Following a post-concert collapse, pop singer Lee Hyori has canceled all her year-end activities. She had been found unconscious at home on the 26th and taken to a hospital.

She was found to be suffering from pneumonia and malnutrition, which follows a period of overwork as she spent two months rehearsing for her first solo concert(s) on the 19th and 20th, which she performed successfully despite fighting a cold. Such overwork was deemed the cause of her condition, and she was prescribed absolute rest.

That means she won’t be hosting year-end awards programs as planned, did she perform with Rain as had been hyped. She’s canceled early January CF shoots, as well as all other activities.

It’s becoming almost expected for singers to work themselves into a frenzy preceding big events, then collapse in the aftermath, like their bodies are seeking rest at the first opportunity. At least it didn’t happen in concert for Hyori. Unfortunately, when the stars themselves don’t know their own limits (and they push themselves, rather than being forced to by, say, management), these kinds of occurrences will only continue.

Via SBS News

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Post tags: Lee Hyori, overworking, singers

As previously mentioned, singer-dancer-actor-designer-CEO-”world star” Rain is coming out with his own fashion line, “Six to Five,” which he kicked off in style on the 23rd with a fashion show–launch party–mini concert. Trust Mr. Multihyphenate to give the same treatment to his big events.

The launching party took place in Ilsan and was attended by some of Rain’s industry buddies, though not a whole slew of them; some key attendees included Hyori, Yoon Kye-sang, Chae Rim and Kim Sun-ah.

Apparently, the rocket was chosen as the brand symbol to express “the spirit of challenge that overcomes time and space.” Er….. Furthermore, the brand name is based on the concept of moving from the five senses into the realm of the sixth… in which case, shouldn’t the brand name be Five to Six? O_o

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Read the rest of Rain hosts, struts, sings, and dances at Six To Five launch (405 words)

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Post tags: Byun Jung-soo, Chae Rim, Jung Jun-ho, Kim Sun-ah, Lee Hyori, Park Ji-yoon, Rain, Seo In-young, Yoon Kye-sang

Kpop girl group Fin.K.L‘s been disbanded for several years now, but its members all reunited to support former member Lee Hyori‘s first solo concert on December 18.

Fin.K.L was quite popular in its own right back in the day, but the group’s members have all gone on to greater success in their solo careers: Ok Joo-hyun in musicals, and Sung Yuri and Lee Jin in dramas. Lee Hyori also came into her own as a kpop sex symbol after going solo.

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Read the rest of Hyori gets some old-school backup (231 words)

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Post tags: Lee Hyori, Lee Jin, Ok Joo-hyun, Sung Yuri

Pop star Hyori is designing her own T-shirt. And I use the word “designing” loosely.

The shirt is to commemorate her upcoming concert(s) on the 19th and 20th (her first since going solo) and will be presented to all the concertgoers as an expression of Hyori’s appreciation. And when I raise a skeptical eyebrow to the labeling of Hyori as a designer, it’s not just because that T-shirt is fugly, but because the shirt is really just a sketch version of her third-album promotional “Hyorish” poster anyway, which she did not design.

I mean, fine, we all know that stars like to flaunt their artsy hobbies, whether it’s through cooking, or
singing (or singing, or singing some more, or rapping), or writing (fiction, essays, or *cough*allegedly* nonfiction), or photography, or songwriting, or other artistic endeavors (sketchbooks, crafts, and paintings). And so on and so forth.

But sometimes these things don’t correlate to actual artistic talent so much as they are lame promotional gimmicks or vanity exercises. Then again, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; this is Hyori, whose success has never had anything to do with originality.

Via OSEN

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• I wonder if she knows what that looks like
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Post tags: Lee Hyori, star extracurricular activities

Although I didn’t watch August 23′s broadcast of Mnet’s 20′s Choice awards (a wannabe VMA’s, really), looking over the full winners list, my first reaction is: “What were they smoking?”

