K-pop takes European fans by stormBy Chung Ah-young K-pop singers wowed some 7,000 European fans at their first concert in Paris, France, late Friday. The K-pop concert “SM Town Live World Tour” was held at Le Zenith de Paris for the first time ever in Europe, drawing a huge crowd of European fans who came from various countries including Spain, Italy, Poland and Sweden as well as France. Particularly, the show was meaningful for Korean musicians as the concert venue is renowned for concerts by world-class musicians such as Ne-Yo, Pussycat Dolls and Jonas Brothers. Five Korean bands ― TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, SHINee and f(x) ― performed 44 songs during the three-hour concert, captivating the audience with flamboyant dance sequences. The fans sang along with the Korean songs despite the language difference. SM Entertainment said it will support the global activities of its artists in the United States and other parts of Europe beyond the Asian market through various networks. The tickets for the June 10 concert were sold out in 15 minutes and more than 300 French fans who didn’t get ticJun 12, 2011
Lee reveals know-how of hallyuBy Chung Min-uck Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment, the nation’s largest talent agency, said that the secret of success for Korean artists in the global market is the long-accumulated culture technology (CT), during the “2011 SM TOWN in Paris.” Addressing the attendees of the writers and publishers conference at the Paris Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel, June 11, he introduced the theory of CT which was a concept he created in the mid-90s in order to break into other Asian markets. “I knew back in the 90s that CT would play a bigger role than IT (Information Technology). CT is a much more sophisticated and complicated solution. SM makes music through theoretical and systematic CT. The whole process of making the trainees into a ‘jewel’ is CT,” said Lee. At present SM selects many would-be pop stars through global auditions. After screening applicants the company operates the simulation of how the voice and the appearance of the trainees would change in three to seven years. Then they go through the company’s nurturing system called “In-house training.” AccordinJun 12, 2011
tbs seeks to become flagship English stationBroadcaster marks 21st anniversary By Shim Jae-yun “Like a helping hand unraveling tangled thread, (we provide) wisdom and information to distribute and link.” These are the lyrics of a trademark jingle for Traffic Broadcasting System (tbs) around the time it was launched 21 years ago. As the song expresses, the broadcasting company was meant to disperse traffic updates while offering information on the daily lives of Seoul citizens. It has continued to grow to become an essential source for drivers to turn on 95.1 FM to acquire prompt and precise information on traffic conditions and the weather or to just enjoy good music and entertainment. In many senses, tbs is essential in a nation notorious for traffic congestion coupled with prevalent rude driving habits to the extent of intimidating novice drivers. CEO of tbs, Lee Joon-ho, said the station will continue to work hard as a unique broadcasting system that is jointly created like a mosaic, fusing together five channels to provide a genuine broadcast. “We pursue a broadcasting system that citizens of Seoul Jun 10, 2011By Shim Jae-yun
‘Highlights, photos from K-pop concerts to be released online’Highlights and photos from upcoming Korean pop music concerts in France will be made available on the Internet for a global audience, a South Korean talent agency said Wednesday. S.M. Entertainment, which has scheduled concerts for its main acts for this Friday and Saturday in Paris, said it will upload highlights of the performances to its YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/smtown). The agency will also upload the latest photos of popular groups such as TVXQ and Super Junior on S.M.'s Facebook page. (www.facebook.com/smtown), the agency added. An S.M. official explained the online activity as a way to meet the demands of its international fans. "After we scheduled the Paris shows, fans across Europe and South America held rallies asking for concerts in their countries," the official said. "Our Facebook page has been flooded with messages from fans in the U.S., Mexico, Australia and Italy, and so we wanted to give them a chance to share the fun this time." S.M. had initially scheduled a show for only this Friday at Le Zenith de Paris concert hall, which seats about 6,000, bJun 8, 2011
Reality TV gets a spin as stars challenge skating, dancingBy Kwon Mee-yoo Stars are being kept busy. They have to prove their singing ability on MBC’s “I Am a Singer” and hone their vocal skills on tvN’s “Operastar 2011.” Now, two new shows bring celebrities into the professional fields of skating and dance. Riding the popularity of figure skating queen Kim Yu-na, SBS started airing “Kiss and Cry” on May 22, bringing singers and actors to the ice rink. The broadcaster created a small skating rink at its production center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to shoot the show. The line-up includes comedian Kim Byung-man, U-Know from TVXQ, signer IU, Son Dambi, Krystal from f(x), actor Seo Ji-suk, Lee Ah-hyun, Park Jun-geum, child actress Jin Ji-hee and speed skating gold medalist Lee Kyu-hyuk. On Sunday’s episode, the stars engaged in practice with professional skaters. U-Know combined his dance skills with skating and tried to adapt to the new situation with help from his partner Claudia Muller. The couple danced to “Summer Nights” from the musical “Grease,” but U-Know tripped on the ice due to a lack of practice and was criticized foJun 7, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
