The Korea Herald

Big hallyu bash to take place in Gyeongju

‘Hallyu Dream Festival’ to gather Korean singers and amateur dancers from around the world for three daysCelebrating the “2010-12 Visit Korea Year,” Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association, Visit Korea Committee, and Gyeongju City are co-hosting the annual “2012 Hallyu Dream Festival“ from Sept. 21-23.With events including “Family Dream Concert,” “K-Pop Cover Dance Festival” and “Hallyu Dream Concert,” the three-day festival will be held at Gyeongju Citizen Stadium in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsa

Sept. 4, 2012

Big hallyu bash to take place in Gyeongju

Psy signs a contract with U.S. record label

Singer Psy signed a contract with a major U.S. record label, according to his local agency YG Entertainment. The 34-year-old, who recently created a sensation with his latest hit “Gangnam Style,” will be working with Island Def Jam Recordings, the agency said. Upon the contract, the U.S. label is given the exclusive international publishing rights and management over Psy, YG Entertainment said. Th

Sept. 4, 2012

Buenos Aires unveils new contemporary art museum

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) ― The Argentine capital unveiled a new museum this weekend dedicated to exhibiting a private collection of some 150 works by contemporary artists from around the world.The Museum of Contemporary Art of Buenos Aires, a concrete-and-glass structure of seven floors and 1,500 square meters of gallery space, houses a collection of works remarkable for their geometric abstraction and striking colors.Among the featured artists are Italians Tony Costa and Alberto Biasi, Sewell Sillman

Sept. 3, 2012

Salzburg Festival reports record box office sales

VIENNA (AFP) ― The famed Salzburg Festival ended Sunday having marked up record ticket sales, after a month and a half of music, operas and concerts featuring top international names.In total, almost 279,000 guests attended the event, surpassing the previous record of 265,200 guests during the Mozart anniversary year in 2006.Average attendance at the 251 regular performances however sank to 90 percent, the lowest figure in 13 years, according to organisers.This was due to more tickets having bee

Sept. 3, 2012

Famed author caught praising own book, slating rivals on Amazon

An award-winning crime writer’s fraudulent reviews on Amazon.com from four years ago have come to light, earning him criticism from readers and fellow authors alike. The 47-year-old British novelist RJ Ellory posted under assumed names like “Jelly Bean” and “Nicodemus Jones” while applauding his own works and disparaging works of fellow crime writers, according to news sources. “I would highly recommend this book to anyone who really wants to experience a class read. Just buy it, read it, and ma

Sept. 3, 2012

Picasso, Duchamp in face-off in Stockholm

STOCKHOLM (AFP) ― Stockholm’s Museum of Modern Art is pitting Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, two of the 20th century’s modernist greats, against each other in a new exhibition showcasing their contrasting approaches to art.The title “He Was Wrong” is based on Picasso’s reputed laconic remark on learning of Duchamp’s death in 1968.The exhibition is a “theatrical” posthumous meeting of the two greats, museum curator Daniel Birnbaum said of the pair who each had a famous dislike for the other’s

Sept. 2, 2012

Picasso, Duchamp in face-off in Stockholm

Outdoor opera ‘La Boheme’ a half success

The most anticipated opera of the year ends in cheers, but complaints about the venue lingerThe music was beautiful, as was the performance by the star opera singers of the much talked-about outdoor opera “La Boheme.” Angela Gheorghui and Vittorio Grigolo proved their overflowing talent and deeply touched the audience with the arias of the opera’s two tragic lovers. A seasoned performance by Gheorghui, who played Mimi for the last 20 years around the world, well supported Grigolo. The 34-year-

Sept. 2, 2012

Outdoor opera ‘La Boheme’ a half success

Dance performance explores contradictions of war

Pierre Rigal’s ‘Theatre of Operations’ to be performed by nine Korean dancersFrench dancer and choreographer Pierre Rigal thinks any war is full of contradictions. It’s a situation where acts of sacrifice and destruction contradict one another. Soldiers are told to be brave and often asked to give up their own lives, while ordered kill the enemies. And bravery, too, is almost a contradiction in terms. “Courage means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die,” English writer Gi

Sept. 2, 2012

Dance performance explores contradictions of war

Legendary songwriter Hal David dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Hal David, the stylish, heartfelt lyricist who teamed with Burt Bacharach on dozens of timeless songs for movies, television and a variety of recording artists in the 1960s and beyond, has died. He was 91. David died of complications from a stroke Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to his wife Eunice David. He had suffered a major stroke in March and was stricken again on Tuesday, she said. “Even at the end, Hal always had a song in his h

Sept. 2, 2012

Rediscover your creative side

Piano and dance lessons no longer just for kidsFor many Koreans who grew up in the 80s and 90s, taking piano lessons was something that they had to do grudgingly as kids. After the rapid economic development in the 60s and 70s, purchasing musical instruments, especially a piano, was considered a symbol of wealth in Seoul’s newly emerged middle class. Their kids would be sent to the private piano studios to take lessons after school. All the kids in the country were taught the same repertoire, wh

