dark stories in his movies, and he seldom gives happy endings. “I feel that joy is easy to forget, and people never forget what gives them pain,” he said. For him, the movie’s Chinese title “Ni Zhan” is more than just a movie title. “I had wanted to use this title to name one of my movies for a long time, because I seem to keep encountering adversities in my life. And the only way to overcome them is to fight, no matter if you win or lose in the end,” he explained. Lam first picked Chou as one of the leading actors, and then thought of Tse, not only because the latter is his good friend, but also because of the good working experiences he had with him. “Chou and Tse are both die-hards for their careers. I thought putting them together could bring out sparks in the movie,” he said. However, both Chou and Lam have concerns over whether Taiwanese audiences will be able to see Chou without his superstar halo. “When I showed up wearing armor in ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’ (滿城盡帶黃金甲), the audiences laughed. The character was supposed to utter righteousness. People still see me as who I am in real life,” said Chou. “My identity is a limitation. Even if I put my musician image away in acting, the audiences still see me that way,” he added. Lam, who had experience altering Tse’s acting style, gave his opinion regarding Chou’s concerns. “When Tse cried in the last scene of ‘Beast Stalker,’ Hong Kong audiences laughed as well. But the first step is like that, and it is always the most difficult. When an actor passes this step, he or she can only be better,” Lam concluded. ■ ‘The Viral Factor’ (逆戰) ► Directed by Dante Lam / With Jay Chou, Nicholas Tse, Liu Kai Chi and Bai Bing / Action / Hong Kong / 2012 / 120 min. / Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles / ★★★☆☆ / Now Showing
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Faye Wong denies she is pregnant
– January 21, 2012Posted in: Cantopop
Singer Faye Wong has denied she is two months’ pregnant, China Press reported.
This followed media reports that the Cantopop queen, whose second husband Li Yapeng had reportedly wished to have a son, would give birth to a dragon baby.
The couple has a six-year-old daughter while Wong also has a 15-year-old daughter from her first marriage.
Wong had allegedly said she was making an appearance in a Chinese New Year show to earn more money as she was expecting her third baby.
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West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre: Viva la Cantonese opera
– January 21, 2012Posted in: Cantopop
Tickets for a series of 11 Cantonese opera performances over the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong sold out almost immediately.
The shows, which are being staged inside a traditional temporary theater, mark the launch of the construction of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) and will give a glimpse of what the future arts hub will be like.
The demand for the shows may be due to curiosity over the Cultural District project, or the added attraction of a contemporary art and new media exhibition about Cantonese opera to be held alongside the performances.
Plus, tickets cost a mere HK$10.
But the ticket-grabbing is mostly a testament to the continuous popularity of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong.
WKCD performance arts director Louis Yu reckons Cantonese opera is Hong Kong’s second most popular form of entertainment, after Canto-pop.
Despite Hong Kong’s passion for the art, the city will lose its last major dedicated venue for Cantonese opera next month.
The legendary Sunbeam Theatre in North Point, which has been showcasing the best of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong since 1972, will close its doors for good.
It is the last chapter in a long tale of woe for the traditional art form, beset by a lack of performance space, an aging audience and competition from more popular forms of entertainment.
“We’re a bunch of wild flowers growing in the street,” is how former Cantonese opera actor Danny Li Chi-kei describes the current opera scene. “We have to fight in order to survive.”
Twist in the plot
The turning point for the development of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong is not far off.
In response to the loss of performance space, the Hong Kong government will open a number of new venues in the next few years to make up for the loss of the Sunbeam Theatre.
Students thought Cantonese opera was grandmother’s stuff
The Yau Ma Tei Theatre, a cinema built in the 1930s, has been restored and will open as a small venue for emerging Cantonese opera performers later this year.
In 2013, a new expansion will open at the Ko Shan Theatre in Ma Tau Wai, providing dedicated space for Cantonese opera training and performance.
Dorothy Ng, a professor of education at the University of Hong Kong, has created new educational materials to teach children about Cantonese opera, which 30 secondary schools have integrated into their curriculum.
“At the beginning, students thought Cantonese opera was grandmother’s stuff,” says Ng.
“It was boring. They couldn’t understand the lyrics. Even some of their teachers had never been inside a theater to watch opera. Then when they learned about the language, the gestures, the martial arts, the costumes, they started to change their minds. Some have even become fans.”
The most talked about initiative though is the WKCD’s Xiqu Centre which will open with a 1,100-seat opera house. It hopes to provide a permanent home for Cantonese opera and make it relevant to more cosmopolitan audiences.
Before the Xiqu Centre opens in 2015, the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre will sit temporarily on its site.
The 11 sold-out Cantonese opera shows will be staged here paired with contemporary art installations by Michael Wolf, Chu Hing-wah, Gaylord Chan, Samson Young and Henry Chu.
