Latest Headlines
0

SHOWBIZ: Dazzling Ding Dang

– January 17, 2012Posted in: Mandopop

EXPECT a sizzling stage performance from Della Ding at the Arena Of Stars, Genting Highlands, on April 28. Heralded as the Newborn Mandopop Diva, she is particularly known for her clear, captivating voice and spectacular range.

Della Ding

Della Ding

Fondly known as Ding Dang, she kick-started her world tour concert, The Diva In Della, in Taipei last December. The concert, which boasts a spectacular visual experience and a dazzling display of fashionable wear, incorporates elements from four classic Broadway musicals — Chicago, The Lion King, Rent and Swan Lake.

Ding Dang, 28, comes from Zhe Jiang province in China. She left home at the age of 18 to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional singer. She sang in pubs for five years before making her big move to Mandopop headquarters, Taiwan.

She’s adored for her love ballads, especially on her earlier records. She dabbled with dance numbers in her third album, Night Owl, released in 2009. But it was after her fourth album, Fu Good, that her popularity skyrocketed.

Her hit song, Wo Ai Ta, accompanied the TV drama Autumn’s Concerto and was awarded the second-most popular KTV song of 2010.

The Diva In Della Live In Malaysia 2012 is organised by Star Planet to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Tickets: RM120-RM420 (excluding RM3 processing fee).

There will also be a special Charity Zone, where tickets sold from this zone will be donated to the Cancer Care Fund under Yayasan Bakti Khidmat Masyarakat Malaysia. This initiative will continue for all concerts organised by Star Planet this year.

For details, call Star Planet (03-9223 3667)/Ticket Charge (03-9222 8811) or visit www.starplanet.com.my.

0

“K-Pop Star” Airs Live Starting February

– January 17, 2012Posted in: K-pop News

http://www.soompi.com/news/kpop-star-airs-live-starting-february

0

K-pop splashes into the west

– January 17, 2012Posted in: K-pop News

There is a giant wave of entertainment growing in the far east country of South Korea, and it is getting ready to wash over the entire west this upcoming year. Korean pop music, mostly referred to as K-pop, is all the rage in South Korea, and has been steadily on the incline for the past 13 years. After an enormous success in multiple Asian countries such as Singapore, China, Vietnam and even Japan, this wave of K-pop has decided to finally reach out west. Three girl groups in South Korea are at the forefront of this movement thus far, and are poised to make multiple splashes throughout the year.

Similar to American music in the mid-90s, K-pop is filled with plenty of boy and girl groups. K-pop songs are filled with synthesizers, electric bass and catchy beats. Most of the music is either dance or “synthpop,” but hip-hop and rap are also starting to take over the charts in South Korea. Along with their fast beats are tons of other entertainment values such as powerful voices, extremely talented dancing, and they do not look too shabby either.

The Wonder Girls

One of the most successful girl groups that are riding the wave into the west is The Wonder Girls. The Wonder Girls are a pop group that formed in 2007, but did not start their American exploration until 2009. Their hit single “Nobody” ended up on the Billboard’s Hot 100 in October 2009, making them the first South Korean group to ever land on the charts. From there, they were taken under the Jonas Brothers’ wings and opened for them in a total of 45 concerts.  The Wonder Girls then began their own tour and graced cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in a 20-show tour the following year. Like any group, there are occasional change-ups in members due various issues, but while touring in America in 2009, Sunye (22), Yeeun (22), Sohee (19), Sunmi (19) and Yubin (23) were the members of the group. Now, Sunye leads the group, while Yeeun is the lead vocalist, Yubin is the main rapper, Sohee is the main dancer and Hyerim (19) contributes to lead vocals and rapping. Sunmi was the lead vocalist until she postponed her time with The Wonder Girls to further her education. They plan to have a single drop simultaneously with their Nickelodeon film, “Wonder Girls at the Apollo,” scheduled for release Feb. 2 on TeenNick.

