[Today’s K-pop] NU’EST proud to present new LP

NU’EST discussed the group’s second studio album “Romanticize” at a showcase held in Seoul on Monday.   　 It has been a year since the eighth EP “The Nocturne” and almost seven years since first LP “Re:Birth,” and the bandmates admitted that they are stirred up.   　 “My heart has been all pit-a-pat and wouldn’t stop trembling throughout the preparation,” confided JR. Since they put so much time and effort into making

April 19, 2021

[Exclusive] Blackpink Lisa‘s solo debut expected in June

Lisa of girl group Blackpink is likely to make her solo debut in June. Rumors have been circulating for months that Lisa will be dropping her first solo album this year, and according to industry sources on Monday, the date has been set for June. An official from the group’s label YG Entertainment told the Korea Herald by phone that “Lisa is still working hard (on the album)” but declined to confirm the release date, stating schedules will be announced through an official no

April 19, 2021

Daniel Barenboim cancels recital, citing quarantine rules

In the pandemic era, the mandatory two-week quarantine remains a great obstacle for the performing arts scene. Acclaimed conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim was slated to hold a recital at the Seoul Arts Center on May 19 to mark the release of his Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven piano sonata album. It was to have been his first piano recital in South Korea. But production agency Inarts Production announced Friday that the recital was canceled as Barenboim was not granted exemption from the

April 19, 2021

Weverse expands further with addition of Jeremy Zucker

Rising pop star Jeremy Zucker became the fourth foreign label artist to join Weverse, the fan community platform run by Hybe, on Monday. Zucker gained worldwide fame in 2018 with his song “comethru.” Thereafter, acoustic melodies and honest lyrics in his collaborations with American singer-songwriter Chelsea Cutler that included “You were Good to Me,” “All the Kids are Depressed,” “Always, I’ll Care,“ among others, helped him build up a sol

April 19, 2021

Baekhyun's latest solo album 'Bambi' sells over 1m copies

Baekhyun, a member of K-pop boy band EXO, now has two million-selling solo titles under his belt, his agency said Monday. The singer's third EP, titled "Bambi," sold a total of 1 million copies as of Sunday, 20 days after its release on March 30, according to SM Entertainment. It is his second million-seller album following the previous solo track "Delight" in 2020. Baekhyun has already become the first Korean singer to earn the "million seller" title through bot

April 19, 2021

Sci-fi blockbuster 'Seobok' tops weekend box office upon release

The homegrown blockbuster "Seobok" topped the South Korean box office over the weekend upon its release, data showed Monday. Released Thursday, "Seobok" garnered 163,000 viewers from Friday to Sunday to rank No. 1, according to the data compiled by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). As of Sunday, over 210,000 people in total visited theaters to watch the sci-fi film, directed by Lee Yong-joo and starring two of the country's heartthrobs -- Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum. The movie

April 19, 2021

Number of peak concurrent viewers on BTS online event surpasses 2.7m: agency

The number of peak simultaneous viewers of the latest online concert streaming event by K-pop group BTS surpassed 2.7 million, the boy band's agency said Sunday. The milestone figure was announced by Big Hit Music one day after "Bang Bang Con 21" -- comprised of some eight hours of back-to-back streaming of past BTS concerts and fan events -- was made available for free on the band's official YouTube channel on Saturday. According to Big Hit, the event also generated enormous buzz on

April 18, 2021

[Herald Interview] Singer-songwriter Cheeze finds herself with ‘LOSER’

Singer-songwriter Cheeze dropped her latest single “LOSER” on Friday, through which she sings of facing her true self. Since releasing her EP “I can‘t tell you everything” nearly a year ago, Cheeze has found herself walking a path that’s different than any she had before, and with “LOSER” she shares that story. “I have a very whimsical personality, so I often have big mood swings. I sometimes feel like I’m a loser, and at other time

April 16, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Enhyphen reveals song list

Enhypen will release its second EP, “Border: Carnival,” April 26, said agency Belief Lab on Friday. 　 It has been five months since the boy band came out with debut album “Border: Day One,” and the new EP has already sold over 400,000 units in the five days since preorders started. 　 The EP consists of six tracks that deal with the bandmates’ feelings about the unfamiliar and dazzling world they faced after their debut. “Drunk-Dazed” is a pop rock numb

April 16, 2021

Pianist Cho Seong-jin collaborates with German baritone on new album

Pianist Cho Seong-jin released a new album “Im Abendrot” -- meaning “at sunset” -- on Friday with German baritone Matthias Goerne, according to Universal Music‘s classical music label Deutsche Grammophon. The new album contains songs composed by three German composers of the Romantic era --Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883), Hans Erich Pfitzner (1869-1949), and Richard Strauss (1864-1949). “It’s almost impossible to describe the experience of explor

