Bruno Mars brings sexy, groovy ‘Moonshine Jungle’ to Seoul

International music sensation Bruno Mars lit up Seoul’s Olympic Park on Tuesday night as 13,000 rowdy fans filled the Gymnastics Stadium for the Hawaii native’s first-ever concert in Korea.“We came to get you all moving, to get you all shakin’ and to get you all dancing, so get off your feet!” Mars shouted as he kicked off the show. Through his ongoing worldwide Moonshine Jungle Tour, the original hooligan himself pulled out all the stops in a near-nonstop 90-minute show that closed with an elec

PerformanceApril 9, 2014

Psy, Big Bang, other artists become YG shareholders

Psy, Big Bang and other YG Entertainment artists have now become shareholders of their own management agency.YG’s main producer Yang Hyun-suk and CEO Yang Min-suk allocated a total of 81,400 shares to 18 of the agency’s artists, transferring parts of the preemptive rights they hold as YG’s majority shareholders on Tuesday.In doing so, the two company chiefs became the first ever in the local entertainment industry to transfer exclusive preemptive rights to the agency’s artists.The decision allow

April 9, 2014

JYP chief tops music copyright earnings

Park Jin-young, singer, and main producer and head of entertainment giant JYP Entertainment, ranked No. 1 in music copyright earnings in 2013 for the third consecutive year.Park earned the most in copyright royalties as a songwriter-producer in 2013, according to the 2013 Music Copyright Total Earnings report released by the Korea Music Copyright Association on Tuesday. With a net profit of 1.2 billion won ($1.2 million) in 2013, Park topped the list of copyright earners each year since 2011. Ho

April 9, 2014

More accordion fans squeezing in lessons

LOS ANGELES ― Across the street from a wine lounge and a gourmet sausage spot in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, a small red-and-white neon sign reads: “DAVE’S ACCORDION SCHOOL.”Inside, black and tan cases sprawl in a row along the floor, and two shelves hold a hodgepodge of squeezeboxes for sale. Business cards of norteno stars blanket a corkboard near the door, and nearby there’s a printout of the dictionary’s definition of the word “accordion,” with a suggested alternative: “

PerformanceApril 9, 2014

Iranians avoid bad luck with outdoor festival

TEHRAN (AP) ― Iranians flocked to parks rich with the smell of grilled kebabs on Wednesday to toss around Frisbees, bat badminton birdies and battle one another in chess and backgammon ― all to avoid being caught inside on the unlucky 13th day of the Persian New Year. The annual public picnic day, called Sizdeh Bedar, which comes from the Farsi words for “thirteen” and “day out,” is a legacy from Iran’s pre-Islamic past that hardliners in the Islamic Republic never managed to erase from calendar

CultureApril 9, 2014

‘Lights, action!’

 The temperature had dipped suddenly, making April 6 an unseasonably chilly day. But that did not deter the hundreds of spectators braving the cold on Sunday morning who had turned up at Gangnam Boulevard to witness the filming of “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the sequel to the highly successful “The Avengers” released in 2012 and featuring the Marvel Comics superheroes. Among the crowd taking photos of Gangnam Boulevard empty of traffic on the northbound lanes except for numerous vehicles and cran

FilmApril 9, 2014

Seoul City Farmers aims for practical meaning

Many who grow up on farms treasure the outdoor experience, but Seoul City Farmers founder Justin Pollard’s experience of growing up on a horse farm did not fit the active, healthy stereotype.As a 215-kilogram teenager, doctors told him he was life-threateningly overweight.“Every single meal of my youth was purchased at a fast-food restaurant,” he said. “All of the farm work was done on machines, so I didn’t need to do manual labor of any kind, and we lived in a rural area so we drove everywhere.

Expat LivingApril 8, 2014

Exhibition explores transient life of an expat

To say that Andy Brown uses a diverse set of art media would be an understatement.Brown enjoyed a brief moment of fame in his native England, when his teabag portraits of the queen appeared on TV and in trivia board game questions.These days he is still making art, but has stitched together the variety of genres he has cycled through over the last five years into one exhibition.Brown has used patchwork, pinhole camera photography, etchings, portraits and other media. “They are all about being ov

Expat LivingApril 8, 2014

The allure of silk flowers

A small exhibition, which opened Tuesday inside Gyeongbokgung Palace, brings back to life royal Joseon era (1392-1910) silk flowers, which look as delicate as real blossoms. The “Beautiful Royal Silk Flowers” exhibition at the National Palace Museum of Korea displays works by silk flower master Hwang Su-ro and recreates two royal banquets held in 1829 to celebrate King Sunjo’s 40th birthday and the 30th anniversary of his enthronement. The banquets, like any other function at the royal palace du

CultureApril 8, 2014

Germany pulls plug on one-time hit TV show ‘Wanna Bet?’