Some choices made sense. I get why Jang Geuk-seok, shakin’ his thang above as the event’s MC, was awarded Hot Movie Star (Male) because he’s had a great year coming off the drama Hong Gil Dong and recent movie Baby and I. And Hot Sports Star is a topical choice, going to the recent gold-medalist female weight lifter Jang Mi-ran, while the annoyingly catchy, ubiquitous earworms “One More Time” and “So Hot” (by Jewelry and Wonder Girls, respectively) are no-brainers.

But even the fact that they’ve got a “Hot Schoolgirl” category (winner So-hee), or “Hot Comment” (I think they meant catchprase) are kind of, pardon my French, retarded. And don’t even ask me what “Hot Sweet Music” means.

Furthermore, I get that “American beef” was a hot topic this year, but to highlight it at an awards show as the “winner” of Hot Issuemaker seems a little crass. Or just stupid.

Check out the full list beyond the jump, along with pics of the show in all its tacky glory.

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Read the rest of Mnet 20′s Choice Awards makes weird choices (203 words)

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Post tags: awards, Baek Sung-hyun, Big Bang, Eom Ki-joon, Girls Generation, Jang Geun-seok, Jun Jin, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Min-hee, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Hyori, Park Min-young, Park Shi-hoo, Park Yong-ha, Ryu Seung-beom, Seo In-young, singers, Uhm Jung-hwa, Wonder Girls, Yoo Seung-ho

New actress Song Min-ji appeared in the August 13 episode of horror drama Hometown of Legends and is now sparking lots of comparisons to pop diva Lee Hyori.

What do you think, Hyori-esque or not? (Or, should I say, Hyorish-esque? Hyorish-ish?)

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Post tags: Lee Hyori, lookalikes, Song Min-ji

‘Cause I’m pretty sure Gong Hyo-jin is made up as a cat, yeah? In any case, stars pose with pets for the Vogue Korea “Fashion Pet” photo shoot celebrating the mag’s 12th anniversary.

Participants include Nam Gyuri, Lee Hyori, Kim Jung-eun, and Jo Seung-woo, pictured below. Other stars in the exhibition include Seo In-young, Chae Yeon, Chae Jung-ahn, Yoon Eun-hye, Han Chae-young, Lee Beom-soo, and members of DBSK and Super Junior.

The exhibition will be available for viewing at Gallery 1 in Cheongdamdong from July 22 through 26.

Nam Gyuri, Lee Hyori, Kim Jung-eun, Jo Seung-woo

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Post tags: Gong Hyo-jin, Jo Seung-woo, Kim Jung-eun, Lee Hyori, Nam Gyuri, photo shoots

I know we’ve all probably been guilty of the “whorey Hyori” play on words at one point, but now she’s she’s just helping everyone arrive at that conclusion, isn’t she?

Here she poses for her promo poster (“It’s Hyorish!”) for her recently leaked third album (which officially releases in early July). Hopefully this time, her album makes news on the merits of its own songs (ha) rather than for ripping off others’.

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Post tags: bad Engrish, Lee Hyori, singers

Another celebrity with an upcoming ten-year anniversary is pop singer, widely renounced actress, and all-around sexpot Lee Hyori, who first debuted as a member of the questionably named girl group FinKL (Fine Killing Liberty? Really? That’s the best you could come up with) in May of 1998.

She talked about her career milestone in an interview with Kyung Hyang News. Regarding her status as a sex symbol:

“My body does have flaws — it’s not a hundred percent perfect. I wanted to withdraw from the ‘sexy star’ image, but it became exaggerated. I can’t even go to the public saunas for fear that people would be disappointed at my body in real life. [Laughs]“

After trading on her sex kitten image for so long, Hyori looks on her impending thirties:

“From here on, I’d like to become the ‘nation’s friend’ through my acting. All this time, I hadn’t really felt rivalry for anyone, but I found that I was most envious when Jeon Do Yeon won the Best Actress award at Cannes last year. After that, I became determined to become an actor worthy of recognition.”

