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Disappointed Japanese fans of South Korean pop singer Rain look at their tickets after the concert was canceled just one and a half hours before the scheduled performance in Los Angeles, Saturday. / Yonhap |
By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter
Pop star Rain shed tears after his concert in Los Angeles was abruptly canceled just hours before the scheduled performance due to the local promoter's lack of preparation and financial problems, according to reports yesterday.
The American leg of the popular singer's ``Rain's Coming'' world tour has flopped altogether, as Los Angeles was the only remaining concert after his four other scheduled performances including New York and Atlanta were indefinitely postponed earlier this month, following a lawsuit over the copyright of the name ``Rain.'' The lawsuit was settled only late last month when a Nevada court dismissed the case against the Rain Corporation, a Nevada-based music company that sued over the rights.
Officials at Rain's Seoul-based concert management company, Star M, attributed the cancellation of the Los Angeles concert to the L.A.-based promoter that did not pay subcontractors money owed to them on time. As the companies withdrew, the stage was left bare without lighting or screens, according to Star M.
The 25-year-old singer and actor expressed a strong wish to appear on stage to greet his fans, but this was impossible due to regulations on performances, Star M said.
Rain's ambitious plan for a limited tour of the United States has now come to an unfortunate end, leaving a bad taste in fans' mouths and a lawsuit. Last month, Click Entertainment, a Honolulu-based promoting company for Rain's concert, filed a lawsuit against the singer's Korean managers, claiming they were not informed of the cancellation and swindled out of about $500,000. Star M plans to counter the lawsuit with a defamation suit.
Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, expressed his sentiments on the recent unfolding of events on his official Web site on his birthday June 25.
``I hope that people's greed doesn't ruin our concerts any more,'' he wrote in Korean and English. ``I'd better plan the next tour and set up the stage by myself. Then, there won't be any problems, will there?''
saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr
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