“I’ll return after taking a break for a while.”

Clazziquai vocalist Alex is putting a halt to most of his broadcast appearances, he explained.

He’s been worn out from overwork — promoting his solo album, appearing on MBC’s We Got Married, radio DJ-ing, and doing Mnet’s M Countdown program, among others. Now all that stress is being exacerbated by recent pains to a disc in his back, and the bodily injury comes as a sign that he’s reached a limit. With the exception of his “fixed program” schedule, the busy MC host/radio DJ/singer/sometime actor won’t be doing any other television work for a while.

According to Alex’s rep, he’ll only be working on a performance planned for the end of September in Pusan, and return to television after he’s received some medical treatment and plenty of rest. (Thank goodness someone has the sense to stop before serious injury rather than waiting till they collapse like so many others.)

Via Today Korea, Sports Khan

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These photos come from yesterday’s (July 21) Nike Human Race Training Run, where approximately a hundred participants ran under the banner of either (Clazziquai’s) Team Alex (red) or Team Horan (yellow).

The two teams raced a 10K along the Han River in Yoido; on August 31, 25 cities worldwide will host the Human Race event, including Seoul.

Via Mk.co.kr

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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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Singer Alex has admitted on the variety show Sang Sang Plus airing on the 20th that back before he was well-known, he’d once lied about his identity. And gave a fake name. That name being Tablo.

Alex explained that it was back in the beginning of his career — Clazziquai was more or less an underground group until they shot to popularity after being featured prominently in the drama My Name Is Kim Sam Soon. His face wasn’t well-known then, and when he was rushed to surgery after his appendix burst, the nurses repeatedly asked (not recognizing him), “I heard you’re a pop singer. Are you really a singer? What’s your name?”

Even with his mind growing muddled from anesthesia, he felt embarrassed just giving his name. And so at the last minute he said, “I’m Tablo from Epik High.”

HA.

I don’t know much about their personal lives, but Epik High and Clazziquai have collaborated multiple times, and the music industry is a small world, so it’s doubly funny thinking about it. Especially considering how nobody would mistake either star for the other (or anyone else) these days.

Source: Newsen

SONG OF THE DAY

Clazziquai - “After Love II.” One of my favorite Clazziquai songs, from their fantastic first album.
[ zShare download ]

 
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Clazziquai’s lead singer with the velvety voice, Alex, is set to act in his debut role in the short romantic-comedy series Finding Love (연애의 발견).

Also cast in the cable drama are Choi Min Yong (from Unstoppable High Kick), Yoon Ji Min (HIT, Korea Secret Agency), and Han Ye In (Coffee Prince, pictured above). The story deals with “love versus friendship, reality versus romance” and all the confusion that comes with it. It’s being touted as “realistic and frank.”

I’ll hold off judgment until I see for myself, but I wish Alex well in the role (but perhaps not SO well that newfound acting jobs take the place of music-making ones!). And hey, if it doesn’t work out, at least he’s got another job to fall back on.

Sources: Newsen, Segye.com

SONG OF THE DAY

Alex - “Dance With My Daddy” from the soundtrack of 200 Pound Beauty.
[ zShare download ]

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