Ye Eun Performs Original Song “You’re In Me” with Indie Band Monni

Wonder Girls‘ Ye Eun recently revealed her original song, “You’re In Me” during the filming of MBC Music “Picnic Live Sound, Scenery.” Ye Eun starred in this episode with indie band Monni and performed a collaborative stage at Jang Heung train station. Monni and Ye Eun practiced together for nearly a month before this perfomance and surprised everyone with their great on-stage chemistry and harmony. 

Ye Eun and Monni performed “You’re In Me,” the song Ye Eun composed on her own. “You’re In Me” is of the modern rock genre and sings about a smitten couple who just started falling in love with each other. This is the first duet song that Ye Eun’s ever written and Monni and Ye Eun’s great on-stage chemistry adds more sensibility to the song.  

Originally “You’re In Me” was close to a pop ballad with a piano melody, but when Ye Eun played the song during a practice session with Monni, Monni added some final touches to the song, perfecting it with a modern rock style and richer sound. Monni’s vocal Kim Shin Ee expressed how pleasantly surprised he was when he first listened to Ye Eun’s “You’re In Me,” “When I first heard the demo version of the song, I couldn’t believe that Ye Eun actually wrote this song herself. I thought she’d be more of a performer than an artist, since she has that idol background, but she has great sensibility as a writer.” 

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Jun.K Sweetly Reminisces His Musical Experience Via Photos

2PM’s Jun.K is one lucky guy to have such faithful friends!

On April 16, he went on a photo spree uploading several pictures on his Twitter.

Flip through the gallery to see who came to watch him perform!

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[Editorial] The Current State of Hallyu in the US

 

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on who’s doing what and with whom on the Hallyu map. But we’ve tasted success through PSY, and I say we because by it’s due to fans of Korean pop sticking the proverbial foot in the door. When Korean pop fans subbed and uploaded music videos on Youtube, not only did that make it available for people like me to check it out, that also got all the agencies to make official Youtube accounts and post everything from talk show clips to extended T-ara‘s 20-minute music videos. Which led to Gangnam Style being uploaded to Youtube, which led to Gangnam Style playing all over the radio. I don’t know how many of you listen to Latino stations but imagine this: I’m tuning into a station where all the songs are in Spanish, all the announcers speak Spanish, and all the commercials are in Spanish. It’s really Spanish. And Korean comes blasting out of my speakers: “OPPA GANGNAM STYLE!” Now, that’s what I call Hallyu.

How many artists of any Asian ethnicity do you hear on the radio in the US? Besides artists like Ne-Yo or Nicki Minaj (nobody’s going to see Minaj’s Indian heritage just by looking at her), I count the grand sum of three: Jay Sean, Far-East Movement, and PSY. The scarcity could be due to Asian parents wanting their kids to be doctors, lawyers, or engineers but this could also be due to stereotyping. Anyway, my point is that very few Asian artists have made serious hits in the US pop industry, and of those, PSY’s the only one representing Korean pop.

Se7en, BoA, Wonder Girls, JYJ, and Girls’ Generation have all released songs in the U.S. but none of them did much to advance Hallyu. Yes, they charted maybe on iTunes or some subsection of Billboard and yes, they performed all over the place, did interviews, and did all the PR that they could schedule but none of it worked. You know how all their concerts sold out? Those were all K-pop fans. You know how they got millions of views on Youtube? Those were mostly K-pop fans, too. The Wonder Girls tried the hardest of all: they toured with a teen pop act, got a movie, and released an English-only song featuring Akon. I’ve got to hand it to JYP, the guy knows how to network. However, he doesn’t understand the game and neither do any of the other agencies.

Korean talent agencies love formulas. They want to know what packaging they need to make a star. They hire vocal trainers and choreographers because if the trainees are lacking in some area, it can be trained. They mix and match trainees to get as close to a dream team as they can. They schedule interviews and variety show appearances to garner interest. They hire songwriters and producers to make catchy hit singles that kind of all sound the same but are guaranteed to make the performers look good. Did you guys hear the singles that SBS released for the 2012 Music Awards, The Color of K-pop? That’s as gimmicky as it gets. Muse had the same coloring as an IU hit and This Person bore an uncanny resemblance to Sistar‘s Alone. You know it’s not the exact same melody but it sounds similar because the style has been engineered to suit the concept. Every aspect of K-pop has been industrialized.

The agencies send their artists to the US and expect that by doing the usual PR, the singers will generate interest, and by trying to get associated with big-name acts and producers through collaborations, the singers will imbibe qualities from US successes that will allow them to hack into the market. That’s not how it works in the US. Singers in the US don’t get famous because they’re in the magazines, they get into the magazines because they’re famous. Singers in the US don’t get famous because they work with famous producers, they have to prove themselves and subsequently attract attention to get the pros on board. I think a lot of people saw how Usher took Justin Bieber under his wing and thought that it was the association that made him famous. This is incorrect. It was the commitment that the management undertook to set him up for success, and that commitment is something that a Korean agency can’t procure through mere networking.

I wasn’t around for Se7en’s debut but here’s what I think happened with the others. BoA’s US songs were catchy-ish but fell miserably short for someone being marketed as the Best of Asia. She’s the classic manufactured star as in she can perform anything but not every song will show off her best, plus her outdoor performances were always packed by old fans—no space for newcomers. The Wonder Girls picked the wrong act to associate with. No offense to the Jonas Brothers but their fans were in a young, narrow age bracket. Another misstep was the movie with Nickelodeon (in which they apparently learned to say, “fo shizzle.” Really, now?). Teddy Riley thought that Girls’ Generation would see better success than the Wonder Girls but as I’ve heard them on the radio zero times, I would say that neither succeeded at all. One glaring weakness of their album The Boys was that there was no continuity whatsoever, which in turn is due to the fact that Girls’ Generation have yet to mature into some kind of musical identity. As for JYJ, they don’t even know English.

The one common problem was that these singers only worked hard instead of both working hard and working smart. They didn’t play to their strengths, plus they had too much of the PR and themed costumes. They should have gone straight to the radio and bought up all the airtime that they could and have the music, at its best, sell itself.