“This is Cantonese opera for a 21st-century audience,” says Louis Yu. “The art form is thousands of years old, but the audience is contemporary.”
For anyone who failed to score a ticket, there will be a free marathon screening of five classic Hong Kong films, curated by veteran actor Law Kar-ying and visual artist Chow Chun-fai, on January 24.
Bamboo tenacity
The 800-seat bamboo theater alone is worth a visit.
Such structures are common in the New Territories, where they are built for traditional Chinese festivals.
“It’s like a cathedral,” says Yu, who had never set foot inside a bamboo theater until recently.
Watching opera inside a bamboo theater is unlike anything else. The experience is no longer just about what is happening on stage, but also encompasses audience reaction.
“You don’t just watch — you gather with friends for food and drinks,” says Danny Li. “It’s a warm atmosphere. This affects the kind of opera you do. In a bamboo theater, it’s usually a crowd-pleaser.”
In the early 20th century, villagers throughout the Pearl River Delta would pool money to hire Cantonese opera troupes to perform in bamboo theaters.
The performers would travel by boat from village to village. Some troupes ventured as far away as New York, Vancouver and San Francisco, where large communities of Cantonese immigrants were hungry for entertainment from back home.
There was even a daily newspaper, Tsun Lam Po, dedicated to all things Cantonese opera.
“There were probably 3,000 actors in the industry at the time,” says Li, who was born in 1935 to opera-performing parents.
By the time he became an actor, in the 1950s, the opera scene had begun to change, with fewer live performances and more Cantonese opera films, which were cheaper to produce and to watch.
The start of the Cultural Revolution in 1965 was a huge shock to the industry. Opera was banned on the mainland, with actors, directors and scriptwriters hounded by Red Guards for their bourgeois indulgence.
Hong Kong became a bastion for Cantonese opera, but the British colonial government was indifferent, lending most of its financial support to Western forms of art instead.
In 2009, UNESCO deemed Cantonese opera a World Intangible Cultural Heritage. Now an effort is being made to restore the opera’s relevance.
“This a very critical time now,” says Dorothy Ng. “There was a loss of space, a loss of skills — but recently there have been some good developments. Now I’m optimistic.”
West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre performances take place 21-24 at the corner of Austin Road and Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.
All opera performances are sold out, but entry to the contemporary art exhibition is free from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
There will also be a free series of film screenings on January 24 from 2 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
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Run in the buff? Not me
– January 21, 2012Posted in: Cantopop
The thought of running around in his underwear in front of a crowd made him squeamish.
So when Hong Kong actor-singer Daniel Chan was asked by director Jack Neo to do just that in his new local flick We Not Naughty, Chan tried to get out of it.
The Cantopop heart-throb plays an earnest teacher who is pressured to sprint naked around the school in front of cheering and jeering teenagers after he loses a bet to his two rebellious students (played by Shawn Lee and Joshua Ang).
Chan, 36, told The New Paper: “Obviously it’s embarrassing and it’s not something that I would do on a normal basis.
“Jack even wanted me to do the scene naked, but he was told that it wouldn’t pass censorship in Singapore.
“I asked him if we could do away with the nudity and in the end, he said I could just wear underwear. I was relieved.”
His groin area was deliberately pixelated in the final cut.
In the film, Chan shows off his lean and toned physique, which he revealed was the result of being a consistent gym bunny.
However, being almost naked in public is “nothing” compared to Chan’s love life.
Chan said his romantic relationships have plagued him to the point where he found it hard to turn up for work.
Said Chan: “Maybe it’s because I have a permanent case of nervous tension.
“I’m a Virgo so I’m always analysing things. It’s very tiring but I cannot help it, it’s all in the soul.
“The biggest blow to me would be if I meet with unhappiness in my relationship.
“When you try to hurt me, the (emotions) will explode and it will be very serious.”
Chan refused to reveal anything about his personal life, including whether he was seeing anyone at the moment.
According to Hong Kong entertainment news website jaynestars.com, Chan got engaged last May to his girlfriend, Chinese model Dan Dan.
It was reported that a friend had introduced them over dinner and the pair started dating shortly after.
The same report added that Chan would follow Dan Dan’s family’s “engagement practices”, and after he completed his work projects last year, he would hold the wedding ceremony in Beijing.
The couple were also said to have lived together for some time.
Chan also reportedly said that if his fiancee were to get pregnant, he would be very happy.
It may be a case of art imitating life for Chan, whose character in We Not Naughty is a father-to-be eagerly awaiting the birth of his first child.
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Loud, heavy, powerful
– January 19, 2012Posted in: K-pop News
IN THE glossy K-pop world of synchronised dance moves and slick, choreographed performances, it is refreshing to witness a pretty boy pull off his rock ‘n’ roll swagger on stage.