BERLIN (AFP) ― It has seen wacky bets performed before millions and hosted an A-list of Hollywood stars, but after a three-decade run Germany’s once top-rated TV variety show is getting the axe.A victim of plummeting ratings, a fast-graying fan base and charges that its concept has grown stale, “Wetten, dass..? (Wanna Bet?)” will screen for the last time in December after 33 years.Such is the dated cult status of the silly-challenge show, once Europe’s most successful program, that Sunday newspa

TelevisionApril 8, 2014

Korean National Ballet stages ‘Swan Lake’

After its season opener “La Bayadere,” the Korean National Ballet, under the leadership of internationally acclaimed ballerina Kang Sue-jin since February, is staging the timeless Tchaikovsky classic “Swan Lake.”The famous ballet tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse. She tries to break the spell with her love interest prince Siegfried, but fails as the prince is tricked by the magician. Just like its 2012 run of the ballet, the Korean National Ball

PerformanceApril 8, 2014

EXO to perform 1st concerts in May

EXO, an idol group with one of the largest fan followings in K-pop, will put on the group’s first concert since its debut nearly two years ago. In celebration of the group’s two-year anniversary, the 12 members of EXO will hold their first full concert at the Olympic Park’s Gymnastics Stadium on May 24-25. According to representatives at SM Entertainment, EXO will also hold concerts in other major cities across Asia.EXO is scheduled to release its newest EP on April 15, and host a special showca

April 8, 2014

Lena Park returning with new album, solo concert

Popular Korean-American R&B singer Lena Park, also known as Park Jung-hyun, will return with a new EP “Syncrofusion” and a series of upcoming concerts in Seoul, Busan and Daegu. “Syncrofusion” is slated to be released on April 18 and will mark Park’s first album release following the artist’s eighth studio album “Parallax” nearly two years ago. The album was produced by Team 89, the producing team from local talent agency Mystic89, which is home to popular artists such as Cho Jung-chi, Lim Kim a

April 8, 2014

Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney dies

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Mickey Rooney, the child actor who danced with Judy Garland, married Ava Gardner and made more than 250 movies, died Sunday at his home in North Hollywood. He was 93.Celebrity website TMZ said Rooney had been ill for some time and died of natural causes. Police in Los Angeles said members of his large family were at his side.“It is with sadness that I say my father has passed today,” his son, choreographer Michael Rooney, said on Twitter. “I loved him and so did the world. He

TelevisionApril 8, 2014

Mamma Mia: ABBA marks 40 years since breakthrough

LONDON (AP) ― Four decades on from the flares, fame and fabulousness, the members of ABBA say they have no regrets ― not even about the clothes. Members of the Swedish supergroup marked 40 years since their international breakthrough hit “Waterloo” on Monday with a party for hundreds of guests at London’s Tate Modern gallery. Bjorn Ulvaeus said he felt “extremely proud and humbled” by decades of success that includes hit records, the stage and movie musical “Mamma Mia” and a Stockholm museum ded

PerformanceApril 8, 2014

Tate research curator to head Venice Biennale Korea Pavilion

Lee Sook-kyung, research curator of Tate Research Center, has been selected to curate the Korea Pavilion of the 2015 Venice Biennale, while duo artists Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho have been chosen to represent the Korean Pavilion, according to the Korea Arts Council. The selection was made based on recommendations by a committee of seven art experts and interviews with candidates. Lee has curated numerous exhibitions, including those of Korean media artist Nam June Paik and American media arti

PerformanceApril 8, 2014

‘Innocent Thing’ goes mad on screen

Although filmmaker Kim Tae-gyun says his latest film is an exploration of love, it’s very hard to agree with him.Titled “Innocent Thing,” the film is about a former athlete and married school teacher (Jang Hyuk) whose life is destroyed ― literally ― after he falls for one of his students. Yet it’s unclear if he ever “loves” her throughout the film, which is filled with horror and madness.Playing the troubled, seductive teen is actress Jo Bo-ah, inspired by Hollywood actress Amanda Seyfried’s per

FilmApril 7, 2014