Notice: PSY had no plans to bring Gangnam Style to the US. There was no grand marketing scheme and Gangnam Style is just one of many of songs showcasing PSY’s unique taste. It went viral all on its own and we’re still not sure exactly how that happened. After that, he got featured all over the place and his notability shot through the roof. Is it possible to recreate that explosive popularity through “hard work” instead of luck? Artists planning future US forays can only hope.

A second major problem was weak songs. Debuts in the US need to be catchier and stronger than new songs by veterans. If you listen to the radio, Maroon 5, P!nk, and Usher do whatever they want because they’ve been established but new blood is always interesting because if it’s not interesting, it doesn’t get air time.

So. What will the future of Hallyu look like, anyway? One thing that we’ve learned from Gangnam Style is that something completely unexpected may happen. What is being planned is 2NE1‘s debut with the mentorship of will.i.am, Rania‘s debut with the help of Snoop Dogg, and PSY’s follow-up single titled Gentleman, fingers crossed. Will.i.am seems to be very invested in 2NE1 as has not been the case for other US debuts so it’s really up in the air how they will fare (but so far, it looks good). Rania is something of a dark horse as they’re not the biggest thing in Korea, which could be a plus or a minus. I don’t see any reason for PSY’s new single not to ride in on Gangnam Style’s popularity but there’s still going to be some agitation over it, sort of like wondering whether or not Kim Yuna will take a second Olympic gold in Russia next year.

There are also projects like the short comedy skit with f(x) and Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect). I hear that they’re planning to do more collaborations to help promote “K-pop stars” and “American stars” together. This is a good idea but I have a real bad feeling that it’s going to be very badly executed. When I saw the skit, I didn’t think it was funny. I think I like Kendrick O.K. and between us, I think SM Entertainment should have put the US debut on f(x) instead of Girls’ Generation because f(x) would have been less awkward in interviews and talk shows. But the actual skit that got put together made me cringe, both because the majority of f(x)’s English lines were poorly delivered and because I don’t like the way the word “K-pop” sounds. It would have made more sense if they turned it into some kind of Pitch Perfect spinoff skit.

Another point I want to touch on is the image of Korean pop. So far, I’ve been kind of avoiding the term K-pop because there’s a certain stigma to it. One of the things holding Koreans back from success is this idea that K-pop is one genre, and a really manufactured genre at that. It’s sort of like the idea that all Asians look alike. To succeed, a Korean artist should be able to shed the “K-pop” label and make their own brand. For example, PSY’s the crazy guy with the horse dance. 2NE1 could be the sexy-tough rapper-singers who redefine girl group pop. If they get tied to an image as the K-pop group that wants to make it in the US, that’s going to be detrimental to their success at growing their popularity past their existing fanbase. One of the reasons that I didn’t like the f(x)-Kendrick skit was that the humor was too conservative and wasn’t ready to have K-pop artists dissing K-pop. It’s true that most Korean artists have been trained up but people want to see that the singers are outgrowing the system and taking matters into their own hands.

I don’t want the US contemporary hits radio to turn into a giant Korean pop cesspool but I do understand that these groups dream of standing at the top of the world and to do that, they’ll have to conquer the US market. The heart of the US market lies in its radio and the way to break into the radio is through the strength of the songs. When I hear it on the radio, that’s when I’ll know it’s a success.

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SM’s K-Pop Star Fail: SHINee ft. Andrew Choi

‘K-Pop Star 2′ recently had its season finale, but The One Shots‘ writer Saphy still has a bone to pick with the judges after an injustice was done to one of the Top 3 contestants. This week, she explains why Andrew Choi’s special SM stage cost him the spot she thinks he deserved in the finals this season.

In case you didn’t know, the crazy talented brother-sister duo known as Akdong Musician recently nabbed the win on ‘K-Pop Star 2′ after a grueling battle with the wonder kid, Bang Yedam. It was pretty much known from the get-go that Akdong Musician would be a shoo-in for the finals, so not much of a surprise there. But as an avid fan of this awesome talent audition reality show myself, I am enraged on behalf of the third-place contender, Andrew Choi, whom I believe should have been the one to take on the duo and give them a real run for their money. And it’s all because of a poorly designed special stage.

The battle among the Top 3 contestants consisted of two parts: a solo stage and a collaborative stage with artists from the Big 3 companies that each contestant had been cast into. The different approaches each company took to design these collaborative stages are what may have possibly cost SM representative, Andrew Choi, his chance to go head-to-head with Akdong Musician, while securing a spot for YG‘s little prodigy, Bang Yedam, in the final round. For now, let’s just say outshining your own contestant isn’t a winning strategy, and you’ll see what I mean soon enough.

Akdong Musician easily held their own in their special stage with a remixed rendition of miss A‘s “I Don’t Need a Man,” featuring miss A’s very own Jia, Wonder Girls‘ Ye Eun and 2AM‘s Jokwon and Changmin. They focused solely on putting on a great show–so much so that I forgot for a second that it was a competition and not a JYP Nation concert. They actually fit in quite well with the JYP family, so while the duo remains undecided on which company they will sign with, this performance has me crossing my fingers for JYP.

Meanwhile, I have always respected YG, and after the way he conceptualized Yedam’s performance, I somehow found even more ways to respect the man. The simple design of the “Bad Boy” stage with only two singers and some chill back-up dancers was way less distracting and allowed the audience to focus on the contestant at all times. We all know his partner Taeyang is a multi-talented entertainer who lights up every stage he stands on. He could have easily stolen the show away from Yedam and relegated the kid to being an accessory, but he didn’t. In fact, he held back and always made sure Yedam was the focus. He matched his strides and constantly interacted with him, never straying too far away, yet adding just the right amount of star power to make people fall in love with this truly special stage.

But when I saw Andrew’s stage, I became so angry. I just failed to understand just why SM felt the need to bring in all five members of their incredibly popular group SHINee, especially when their 33-year-old contestant probably has no interest in joining a boy band anytime soon. In fact, before I go on and point out just what went wrong, I must mention that the man is not exactly a rookie. He’s actually one of SM Entertainment’s most talented composers, having written songs for TVXQ, EXO and SHINee, including the song for his special stage, “Beautiful.” He even recorded the guide vocals for BoA‘s “Only One.” But based on the way SM treated him as an accessory in his own special stage, one might wonder whether he has even earned the company’s respect after composing for their super groups these past few years.

