• Ara and Jang Geun Seok are dolling up and gettin’ down in an online teaser ad for a cosmetics brand, showing off what is being dubbed their “techtonic” Tecktonik dance. Touted as sexy and cute, I’d use any another term — dorky-cute, disco-lite, uber-goofball? — instead.
• 21-year-old Moon Geun Young opens up in an interview about her feelings about how her fame has affected her younger sister, who has explained that it’s hard being the little sis of Korea’s Little Sis — she’s always being compared or treated with awkward curiosity. Now a high school student, younger sis lives abroad and studies in Australia, where Moon Geun Young explains that she can hopefully “stand on her own without being in my shadow.”
• According to the director of Rain’s company JTunes, Rain hasn’t mentioned any interest in a woman in the past seven years. (What about guys?)
• Fashion designer Andre Kim (who’s had a long career but hasn’t seemed to have a new idea in years) tells The Star Show that of all the numerous celebrities he’s worked with, sob queen Choi Jiwoo is the star with the perfect body. (He lists Lee Byung Heon as the most charismatic male actor.)
• Yoo Seung Ho (that young cutie who played young Yonsama in Legend) has been cast in the music video for “Don’t Go, Don’t Go,” R&B duo Brown Eyes‘ comeback single. (Starring opposite is new Japanese actress Ishizaka Yuri.) His role entails “emotional” and “heartbroken” acting; looks like he’s trying his best to shed the child-star image.
• With only a week till his new drama airs, Lee Dong Gun is lining up the CF offers, promoting pre-harvest rice sales and fielding more proposals from beverage, clothing, and construction companies. While it’s common for a new drama to bring the CF offers, it’s cited as being unusual for the offers to come in before the drama has even begun. Maybe they’re just happy to see him back onscreen after his recent rough patch.
• Some of JYP’s teen-sex-kitten proteges the Wonder Girls had a few words to share about their Svengali-master on MBC’s Brain Battle (isn’t that shooting a little high?). Apparently JYP gets “sensitive” when he’s hungry (unlike the rest of us robots); Yoo Bin explained that while recording their album, he’d gotten so hungry once that he’d scolded her. After a snack, she saw him being affectionate with another member and felt sad. (Maybe he was upset with, I don’t know, her work? I’ve seen her performing.)
• Singer JOO cites an occasion prior to her debut when JYP had commented on her weight, saying, “What’s with this [flab]? It’s like tofu.” Because teenage girls don’t already have enough issues about their looks — thanks, Mr. Monkey-man.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Alex - “깍지껴요” (hold hands), from his recent first solo album “My Vintage Romance.” Overall, the album sounds a lot more mainstream than his previous work, going more into ballad and pop territory. He does have the voice for it, even though I prefer the more innovative music of Clazziquai. [ Download ]

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Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 20 Comments →

• Lee Jung Jin (Bottom of the 9th with 2 Outs, Love Story in Harvard) held his first official fanmeeting on May 30 in Tokyo, following the end of Bottom of the 9th’s recent Japanese broadcast. A thousand Japanese fans were in attendance; he returned to Korea on the 31st to prep for filming his next movie, Daetol [대털].
• Kim Bum (I Like it Hot, Unstoppable High Kick) injured himself while filming a fighting scene in the upcoming drama East of Eden. Cast in the younger role of Song Seung Heon’s adult character, he was fighting with a stuntman, who struck him on the jaw — and split his chin (owwww). The injury, described as minor by management, was about 1cm in length and required five stitches. I thought stuntmen were there to ensure action scenes are safer.
• Currently promoting his solo album, Jun Jin addressed plastic surgery rumors on the June 7 episode of MBC’s Infinity Challenge — and admitted to a cosmetic procedure whereby fat was removed from his eyelids (to make them look larger and more open).
• The short drama Tokyo Shower, which got off to a lackluster start (its second episode recorded ratings in the 4% range), had its official message board hacked. On June 6, hackers took over the site with postings about opposition to American beef. Dude, if you’re going to hack a site to push your inflammatory propaganda, at least pick a popular show.
• Apparently the mere fact that Rain is singing the theme song to the animated feature Kung Fu Panda is enough to excite his fans, who packed the house on the 4th for a press conference where the music video for “Kung Fu Fighting,” the film’s theme song, was screened. I suppose nobody cares that the song is a crap remake of a kitschy, gimmicky jingle born of a cheesy ’70s chopsocky fad. Here’s Rain singing the theme:

