By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter
Boy group FT Island will receive the Best Newcomer Award at the 2007 Asia Song Festival to be held in Seoul on Sept. 22.
The five-member group will share the award with James, a popular singer in Thailand, according to the festival organizer, Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE).
FT Island, consisting of cute teen singers who can play musical instruments, was initially touted as a band rather than a boy group, but this drew criticism from music fans as the members do not write songs themselves or play live music. They shot to stardom among girl fans with a few hit numbers since early this year.
James, who debuted in 1995, is one of the most popular stars in Thailand, being picked as the best male artist by the country's Channel V in 2005, according to KOFICE.
Last year, the Best Newcomer Award of the festival went to SeeYa, a three-piece Korean girl group.
The annual Asia Song Festival, which started in 2004, features top idol stars from across Asia, including TVCQ, SG Wannabe, Lee Hyo-lee, Super Junior from South Korea, Kuraki Mai from Japan, A-mei and F4 from Taiwan and Thailand's Golf Mike.
Tickets can be downloaded for free at the KOFICE Web site at www.kofice.or.kr.