Starting from those behind-the-scene snippets, before the performance had even begun, you could just feel how Andrew’s synergy with the members was a bit off. There’s no denying that a generation gap here played a role. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if Taemin calls Andrew ahjussi behind closed doors. And not only was there that lack of chemistry, but there was also the sense that SM was trying to make Andrew fit into their cookie-cutter bubblegum pop style that has been pervading K-Pop for ages now. Andrew is too old to fit that mold. His talents lie in his vocal and writing abilities, so why weren’t those capitalized on?

Add on the fact that Andrew has a much more reserved and timid personality. Placing him on a stage with the charisma-oozing-from-their-pores SHINee was bound to make him fade into the background. Before his piano solo had even ended, fans caught a glimpse of the superstars appearing on stage and immediately started screaming, practically drowning out his last few verses and ruining his only time to shine. And then, what was up with those formations? Like I said, he’s reserved and timid, not someone who’s about to break out his dancing shoes and jazz hands. I was not aware that this was another music show performance for SHINee, featuring their sixth long (and thankfully) lost member, Andrew Choi. Bringing in that SHINee arsenal clearly had more promotional gain for the currently promoting boy band than the contestant. Plus, the task of competing for camera time and outshining five experienced performers is just about impossible for one man, even if he is über talented himself, so naturally, given his little amount of screen time and lack of verses, I basically forgot that he was the contestant.

Being the talented composer that he is, he could have easily rearranged his own song into a ballad and continued singing it on that piano, like he had started out doing. Then, they could have brought in one SHINee member to accompany him. My vote would have to go to Onew for his ability to maneuver between ballads and upbeat pop so easily. His personality and style would actually complement Andrew’s quite well, while their voices would be in perfect harmony. The potentially beautiful performance would have fit Andrew’s style much better and allowed him to show off the fact that he has superior vocals when compared to the inexperienced and still developing Yedam. 

For ‘K-Pop Star 3,’ I hope the judges will plan collaborative stages that make more sense. This audition show shouldn’t be used as a platform to show off the talents of these entertainment companies’ groups. We already know that these established groups have tons of talent, and we already have the weekly music shows to show us that. It should be all about the contestants, who should be allowed to give it their all and be judged at their best.

Check out The One Shots and follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

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Wonder Girls’ Hyelim Is the Cover Model for “NAILHOLIC”

Recently, Wonder Girls’ Hyelim graced the cover of the April issue of nail fashion magazine “NAILHOLIC.”

The cover photo shows off Hyelim’s large eyes adorned with adorable eyelashes and pink lips. Her nails look beautiful with sparkly silver nail arts. In the additional photos, Hyelim is looking girly as she holds dessert items to show off unique nail arts. She looks looks gorgeous and glamorous in all the pictures.

A representative from the magazine stated, “The sweet dessert concept was perfect for this pictorial to display Hyelim’s lovely and adorable image. As the ‘happy virus’ of the group Wonder Girls, Hyelim showed off her calm and feminine side during the interview. Her humble and kind nature was obvious. Her genuine and great interest in nail arts and her beautiful hands were impressive.”

Meanwhile, Hyelim is currently working as an English teacher on EBS radio’s “English Go Go.”

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Wonder Girls’ Members Pick Sohee as the Most Different On and Off Stage

During the recent filming of “Seo In Young’s Star Beauty Show Season 2,” girl group Wonder Girls appeared as special guests.

On this day, Wonder Girls’ members revealed their personal lives. Yoobin and Hyelim admitted that they are addicted to taking selcas, while it was revealed that Sunye never lets go of her mirror.

The member that is the most different on and off the stage was found to be Sohee. The other members stated that Sohee, who is charismatic and chic on stage, shows off very different charms when she is with the other members.

During the filming, the girls also revealed their personal items they carry around, as well as other private facts of their personal lives.

This episode of “Seo In Young’s Star Beauty Show Season 2” will be aired on April 16, 2013.

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Secret’s Jeon Hyosung Wants to Get Married at the Age of 32

On April 9, Secret’s Jeon Hyosung appeared as a special guest on KBS’s “Generation Sympathy Saturday.”

During the show, the topic of Wonder Girls’ Sunye’s recent marriage and pregnancy was discussed. To this, Hyosung stated, “I want to get married at the age of 32.”

She continued honestly as she referred to Sunye, “I was surprised to hear the news of her marriage, since this would be the first currently active idol member to get married. I think that thanks to Sunye, other idols will have it easier; we will be able to work in a more relaxed environment. I hope that the fans will see idols’ love life with more open minds.”

Meanwhile, this episode of “Generation Sympathy Saturday” will be aired on April 13 at 9:05am (KST).

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DTMG & PUMASHOCK teams up for ‘mind-blowing’ SHINee cover

The first multicultural American band to professionally cover K-Pop, Dave Tauler Music Group (DTMG), has become a hot topic among US K-Pop fans in the last year due to their awe-inspiring

US A&R Executive signs African-American K-Pop artist, reveals ‘true’ side of JYJ

Exclusive: US Artist and Repertoire Executive/Producer ‘Niddy’ talks about signing the first African-American K-Pop artist and opens up about working with JYJ. When you talk to K-Pop fans in the US,

JYPE’s Family Like Atmosphere

After 15&’s Park Ji Min’s latest interview, which you can read here, there has been renewed interest in JYP Entertainment’s family-like atmosphere. It required some digging, but the collection of past photos show the closeness of the singers in the agency whether they’re hanging out or doing work-related activities.

Flip through the gallery to see the warm and harmonious vibe between JYP artists!

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Celebs Attend Hip Brand United Nude’s Flagship Store Opening Party

Many celebrities flocked toward Sinsa-dong on April 5 to attend United Nude’s flagship store opening party. Specialized in shoe design, the brand is popular with fashion icon Lady Gaga as well as Korean celebrities like BoA and Son Dam Bi.

Flip through the gallery to see which stars attended the exclusive event and check out their fashion!

