• Tablo addressed erroneous rumors that he’s retiring from the music biz by posting a message on his homepage: “I’m not retiring.” He’s not happy with the state of the industry and its focus on singles over albums, but he assures his fans, “I’ll make music forever.”
• Ha Jiwon was invited to the New Zealand embassy in Seoul to welcome Prime Minister Helen Clark on the 15th. She’s been active in promoting films from New Zealand in Korea, and vice versa (Korean films in NZ). She also films her next movie in New Zealand at the end of the year.
• First it was a Girls Generation song (sung here); now figure skater Kim Yuna says she’ll be performing Jewelry’s “ET dance” next, using their chart-topping hit “One More Time” (song here) in one of her skating routines at the KCC Switzen Festa on Ice. Maybe she just really wants to be a pop star.
• MBC’s popular variety show We Got Married has brought several stars into the limelight, including Shinhwa’s Andy, dubbed “top husband material.” But did you know he’d already gone on a formal “seon” (marriage set-up date) years ago at the tender age of 25? His mother tricked him into going, saying it was merely dinner with a friend, but when he showed up the woman was there with a “young girl” — and the mothers quickly got up and left the couple behind.
• And with SBS gearing up to launch two new series, the promotion blitz sure is kicking in. All of a sudden, everything is about Iljimae (Lee Junki, Han Hyo Joo) and Gourmet (Kim Rae Won, Nam Sang Mi). Seriously, Lee Junki is everywhere.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Andy - “Love Song” [ Download ]

RELATED POSTS

• News bites: May 11, 2008
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• Jang Dong Gun recently revealed in an entertainment program segment that he’d taken a minimum fee for acting in art-house director Kim Ki-duk’s The Coast Guard in 2002. At the time (and now too) Jang commanded top dollar — several million dollars per film — but gave it up because he felt it was part of an actor’s job to appear in such films (as in, lower-budget, artistic focus). And it sure paid off.
• Kim Rae Won is scheduled to appear in upcoming drama Gourmet, but is cramming in a ton of CF jobs first: aside from advertising for Chung Jung Won (food), Hang Ten (clothing) and Rinnai (appliances), he’s also in talks for apartments and telecom contracts. Capitalizing on Gourmet’s buzz, I see. The series premieres June 16.
• With Lee Seung Gi cast in MBC’s Iljimae (not to be confused with Lee Junki’s drama on SBS), rumors are swirling that he’ll quit his current role on KBS’s variety show 1 Night 2 Days. Producers are saying talk of his departure is premature; facts are as yet unknown with Iljimae’s production schedule still unreleased.
• Clazziquai’s Alex is taking on a radio DJ spot for MBC FM4U program Blue Night, hosted for the past two and a half years by singer Sung Shi Kyung. Alex has been busy working on his solo album, and takes over the show at the end of the month. Sung Shi Kyung leaves his spot on the show to begin activities for his upcoming sixth album, to go on sale late May or June.
• Looks like The Sweet Life (La Dolce Vita) starring Lee Dong Wook and Oh Yeon Soo is headed into mania drama territory. The new drama dropped significantly from its predecessor Last Scandal of My Life’s healthy ratings and is fighting to stay afloat despite its promoted “racy” bed scene between the two leads (episode 3 posted 6.9% ratings against First Wives’ Club’s hefty 27.8%). With the drama’s dark tone, that doesn’t surprise me.
• Apparently recording while rapping causes extraneous rustling noises, leading Tablo to develop a habit of recording “almost totally unclothed.” I’ll let you think about that some more on your own.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

MC Mong - “내 맘속 사랑을 죽이다” (Killing love in my heart) [ Download ]

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• There there, I’ll make it better
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• Alex pretending to be Tablo

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• Sung Yuri is set to appear in her first solo talk show appearance on SBS’s new The Star Show; the show concept is centered on deep conversation with “big stars.” Originally veteran actor Choi Min Soo was scheduled for the show’s second episode, but that was scrapped with his recent scandal for beating up a 70-year-old man. Episode airs May 5.
• Chae Rim admits to having her eyes done on a recent episode of Happy Together. She was also asked, somewhat uncomfortably, “Why don’t you get married?” (uncomfortably because of her public divorce). She broke the awkward mood and explained, “When I see others living with their husbands, I don’t really feel envious.”
• In the same episode, MC/funnyman Yoo Jae Seok revealed he’d gone to the same university as Chae Rim and Rivals co-star Lee Jong Hyuk, but he’d never graduated (he’d been working as a comedian and had to often leave to go to the broadcast station).
• In middle school, Kim Rae Won was always ranked (academically) in third place — from the rear. (He continued, “I quit playing basketball, shocked to hear my grades wouldn’t be good enough to continue to high school, so I started studying harder.”) He’s currently filming manhwa-based drama Gourmet.
• Epik High rapper Mithra Jin has a girlfriend (Tablo disclosed the fact when the group appeared on Love Letter on the 26th). Mithra said that although that’s true, they only have time to meet once every two or three weeks to confirm they’re still alive.
• Go Soo was released from military duty on April 25, and he sure looks happy. Welcome back, dude.
• …and goodbye to pop singer Eru, who took the stage to bid goodbye before beginning his military service next month (May 1), appearing on MBC’s Music Core on the 26th with new hit group Mighty Mouth. He performed, appropriately enough, the song “Last Concert.”

