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| YG Entertainment's hip-hop boyband Big Bang / Courtesy of YG Entertainment |
By Kim Jae-heun
The year 2015 has been an eventful year with first-generation hallyu (Korean wave) stars bringing joyous news ― Bae Yong-joon tied the knot with actress Park Soo-jin in July only two months after they acknowledged their relationship. Top actor Won Bin and actress Lee Na-yong also held a small private wedding in eastern Gangwon Province two months earlier.
Scandals involving idol stars' secret love lives, such as that of singer IU with rocker Chang Kiha and Suzy of girl group "Miss A" revealing a romance with hallyu star Lee Min-ho, also shocked fans.
Popular K-pop stars like PSY and Big Bang returned this year to sweep the charts. PSY, who swept the world with his mega-hit "Gangnam Style" in 2012, released his seventh album "Chiljib PSY-Da," which includes his two singles "Daddy" and "Napal Baji" (Bellbottoms). The mega star ranked no.1 for three consecutive weeks on Billboard's World Digital Songs Chart, and the music video for "Daddy" hit over 80 million views in only 30 days since its release on Dec. 1.
YG Entertainment's hip-hop group Big Bang released its long-awaited new singles, "Loser" and "Bae Bae" early in May, which topped 10 major domestic music charts instantly and the group's music videos hit more than 3 million views in just eight hours after the songs' online release.
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| K-pop boy band iKON of YG Entertainment / Courtesy of YG Entertainment |
New K-pop stars
K-pop boy bands such as iKON of YG Entertainment and Bangtan Boys (BTS) of Big Hit Entertainment are newly rising in K-pop. The seven-member hip-hop boy group iKON debuted on stage at one of the country's biggest venues, the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, on Oct. 3, gathering more than 13,000 fans. No K-pop band or singer had ever debuted so strongly, in such a large venue usually used for established singers only. Six major sports and entertainment dailies from Japan participated in a press conference, along with Chinese media including Youku and Sina Weibo. The boy band will make its official Japan debut in January, followed by nine concerts there in February, where they are expecting some 95,000 fans.
The boy band is also hot in China as its songs "Welcomeback" and "Rhythm Ta" ranked third and fifth, respectively, on the China QQ Music Chart after the album's release on Oct. 1. On Weibo, iKon's hashtag page recorded 1.5 billion hits.
BTS ranked fourth in album sales this year according to the official music-ranking site Gaon Music Chart, after EXO who dominated the K-pop field with support from its agency SM Entertainment for forming fandoms all over Asia. Despite its medium-sized agency, BTS managed to win the Best Korean Act at the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards. The seven-member band from Big Hit Entertainment beat other ambitious young guns like B1A4, GOT7, VIXX and GFriend to rise as a new prospect.
Leading U.S. music magazine Billboard also praised BTS after their New York concert at the Best Buy Theater on July 16, reporting that the band showed "a more relaxed and freer side of themselves that made the show much more memorable."
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| A scene from Psy's title tune "Daddy" music video. / Courtesy of YG Entertainment |
The five-member girl band EXID had an unconventional breakthrough to K-pop success with their single "Up & Down," which topped the music chart after a fan's video of group member Hani dancing to the song on the street went viral on Facebook. Although the group did did not grab any fancy awards, they were definitely one of the busiest girl bands this year. According to a poll by online music service Genie and mobile locked-screen service Cash Slide's, Hani topped the lists as the most prospective girl band member for 2016.
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| Fashion model and actress Lee Sung-kyoung of YG Entertainment / Courtesy of YG Entertainment |
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| Singer and CEO Jay Park of hip-hop label Above Ordinary Music Group (AOMG) / Courtesy of AOMG |
Rising actors and actresses
Park Seo-jun from major entertainment agency Keyeast is an actor to watch this year as he swept four awards at the MBC Drama Awards for his appearance in the successful TV drama series, "She Was Pretty," which aired from Sept. 16 to Nov. 11 in 2015. The romantic comedy's highest online rating recorded 59.8% on Oct. 22, making Park a top star. The 27-year old actor will spend a busy year in 2016 appearing in two television dramas and two films "The Chronicles of Evil," and "The Beauty Inside."
Lee Sung Kyoung is a rising actress who first made her mark as a successful fashion model in 2008. In 2014, Lee first debuted as an actress with a supporting role in SBS's television drama "It's Okay, It's Love," and took the starring role in MBC's melodrama "Queen's Flower," which aired from March 14 to Aug. 30 last year. Lee won Best New Actress at the MBC Drama Awards, where she was picked as the main emcee along with Shin Dong-yup, one of the most popular comedy show hosts in television. Lee will appear in the tvN's new television drama "Cheese in the Trap" that premiers on Jan. 6 and her first screen appearance is confirmed for the movie, "Broker."
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