Get your tickets to Tonight with Lee Seung Gi: Korea’s King of CFs will be delighting his Singapore fans with a fan meet on August 25. It’s your chance to see the singer/former host of Strong Heart, 1 Night 2 Days and actor (The King 2 Hearts) in person (and that famous megawatt smile). Tickets in the $68 and $138 categories go on sale tomorrow at SISTIC.
Wonder Girls coming to Singapore: The quintet has made a triumphant comeback with the funky “Like This” and smooth, heart-wrenching “Girlfriend”. And they’re embarking on their Wonder World Tour -- Wonderfuls, mark your calendars for Sept 8, where they’ll be performing at Resorts World Sentosa. In the meantime, check out the teaser for their upcoming single “Like Money”.
KARA’s K5J showcase: The girls will be promoting their new fragrance KARA 5 Jewel and bringing their signature dance moves to town on July 10 at the Festive Grand Hotel.Tickets are priced at $98 and $148 and are only available via SISTIC counters or hotline 6348 5555.
T-ara, 2NE1 and Super Junior release singles: Mark this week as the most exciting in Kpop this year, with some of the biggest groups in Kpop choosing to release singles the same week -- T-ara with “Day By Day”, 2NE1 with “I Love You” (which has already gotten an “all-kill” on music charts), Super Junior with “Sexy, Free and Single”. The battle for top spot at the music shows is definitely on.
Although all are pretty good pop fare, the winner (and this is coming from a 2NE1 fan) so far is T-ara with their awesome apocalyptic short film-like video and haunting voices. The video also features one of two new members, 14 year-old Dani, who has raised much ire amongst diehard T-ara fans who say she’s simply riding on the hard work of her sunbaes (seniors in Korean). Will she win them over? In any case, we can’t wait for part two next week.
G-Dragon in Paris: The consummate fashionista first set rumours a-flying when the GlobalVIP account tweeted a picture of him in Paris -- was he there to film an MV for his solo album? And does he have pink hair now?! But we all found out later the BIGBANG leader was there to attend Men’s Fashion Week, sitting in the front rows for Junya Watanabe, Juun.J and Yohji Yamamato. Of course, his one-of-a-kind outfits won him features on various style websites, including a mention from the folks behind Style.com.
YG Entertainment to launch fashion line: Does it really come as a surprise that the most fashion-forward music label in Korea is branching into clothing? Teaming up with Samsung’s Cheil Industries, the label will be for teens and adults in their twenties. No word on when the designs will be out, but we can think of the perfect models to front the campaigns -- *cough* BIGBANG *cough*.
Girls’ Generation’s legs contribute to stocking sale? If there’s one fashion item we always keep a lookout for on Kpop’s female idols, it’s stockings. They’re certainly leading the trend with bright colours and patterns. And Japan’s Mainichi newspaper reported on Jun 25 that groups like Girls Generation (called a “mi-gak” group, or “beautiful leg”) have led to a huge increase in stocking sales in Japan -- sales of stocking maker Tutuanna, for example, went up eightfold compared to 2011.
MNET’s 20s Choice Awards: Adding to the array of awards shows in Korea, media group MNET recently held their 20s Choice Awards, calling for voters to pick their favourites in movies, drama and singing. These were then taken into consideration, along with research results and judges’ input. Winners include Miss A’s Suzy for favourite female movie star and Busker Busker for online music. Watch all the performances, including a very sexy version of Beyonce’s Diva by SISTAR, and 2PM’s Wooyoung’s solo stage here.
Yoo In Na and Ji Hyun woo attend IU’s concert: The newly-minted couple aren’t shy to show off their love, and they looked blissful when they made a trip to see Yoo In Na’s good friend IU (IU recently paid a surprise visit at the radio show Yoo hosts) in concert on June 30th. They held hands and even gamely got on stage at the singer’s request.
Future 2NE1?: YG posted a rehearsal video of four trainees under their management, all aged between 12 and 13, killing it on the dancefloor to Usher’s OMG. Of course, netizens are already up in arms of the idea of a group “replacing” the current 2NE1 and how young the girls are to be dancing to a sexually suggestive song. More than anything though, this has really made us think about what we’ve accomplished at our age.
Kim Hyun Joong tops Oricon singles chart: Cementing his status as one of most successful Korean crossovers in Japan, the leader of SS501 has earned the number 1 spot with more than 130,000 units sold for his single album Heat on the first day. The star, known for his devotion to fans, even held a ‘guerrilla” concert in Odaiba, Tokyo on July 4 to thank them.
Park Myung Soo is the new Taeyang: Fans of variety show Infinity Challenge will remember last year’s Music Festival episodes where the hosts teamed up with musicians to compose songs. Well, one of the duos -- Sagging Snail, with Yoo Jae Suk and Lee Juk -- is back with a teaser for their new single “Punk In The Corner”. Watch out for comedian Park Myung Soo’s take on Taeyang’s Mickey Mouse hairdo and G-Dragon’s blonde bowlcut from the "Monster"