Sistar hot to dominate summer K-pop Idol girl band Sistar is performing at COEX Artium in Gangnam-gu district, southern Seoul, on Monday. / Korea Times fileFour-member idol girl band Sistar has topped major online music charts with its latest song, “Shake It.”The dance number from the band’s album “SHAKE IT,” released on Monday, has taken No.1 spot on Genie, Naver Music, Olleh Music, Monkey 3 and Soribada.Other songs from the album, including “Bad Man” and “Don’t Be a Baby,” are in the top 10 on some of the websites.The band was recently referred to as an “indomitable wall” in K-pop. Lead vocalist Kim Hyo-jeong, 24, (stage name Hyorin), said she wished her band’s songs were a “de facto musical representation of summer,” a media report said Tuesday. The band last year produced summer hits “Loving U” and “Touch My Body.”Sistar, managed by Starship Entertainment, debuted in 2010 with single album “Push Push,” which has gone viral among K-pop fans.Jun 23, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Chefs, hidden singers take over small screen “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator” / Courtesy of JTBCBy Kwon Ji-younChef entertainers and hidden singers dominated the small screen in the first half of 2015, with restaurant franchise mogul Baek Jong-won out in front and producer Na Young-seok behind the cameras.Cooking, dining and mystery were the key words that held sway over television programs on both the three major broadcasters and cable channels this year. Popular programs included cooking shows like MBC’s “My Little Television,” JTBC’s “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator,” tvN’s “Three Meals a Day” and MBC’s “House Cook Master Baek,” and mystery music shows like JTBC’s “Hidden Singer,” Mnet’s “I Can See Your Voice” and MBC’s “Mask King.”Baek, in particular, went from actress So Yu-jin’s husband to “sugar boy,” enticing viewers with his shy charm and skills in the kitchen. He first appeared on “My Little Television” in its pilot, offering his hard-boilJun 22, 2015
Cheftainer cooks up martial arts poses Choi Hyun-seok pulls off various wushu moves. / Courtesy of Instagram“Cheftainer” (chef and entertainer) Choi Hyun-seok has shown off his wushu skills on social media.Choi, 42, posed in four martial arts stances in photos posted on his Instagram webpage on Sunday. The star flaunts a high front kick, low kick and exaggerated poses while holding knives and a bottle. The pictures were part of an unidentified cooking photo-shoot.“A photography chief found out that I used to do wushu and got little excited,” Choi said in the post. “And, with pride as a martial artist, I did all that he asked me to do.”Choi, one of the cheftainers who have recently become hot TV personalities, is a regular guest on five TV shows, including KBS’s reality show “The Human Condition,” tvN’s food survival show “Battles of Korean Foods,” and JTBC’s reality cooking show “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator.”Jun 22, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
EXO wows them in Bangkok EXO / Courtesy of SM EntertainmentBy Park Jong-hoTwelve-member idol group “EXO” has completed a successful concert season in Bangkok.EXO’s “EXO PLANET #2 -- The EXO’luXion -- in BANGKOK” was held at the Impact Arena over the weekend. All 22,000 tickets were sold. It has been a year since their first concert in Bangkok, “From EXO PLANET #1.” Bangkok is EXO’s fourth city in the concert series, after Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei.EXO debuted in April 2012 with the album “What is Love.” Their second album, “Love Me Right,” was released on June 3 this year. The title song was No. 1 for two weeks on the music charts of shows such as MBC’s “Show MusicCore”, KBS’s “MusicBank” and MBC Music’s “Show Champion”.Jun 22, 2015
Spotlight shines on four new idol girl singers As the nation’s K-pop race heats up with idol girl bands like “Sistar” and “Ace of Angel” (AOA) making comebacks after a break, a media outlet has highlighted four idol singers that fans should keep an eye on.Headlined “Be warned with heart-thump,” the report on Monday selected stars from idol girl bands that recently debuted and are considered “new-generational.” The report first selected Park Ji-yeon (stage name Jiyeon) from six-member girl band “T-ARA.” K-pop idol singers voted SM Entertainment’s Park, who often takes center stage among her band because of her height, as the prettiest K-pop singer, the report said. Kim Ah-young (stage name Yura), from four-member girl band “Girl’s Day,” was also on the list. The report said DREAMT Entertainment’s Kim, 22, has been mesmerizing fans with her glamorous looks and legs, which she insured for 500 million won ($450,000). The report also lists Star Empire’s Park Min-ha, 23, (stage name Minha), from eight-member girl band “9museJun 22, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Fighter pulls no punches raising daughter Choo Sa-rang cries after stumbling on the ground during a runnning race against Yuto. / Screen capture from YouTubeFor mixed martial arts fighter and TV personality Choo Sung-hoon, rearing his three-year-old daughter is no different from training an infant son regimentally. In reality TV show "Superman Returns" on KBS Sunday -- where four celebrity fathers spend time with their young children -- Choo, 39, made his daughter, Sa-rang, go through an obstacle course, including climbing a wooden ladder and crawling through a rope-woven tunnel, with her friend, Yuto. At the end of the course, Choo told the two to race each other in running. He promised to give candy to the winner. Sa-rang lost twice, each time sobbing and begging her father not to give the candy to Yuto.