Aug. 31, 2012

Calendar

Theater / dance“What I Keep till the Very End”: Among the many short stories late author Park Wan-suh wrote, her 1994 piece “What I Keep till the Very End” is considered as one of her most personal works. The story was written largely based on the author’s painful loss of her son in a car accident in 1988, just three months after his father’s death. He was 26 years old at the time and was attending a prestigious medical school in Seoul. The novella is now being staged as a monodrama in Seoul, fe

Aug. 31, 2012

Eyelike

Owl City forgettable on latestOwl City “The Midsummer Station” (Republic Records)Owl City’s “The Midsummer Station” sounds like the soundtrack for one of those Nickelodeon or Disney TV movies you either enjoyed as a tween or endured as an adult. With generic pop-rock songs, it makes for passable entertainment, but ultimately it’s formulaic and forgettable. It’s a far cry from Owl City’s breakout hit, 2009’s “Fireflies.” As grating as that song may have been to some, its quirky charm made it stan

Aug. 31, 2012

Psy's 'Gangnam Style' tops Billboard's 'Social 50' chart

South Korean rapper-singer Psy's hit-single "Gangnam Style" on Friday rose to the top of a major chart of the U.S. music publication Billboard boosted by the viral popularity of the song's music video on the Internet."Gangnam Style" sits on top of Billboard's "Social 50" chart, beating famous North American pop stars such as Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber as well as British idol group One Directio

Aug. 31, 2012

Nude mural to be painted over

An Atlanta non-profit said it will paint over a controversial public mural of a woman in various states of undress.Nathan Bolster, executive director of operations for the non-profit Living Walls Conference, said the group commissioned the concrete wall mural from Spanish artist Hyuro and the work was completed about two weeks ago, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Thursday.However, Bolste

Aug. 31, 2012

Opera ‘La Boheme’ postponed again due to Typhoon Tembin

The first show of the outdoor opera “La Boheme,” which was scheduled to be performed at the Amphitheater at Yonsei University Thursday, has been moved to Sunday due to Typhoon Tembin, its local production company ADL said.The second show of the run, which is slated to be held at the same venue on Sept. 1, will be held as scheduled.The opera, which stars prima donna Angela Gheorghui, tenor Vittorio Grigolo and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra led by maestro Chung Myung-whun, was initially schedul

Aug. 30, 2012

Nichkhun summarily indicted for DUI

Prosecutors said Thursday that they have summarily indicted Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul, a Thai-American member of South Korean pop group 2PM, and are seeking 4 million won(US$3,525) in fines for driving under the influence of alcohol in Seoul.The 23-year-old, often known as Nichkhun, got into a fender-bender with a motorcycle at around 2:45 a.m. on July 24 in southern Seoul‘s upscale Gangnam area, prosecutors said. He was tested at the scene and found to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.056

Aug. 30, 2012

Ratings board says it was lied to about Eminem show

The Korea Media Rating Board has filed a complaint with the police against the promoter of Eminem’s Seoul concert for violating a public performance law, officials said on Thursday. The hip-hop star performed 26 songs at his Aug. 19 concert, including 20 songs rated “inappropriate” for teenagers by the Gender Ministry, the rating board said. Access E&T, Seoul promoter of the show, initially submitted a list of 11 songs that had received the green light from the Gender Ministry, but none of the 1

Aug. 30, 2012

Ratings board says it was lied to about Eminem show

Girl group T-ara officially apologizes

T-ara has issued an official apology through their website on Thursday, according to news reports. The girl group has recently been embroiled in a bullying scandal, as speculations ran rampant that one member, Ryu Hwa-young, was bullied by her groupmates. It’s the first time the members have officially spoken since their agency, Core Contents Media, announced Hwa-young’s termination on July 30. Through an uploaded handwritten note, they said they had deeply reflected on their actions and express

Aug. 30, 2012

Restoration completed on historic Motown piano

An 1877 Steinway grand piano used by many Motown greats has been restored, thanks to a little help from its friend, Paul McCartney.The former Beatle told Motown Museum officials following a concert last summer in Detroit that he wanted to assist with the restoration of the piano after learning the historic instrument could no longer be played.Robin Terry, chair of the museum‘s Board of Trustees, announced late Wednesday that the restoration had been completed.Terry says the 9 foot (2.74 meter) p

Aug. 30, 2012

Restoration completed on historic Motown piano

Argentines sweep world tango competition

BUENOS AIRES (AP) -- Argentine couples recovered their dominance of the world‘s top tango dancing competition, sweeping both the Salon Tango and Stage Tango categories as the annual festival drew to a close.Cristian Sosa and Maria Sciuto won Tuesday night’s stage final with a score of 8.42, followed by four other Argentine couples at the top of an international field. Five Argentine couples also came out on top in the Salon competition the night before, besting a total of 487 couples from 32 cou

Aug. 29, 2012

Argentines sweep world tango competition