Well, at least she aims high. But Hyori winning acting honors at a film festival, much less Cannes?? Well, take a look at her universally panned performances in Three-leaf Clover and When In Love, Love Like Them and draw your own conclusions.

Plans for the future?

“I’ll continue making dance music. In the next five or six months, I’ll put out my third solo album. In the past, I’d used lots of instruments for a full sound and fast beats. In the third album, I go for an acoustic sound and the vocals are simple. For overseas markets, I don’t put a lot of weight on not speaking Japanese or English that well. In the past ten years I’ve been a singer for half the time and an MC for the other half, and acted a little. In the future, I want to split my time equally three ways. As in the past, I want to continue setting trends, and incorporate sports too. Recently I went to America and watched a basketball game, and it wasn’t just sports — it was a show. I also have a lot of desire to pursue acting. I want to tear down people’s biases that Hyori is only a leading star but choose movies and television dramas based on strong stories, and start as a supporting actor. I think a character brimming with energy would be just right.”

I’ve never thought she was exactly a brain trust, but Hyori’s statements make her seem just a big grandiose, don’t they? Kind of like imagining Paris Hilton aiming for an Oscar. (Hey, I’ll freely admit she can be hot. Pretty, upon occasion. But classy she is NOT.) I’d given her perhaps more credit than I should for having a sense of humor about her role in pop culture, but it seems Hyori takes herself entirely seriously, which is, ironically, kind of a joke.

Via Kyung Hyang News

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Hyori – “Get Ya,” the song that earned her a lawsuit for ripping off Britney Spears. Egads! You know you’ve crossed a line when Britney Spears — the queen of the ham-handed pop-culture pastiche — sues for copyright infringement. [ zShare download ]

RELATED POSTS:

• Breaking the fourth wall: Stars and their homepages
• Will Anyband succeed without Hyori?

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Post tags: Lee Hyori

• Park Jin Hee juggles two handsome leading men (Jo Han Seon and Lee Ki Woo) in her upcoming romantic comedy, Time of Memory and Loss. Maybe the casting can inject some humor and spark into a tired formula: an awkward old maid cannot forget an unrequited love of her past, which prevents her from moving on to her next love. The plot gets going when she’s in a car accident with said old love, and pretends to lose her memory so she can come live in his house. His friend catches on to her lie, and thus the triangle begins.
• Actor So Ji Sub explores his penchant for photography in a new camera CF, which he recently shot in Hokkaido, Japan. He explained, “It’s when others become curious about me through the photos I’ve shot, which allow me to share my feelings with the viewer, that I feel best.” Way to make narcissism sound poetic!
• Dancing and lip-synching provocateuse Lee Hyori is slated to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming SBS drama On Air, which premieres February 27 and is written by the scribe behind the Lovers series (in Paris, in Prague, and plain Lovers). She’ll play the part of a top pop singer handled by Lee Beom Soo’s manager character. Well, if you can’t act, might as well play yourself.



• Wonder Girl Ahn So Hee admits to having been a huge Rain fan prior to her debut. Why the past tense?
• …and speaking of Rain, he’s partnered with Samsung to promote their Anycall line for the next year, in promotion for the 2008 Olympics. “Particularly, these ads have stirred much interest with the announcement that Rain will sing Anycall’s Olympic theme song.” The wording confused me initially as to whether the song in question is AN Olympic song for Anycall, or if Samsung is sponsoring THE official theme song for the Beijing Olympics. Further reading shows that all signs point to the latter. Please keep the bashing to a minimum!
• Oh, and Gong Yoo began his military service today. See ya in two years!

SONG OF THE DAY

Rain – “난 또 니가 좋은거야” (I like you again) [ zShare download ]

 
RELATED POSTS:

• Who do viewers want back in 2008?
• News bites: January 7
• News bites: December 20
• Countdown to Gong Yoo’s military enlistment
• News bites: December 6
• Korea, calm down. Stephen Colbert doesn’t hate Rain.

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Post tags: army duty, Gong Yoo, Lee Hyori, news bites, Park Jin-hee, Rain, So Ji-sub