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Kpop Statistics Germany reveals ranking polls result

Recently, a statistical organization about Kpop in Germany, K-Pop Statistics Germany, has created a poll in seven different categories: top 25 boy groups, top 25 girl groups, top 10 male

SB Bite: Sunye’s Baby Wonder!

Wonder Girls leader Sunye continue’s to break down barriers — the first idol of her generation to tie the knot is now pregnant!

Sunye, now in Canada with her husband James Park, made the announcement via Twitter, saying that the couple had been “granted a honeymoon baby.” She further revealed that she was now three months pregnant, and asked fans to pray for her baby’s health.

Many were naturally surprised at the news, especially at how soon it happened. While some have resurrected shotgun-wedding rumours, it should be noted that in Korea traditionally follows the Lunar Calender with pregnancies; under this, pregnancies last for 10 months instead of the nine as deduced from the Gregorian Calender. So while Sunye has completed three months of her pregnancy in Lunar months, the Gregorian age of her baby is likely to be slightly less than that, probably two and a half months.

Another worry fans have had are about the Wonder Girls as a group — is this the end? JYP Co., though, has stated that Sunye is still very much part of the group. And with the other members involved with their own solo activities (Yeeun‘s starring in the The Three Musketeers musical, Yubin is appearing in OCN drama Virus, Lim is teaching English via her radio show Wonder K~Pop! on South Korea’s Education Broadcasting System (EBS) and Sohee is keeping Fannie busy with her many photoshoots), an extended hiatus wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. And with 2PM coming back, JYP will still have one big-name group active.

Ultimately, it would be safe to say that everyone is happy for the expecting couple (especially best friend and uncle-to-be Jo Kwon). Congratulations to Sunye and James, and may they have a happy and safe pregnancy!

(EBS, JYP. Co., The Korea Herald, Pregnancy Calenders, Twitter)

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Jo Kwon and Other Celebrities Congratulate “Mom-to-be” Sunye

With Wonder Girls‘ Sunye recently announcing her pregnancy on Twitter, the congratulations from fans have been pouring in to the beautiful  “mom-to-be”.  Fellow singer and best friend, 2AM’s Jo Kwon also tweeted his congratulations to Sunye, writing, “I’m going to be an uncle? Yes! >_< I will become an awesome uncle! To my lovable family member Sunye! Congratulations!”

Labelmate Baek Ah Yeon also congratulated the expectant singer, tweeting, “I will pray for you, unni! Congratulations!”

Singer Younha tweeted on her own account, “I’m so happy. Sunye is expecting her first baby. Let’s bless this new life together. I pray there will only be happiness for the married couple!”

There can never be enough congratulations to this happy news. Let’s wish Sunye and her family lots of happiness and health!

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JYP Denies the Rumor that Sunye Is Leaving Wonder Girls

On April 4 on her Twitter, Wonder Girls’ Sunye surprised and delighted her fans by revealing that she is three-months pregnant. Following this announcement, sudden rumors of Sunye’s departure from the group started to spread.

However in the afternoon of the same day, an official from the “JYP Entertainment” stated via phone call to Newsen, “Sunye will continue to be an active member of Wonder Girls. Currently, Sunye has not left the group, but is just taking a temporary break. The rumor that Wonder Girls will break up is also false. We are truly happy about Sunye’s pregnancy.”

Sunye married James Park on January 26 this year in Seoul, and the newly wedded couple is currently enjoying their honeymoon in Montreal, Canada.

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Wonder Girls’ Sunye Is Going to Be a Mom!

On her Twitter on April 4, Wonder Girls’ Sunye uploaded a happy message, “I want to show my respect to all the mothers in the world who have experienced the mysteries and wonders of life. We have been gifted with a honeymoon baby. I think it is safe to deliver this news since I am currently 3 months pregnant. I hope you will all pray for my baby’s health.”

Sunye is the first girl group member from the current idol generation to get married and become pregnant. Since her wedding in January of this year, other members of Wonder Girls have been busy with their individual careers. Ye Eun is currently playing the role of Constance in the musical “The Three Musketeers,” while Hyelim recently became the host for EBS (Education Broadcasting System) radio. In addition, Yoobin is busy with her role in OCN’s drama “The Virus.”    

So, congratulations to beautiful Sunye!

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Kpop Magnetism: What pulls in the fans and why? The Choreography.

  Next in our Kpop Magnetism series, we’ll hip-thrust, spin, and freestyle our way through the all-out happiness Kpop brings to fans through its world-renowned choreography. While musical arrangement, lyrics,

Wonder Girls Yubin’s spring like beauty

Another spring beauty is being showcased through a magazine shoot. Wonder Girls’ Yubin is gracing the April issue of SURE Korea with her spring like beauty. Leaving her sexy charisma

Why Are We Still Talking About Sunye’s Non-pregnancy?

On January 26, Wonder Girls’ leader Sunye became the first member of an active K-pop idol group to walk down the aisle. Resplendent in a beautiful wedding dress designed by Korean bridal fashion designer Lee Myung-soon (seriously, that lace-decorated full-length skirt was just gorgeous, as were the sheer sleeves), SunYe and her Korean-Canadian fiance James Park tied the knot at a ceremony emceed by Sunye’s best friend and labelmate Jo Kwon. Never one to pass up an opportunity to insert himself into his idols’ special moments, Park Jin-young sang the congratulatory song — and James even got in on the action to do a dorky (but cute) dance to the Wonder Girls’ 2008 hit “Nobody.” Following the nuptials, the newlyweds boarded a plane for Maldives, where they will spend their honeymoon before returning to Canada, home to James and Sunye’s in-laws. Sunye will take some time to focus on her new family life, while the other Wonder Girls’ members will engage in solo activities for an undetermined stretch.(...)
Read the rest of Why Are We Still Talking About Sunye’s Non-pregnancy? (1,265 words)

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Week in Review: Something Old, Something New

Perhaps the biggest story of this week in K-pop is the forthcoming marriage of Wonder Girls‘ leader Sun-ye to her boyfriend of over a year, James Park, on Saturday, January 26th at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul.  Her bestie, 2AM‘s JoKwon will officiate and JYP will offer the congratulatory song at the wedding that will definitely be one of the K-pop events of the year.  On the 22nd, JYPE released a couple of Sun-ye’s pictures from her wedding photo shoot and Sun-ye looked just radiant in them.  Although Sun-ye’s nuptials and uncertain future after it has definitely thrown a wrench in the destiny of the Wonder Girls, Wikipedia has already listed her as a former member, no one who is a fan and knows of her tragic past could not be happy for Sun-ye. (JYPE, Star News)