2NE1

From the old to the new, this hip-hop rookie group has made a huge name for themselves in the past two years; they go by the name of 2NE1.  Destiny’s Child meets South Korea is the best way to explain the fierce presence that this girl group radiates. Although they only began performing together in 2009, they are quickly being spotted by American eyes. The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am has taken huge interest and has recorded 10 songs with 2NE1. Last year, 2NE1 rocked it out with their hit single “I Am the Best” which holds the second most views for a K-pop song on YouTube in 2011. The dynamic quartet is led by feisty CL (21) who also has a fierce tongue that allows her to be the main rapper. Park Bom (27) is the powerhouse main vocalist of this group. Sandara (27) is the quirky vocalist and does most of the promoting and modeling, and Minzy (17) is quick on her feet which makes her the main dancer. With growing anticipation, will.i.am recently tweeted, “This [2NE1] is coming out crazy…” making fans excited for their plans this year.

Girls’ Generation

Dominating the Korean girl group phenomenon is Girls’ Generation. This nine-member bubblegum pop group has been going strong since 2007. Their song “Gee,” which came out in 2009, has over 62 million views on YouTube and the numbers keep growing. Their world tour from 2010 to 2011 with their company SM Entertainment, traveled to America twice and ended the tour in a sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City. In November 2011, the group collaborated with Teddy Riley, who has also produced songs for Michael Jackson. Together they created the song “The Boys” which at one point was the third most watched music video on YouTube. The following month, it landed number 1 on the Billboard’s K-Pop Hot 100. A maxi single was released with 8 remixes of the song, one of which featured Snoop Dogg, while another repackaged version of this album for Japanese audiences featured a remix with DEV and The Cataracs. Girls’ Generation’s current American label is Interscope making them label mates with Lady Gaga and Far East Movement. This group of nine is led by Taeyeon (22), Jessica (22), Sunny (22), Tiffany (22), Hyoyeon (22), Yuri (22), Sooyoung( 21), Yoona (21) and Seohyun (20). A special edition of “The Boys” is available January 17th.

With videos topping over 62 million views on YouTube, the Internet has played a huge role in the popularity increase that has surrounded these three groups and various others debuting and rising in South Korea.  They have started to become noticed by magazines, websites and celebrities such as blogger Perez Hilton, “Vampire Diaries” actresses Nina Dobrev, SPIN Magazine and MTV Style. Their impact has even caused Billboard to make a K-pop list and YouTube to put a K-pop option in the music category. So, strap that bathing suit up tight, these groups will certainly be making a splash in 2012.

0

K-pop stardom for lucky trio?

– January 17, 2012Posted in: K-pop News

Tue, Jan 17, 2012

The New Paper

K-pop stardom for lucky trio?

by Charlene Chua

Singapore has come out tops in the race to K-pop stardom.

Three local girls were shortlisted out of 1,000 hopefuls at auditions held by two Korean entertainment companies on Saturday.

The casting directors from JYP Entertainment (they manage superstars like Wonder Girls, 2PM and miss A) and Alpha Korea (former manager of Girls’ Generation and Super Junior) are here for a two-day session to check out hopefuls – and they have extremely stringent selection criteria.

The shortlist rate is typically less than 1 per cent.

Just last month, the same companies held auditions in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Only five out of 6,000 people who auditioned were shortlisted, and none of the five made the final cut.

It took almost eight hours – the first day of the Singapore auditions started at 8.30am yesterday – before the casting directors picked their first girl, 15-year-old Damai Secondary student Carinda Kao, who sang Stronger by Kelly Clarkson.

She tells The New Paper on Sunday: “I was very shocked when they called my number and told me to meet someone who would take me to another room.

“I feel that my singing wasn’t at its best but I still got picked, so I’m just so happy.”

By 6pm, two other hopefuls – Tricia Teo and Brenda Go – were picked from the hordes that had turned up at the Management Development Institute Of Singapore (MDIS) on Stirling Road.

Tricia, a 14-year-old St Margaret’s Secondary School student, was only 30 seconds into Adele’s Someone Like You when she was cut off and told to step forward and smile.

She was terrified as she had thought that the judges were unhappy with her braces.

She says: “As I smiled, I thought, ‘Oh dear, it must be my braces’.

“I thought they were going to send me home.

“They said something in Korean, which I didn’t understand, then I was just told to step back in line.”

It was only after the other nine hopefuls in the room finished singing that the 2PM fan realised that she had been shortlisted.

