Ulala Session to set up its own agency

Ulala Session, the winner of the country’s hit TV talent show “Superstar K3,” decided to establish its own company to pursue its music, according to CJ E&M.According to the cable channel which produced the show and the group’s first mini album, the quartet will launch its own Ulala Company, despite love calls from major entertainment agencies.The quartet, which consists of leader Yim Yoon-taek, Kim Myung-hoon, Park Seung-il and Park Kwang-sun, rose to fame after winning on the reality talent sho

June 15, 2012

2NE1 to kick off first world tour

Popular girl group 2NE1 is kicking off the first world tour for a Korean girl group, according to their agency YG Entertainment.The four-member group is starting the tour with Seoul concerts on July 28 and 29 at the Gymnastics Stadium, Olympic Park. They are slated to tour a total of 10 cities in seven different countries in Asia, Americas and Europe.  Since their debut in 2009, 2NE1 has enjoyed popularity at home and abroad, and are best known for their hip-hop sound, powerful choreography and

June 13, 2012

Jang Geun-suk tops Japan’s Oricon Chart

Jang Geun-suk set a new record of becoming the first foreign male solo singer to top Japan’s weekly Oricon Chart. His first album, “Just Crazy,” released in Japan on May 30, sold 88,000 copies in its first week to reach the top of the chart. The actor-singer is the second solo singer in eight years to debut at the top of the album chart ― Japanese singer Mori Yayama Naotaro’s first album went to No. 1 in May 2004. In May 2003 Korean singer BoA achieved a similar milestone with her first album in

June 6, 2012

Wonder Girls and Big Bang go head-to-head with new albums

Wonder Girls and Big Bang go head-to-head with new albumsTop K-pop groups to dominate summer soundtracksWonder Girls and Big Bang dominated the music charts after the release of their new albums on Sunday, proving their firm hold on the K-pop music scene. Wonder Girls returned with “Wonder Party,” filled with playful and cheerful songs including “Like This” and five other new songs. Big Bang unvei

June 5, 2012

Wonder Girls and Big Bang go head-to-head with new albums

Top K-pop groups to dominate summer soundtracksWonder Girls and Big Bang dominated the music charts after the release of their new albums on Sunday, proving their firm hold on the K-pop music scene. Wonder Girls returned with “Wonder Party,” filled with playful and cheerful songs including “Like This” and five other new songs. Big Bang unveiled a special edition album with five new songs, including powerful title track “Monster” and four other songs released previously and made into different ve

June 4, 2012

Park Jin-young’s Monster Headphones launched

Park Jin-young Music mogul Park Jin-young celebrated the launch of his new Monster Diamond Tears headphones at a star-studded party at Hotel Ellui on Friday. Park, who sheads JYP Entertainment, suited up for the occasion, explaining why the high performance headset was special. "Nomally headphones are designed

June 2, 2012

Colombians take to stage in homeland of K-pop

Winners of Colombia’s first K-pop reality show take first step toward stardomThe winners of the first K-pop audition show overseas had their wishes come true when they performed in the homeland of Korean pop music on Wednesday.Since April, Arirang TV, Korea’s English-language broadcaster, and Caracol TV, a Colombian broadcaster, have jointly produced “K-pop Reality,” a K-pop audition show in Colombia.It was the first such show created jointly by a Korean and foreign broadcaster in a foreign coun

May 31, 2012

K-pop stars take Silicon Valley by storm

K-pop singers held a concert near Google’s headquarters in Mountain View in California earlier this week to celebrate a content-sharing deal between MBC and YouTube. The concert marked the partnership between the Korean broadcaster and the world’s biggest video-sharing site, which was signed in October last year. The concert was broadcast live on YouTube Presents, an Internet-live music and performance broadcasting platform, as well as on the MBC K-pop channel on YouTube, according to MBC. Major

May 24, 2012

Wonder Girls to make Japan debut in July

K-pop group Wonder Girls will release their Japanese debut album “Nobody for Everybody” on July 25, Japan’s Oricon said Thursday.The Japanese version of their hit song “Nobody” is expected to be a highlight of the record.“In Korea, the Wonder Girls have reached their peak, and now we are ready for a bigger challenge,” said Park Jin-young, their record producer.“We are very excited to meet our Japanese fans,” said So-hee, a member of the group. “We are working very hard to show Japan our best.”Th

May 10, 2012

Wonder Girls to make Japan debut in July

K-pop group Wonder Girls will be hitting Japan with their album titled “Nobody for Everybody” on July 25, Oricon reported Thursday.The Japanese version of their hit song “Nobody” is expected to be highlighted as their debut song.“In Korea the Wonder Girls are at a stage where they have reached their peak, and now we are ready for a bigger challenge,” Park Jin-young, CEO of the group’s label JYP Entertainment, stated.“We are very excited to meet our Japanese fans,” said Sohee, a member of the gro