Something Old

• To celebrate their 1000th day together as JYJ the members, Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu, produced a magazine to commemorate the last three years of their careers.  The magazine  is full of interviews and pictorials and is a gift for fans who helped them to survive their break from SM. (JYJ3)

 

Something New

• While not as abundant as last week, there were still quite a few comebacks in K-pop:  Huh Gak released “Monodrama” featuring Super Star K4‘s Yoo Seung-woo, Nine Muses are “Dolls,” MR.MR kicks it into gear with “Highway,” MYNAME with “Just That Little Thing,” Tiny G is “Minimanimo,” Skull and HaHa released “Donamdong Melody,” Rude Paper want you to know “Wadamean,” Shin Jae says “It Hurts So Bad,”and Super Junior KRY released the PV for “Promise You.”

• MFBTY, the project group of Tiger JK, Tasha, and Bizzy, released the MV for their single  ”Sweet Dream.”

• Actor So Ji-sub released the MV for “Eraser” the second song released from his new album.  The song features the vocals of Mellow and stars Yoo Seung-ho and Park Shin-hye in the MV.

• SPEED released the MV for “Never Say Goodbye.”

• K.Will collaborated with ChaKun of the ElectroBoyz  for the song “Even if I Play.”

• K-variety contestants do good: Top Band 2 semi-finalist Transfixion released their latest single “Rock Star,” Show Me the Money finalist ILLTONG released “One’s Footstep” featuring J, Birth of a Great Star 2‘s Eric Nam debuted with “Heaven’s Door.”

•  IU and Jo Jung-suk will be starring in a new K-drama for KBS You’re the Best Yi Sun-shin.  It’s a weekend drama and will debut in March after the run of My Daughter Seo-young. (Sports Korea)

 

Something Borrowed

• LEDApple‘s  Han Byul released a cover of Bruno Mars’ “Talking to the Moon” as part of LEDApple’s Music Note series.  It was an impressive cover and according to the video not the last they will do with a cover of Big Bang‘s “Love Song” coming up next.

• Park Jin-young, also known as JYP, lost his appeal regarding plagiarism for his song “Someday” which was on the Dream High OST which was brought up by composer Kim Shin-il because it resembled his song ”To My Man.”  Not only did he lose the appeal, the court upped the amount of money he owed the other party to 56,940,710 won which was over 30,000,000 won more than the original settlement.  JYP is expected to appeal the decision to Korea’s Supreme Court. (The Daily Focus)

 

Something Blue

• The news bodes well for C.N. Blue as soon after they announced a world tour that would go to cities in Asia, Europe, Austalia and North and South America–they also took the #1 spot on Billboard’s World Album chart.  Here’s to hoping they’ll also think of visiting “Blue” Hawaii on their tour. (AsiaToday)

 

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Post tags: Bizzy, C.N.Blue, Han Byul, JYJ, LEDApple, MFBTY, Sunye, Tasha, Tiger JK, Week in Review, Wonder Girls

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Play That Sound: Best Albums/Minis of 2012

2012 has been an undeniably strong year for K-pop music, and the albums emerging from the K-pop scene this year have been no exception. You showed your love for your favorite albums and minialbums from 2012; here are our picks from this year.(...)
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Post tags: Big Bang, Block B, Nell, Urban Zakapa, Wonder Girls, Younha

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Here Comes the (Idol) Bride: Sunye, Marriage, and Fan Reactions

Wedding bells are ringing in the K-popiverse! As many of our readers will have heard, Wonder Girls‘ leader Sunye will be tying the knot with one James Park, a Korean-Canadian who has been the singer’s boyfriend for the past two years. This announcement comes almost exactly one year after Sunye publicly acknowledged her relationship on an episode of Strong Heart; the two met while doing missionary work in Haiti and will be wed on January, 26, 2013. While JYPE has acknowledged that Sunye will still remain a part of the Wonder Girls and that the marriage is not indicative of a disbandment, it appears that she will take some time to focus on her new married life while the other members concentrate on individual activities and solo efforts for a bit. Importantly, the agency has given Sunye their blessing and fellow member Ye-eun has taken to social media to announce her well wishes for Sunye and her fiancé.(...)
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Post tags: Sunye, Wonder Girls

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Sohee Sues for Slander

Looks like netizens have gone too far. On November 9^th, a college student was arrested for slandering Wonder Girl’s Sohee via Twitter. Apparently this student has had a history of such behavior — he was sued by JYP in April for badgering Sohee with nasty tweets, despite warnings to refrain from doing so. Since then, a full-on investigation has been launched, and this has resulted in the student’s arrest for slander and violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. According to Business Software Alliance’s “Country Report”, this is a law that “prohibits the [online] posting of illegal content, including material that infringes upon public interests and social order, specifically obscenity, defamation, violence or cruelty, and incitement to gambling.” Since the netizen violated this via his defamation, he is currently in custody and is awaiting legal action (and so is a very eager JYP, no doubt).(...)
Read the rest of Sohee Sues for Slander (410 words)

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Post tags: Sohee, Wonder Girls

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Wonder Girls’ Sun Ye three months pregnant

Wonder Girls’ Sun Ye has shared the announcement that she and her newly-wedded husband are expecting their first child.  In announcement made on Twitter, Sun opened the message by showing

If It Ain’t Broke, Why Fix It?

As an ELF (and more broadly as a fan of K-pop) it constantly surprises me just how much criticism Super Junior cops for its failure to evolve musically following their success with “Sorry Sorry” — so much so that a comeback isn’t complete until its similarities to their 2009 hit have been thoroughly discussed, spurned and the entire venture dismissed. But is this kind of relentless criticism fair to groups that have little to no control over their image? Even then, should any group come under fire for capitalising upon their greatest success?

