Singers shamed over poor history knowledge Seolhyun, left, and Jimin next to her are in turmoil as they try to identify Ahn Jung-geun from his picture in "Channel AOA" on OnStyle, Tuesday. By Ko Dong-hwanSeolhyun and Jimin from K-pop girl band AOA have sparked a national controversy after displaying their poor history knowledge on TV.In Tuesday’s episode of variety show “Channel AOA” on cable network OnStyle, Seolhyun, one of the hottest female idols, and the band’s leader, Jimin, identified random historical figures from images. They correctly named all, including Korean naval commander Yi Sun-sin (1545-98), artist Shin Saimdang (1504-51) and Kim Koo (1876-1949), a leader of the Korean independence movement against Japan.But when they were shown a picture of Ahn Jung-geun ― a freedom fighter who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the Japanese resident-general of Korea, in 1909, before Japan’s colonization of Korea ― their luck hit the wall. The desperate stars’ incorrect guesses included Kim Du-han (1954-65), the leader of the Jongno street gang who was portrayed in action moMay 12, 2016
Jang Keun-suk gets director invite to big film festival / Courtesy of Tree J CompanyBy Bahk Eun-ji Hallyu star and director Jang Keun-suk’s film “The Great Legacy” has been invited to screen at the 20th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), Tree J Company said Thursday.The film is about a man whose father loses consciousness, leaving behind savings that can only be accessed by a bank book. The son obsesses over finding the bank book and neglects to take care of his father.Jang made his directorial debut with a short film, “Do You Still Envy Such a Life?” in 2012. The film won a special award at the 2012 Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.This year’s BIFAN runs from July 21 to 31.May 12, 2016
Tiffany releases first solo album TiffanyBy Kim Jae-heunTiffany of group Girls’ Generation released her first solo mini-album in her nine year career “I Just Wanna Dance” at midnight Tuesday.Tiffany calls the album, which consists of six tracks, of her own style music. “People could wonder why I’ve released a dance album, but I am a person with a lot of enthusiasm and I like dancing,” said Tiffany during a press conference at SM Town in Coex, southern Seoul. “I put more effort into music rather than visual work or performance.”The title track is a synthesizer backed song with a 1980s retro sound mixed with a medium-tempo electronic pop genre produced by Timothy ‘Bos’ Bullock and written by MonoTree.Nine hours after the album was released, the song topped six online music charts, including Naver Music, Genie, Mnet, Olleh Music, Bugs and Soribada.Tiffany picked her favorite track as “What Do I Do,” which she participated in producing for the first time and has lyrics written by her bandmate Sooyoung.“I am proud that my song passed tMay 11, 2016
K-pop band VIXX to show off music improvisation skills in Chinese show VIXX / Courtesy of Jellyfish EntertainmentBy Kim Da-heeK-pop boy band VIXX will appear on the Chinese survival TV program “The Remix.”The six-member band left for China on Wednesday for an episode of the program produced by JiangSu TV.The members will receive an intensive lesson from their assigned mentor and present a live performance of an improvised electronic dance song on the show.Several other K-pop bands, including iKON and Monsta X, will appear on “The Remix,” with K-pop juggernaut Psy featuring as mentor.The episode starring VIXX will air in June.Meanwhile, VIXX has taken first place in popular TV music programs, including “Show Champion,” five times with its latest song, “Dynamite,” released on April 19. May 11, 2016
K-pop band BTS shakes Billboard charts with new album Bangtan Boys/Courtesy of Big Hit EntertainmentBy Lee Jin-aK-pop boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, made it onto the Billboard 200 chart with new album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever,” according to its agency, Big Hit Entertainment, Wednesday.The album ranked No. 107 as of Tuesday. This is the band’s second entry to the chart, following mini-album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2” being No. 171 in December.U.S. music critics then said they were impressed by the band members’ musical talents.Meanwhile, the three songs from the latest album - "Fire," "Save Me" and "Epilogue: Young Forever" - swept the top three on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart. The album also came in No. 8 on the iTunes top 100 albums chart, while the “Fire” music video was No.1 on the iTunes Top Music Videos chart.May 11, 2016