May 10, 2012

Kim Hyun-joong to kick off pop tour in Singapore

SINGAPORE (AP) ― Korean entertainer Kim Hyun Joong is preparing to kick off his “2012 Asia Fan Meeting Tour’’ by high-fiving all 3,000 people expected to turn up ― a first for a pop star visiting Singapore.Event organizer “Running Into The Sun’’ said the original plan was for Kim to high-five 500 fans selected from the audience but Kim was insisting on high-fiving everyone.The tour that starts Friday includes Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Thailand.Kim told the Associated Press the tour is his way

May 3, 2012

New K-Arts Academy to feature traditional arts as hallyu

Lectures start to provide better understanding of Korean classics to content creatorsK-Arts Academy, supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, opened Monday as a part of the government’s effort to educate content creators on Korean traditional arts.The opening ceremony for the academy was held at Culture Station Seoul 284 with Culture Minister Choe Kwang-shik, directors from state-run art institutes and 150 producers and writers for films, TV programs, musicals and digital conten

April 23, 2012

K-pop Cover Dance Festival kicks off preliminaries

Korea Year Committee announced the opening of the 2012 K-pop Cover Dance Festival. “Cover Dance” refers to emulating the choreography of popular K-pop groups. Those interested can participate by submitting their cover dance videos online at www.coverdance.org. The number of hits, votes for recommendation and experts’ evaluations will be used to decide on the qualifiers of the preliminary rounds. The website will receive applications from Wednesday through July. The deadline varies according to r

April 23, 2012

Lee Hyo-ri to write column for movie magazine

After becoming an animal and environmental activist, Lee Hyo-ri is making another foray outside music ― writing columns for a movie magazine. Weekly film magazine CINE 21 announced Lee would start writing for the publication this month. Her first column will appear in May’s first issue, said Doo Hwa-jin of the publication.“In addition to her singing and entertainment career, Lee has been vocal about various issues,” Doo told The Korea Herald when asked why they hired Lee. “She’s been active in r

April 18, 2012

Se7en best overseas performer in China

Korean singer Se7en won the Best Overseas Performer Award at the China Music Award and Asian Influential Awards in Macau on April 13, YG Entertainment said.The 27-year-old K-pop artist was the only Korean singer invited to the event, the agency added.“I feel really grateful for receiving such a great award. I will do my best to meet my fans from China,” he said.  The awards show, in its 16th year, took place at CotaiArena in The Venetian Macao and was attended by many internationally known celeb

April 16, 2012

Sistar returns with new album ...on broken heart

Four-member girl group brings mature, sexy look for summerKorean girl group Sistar stepped back into the spotlight with a press conference announcing their new mini album Thursday, breaking their eight-month hiatus.Titled “Alone,” the album reflects the group’s attempts to transform its image from energetic to sexy in all aspects ― music, dance, make-up and outfits, Sistar said. The four-member group wore flashy red dresses cut shorter in the front to show off their new subtle moves focusing on

April 15, 2012

Girl group Afterschool adds new member

Korean girl group Afterschool introduced Tuesday its newest member, Ga-eun.The 17-year-old will make her official debut on the group’s upcoming album, which will be released June 21.Ga-eun has the Afterschool “vibe” with a baby-face and a model-like figure, Afterschool’s management agency Pledis said. The company pointed out that Ga-eun demonstrated the most powerful vocal and dancing abilities among the candidates who vied to become the ninth member of the group. “Ga-eun went to junior high in

April 11, 2012

버스커 장범준, “여자”에게서 곡 영감받아요!

버스커 버스커 (김명섭/코리아헤럴드)버스커 장범준, “여자”에게서 곡 영감받아요!인기 밴드 버스커버스커의 장범준(22)이 곡을 쓸 때 영감을 “여자”에게서 받는다고 최근 코리아헤럴드와의 인터뷰에서 말했다.사랑의 설렘과 아픔, 이별등을 담은 첫 앨범 수록곡 모두 작사, 작곡을 한 그에게 곡을 쓸 때 어디서 영감을 얻냐고 묻자 “여자한테서요” 라며 주저없이 말했다.연애를 많이 해봤냐는 질문에는 “헤어짐에 대한 노래를 하려면 헤어져봐야 하니까요. 보편적으로 사랑에 대해 노래할 만큼만은 해봤죠” 라고 답했다.또한 다음 앨범 구상에 대해서는 “아직 셋의 스타일이 다르기 때문에 우리 셋이 완성 되가는 그림을 좀 보고 싶다. 다음 앨범에 어떤 색깔을 넣을지는 아직 생각 중 이다”라고 밝혔다.롤모델로 삼는 뮤지션이 있냐

April 10, 2012