(...)
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Post tags: 2NE1, BAP, KARA, NU'EST, SNSD, Super Junior, UKISS, Wonder Girls

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The Wonderful B-Sides of The Wonder Girls

With two studio albums and two extended plays to their name in almost five years, the Wonder Girls’ frequency of releasing new material does pale in comparison to many recent acts, who seem to drop comebacks every six months.

While part of this could be attributed to the Wonder Girls’ status in Korea, as still being a leading girl group and hence not needing to promote too often to stay in the limelight, as well as their international promotions, there are other reasons to justify the low output.

It could be argued that by favouring a quality first and “good things come to those who wait” approach for music — despite not doing much compared to new/rookie groups — what they do usually tends to be less trend driven and would date better.

Also, it could be said that their low output could be a misconception built on how big their old hits (“Tell Me”, “So Hot”, ”Nobody”) have become with time, leading most recent K-pop listeners to think that those singles are all they have to their name. Well, with a back catalogue that certainly runs far deeper than that, they have a lot more to offer.

While their contemporaries SNSD went with the preppy girl-next-door image, the Wonder Girls thought laterally and went with a retro, party-friendly pop feel. Although this image has stuck with them for a long time, it was back then a refreshing addition to the K-pop mix. “Tell Me” and “So Hot” served as fun and playful takes on themes of old. So, for those who like their retro, it’s worth listening to the songs below as variations of the theme.

For those who prefer something different, with a modern spin, “Move” is worth checking out. Composed by Lee Minwoo (of Shinhwa fame), the song has a stronger club vibe than the other songs on the album. It also shows a hint of how well the Wonder Girls handle the ‘black/dark concept’ so beloved of Girl Groups.

And speaking of hidden gems, “Saying I Love You” has got to be as hidden as they get. Found only on The Wonder Years: Trilogy EP (where it was overshadowed by “Nobody”) as well as The Wonder Girls (a compilation for the overseas market), the track is one of Ye-eun’s first compositions to make it as a release. Featuring a mid-tempo instrumental, and lyrics on unconditional lyrics, the song makes for a pleasant listen. And as an added bonus, the girls also sound pleasantly within their range for the song, without ever being vocally stressed.

After those releases though, Wonderfuls were probably left repeating those songs (with a pair of Different Tears in between), until Wonder World came in and offered a glut of new material worth getting interested in.

Maybe it was the long wait, maybe it was the time spent overseas that helped with the musical development, or maybe it was how they finally put aside the retro air that hung over most of their releases, but Wonder World was a release worth waiting for. While the contemporaneous release, SNSD’s The Boys may have won the sales battle, Wonder World has got what it takes as far as the musical war is concerned. Listening to the album six months after its release, there was little question as to which one between the two was more preferable.

It was a bit of a shame that they’d chosen to promote “Be My Baby” as that track, while giving most listeners what they wanted, came in short in terms of selling their musical development and the sound of the album. Also, “Be My Baby” had a retro slant, but the rest of the album was largely far more forward thinking. There are girl group anthems, Euro-pop inspired songs, and tunes heavy on the party vibe, but amazingly, the whole thing holds together really well and is above all, really good pop.

Top on the list would have to be “Sweet Dreams”, a really smooth pop confection made up of descriptions of things to do with a lover (largely of the PG variety), layered over a catchy (but not cloying) tune. Throw in some metaphorical musing in laconic rapping by Yubin, and this is a sophisticated tune that stands toe-to-toe with some of the best pop in the world.

Another recommended listen would be “Girls, Girls”, which could very well be the perfect soundtrack for any Korean chick flick. With a simple melody showcasing a nice mixing of vocals, inspiring lyrics that touch on being bold when confessing one’s love, as well as references that stray amusingly close to their actual selves (I’m a Wondergirl/Can be the only one in the world), the song shows how everyone’s singing has come a long way over the years.

Despite these two songs being the highlights, there are a fair few other inspired pieces. From the sass of “Me, In” to the synth-pop inspired “Stop!”, to the party-starting “G.N.O”, it really is an impressive list. The whole album comes off as rather free of filler — something K-pop is often riddled with — and every track has an identity of its own, but at the same time, it stays faithful to the concept of good and enjoyable pop.

Wonder Party, being an EP and all, did not exactly hit the highs of Wonder World. However, there were still some highlights, and this is especially evident where ‘Girls’ seemingly begins to play a bigger role in song writing and composition. Two songs worth mentioning would be “Hey Boy”, an upbeat number written by Yubin about having changed impressions about someone over time (and the formula for every successful love story ever) and “Girlfriend”, another Ye-eun composition, but one which very nicely captures the feeling of continued pining for the one that left.

While the Wonder Girls may have undoubtedly built their legacy on the big hits, their back catalogue also shows that they are rather accomplished pop performers and that they are music makers in their own right.

(MyWonderGirls@YouTube, KpopGGPower06@YouTube, 510610404@YouTube, GummyBearsTakeOver16@YouTube)

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Post tags: Side B, Wonder Girls

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A Few Things JYP Can Learn From Psy for Wonder Girls’ American Venture

I imagine that these days JYP is locked in a dark room somewhere flinging papers all over the place in rage while “Gangnam Style” plays repeatedly on a dozen screens in the room. He’s probably tearing out his hair wondering how the hell Psy was able to make it so big in America while his ventures have struggled to make the tiniest blip on any serious radar.

And if he’s not stressed by Psy’s success, he should be.

(...)
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Post tags: gangnam style, JYP, psy, Wonder Girls

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Counterpoint: Arguing Against the Black Hole Idol

“Black hole” idols represent a special category of Korean celebrities we are used to by now: idols that lack the main requirements for their position. Gaya was kind enough this week to take them under her protective wing and offer them a defense and a label. But just to play good cop-bad cop, I think it’s only fair to highlight the arguments people have against them.