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Mystic Puzzle - “A Fairy Tale” (Featuring Epik High) [ Download ]


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• News bites: April 21, 2008
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Phew, lots to talk about today:

• Get ready to welcome Go Soo back from the military! He completes his mandatory service this week; he’ll be released on the 25th and plans to have a fanmeeting that very day in Seoul. He gets back to work immediately in a play (read here) which premieres in May.
• On Air, which is doing very well in the ratings, has its next batch of all-star cameos lined up. They’ve already featured Lee Hyori and Jeon Do Yeon, among others; now they’ll feature Shin Dong Wook, Lee Dong Kyu, and comedian Kim Jae Dong. The series has been extended three episodes for a total of 23.
• As for other extensions, On Air’s timeslot competitor Who Are You? has been rumored to be extended by one episode to 17 total, and while I think this may be likely, I’m not ready to get excited until I see it confirmed somewhere outside the fan message board. (No offense to fans — they often have the earliest info, but I’d rather play it safe with an official statement.)
• Chae Rim suffered an injury over the weekend while filming for her new series Rivals. In a scene where her character argues with Lee Jin Wook’s bratty presidential-son character in a ramen restaurant, Chae Rim slipped on some fallen ramen on the ground and hit her hip on a sharp corner (of, I assume, a table). She was taken to the hospital, but no bones were broken and the injury appears to be manageable.

• Choi Jin-yi, the lead singer of rock band Rumble Fish, is set to go solo with her first single “Brilliant Days” (she’d already recorded a song with the group MC The Max earlier this year). Wait, Rumble Fish is still together, right??
• Singer-actor Lee Ji Hoon (Hello Miss, New Heart) takes his next role starring with Girls Generation pop star Yoon Ah in the upcoming KBS daily drama You’re My Destiny. He’s also set to release his sixth album (his first in four years) on May 13.
• At the wrap party for their film I Feel Good on the 18th, stars Eugene (Three Dads, One Mom) and Lee Seon Kyun (Coffee Prince, White Tower) engaged in an impromptu mini song battle. While singing karaoke, the two were prodded on by continuous encores, so they complied and sang four or five songs. In the film, she plays an pop-singer idol; it also stars Lee Soo Kyung (Soulmate, Golden Age of Daughters-in-Law) and Lee Minki (Mixed-up Investigative Agency, Dal Ja’s Spring), who were also in attendance, along with approximately 100 staff members.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Rumble Fish - “으라차차” (eu-ra-cha-cha) [ Download ]

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• Rivals (KBS)
• Who Are You: Episode 13
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• Eugene and Minki back together

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• KBS’s new action drama Rivals, aka Kang-jeok-deul or Adversaries, premieres tomorrow. In striving for realism, Chae Rim visited a special attack squad and handled real firearms; Lee Jong Hyuk and stunt actors worked under a special-effects director and shot blanks from real guns. Now let’s see if the story’s any good.
• Kim Dong Wan, currently hospitalized after collapsing in the studio on the 11th, anticipates being released on the 15th, according to management. Reasons for his condition are attributed to stress from overwork; his solo album release will now be postponed until he is completely recovered, probably to early May.
• MBC’s upcoming Monday-Tuesday drama starring Kim Sun Ah and Lee Dong Gun, When Night Comes, is in the final stages of preparation and will soon start filming. The drama follows Yi San and is scheduled to premiere June 16. He plays an antiques-expert playboy with a thing for the virginal type; she plays a fervently patriotic spinster. The two share in romantic-comedy exploits as they search for national/cultural treasures. Kind of an oddly random assortment of details, though I suppose that’s not necessarily a bad thing.



• Lee Hana of the film Le Grand Chef and most recently in musician Jung Jae Hyung’s latest music video (see Song of the Day, below), follows her role in last year’s mania drama Merry vs. Daegu Battle in the upcoming KBS drama Woman of the Sun, also written by Merry scriptwriter Kim In Young. She’ll be acting alongside Kim Ji Soo (who makes her TV comeback after four years); the drama will follow currently airing Three Dads, One Mom.
• Last year, new pop group 8eight seemed poised for instant success, but faded fairly quickly out of the public eye after lots of hype. The trio says they’ve learned from the failure of their first album, born of an overly hectic schedule where they’d attempted too much, too fast: “We’d rushed through recording and our television debut, so the weak points were plain to see.” They’re now looking optimistically to their second album “Infinity.”
• Kim Haneul likes the comparison to her abrasive On Air character Seung Ah, and embraces her new nickname combining her real name with her character’s: “Kim Oh Seung Ah.” How is her character like herself? They’re both addicted to working out and have a love of sunglasses. For the past three years, she’s exercised three hours daily — sounds like someone’s got a bad case of exercise bulimia. (And no, I’m not being flip. That degree of fanaticism is very likely unhealthy.)

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Jung Jae Hyung - “Running,” whose video features Lee Hana. [ Download ]


RELATED POSTS

• Kim Dong Wan rushed to the emergency room
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Filed under: Rivals, News bites, Casting calls, Actors, Stars by javabeans - 13 Comments →