Spice Girls unite to launch musical ‘Viva Forever’

LONDON (AP) ― The Spice Girls gave fans what they want ― what they really, really want ― Tuesday, reuniting onstage to announce the details of a musical based on their songs.Producers stress that the stage show “Viva Forever’’ isn’t a biography of the band, but there are plenty of real-life resonances for the 1990s “Girl Power’’ group in its tale of female empowerment and friendship tested by fame. The show opens in London in December.“We’re going to be introducing a whole new generation to ‘Gir

June 27, 2012

K-pop stars leading ‘stocking boom’ in Japan

Colorful patterned pantyhose and stockings are gaining huge popularity among young Japanese women, thanks to leading K-pop stars like Girls’ Generation, Japan’s Mainichi newspaper reported Monday.According to the paper, Japan’s young generation are gladly embracing the trend of wearing stockings, which was kickstarted by South Korean girl groups.“I used to wear thick dark tights until last year, but I’ve switched to stockings. Now I wear them every day,” said a 19-year-old female college student

June 27, 2012

Four hands on a musical journey

Acclaimed Korean pianists Lee Jin-ah and Cho Sang-eun will give their first recital as a duo on June 30 at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. The two long-time friends have named their team “Duo Charis,” meaning “God’s grace” in Latin, as a way to express gratitude for having the opportunity to be musicians.Lee, a professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and Cho, a professor at Baekseok Arts University in Korea, have been exchanging their musical talents and building a st

June 26, 2012

Great Mountains Festival to explore arts of dance and music

Annual event sells high-priced tickets to promote donation, opens 1,300-seat Music TentGreat Mountains International Music Festival & School, a classical music event held in the summer in Pyeongchang of Gangwon Province, will focus on the inseparable relationship between music and dance, artistic directors of the festival said on Tuesday.“Legendary composers have woven dance themes into some of their most significant pieces for orchestra and chamber music. Dance and music are two inseparable ar

June 26, 2012

Life in the Panopticon

Filmmaker and theater director Jang Jin brings back his 1995 work ‘Heotang'Imagine living the life of a prisoner in this unusual jail cell.You have no idea why you are here. No one tells you when you’ll be released, and everything you do is observed by five surveillance cameras that are placed around your ceiling. But other than that, life is pretty comfortable. It’s almost as if living in a five-star hotel. You get high quality cuisine for all your meals, listen to Karajan, and sip on expensive

June 26, 2012

Man says appearance on Placebo’s album ‘ruined his life’

A man who appeared on the cover of rock band Placebo’s debut album as a child is planning a lawsuit against the band for allegedly “ruining his life”, according to British news reports.The 28-year-old unemployed chef David Fox claims that he was severely bullied at school after the band used picture of him as a 12-year-old on the hit album “Placebo.” Fox said he never consented to the photo being used, which was virtually laid out everywhere due to the album’s enormous success.After his image wa

June 26, 2012

Serene and gentle: Baekje relics get new spotlight

Archeologist Im Hyo-jai speaks on his findings of Buyeo artifactsMost Koreans think of the wall paintings of Goguryeo tombs and the splendid gold crowns worn by the Silla royals when asked to name some of the most famous relics of Korea’s ancient three kingdoms period (B.C. 37 ― A.D. 668)Unlike the ones of Goguryeo (B.C. 37 ― A.D. 668) and Silla (B.C. 57 ― A.D. 935), relics of Baekje (B.C. 18 ― A.D. 660) are generally unknown to the public. For many, it’s hard to think of the iconic artifact of

June 25, 2012

SeMA reveals artists’ hidden side

Mid-career artists attempt bold, new approachMid-career artists are usually identified by their own signature styles established over a number of years that gained them domestic and international recognition.“Most artists concentrate on creating a solid, complete and consistent style. The mid-career artists in their 50s and 60s introduced in this exhibition also have pioneered their own paths for more than 30 years,” said Kim Sung-won, fine arts professor at Seoul National University of Science

