Meh.

The “female Rain” pop dance-singer Sohn Dambi is making her Hollywood acting debut.

One thing she’s got going for her is that her debut comes in a dance-themed movie, Hype Nation, and even if her vocals are mediocre, she’s a decent (though overhyped) dancer (see MV below). The flick is backed by Universal and, according to the article, was in search of a female lead “with East Asian appeal.” Hence Sohn Dambi taking the role.

She’ll star alongside hip-hoppers B2K, who face off in the movie against top Korean b-boy group Gambler. Because she’ll speak entirely in English, she plans to start studying with an English tutor.

Apparently she also hopes of breaking through to the U.S. music scene, but is starting with film. (I say: A pan-Asian superstar like Boa has the odds stacked against her, so it’ll only be that much harder for a B-list singer like Sohn Dambi to break through…) Also, she’s pretty, but she’s never acted before, and the fact that she was cast despite non-fluency in English plus an absence of demonstrated acting ability doesn’t make me approach this movie with high hopes.

Check out her “Cry Eye” video (which makes me laugh, for all the wrong reasons):

Via My Daily

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(At least figuratively?)

U-Know Yunho and Micky Yoochun light up the stage (top pic) with the rest of their DBSK groupmates at the 2008 Asia Song Festival.

October 4, Seoul World Cup Stadium.

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According to the Seoul Central District Court, the Korea Music Copyright Association received a request from an American songwriter that sales be stopped for Jang Nara’s sixth album “Dream of Asia.” She’s charged with infringing on copyright by recording a song without permission, “Mirage” [신기루], for which she also recorded its English version, “If You Ask Me To” (listen below).

Korean version “Mirage”:

Engrish version “If You Ask Me To”:

The written application states: “The producers used the song on the sixth album without consent of the copyright holders, and the American songwriter has clearly stated never giving permission… This is a clear act of copyright infringement.” The application demanded that the album be pulled from online music services, and the recording cease production and sales.

Bad Korea! We all know you rip off artists all the time, but now you’re finally starting to get called on it legally. First Hyori, now this? Maybe kpop would be better if you started writing your own songs. (Then again, maybe not.)

Via Yonhap News

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(First thought at seeing the photo: Why don’t I have a disco-ball swing?)

Rapper MC Mong performs to 8,000 concertgoers at Seoul’s Jamsil Stadium on the evening of August 30. DJ KOO opened the show; MC Mong performed a duet with Park Jung-hyun (”Love you to death”), and also had special guests Sohn Ho-young and Cool.

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What I like about rock(ish) singer Younha is that she hasn’t really had to rely on “image,” at least not in the way that other pop artists have had to build up a publicity whirl around themselves to attract attention and try to distinguish themselves from people from whom they are not actually that distinguishable. It’s not that she doesn’t have an image — everyone’s got one — but Younha’s is based on something I can get behind: strong vocals, killer live performances, and the ability to play musical instruments (while singing, to boot!).

This time she changes up her look — from the slightly punky, youthful urban look of her first album — and goes for a dual “feminine and boyish” take for her upcoming second album. On the just-released images for her album art, she dons both a flowy print dress and a more masculine pantsuit look, both showing a sleeker side than we’ve previously seen from her. It’s different, but she looks great.

Her new album “Someday” is described as encompassing multiple genres: pop ballads, modern rock, prog rock, electronica, and jazz. In keeping with some of her high-profile collaborations (Epik High, Wheesung, Ajoo), she’s got some familiar names on this album, such as the producer of her hit song “Password 486,” Hwang Chan-hee, as well as rapper-songwriter Tablo. Also contributing are singer-songwriter Jo Kyu-chan and jazz pianist Song Young-joo.

The first single, “Telepathy,” gets its television debut on SBS’s Inki Gayo [Popular Music] program on August 31. The album goes on sale on August 28.

Via Joy News

SONG OF THE DAY

Younha - “그 거리” (That street) [ Download ]

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