American girl wins writing contest in KoreanAlyssa Donovan, 18, is not your typical American teenager. As an American, the student has recently won both writing and speaking contest in Korean in the United States on May 30, beating Korean-Americans. The contest was hosted by the New England regional consultative council of Korean-American schools. She will compete as New England representative in the national contest slated for July 14 in San Francisco. For one, she has three Korean flags proudly displayed in a place of honor in her room. Secondly, she can speak, read and write Korean just as fluent as a native speaker, if not even more so. Donovan first became interested in Korea during her middle school, she said. Her crush had been a Korean-American, and she started to learn Korean in order to communicate better with him and his family. Although she failed to confess to him, she did gain an appreciation for Korean culture. Even today, she attends Korean school every Sunday, and is learning Chinese characters along with her Korean studies. “There are many words in Korean that are taken from Chinese characters,”May 31, 2011
Star Audition winner sweeping music sceneBy Chung Ah-young Chinese-Korean singer Baek Chung-gang is sweeping music download charts and is currently the talk of the town after being named the final winner of MBC’s “Star Audition: The Great Birth,” which aired last Friday. In the final round, Baek defeated Lee Tae-kwon, who also made a significant improvement during the show thanks to the instruction of mentor Kim Tae-won, a well-known rock guitarist. Kim also mentored Baek. The 22-year-old winner performed “We Depart, Stars Glisten,” a song specially written by Kim for Baek that has gone on to immediately top the major music rankings, proving his soaring popularity with the public. The song was inspired by Kim’s initial impression of Baek, who was like a “beast with many wounds” when he first met him in China. Baek was criticized for mimicking other singers’ singing styles and nasal sounds by his mentor in the early parts of the show but he overcame these problems. Through enormous efforts he also managed to build a wide fan base here. Before the final round, Baek said that if he wins, he would donate half May 30, 2011
Love, ambitions & lies in Miss RipleyBy Kwon Mee-yoo Liars are dominating the small screen in the Monday/Tuesday time slot. Gong A-jeong of “True Romance” on SBS is faking a marriage to defend her pride, while Lee So-yeong of “Baby-Faced Beauty” on KBS lies about her age to get a job. Another impostor is joining the race for fake lives — actress Lee Da-hae stars as Jang Mi-ri in MBC’s new soap “Miss Ripley,” and this heroine is a woman of large caliber compared to other leading ladies. Jang grew up in an orphanage and was adopted by a family in Japan. However, she had to survive on the streets before escaping to Korea. Life in Korea proves to be tough as well, as she finds employment difficult with just a high school degree, and she even gets sexually molested by an executive during a job interview. Her breakthrough comes when she is hired at a top-class hotel after fabricating her academic record, making herself a graduate of the University of Tokyo. On her way up the social ladder, she takes advantage of two men in the hospitality business that fall for her. As the title indicates, the drama May 24, 2011By Kwon Mee-yoo
Lady Gaga ousts Oprah as most influential figure: ForbesLady Gaga, the American singer known for her dashing wardrobe and eclectic personality, has ousted Oprah Winfrey, the “Queen of Talk Shows”, to become the most influential person in the world, according to a recent list published by Forbes. The list of 100, compiled yearly, takes into account a celebrity’s income and level of immersion in social media to determine how much influence the celebrity has on popular culture. The influence of social media played a large role in Lady Gaga’s success, Forbes said. “We measure social media power by looking at each celebrity’s presence on Facebook and Twitter,” the online magazine explained. The singer has 32 million fans on Facebook and more than 10 million Twitter followers equal to the entire population of Seoul. The second placer Oprah, however, is surveyed to have still maintained the lead in traditional media, such as radio and television. Justin Bieber, the 17-year-old singer who skyrocketed to fame through YouTube, a popular video-sharing website, has come third. The American phenom holds the record for the highest May 20, 2011
Superstar K to hold auditions overseasBy Lee Hyo-won “Superstar K” will hold auditions in Japan, China and the United States this summer to select contestants for the third season of the talent show, Mnet said Tuesday. The popular cable show modeled after “American Idol” will hold sessions in Tokyo, Sendai and Osaka, as well as Beijing and New York in June. Auditions for local talent are currently being held in eight locations around Korea. “Considering how travel remains difficult in eastern Japan after the earthquakes, we decided to go there ourselves,” said organizers of the program through a press release. Participants in each city will take part in a two-part screening process. Contenders from Korea and Japan will compete against one another in a third round, while those that make the cut will vie in a fourth and final screening against participants from New York and Beijing. The latter, called “Super Week,” will be held in Seoul in August, and organizers will provide transportation and accommodation for those traveling from overseas as well as those from Jeju Island. “We launched ‘Superstar K’ inMay 17, 2011