June 25, 2012

West’s woes a boon to Asia’s concert scene

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― Faced with stubbornly feeble economies back home, more Western music acts are being lured to play in Asia to boost their profiles in a region where disposable incomes are growing, say experts. Festival organizers say a rising number of North American and European acts are accepting cuts in their performance fees for the chance to build a fan base in Asia, an comparatively economically vibrant region hosting most of the world’s seven billion population.“Some artistes do take low

June 25, 2012

Robot maker to launch ‘K-pop star robots’

Dongbu Robot said Monday it plans to launch robots that impersonate K-pop stars such as Girls’ Generation and Super Junior, by yearend.The South Korean robot maker will form consortium with other robot makers Intelligent & Recreational Robot and Ocean Bridge E&T to develop the high-tech entertainment robots. According to Dongbu, the robot “will be able to fully reenact movements and dances of stars” using more than 20 artificial motor “joints” installed all over its body. In addition, users can

June 25, 2012

Solbi to hold first painting exhibition

Multi-talented singer Solbi is holding the first solo exhibition of her paintings in July. Titled “Another Name of Desire,” the exhibition will feature 12 paintings that reflect her own way of observing the world, according to her agency. Solbi has been active not only in singing, but also in broadcasting, musicals and acting. And now she hopes to expand her genre to painting. “I want to be brave and challenge many things in life and live a splendid life,” she told a local daily. Solbi debuted a

June 24, 2012

Eyelike

Justin Bieber’s new album impressesJustin Bieber“Believe” (Island Def Jam)Because Justin Bieber is Justin Bieber -- a Canadian teen singer heartthrob -- it’s hard to take his music seriously. Everything about him screams Tiger Beat, from the endless screeching girls to his relationship with fellow teen sensation Selena Gomez.And then there’s the song that has defined him most -- “Baby,” perhaps the most saccharine, bubble-gum song recorded in quite some time.It’s not surprising that few have tak

June 22, 2012

After School returns to Korea after Kahi’s departure

K-pop group After School has returned to Korea with its fifth album “Flashback,” after a successful year in Japan.With the new album, full of electronica sounds and beats, the girls are trying to rekindle the image of their debut in 2009.“The album title ‘Flashback’ means that we are trying to go back to our initial image to the fans when we first debuted,” said Jung-A, the group’s lead vocalist, in a news conference held in Seoul on Wednesday.“For our new album, we are trying to show what fans

June 22, 2012

Ayumi linked to Japanese rock star

Image from the Official site of singer Ayumi(Iconiq)South Korean singer Ayumi is rumored to be in a romantic relationship with Gackt, one of Japan’s top rock stars, Japanese papers reported Friday.Tabloid magazine “Friday” published a photo of the 27-year-old singer dining at a French restaurant with singer and actor Gackt. One of the photos showed the two holding hands and gazing at each other.Ay

June 22, 2012

Rapid growth of concert market: Boom or bubble?

When YG Entertainment, one of Korea’s dominant entertainment companies, calculated its 2011 profits, its business strategy was confirmed a success ― domestic and overseas concert revenue accounted for 22.3 percent of its total revenue, a jump of 46 percent over the course of one year. With continued piracy issues and low margins of the local digital music market, the Korean music industry is shifting its focus to live concerts. According to industry experts, the Korean concert market was around

June 21, 2012

King of Kitsch, Jeff Koons, in Frankfurt double exhibition

FRANKFURT (AFP) ― Love him or hate him, there is no escaping Jeff Koons, the king of pornographic kitsch, in Frankfurt these days, with a mammoth double retrospective in two of the city’s main museums.Ubiquitous oversized posters line the river front and are plastered across every metro station proclaiming “Wow” or “Must See” for what is being hailed as the biggest-ever show of works by the 57-year-old American pop artist, opening here on Wednesday. The Schirn Kunsthalle, one of the city’s two m

June 21, 2012