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Jun Jin - “좋은 사람” (Good person) [ Download ]

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• Jun Jin’s video too hot for network TV
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• Rain, watch out for that — *thunk!* — glass ceiling
• Korea, calm down. Stephen Colbert doesn’t hate Rain

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 23 Comments →

• Su Ae will have the distinction of being director Lee Joon Ik’s first female lead actress after he made his name with male leads in The King and the Clown, Radio Star, and The Happy Life. In You’re Far Away [님은 먼곳에], she’s a woman who becomes a traveling performer during the Vietnam War in search of her husband who went off to serve. Shot in Thailand, the movie releases July 24.
• In response to the audience’s issues with the CG in the recently premiered Iljimae, PD Lee Yong Seok admitted on Internet message boards that he had to “sacrifice realism” and use CG for actor and crew “safety.” Yes, because realistic plots and characterizations are so unsafe. He defended his use of the invisibility cloak, saying, “It might look awkward to adult eyes, but I figured that it would be a fun treat for young fans of Harry Potter.” What, no Quidditch?
• Currently promoting Girl Scouts and filming her new drama When Night Comes, Kim Sun Ah has revealed that she’s no longer with her boyfriend from her Samsoon days. She explains wanting a boyfriend who can understand her job as an actor (or perhaps be one himself).
• Crown J, enjoying a rise in popularity from the MBC variety show We Got Married, is pairing up with supa-star Jang Dong Gun in a Max Beer CF. Apparently they spent so much time filming Crown J that Jang Dong Gun joked, “Hey, what about me? I can do a good job too…”
• Shinhwa singer Kim Dong Wan has considered appearing on We Got Married — if his partner can be Hwang Bo: “I think I’m the only person who can show her dual personality” (easygoing on the outside, but with an extremely feminine side). He joked that it’s something her partner on the show, Kim Hyun Joong, can’t pick up on due to his youth — but he can. Kim Dong Wan is currently promoting his second solo album.
• A gay couple marries on cable channel tvN’s program Coming Out, which follows two gay couples who live together over seven episodes and records them as they plan their wedding. Aww. The program airs on May 26.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

3rd Coast - “My Soul” [ Download ]

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• 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

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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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Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 16 Comments →

• On the April 4 broadcast of MBC’s Section TV, Lee Da Hae listed Taiwanese actor-singer-producer Jay Chou as an actor she’d like to work with. Asked why she chose him, she explained, “The first thing is personality. I wonder if we’d be a good match.” I’m sure she means that strictly professionally.
• Duo Mighty Mouth shot to fame with some help from Yoon Eun Hye with their debut song “I Love You” (listen here), and now they’re featuring the much-hyped new singer and JYP protégé JOO. I guess they have a thing for pretty girls with weak vocals?
• Popular comedian and Infinity Challenge regular Park Myung Soo is getting married tomorrow (April 6) and spent the week leading up to the big day undergoing wedding prep — on the air. The other four hosts (Yoo Jae Seok, Jung Hyung Don, Noh Hong Chul, Jung Joon Ha) carried out the “Making Park Myung Soo the No. 1 Bridegroom Project” — massages, makeovers — in its full gag-laden glory on the variety show.
• Speaking of weddings, Andy and Solbi, who act as a married couple in the “We Got Married” segment on MBC’s Sunday, Sunday Night, are attracting notice for their onstage duet performing his new “Love Song” on MBC’s Music Core.
• Kang Ta, who just began his military service, revealed in a recent interview that he’d considered a nose job, even going so far as to have a doctor’s consultation, but decided against it thinking even minor nose work would lead everyone to believe he’d had his whole face plasticized. He acknowledges that some people still believe he’s had work done, but affirms he’s never laid a knife to his face.



• And here’s something especially interesting! Rock/pop singer Lee Juck’s short story is being produced as a full-length animated film by the Korea Film Academy. The source material, “Jeh Bool Chal’s Story” [제불찰 씨 이야기], was included in Lee Juck’s short-story collection (pic at right) Fingerprint Hunter [지문사냥꾼], and is described as a satirical piece about a man (Jeh Bool Chal) who is so ignored by people that he shrinks to a small enough size to enter a person’s ear. I love surreal fiction like this — reminds me of Haruki Murakami’s metaphysical short story “The Elephant Vanishes.” And I love literate musicians — first it’s Horan, and now Lee Juck — combining two of my mostest favoritest things in the world.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Juck - “장난감 전쟁” (War of the Toys) [ Download ]

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