“I want to teach Sa-rang that anything can happen,” Choo said during the program. “When she stumbles on the ground and gets hurt, I just say, ‘That’s fine.’”Jun 22, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
'Producers' ends with success “The Producers” starring Kim Soo-hyun and IU recorded 17.7 percent viewership in its last episode on Saturday. / Courtesy of KBSBy Kwon Ji-younIt was not a flying start for “The Producers,” but its last episode recorded 17.7 percent viewership to bring the KBS drama series to a successful close. Its success may be attributed to the star-studded casting of Kim Soo-hyun and IU.And yet “The Producers,” which in its planning stages had turned heads with a stellar cast, original plot and impressive cameo lineups, was nothing out of the ordinary. The only unconventional details about the series were perhaps its broadcaster setting and its ever-giving well of cameos.It was back to work for the four protagonists in the last episode that aired Saturday.A reasonable conclusion saw two of them go from friends to lovers, while a second relationship was left undetermined, but on a good note.They all recovered from past pain and fell comfortably back into their daily routines. Singer Cindy (portrayed by IU) was liberated from her controlling and neurotic agJun 21, 2015
Korean actor dated top French fashion editor Ryu Seung-beom, left, and Virginie MouzatActor Ryu Seung-beom has revealed that he dated French journalist and fashion editor Virginie Mouzat.Media reports quoted the actor, 34, as saying he dated Mouzat, who is 14 years his senior, for 20 months while living in Paris. The pair broke up last Christmas.Reports said Ryu met Mouzat while he was modeling in Paris. Mouzat, the former fashion editor at French daily Le Figaro, visited Korea to see him on an unidentified date, the reports said.Ryu’s latest crime-action movie, “My Friendly Villains,” opens in theaters on June 25.Jun 18, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
China hot for singer IU IU / Courtesy of InstagramChina is hot for singer Lee Ji-eun, who currently stars in TV series “The Producers.” Lee, 23, whose stage name goes by IU, has attracted attentions from Chinese event planning companies because she is working with the biggest hallyu celebrity in China, Kim Soo-hyun, in the series on KBS, local media reports said Wednesday. The companies want the star mostly for events like musical performances, fan meetings and signing events, the reports added.A scene from "The Producers" / Screen capture from YouTubeManaged by Loen Entertainment, Lee’s fame in China recently jumped from the past when she signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2008 with Chinese record label Beijing Taihe Rye Music (TR Music). When she visited Guangzhou on Monday to participate in an event held by Chinese cosmetic brand “QDSUH,” for which she is an official model, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was reportedly “packed with fans and reporters to see her,” one of the reports said.Lee hasn’t set plans for China yet, as she is sJun 17, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Comedian to buy bubble teas for half-million event winners Yoo Sang-moo / Korea Times fileComedian Yoo Sang-moo, also the CEO of Taiwanese dessert cafe franchise Hou Mei Bing, is buying bubble teas for half a million people who were selected after participating in the cafe’s online event held last Friday.The cafe’s official webpage posted a notice on Wednesday that the winners must visit the website until June 30 and verify their identification to receive the cafe’s mobile coupon for a free bubble tea worth 4,000 won ($3.58).The event asked participants to type in Korean “Yoo Sang-moo is handsome” on the nation’s biggest search engine, Naver, on Jun 12, Yoo’s birthday. The search result gave the participants a queue number. Those who were given “39” on the last two digits of the number won the event. Hou Mei Bing store in Gangnam-gu district, above, and mango bingsu sold at the store / Courtesy of Naver blog The notice said about 110 million netizens participated in the event on Friday and Saturday. It was difficult to sort out the winners because the numbers of the participantsJun 17, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