April 16, 2021

'Minari' leads 77.5% jump at S. Korean box office in March

The South Korean box office jumped nearly 78 percent in March from a year earlier on the back of the strong performance of Oscar-nominated "Minari," data showed Friday. The number of moviegoers reached 3.26 million last month, up 77.5 percent from 1.83 million tallied in the same month last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the film industry at its early stage, according to the data compiled by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). From a month earlier, the March figure gained 4.7 perc

April 16, 2021

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Seobok (Korea) Opened April 15 Science fiction Directed by Lee Yong-joo Ki-hun (Gong Yoo) is a former intelligence agent. One day, he receives his last mission from the director of the intelligence agency (Cho Woo-jin), to move Seo-bok (Park Bo-gum) -- the first-ever human clone, who possesses the secret to eternal life -- to a safe location. Seo-bok has never known life outside of the laboratory and was raised by Lim Se-eun (Jang Young-nam). Nobody (US) Opened April 7 Comedy Directed by Ilya

April 16, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Former Wanna One leader Yoon Jisung set to sing, act

Yoon Jisung talked about how happy he was to be back with his fans at an online media showcase for his second EP, “Temperature of Love,” Thursday. 　 “My heart was aflutter working on the music,” he confided. “I wanted to come out with good songs for my fans, especially since it has been 2 1/2 years.” Throughout it all, he was eager to share his music. 　 “Recording was harder than I thought. It had been a while since I’d sung and it felt awkward ge

April 15, 2021

[Herald Interview] Eom Tae-goo curious about global audience’s response to ‘Night in Paradise’

Many local movies since last year have decided to skip theaters to release on Netflix due to the spread of COVID-19, which has kept moviegoers away from theaters. “Night in Paradise”also took this path, being released in 190 countries through Netflix on April 9. Five days after its release, lead actor Eom Tae-goo said he is curious about the response from global viewers, during a joint media interview held via Zoom on Wednesday. “To me, it is amazing that the movie is bein

April 15, 2021

BTS hit 'Boy With Luv' breaks 1.2b YouTube views

The music video for the 2019 BTS hit "Boy With Luv (Feat. Halsey)" has earned more than 1.2 billion views on YouTube in another milestone for the K-pop dynamo. "Boy With Luv," the main track for the seven-piece act's sixth EP "Map of the Soul: Persona," hit 1.2 billion views at 9:48 a.m. on Thursday, according to Big Hit Music, the group's agency. The upbeat track, featuring American singer-songwriter Halsey, debuted at No. 8 on Billboard's main singles chart and

April 15, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] BTS sets record with 10m streams on Oricon

  BTS ranked the highest on Oricon’s weekly streaming chart with “Film Out,” according to the latest tally that came out on Wednesday.  The band’s newest Japanese single amassed over 11.67 million streams last week, becoming its second song with more than 10 million weekly streaming on the chart after last year’s “Dynamite.” This is the first time ever a male artist had two songs with over 10 million weekly streams, according to the Japanese t

April 14, 2021

BTS member Jimin's 'hanbok' suit up for auction

A traditional Korean outfit that Jimin of BTS wore in a performance will be up for auction, with the bidding price beginning at 5 million won ($4,476), a local auction house said Wednesday. Jimin appeared in the "hanbok," traditional Korean attire, designed by Kim Rieul in the K-pop act's opening stage for "BTS Week" special on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" that aired in September. Clad in dark hues of hanbok, the seven-piece act wowed fans with a

April 14, 2021

Avignon Festival to screen in Seoul

The LG Arts Center is to hold the Avignon Festival Cinema event from April 28 to May 2, screening some works from the famed performing arts festival based in the southern city of France. The festival, featuring innovative and experimental performing arts shows, garners some 500,000 attendees every summer. It is a prestigious performing arts event, considered alongside the Edinburgh Festival. The center will screen four signature pieces presented at the Avignon Festival, along with a work r

April 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] Seo Yea-ji stares down controversy yet again

Controversy surrounding actor Seo Yea-ji has continued to mount, as more allegations of bullying have surfaced, despite denials from her agency in an official statement. An alleged staffer that used to work with the actress posted on an online portal early Wednesday morning that Seo had regularly mistreated her staff members in her agency, Gold Medalist. “As a staff member going around in the same car with her for several years, verbal abuse was nothing. She smoked in the car, so I suff

April 14, 2021

Jung Yong-hwa to release Chinese EP in collaboration with JJ Lin, R3hab

South Korean singer-actor Jung Yong-hwa will release a Chinese EP, which includes songs he worked on with Singaporean singer-songwriter JJ Lin and Moroccan-Dutch DJ R3hab, his agency said Wednesday. Titled "Stay in Touch," the four-track album is set for release on June 22, the 31-year-old singer's birthday, according to FNC Entertainment. Ahead of the release, Jung will first drop the single "Checkmake" (R3hab Remix) on Friday. FNC explained R3hab worked on an EDM version

April 14, 2021