The shortlisted girls were ushered into a private room on the fifth floor where they did a photoshoot and a video.

They introduced themselves in English and Mandarin, then posed for head shots and full-length photographs.

Carinda says she was asked to relax her face as she looked too tense.

While Tricia jived easily to Beyonce’s Run The World (Girls) – thanks to her year’s worth of dance lessons – Carinda panicked as she had only prepared to sing at her audition.

Carinda, a SHINee fan, says: “They played some random music and told me to dance. So when I heard Be My Baby (by the Wonder Girls) come on, I made random movements.

“I’m not a dancer so I’m not good at dancing. It was very embarrassing.

“But they told me it was okay so I felt better after that.”

After dancing, each girl had to sing three more songs in the gruelling session.

They will only know in a month’s time whether K-pop stardom is in their future.

For now, they are still reeling from the euphoria of being shortlisted.

Tricia says: “I will definitely quit school if I am selected to be in a Korean girl group. “My parents have given me their consent to do so already.”

This is the second time the JYP Alpha auditions are taking place here.

Two local girls – Natasha Low and Ferlyn Wong – were picked from the first audition two years ago and they will make their debut as part of a K-pop girl group in Korea in a few months’ time.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

0

SHOWBIZ: Dazzling Ding Dang

– January 17, 2012Posted in: Mandopop

EXPECT a sizzling stage performance from Della Ding at the Arena Of Stars, Genting Highlands, on April 28. Heralded as the Newborn Mandopop Diva, she is particularly known for her clear, captivating voice and spectacular range.

Della Ding

Della Ding

Fondly known as Ding Dang, she kick-started her world tour concert, The Diva In Della, in Taipei last December. The concert, which boasts a spectacular visual experience and a dazzling display of fashionable wear, incorporates elements from four classic Broadway musicals — Chicago, The Lion King, Rent and Swan Lake.

Ding Dang, 28, comes from Zhe Jiang province in China. She left home at the age of 18 to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional singer. She sang in pubs for five years before making her big move to Mandopop headquarters, Taiwan.

She’s adored for her love ballads, especially on her earlier records. She dabbled with dance numbers in her third album, Night Owl, released in 2009. But it was after her fourth album, Fu Good, that her popularity skyrocketed.

Her hit song, Wo Ai Ta, accompanied the TV drama Autumn’s Concerto and was awarded the second-most popular KTV song of 2010.

The Diva In Della Live In Malaysia 2012 is organised by Star Planet to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Tickets: RM120-RM420 (excluding RM3 processing fee).

There will also be a special Charity Zone, where tickets sold from this zone will be donated to the Cancer Care Fund under Yayasan Bakti Khidmat Masyarakat Malaysia. This initiative will continue for all concerts organised by Star Planet this year.

For details, call Star Planet (03-9223 3667)/Ticket Charge (03-9222 8811) or visit www.starplanet.com.my.

0

Getting More Rock Into Hong Kong

– January 17, 2012Posted in: Cantopop


By Ben Sin


Ben Sin for the Wall Street Journal
The recent People’s Party concerts brought bands such as These New Puritans and Frank Turner to Hong Kong.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Justin Sweeting began working in Hong Kong’s independent music scene in 2003 when he helped organize Rockit, an outdoor music festival.

Rockit was short-lived, but he used his connections to start another festival, Clockenflap, in 2008, and a year later launched the People’s Party, a concert series which brought such up-and-comers as These New Puritans, Frank Turner and Ratatat to Hong Kong.


Positive Poster
Justin Sweeting

Today Mr. Sweeting works for Asian concert promoters Untitled Entertainment, where he has brought recent, higher-profile acts, such as MGMT and the Flaming Lips, to the city. He also resurrected the People’s Party after a one-year hiatus, staging concerts by Bombay Bicycle Club, Metronomy, the Naked and Famous and the Jezabels in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Jakarta earlier this month.

Mr. Sweeting, 34 years old, spoke with The Wall Street Journal about Hong Kong’s indie music scene, People’s Party’s return, and why he’s devoted to an industry that may always be second fiddle to Cantopop.

You’ve been organizing live shows in Hong Kong for nearly a decade. What’s changed over the years?