Just for starters, I don’t watch variety and I’m not a big fan of social networking (nothing against them, I just don’t like it). I locate here the main area where the gap forms between me and a more forgiving fan: I am not as involved with idols as persons as the average K-pop fan, so I can’t stan with the same vigor. By not appealing to me either musically or personally, it’s only normal that I can’t place them anywhere near my good feelings. From this moment on, a case against could be easily built:
(...)
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Post tags: 4Minute, miss A, TaeTiSeo, Wonder Girls

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KpopCharts Update: Love Sexy Money

2NE1 “I Love You” – Vote for them here

Ok, this song is obnoxiously stuck in our head. It even gets to the point that one of us just starts thinking about the song, and then the other is like “damn I can’t stop singing it in my head”…A FEW SECONDS AFTER THE FIRST PERSON STARTS THINKING ABOUT IT! There’s something really freaky about that. We do that sometimes with other things apart from music right away, and it makes conversations a bit awkward when we stop the conversation and yell at the other person to get our of each other’s head. JUST AWKWARD. I guess it’s because we’re so close and sappy and all that mushy crap.

Woo Young “Sexy Lady” – Vote for him here!

Holy snap: we must review this song. The dance is great, and just waiting for us to talk about it. And all the cheesy lens flares! Oh god! We could have so much fun with this! And the beat of the song: wow! We sometimes recreate the beats of Kpop songs for our skits, like our Junsu’s Intoxication song, which you hear every time there’s something sexy going on in our videos. But this beat? JESUS IT’S SO EASY!

BUH BUH BUHHHHH BUH
BUH BUH BUHHHHH BUH
BUH BUH BUHHHHH BUH
BUH BUH BUHHHHH BUH

That’s it for 4 minutes and 34 seconds. We could totally give you the best Kpop cover song ever, if you just vote this in, SO DO IT!

Wonder Girls “Like Money” – Vote for them here!

Let’s get a vote here: is this Kpop or not? Even YouTube isn’t sure about it.

Wait a minute. Is that K-Pop in…English? goo.gl/cFTfr

— YouTube (@YouTube) July 10, 2012

(Which, by the way, we’re finding it cool that YouTube is tweeting about Kpop more often lately).

Anyhow, I hope our explanation of why we included this video on the charts is fair. Or, if it ain’t fair, we’ll just claim being biased because it’s in English and YOU KNOW WE LOVE US SOME ENGLISH! Kpop songs entirely in English fit the spirit of this site, though, since we’re really interested in Kpop’s impact on the West. Trust me, guise: when we go to Japan one of these days months years, we’ll start reviewing Japanese songs, including Kpop songs in Japanese. OK WE’LL DO IT ONE DAY PROMISE! Just…we’re not sure when we’ll go there, but it is a dream of ours to live there one day. We just like it here too much to go! Promise us you’ll still watch our channel if we move, k?

For the original post on KpopCharts Update: Love Sexy Money, or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check out our Korea blog!

Wonder Girls – Like Money

For the original post on Wonder Girls – Like Money, or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check out our Korea blog!

Wonder Girls – Like This: Kpop Music Monday

Like this yo! Like this! Wonder Girls’ new song is awesome, so check it out if you haven’t already…LIKE THIS!

Wonder Girls, you’re right up there with T-ara for us. They give us no nonsense, awesome to dance to music, and we like that a lot. Not as much cowbell as T-ara, but still a lot of fun. And no 20 minute videos, at least!

Anyhow, this was a really tough Music Monday to script for, and not because this song and video weren’t good. They were both awesome in our mind, but the video concept was so simple that it was difficult to criticize/analyze/joke about it. Nope, it was just a plain old simple flashmobesque dance video. But, in a way, it’s not a very simple concept in the kpop world, since we rarely see kpop bands interacting in such a normal, human location. One of the things that makes kpop so magical is that watching a video is often like a visit to Disneyland. It creates sets and locations that make the viewer feel like they’re a part of something real, but also fantastical at the same time. The sets are often really really fake, with no attempt to pretend to be real at all, and it feels like you’re watching a live musical with set changes. Rarely we get glimpses into a “real” looking set, like Junsu’s house in JYJ’s “In Heaven” which looked pretty real…except for all the pickles in the fridge and lack of underpants and socks strewn everywhere. But anyways, I digress.

The point is, we know for fact, this dance was practiced for a little bit before filming with all the people in the Wonder Girl video, but besides maybe a dozen backup dancers, they were just average joes that learned the dance that day and danced with their friends, families, and the Wonder Girls. We think not only is that really cool, it’s also a very rare concept. Idols walking and moving in the real world! I supposed if most male group tried this they might have problems with fans freaking out and screaming and there might have to be super tight security and so on, but it seemed pretty calm in this video. That’s it! Hope our jokes weren’t too lame this week…oh gosh.

Otherwise, here are the winners of the Sistar Signed CD giveway, from our Interview with Sistar. Drumroll please!

YouTube:

I love Sistar because they are legitimately talented and always seem to be themselves when they perform as well as in interviews. They have an approachable feel to them, plus they look like they’re very good role models for girls everywhere :)
adaneko

Facebook:

I love that the ladies of Sistar are not afraid to be goofy and they are just bursting with personality. You can really see that they love what they do, and have fun every second, whether they are on camera, on stage, or just hanging out with Simon and Martina.
Christina Neel

Twitter:

kpoplover727

So, if you’re either one of these people, send us an email! Yay! Otherwise, here are the bloopers for this week. Playing with hairy balls is fun!

For the original post on Wonder Girls – Like This: Kpop Music Monday, or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check out our Korea blog!

Wonder Girls – Like This

For the original post on Wonder Girls – Like This, or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check out our Korea blog!

Our Interview with the Wonder Girls

Woot! Here’s the first of our three interviews we did over at Google and YouTube headquarters. We’re doing them in the order that we filmed them (it’s only fair!), and the first group we interviewed was the Wonder Girls. Woot!

So here’s our interview with them. It’s in two parts, and we put it in a playlist. If you can’t view the playlist, here’s part 2 of our interview embedded below:

So, let’s just say how happy we were to do this interview. Not just because we were able to sit down with one of the most famous, most influential Kpop bands in the universe (though that IS hella awesome). We were just really happy during the interview because the Wonder Girls are so level headed and fun and easy going, and by no means as inflated as they should be. Seriously: THEY’RE THE WONDER GIRLS! They should be like “PFFFT Go Away!” in their best Snape voice, but they didn’t have a drop of arrogance to them. They laughed with us, were giggling with each other at our cheesy jokes, and were able to speak with openly and casually. They made us feel so comfortable, and had such a warm sincerity about them that gave the interview a really relaxed vibe to it. We had a great time with them. Wonder Girls, if you’re reading this, thanks!