And convincingly, for that matter.
Korean pop-rock quintet F.T. Island, fronted by enigmatic vocalist Lee Hong Ki, had its rock roots on full display in Singapore yesterday, proving that K-pop isn’t all just about catchy hip-hop beats.
With talented musicians skilled in their instruments, K-pop can be just as loud, powerful and heavy as its chart-topping Western modern rock counterparts.
Playing in front of a 3,500 crowd made up of mostly screaming teenage girls at Singapore Expo’s The Max Pavilion, F.T. Island opened the 21/2-hour concert with its uplifting tune, I Hope.
Frontman Lee, 21, was in top form throughout the evening. His soaring, dramatic delivery of the band’s biggest hits such as Love Love Love, Hello Hello and Love Sick was reminiscent of J-rock veterans Gackt and L’Arc-en-Ciel’s Hyde’s style of singing.
Now we know why the boys had no problems cracking the Japanese music industry.
Last year, their debut Japanese album, Five Treasure Island, topped the Japanese Oricon music charts – a first for a foreign artiste in Oricon’s 42 years of history.
Earlier, The New Paper chatted with some fans queueing to enter the venue and found many who couldn’t stop gushing about the baby-faced singer.
“Hong Ki sings with so much passion and emotion!” exclaimed Secondary 3 student Jamie Choo, 15.
Her friend, Koh Jiayi, 14, agreed.
She added: “It’s like he is singing his heart out.”
Besides wowing the audience with his voice, Lee also looked the part and behaved with the irreverence of a rocker.
Feeding off energy from fans
He gesticulated wildly as he sang, feeding off the energy from the fans as he egged them on to sing along.
At one point, Lee shouted at the top of his voice: “You’re so (expletive) cool!”
A few reporters in front of me gasped and looked at one another, stunned. While hurling profanities is not unusual at rock gigs, when it comes to K-pop, it is.
Lee was also capable of goofing around.
Bantering with bassist Lee Jae Jin, 20, he randomly uttered to his mate: “I love you.”
Laughs erupted all around as Jae Jin replied in mock-surprise: “Why?”
“I don’t know,” was Lee’s nonchalant reply.
The other band members were just as equally competent in their roles.
Band leader and lead guitarist Choi Jong Hun’s guitar solos were astoundingly good.
It helped that the 21-year-old was dashing and had a smile that could melt any girl’s heart.
Behind the drums, Choi Min Hwan, 19, kept time well and showed off his enviable six-pack abs in a funnyvideo.
The dudes of F.T. Island were clearly in high spirits, probably from their recent triumph at Korea’s premier music awards event, the Golden Disk Awards.
On Thursday, F.T. Island received the Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Musician Award, as well as the Best Rock Musician Of The Year Award.
The band closed its Singapore concert leg with a rousing rendition of Like The Birds – a perfect end to a jubilant night.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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VOTE NOW: Which Office Better Suits A Kpop Star? SM or YG
– January 19, 2012Posted in: K-pop News
HEAR IT FIRST: Girls’ Generation Star Jessica Teams Up With Rapper Kim Jin Pyo for “Wild Romance”
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K is for ‘kawaii’: K-Pop and the Korean Wave
– January 19, 2012Posted in: K-pop News
Consider this a guide to surviving the cultural tsunami currently brewing in the North Pacific. The Korean Wave is coming, and if you have any hopes of navigating an American cultural landscape inundated with robotically synchronized choreography and perfectly teased hair, read carefully.
The term “Hallyu,” which roughly translates as “Korean wave,” was first coined to describe the surge in popularity of Korean music, television, and fashion in Japan and China in the early 2000s. More recently, the colorful seeds of Korean culture industries have come into full bloom in Southeast Asia. It now appears that the Korean media colossus has set its sights on America.
Tuesday marked the American release of Korean girl-group Girls’ Generation’s first English-language album, The Boys.
Although their music has frequently featured snippets of the language — like the innocent whispers of “listen, boy … my first love-story, my angel…” that begin the flamboyantly hued music video for their 2009 hit, “Gee” — the decision to produce an entire record in English signifies new and substantial interest in American audiences.
Those who have heard “Gee” — or more probably those who have seen the positively saccharine music video — might balk at the implicit assumption that S.M. Entertainment, the conglomerate talent agency, record label and production studio that effectively owns Girls’ Generation, has made.
Indeed, it may be hard to envision baggy-jeans-wearin’, freedom-lovin’ Americans singing along to Girls’ Generation’s playful and accented lyrics or emulating their daring yet perfectly coordinated fashion sense.
Recent trends of aesthetic maximalism suggest that this foreign fad might just catch on.
Music journalist and cultural critic Simon Reynolds recently discussed this “digital maximalism” in Pitchfork Media.