'Superstar K6' winner Kwak Jin-eon donates prize money to charity By Bahk Eun-ji Singer Kwak Jin-eon, the winner of Mnet’s singing competition show “Superstar K: Season 6,” donated 200 million won ($170,940) to the Community Chest of Korea Gangwon Community last year, reports said Tuesday.The singer won 300 million won in the competition and donated the full amount of 200 million won after taxes.His donation was revealed after he was registered as a member of the “Honor Society,” an organization of big-money donors to the Community Chest of Korea.Kwak said he did not want to disclose it because his mother always taught him: “Don’t let your right hand know how your left hand is helping others.”May 10, 2016
Last season of 'K-pop Star' to air From left, Park Jin-young of JYP Entertainment, Yang Hyun-suk of YG Entertainment and Yoo Hee-yeol of Antenna Music pose during a press conference for “K-pop Star: The Last Chance” at SBS in Seoul, Monday. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heun“K-pop Star,” a survival audition TV show on SBS, announced Monday that it will name its sixth season “The Last Chance” as this will be its final season.“The main reason to end the audition show is something all three judges agreed upon,” said Park Jin-young, the head of JYP Entertainment and one of the three participating judges, along with YG Entertainment’s Yang Hyun-suk and Yoo Hee-yeol of Antenna Music. “As things settled down throughout the last five seasons, we saw the participants’ performances and our commentary became mundane and repetitive. We decided it was about time to take a break.”“Usually the viewership of a television series goes down when it gets to its fifth season but our show’s ratings actually went up and we were worried because we knew the shoMay 10, 2016
캡틴 아메리카가 배트맨과 슈퍼맨을 이긴 이유는? '캡틴 아메리카: 시빌 워' / AP-Yonhap미국 할리우드 블록버스터 영화 '배트맨 대 슈퍼맨: 정의의 시작'과 '캡틴 아메리카: 시빌 워' 간 명암이 극명하게 엇갈리고 있다. 이 두 작품은 미국의 대표적인 만화 산업계의 양대 산맥인 DC코믹스와 마블코믹스가 창출해낸 슈퍼 히어로 영화다. 할리우드 메이저 스튜디오인 워너 브라더스(DC 필름)와 월트 디즈니(마블 스튜디오) 간 자존심 경쟁이기도 했다. 사실 두 영화는 올해 '마블 영웅들 vs DC 영웅들'의 첫 대결이라는 점에서 진작부터 관심을 모았다. 게다가 두 영화 모두 똑같이 2억5천만 달러(2천933억 원)가 투입된 데다 슈퍼 히어로 간 갈등과 화해를 그렸다는 공통점을 안고 있다. 하지만 흥행 면에서 '배트맨 대 슈퍼맨'은 '캡틴 아메리카'에 현저히 뒤로 밀려있는 형국이다. DC 영웅들이 마블 영웅들에게 '판정패'했다는 얘기가 나온 이유다. 마블 스튜디오의 '캡틴 아메리카'는 8일(현지시간) 현재 전 세계적으로 6억7천314억 달러(약 7억898억 원)의 흥행성적으로 거뒀다. 뒤늦게 개봉한 북미지역에서 개봉 첫 주말 1억8천만 달러(약 2천102억 원)를 뽑아냈다. 이는 역대 개봉 첫 주말 흥행 순위 5위다. 지난 3월 25일 개봉한 '배트맨 대 슈퍼맨'은 이날 현재 전 세계적으로 3억2천725만 달러(약 3천840억 원)에 그치면서 흥행 실패작이라는 꼬리표가 달릴 전망이다. 두 영화의 명암이 극명하게 엇갈린 이유는 제작 시스템, 의사결정, 조직문화 등의 차이에서 비롯된 것이라고 로스앤젤레스타임스(LAT)는 전했다. 우선 마블 스튜디오의 영화들은 CEO(최고경영자)이자 대표이사인 케빈 파이기가 영화 제작 전반에 걸쳐 주도권을 쥐고 있어 의사결정이 빠르고 일관성이 있다. 반면 워너브러더스는 영화 전반을 관리하는 총괄 책임자가 없다. '배트맨 대 슈퍼맨'을 비롯해 DC 영웅들을 영화화해May 10, 2016
After 'Produce 101' success, Mnet to launch boy band survival show A cable TV network said Monday it will start a boy band equivalent of the survival reality TV series "Produce 101" that has developed quite a cult following over just two and a half months.Forty-nine contestants overcame 220-to-1 odds of becoming part of the upcoming show "Boys 24," Mnet, the network owned by entertainment company CJ E&M, said.In each episode, they will compete in units, unlike other audition programs where contestants have been judged solely on individual merit."'Boys 24' stands out because it evaluates team work instead of choosing only the top one," Oh Kwang-seok, chief producer of the show, said.Twenty-four finalists will become members of a temporary boy band also named "Boys 24" and will get to perform every day for 365 days, Mnet said.That will not be the end of it, however, as only a select few from the 24 will get to debut as part of a permanent boy band.The winners will also take home prize money of 200 million won for vocal training and album production.In the long run, CJ E&M eyes to expand the show to China, Japan and Southeast Asia, Ahn Suk-joonMay 9, 2016
AOA hoping for 'Good Luck' Ace of Angels (AOA)/Courtesy of FNC EntertainmentBy Lee Jin-aK-pop girl band Ace of Angels --also known as AOA -- will release its fourth mini-album “Good Luck” on May 16, according to FNC Entertainment on Monday.The lead track, “Good Luck,” was composed by Canadian Matthew Tishler, who produced Girls’ Generation member Taeyeon’s single “Rain” (2016) and boy band EXO’s “Sing for you” (2015). The agency released two versions of AOA’s album cover on its website on Monday. In the “Week” version, the eight members have turned into beach guards wearing red and white swimming suits. In the “Weekend” version, they wear colorful summer outfits including short skirts, hot pants and crop tops. May 9, 2016