The Hong Kong scene — while it still has a ways to go in terms of matching the overall interest in live music and indie music in other parts of Asia, like Singapore, Indonesia or even Taiwan — is definitely growing. As recently as 2009, I lost money [promoting] shows in Hong Kong. Breaking even was the goal then. Now the business end has improved, and there are other indie promoters also bringing over acclaimed indie acts that are not the traditional pop giants that dominated Hong Kong’s market for so long. As a promoter, and a fan of music in Hong Kong, I’m more optimistic about the scene than I was, say, three years ago.

So why do this? Promoting indie concerts is not a lucrative business in Hong Kong.

I’ve been a music geek my whole life. It was a bit depressing being a young music fan here, at the time when the only acts that came out were old stadium acts like the Eagles or Celine Dion. I think everyone wants to make a positive difference, and this is one area I want to have a positive influence on. There are many other people pushing for the same cause as I am in Hong Kong, and that’s what we need in Hong Kong – more people doing more things.

The People’s Party disappeared last year and now is back in a different form. What happened?

It was essentially a small, one-man operation that aimed to bring over buzzworthy indie acts from the U.K. and the U.S. to Hong Kong. By 2010, it had grown to a point that it was too big to handle, so it was shelved for a year while we thought about the next step. What’s happening now is sort of an evolution, an attempt to keep growing it, and that’s by setting up these tours from Hong Kong on to Southeast Asia. It makes sense as a brand builder and financially, because bands are more attracted to coming to Asia for a series of shows instead of a one-off in Hong Kong.

You were also responsible for lining up the acts that played at last month’s Clockenflap festival. How’d you get them to come?

It usually takes a lot of work to get an established, international artist to play here, but that’s due to the logistics involved rather than Hong Kong not being an appealing destination. A lot of it comes down to personal connection and luck. Bombay Bicycle Club, for example, I met their lead singer in a bathroom in Toronto one day, and we learned we were both from Hong Kong.

Why does Hong Kong lag places like Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan when it comes to music?

Finding a proper venue for shows in Hong Kong is tough, because we don’t have enough for medium-sized crowds — which is usually the crowd for indie gigs. We have huge stadiums for mega-pop stars and small bars for local bands, but an established band from overseas who are not pop stars have no place to fit. That’s beginning to change the past year with some good venues opening up, and West Kowloon has proved to be a great venue after the success of Clockenflap.

How are Hong Kong’s homegrown bands?

Local homegrown bands are getting ever better year on year. I’m really digging 9 Maps, Sun Eskimos and Dada Baba currently. And as Hong Kong bands get more opportunities to play, the scene will get bigger and better.

What’s next for you?

I’m going to try to bring more good bands here. The general rule is, if people are supporting it and asking for it, we’ll bring it. This year so far we’ve got the Vaccines, Anna Calvi and the Horrors coming to Hong Kong.

Like Scene Asia on Facebook for the latest updates.

0

Getting More Rock Into Hong Kong

– January 17, 2012Posted in: Cantopop


By Ben Sin


Ben Sin for the Wall Street Journal
The recent People’s Party concerts brought bands such as These New Puritans and Frank Turner to Hong Kong.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Justin Sweeting began working in Hong Kong’s independent music scene in 2003 when he helped organize Rockit, an outdoor music festival.

Rockit was short-lived, but he used his connections to start another festival, Clockenflap, in 2008, and a year later launched the People’s Party, a concert series which brought such up-and-comers as These New Puritans, Frank Turner and Ratatat to Hong Kong.


Positive Poster
Justin Sweeting

Today Mr. Sweeting works for Asian concert promoters Untitled Entertainment, where he has brought recent, higher-profile acts, such as MGMT and the Flaming Lips, to the city. He also resurrected the People’s Party after a one-year hiatus, staging concerts by Bombay Bicycle Club, Metronomy, the Naked and Famous and the Jezabels in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Jakarta earlier this month.

Mr. Sweeting, 34 years old, spoke with The Wall Street Journal about Hong Kong’s indie music scene, People’s Party’s return, and why he’s devoted to an industry that may always be second fiddle to Cantopop.

You’ve been organizing live shows in Hong Kong for nearly a decade. What’s changed over the years?