Referencing relatively underground electronic artists like Rustie and Flying Lotus, Reynolds argues that the current vogue responds to a long-standing preference for the stark and the minimal with rococo flourishes and pyrotechnic excesses.
The mainstream, too, offers examples of this aesthetic shift. Consider the larger-than-life auras of Kanye West or Skrillex, and Bassnectar’s hyper-masculine “bass-tardizations” of London’s originally minimalist dubstep. Need I even mention Lady Gaga?
K-Pop too seems to subscribe to the philosophy of “the more, the merrier.” In contrast to American boy-bands of the ‘90s, who rarely numbered more than four or five, Girls’ Generation has nine members. Their corporate cousins, Super Junior (also managed by S.M. Entertainment) were 13 strong at one point.
Musically speaking, there is nothing subtle about The Boys. K-Pop is mixed loud, heavily compressed and it positively sparkles with buzzy synths that chirp out ebullient, catchy melodies.
Five minutes of the stuff will have even the most stoic of shoulders shimmying. Ten minutes and you’ll have a cheerful, if not mildly annoying, soundtrack to accompany the rest of your day.
Furthermore, there is already a precedent of financial success for Asian cultural phenomena with distinctly foreign sensibilities.
Consider the plethora of Japanese trends that have captured the fascination (and dollars) of America’s youth over the past two decades: Pokémon, Hello Kitty and the Dragon Ball anime.
These cultural productions share an aesthetic that the Japanese call “kawaii.” This roughly translates as “cuteness” or “adorableness,” yet the linguistic imprecision with which an English-speaker must approach the concept demonstrates just how alien it is to Western norms.
Still, the style clearly took root in America. Would it even be possible to conceive of our collective childhoods without “kawaii?” The Korean Wave reinterprets this sensibility, blending cutesy elements like Girls’ Generation’s aura of juvenile timidity or Super Junior’s feminized hairstyles, with a heavy dose of bottled sex appeal.
Girls’ Generation’s uniform of smooth, long legs probably does contribute to the group’s popularity among Korean soldiers, and Super Junior’s muscled abdomens certainly do not offend the group’s young and female fan base.
In order to keep up with our future pop idols, I’ve already invested in a Bowflex and Korean lessons. I suggest that you procure, at the very least, a sturdy straightening iron and a bottle of premium hairspray.
Contact the Diversions editor at diversions@dailytarheel.com
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U-Kiss’ Kevin Named Luckiest Kpop Star in 2012
– January 19, 2012Posted in: K-pop News
Two Hours of Sleep for Tara
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K-Pop Hot 100: T-ara Makes Giant Leap for Top Spot
– January 19, 2012Posted in: K-pop News
The seven young ladies of T-ara can gloat about two things this week: First is about the growing popularity of their new EP, and second is the fact they are the group that finally put an end to soloist IU’s historic five-week run at No. 1 on the K-Pop Hot 100. T-ara was able to reclaim the chart throne this week with its latest smash hit single, “Lovey Dovey” (up from the No. 20 last week).
CHART: Scan the K-Pop Hot 100
After their seductive chameleon-like transformation in “Cry Cry,” the girls returned to their roots in a reign of disco brilliance with “Lovey Dovey,” a sequel to their previous hit, “Roly Poly.” In the video, the thumping song is visually heightened with bright street-style outfits and shuffle dance choreography that coordinates well with the catchy hook of the song — where (surprise!) the girls repeatedly sing the words “lovey dovey” while pleading for their lovers’ affections.
With a $4.3 million exclusive management deal for Japan locked down with Japan management company J-ROCK and their recent dominance on both Billboard Korea and Japan’s charts, the ladies are surely working their way up to be the representative faces of K-Pop along with Kara and Girl’s Generation.
Other chart moves on the K-Pop Hot 100 include six-member boy band Teen Top’s landing in the top ten with “Going Crazy,” from their current EP. The group has caused a stir for its possibly unintended “explicit” lyrics (Teen Top rapper L. Joe apparently mispronounces a word meaning “hell” in Korean to sound like the Korean counterpart for the f-word, considered taboo in K-Pop).
Nevertheless, this controversial song made it to the No. 8 spot this week. Brave Brothers — the mastermind behind many K-Pop chart-topper tracks — mixed the club-like dance beats and scripted the song’s biting rap verses. This body-shaker has an addictive hook of constant repetition of the word “babe,” which is reminiscent of Justin Bieber’s favorite song, “Baby.”
Meanwhile, the five-member boy band MBLAQ’s newest single, “Scribble,” entered at No. 15 on this week’s Billboard K-Pop Hot 100. “Scribble” is a heart-wrenching ballad accompanied by the sophisticated sounds of the harmonica and guitar that collectively help to bring out the group’s vocals. Watch for this song to continue rising the chart.
Zia
AKB48
Groove (Album)
Fly Black Hearts (Album)