Anyhow, if you don’t know, they’ve got a new song coming out in June! We can’t give you that song’s album signed yet, of course, since it’s not actually out yet, but we do have their LAST album covered with their signatures and DNA! OOOH YOU WANT IT DON’T YOU?!?! Well, all you gotta do to get it is:

A) Subscribe to our YouTube videos. and
B) Let us know what you’d ask them if you got the chance to interview them.

BOOM! That easy! Who knows: maybe one of these days we’ll get to interview them again and we could ask your question! Give us good material, and we’ll give you their CD. Yay!

Leave your answer either in our YouTube video’s comments, or in the comments here. If you’re gonna leave them here, make sure you leave your YouTube username as well, so we can know if you’ve subscribed, of course!

For the original post on Our Interview with the Wonder Girls, or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check out our Korea blog!

Behind the Scenes with Wonder Girls, Sistar, and MBLAQ

Ok, we’re so freaking exhausted, but we got a lot of fun stuff done today. We hung out with Wonder Girls, Sistar, and MBLAQ. We got three CDs signed by MBLAQ and Sistar and one by Wonder Girls (sorry! They were sold out almost everywhere!). And we’re writing this video exceptionally jet lagged so all I want to write is barfffareefjfjdfnnnn. But I won’t write that. Instead, I’ll write that…

zzz…

Huh?! What time is it? Damn! Fell asleep. Ok, we’re awake now, and the concert is a few hours away. We’re actually speaking at the VIP reception today and we’re hella nervous. AH! Ok, enough rambling. Here’s our video from our fun times yesterday! Coolest part of it all? MBLAQ and Sistar watch our videos. G.O was really, really nice after our interview with MBLAQ and, instead of running off, chatted with us and told us that he and many other watch our videos. HOW EFFED UP IS THAT?! We’re two dorks. MBLAQ is cool. MBLAQ should not be watching us dorks. That goes against the laws of nature. Anyhow! You’ll see it all in this video…which is taking forever to upload. Should be finished uploading after we come back from the Kpop Concert. Y U SO SLOW AMERICAN INTERNETS?!?!

The interview videos will be posted later on, after we go back to Canada on the 23rd and have time to get to editing them semi-decently. We’re going to be giving away these autographed CDs as well. What? You thought we’d keep them all for ourselves? No way. We like you guys, so we’ll give them to you :D Make sure you Subscribe to us on YouTube, follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook. We like you more than others and are more prone to giving you nice things!

Side note: one of the reasons why we couldn’t post a WANK before we left for California was because we were working on our presentation speech and video for the VIP ceremony. That’s right. VIP CEREMONY!. Not sure why they’d invite us VDPs (Very Dorky Peoples), but we were highly honored. Seriously: this is, like, the highest honor we’ve ever received in our blogging lives, and we’re really quite overwhelmed by it all. So, um. Yeah.

Our name is not only on the list, but we're speakers here. HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT??!?!

Oh, and we just came back from the concert. Totally awesome experience as well. We’ll talk more about it afterwards when we post another video. For now, let’s just say this: before Super Junior came on stage, LeeTeuk was on the side, right beside where we were sitting. He saw us, recognized us, ran up to us, said hi and shook our hands. Yeah. That just happened :D We’ll talk about it more later!

For the original post on Behind the Scenes with Wonder Girls, Sistar, and MBLAQ, or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check out our Korea blog!

Join us at the Google Kpop Concert

Ok, so here’s the deal. We’ve been sitting on this for a long time and we’re SO STOKED TO TALK ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW!

We’re going to the Google Kpop Concert! MBC is bringing Sistar, B2ST, Super Junior, Kara, TVXQ, MBLAQ, Girls’ Generation, f(x), and Wonder Girls to perform at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, and we’re gonna be there, too!

But – here’s what’s cool – we’re not going just for the sake of it or because we’re two crazy fans with thousands of dollars to blow on plane tickets there and back. Nope. Come on! We live in Korea! We can go to concerts here just fine! Fact is, we’re going to this concert on official business. We were invited by YouTube to come to the event and record some of the activity, as well as some special videos before the actual event.

The day before the actual event, we’ve got something very special lined up. So far, we’ve got MBLAQ, B2ST, Wonder Girls, and Sistar confirmed to do videos with us. There are other artists that we’re HOPEFULLY gonna be able to do things with, but everyone’s schedules are really tight. It’s not like they fly in and wander around waiting for people to film stuff with them. This took a lot of work to get set up, so we’re actually quite lucky to be able to do videos with so many artists :D

Big point of this all is where you – you awesome people you – come in: we’ve always been interested in connecting Kpop artists with their international audience, so we asked – when we’re talking on film with the Kpop idols – if we can ask some of YOUR questions as well, rather than just ours. This is your chance to get Kpop Idols to answer your questions, to talk back to you! So, leave your questions for whoever you want us to ask in the comments section below, either on this page or in the YouTube video comments. If we pick your question, then it’ll be pretty cool if you have MBLAQ say your name and Wonder Girls say where you’re from. No? At least I think it’d be cool :D

We’ve got some other surprises in store for this event, and we’re gonna be getting some pretty cool stuff, which – of course – we’d like to give back to you, our awesome viewers! We’ll be giving it, of course, to people who Subscribe to us on YouTube, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook, because we like you more than other people :D

Otherwise, we’re not ONLY making videos before the concert. We’re gonna be attending the concert as well, and so should you! Tickets for this event are free! All you gotta to is Request Tickets online on this site on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 7:00PM PDT. That’s it! So get on that page and start refreshing like crazy and, if you get tickets, we’ll hopefully see you there! We won’t be on stage performing any F-art songs, though, so don’t get your hopes up!

Also, just a heads up: since we’re gonna be spending Sunday and Monday at this event, there will be no Kpop Music Monday for the 21st of May. Sorry guise! We’re spending a lot of time working on these videos instead. We’ll upload our special videos for the event ASAP, so hopefully that’ll make up for our not making a Music Monday.

For the original post on Join us at the Google Kpop Concert, or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check out our Korea blog!