The Hong Kong scene — while it still has a ways to go in terms of matching the overall interest in live music and indie music in other parts of Asia, like Singapore, Indonesia or even Taiwan — is definitely growing. As recently as 2009, I lost money [promoting] shows in Hong Kong. Breaking even was the goal then. Now the business end has improved, and there are other indie promoters also bringing over acclaimed indie acts that are not the traditional pop giants that dominated Hong Kong’s market for so long. As a promoter, and a fan of music in Hong Kong, I’m more optimistic about the scene than I was, say, three years ago.

So why do this? Promoting indie concerts is not a lucrative business in Hong Kong.

I’ve been a music geek my whole life. It was a bit depressing being a young music fan here, at the time when the only acts that came out were old stadium acts like the Eagles or Celine Dion. I think everyone wants to make a positive difference, and this is one area I want to have a positive influence on. There are many other people pushing for the same cause as I am in Hong Kong, and that’s what we need in Hong Kong – more people doing more things.

The People’s Party disappeared last year and now is back in a different form. What happened?

It was essentially a small, one-man operation that aimed to bring over buzzworthy indie acts from the U.K. and the U.S. to Hong Kong. By 2010, it had grown to a point that it was too big to handle, so it was shelved for a year while we thought about the next step. What’s happening now is sort of an evolution, an attempt to keep growing it, and that’s by setting up these tours from Hong Kong on to Southeast Asia. It makes sense as a brand builder and financially, because bands are more attracted to coming to Asia for a series of shows instead of a one-off in Hong Kong.

You were also responsible for lining up the acts that played at last month’s Clockenflap festival. How’d you get them to come?

It usually takes a lot of work to get an established, international artist to play here, but that’s due to the logistics involved rather than Hong Kong not being an appealing destination. A lot of it comes down to personal connection and luck. Bombay Bicycle Club, for example, I met their lead singer in a bathroom in Toronto one day, and we learned we were both from Hong Kong.

Why does Hong Kong lag places like Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan when it comes to music?

Finding a proper venue for shows in Hong Kong is tough, because we don’t have enough for medium-sized crowds — which is usually the crowd for indie gigs. We have huge stadiums for mega-pop stars and small bars for local bands, but an established band from overseas who are not pop stars have no place to fit. That’s beginning to change the past year with some good venues opening up, and West Kowloon has proved to be a great venue after the success of Clockenflap.

How are Hong Kong’s homegrown bands?

Local homegrown bands are getting ever better year on year. I’m really digging 9 Maps, Sun Eskimos and Dada Baba currently. And as Hong Kong bands get more opportunities to play, the scene will get bigger and better.

What’s next for you?

I’m going to try to bring more good bands here. The general rule is, if people are supporting it and asking for it, we’ll bring it. This year so far we’ve got the Vaccines, Anna Calvi and the Horrors coming to Hong Kong.

Like Scene Asia on Facebook for the latest updates.

0

BoA’s set of nine different face expressions on KPOP Star

– January 15, 2012Posted in: K-pop News

11

Miss A, Min with a cute concept

0

K-pop fans bid to get free tickets

– January 15, 2012Posted in: K-pop News

KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of K-pop fans made a beeline to Balai Berita here to get their hands on free Five Treasure (FT) Island concert tickets yesterday.

concert tickets

The fans lining up to collect their free concert tickets at Balai Berita in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

About 200 tickets were given out by Harian Metro for an exchange of 14 strips of the newspaper’s mast heads.

Some even bought 14 copies of yesterday’s newspaper to exchange for the tickets.

Hardcore K-pop fans waited since 8am even though the free tickets were only distributed at 10am.

“I am really excited about getting the ticket as I am a big fan of FT Island,” said Khairul Fazidah Abdul Manaf, 54. Rozana Mohd Rafii, 21, who just finished a final exam paper yesterday, rushed here early in the morning  just to get the free ticket.

“The lower-priced tickets were sold out and I just could not pass up the chance to get a free ticket.”

The group is scheduled to perform tonight  at the National Stadium.

0

"K-Pop Star" Michelle Lee’s Impressive Resume

– January 15, 2012Posted in: K-pop News

http://www.soompi.com/news/kpop-star-michelle-lees-impressive-resume-1

Page 8 of 332« First...678910203040...Last »