After her nightmarish past year (public scorn, sex scandals, lawsuits), singer Ivy will be making her comeback to the public eye not with another album, but onscreen in her acting debut.

She’ll take a role in SBS’s Tokyo Shower [도쿄 여우비], a four-episode miniseries to follow the airing of I Love You, which just started last week.

Her management affirms that Ivy’s participation in the drama is all but a done deal (pending the usual finalization of contract issues), but it’s unknown whether she will be in attendance at the drama’s press conference in May, as she’s also going back to the recording studio. (I wonder if that’s really true, or if she’s avoiding a venue where she might be asked irrelevant questions about her personal life?)

The story of the drama is described as a Korean “top star” (played by Kim Sarang) meeting and falling in love with the character played by Kim Tae Woo. Ivy plays a Korean student studying abroad in Japan, working part-time in a sushi restaurant and dreaming of becoming a singer. She’ll also sing the drama’s theme song. On the Japanese side, the drama also stars Okuda Erika (who became known to Korean viewers through a CF she did with Kwon Sang Woo) and veteran actor Yamamoto Gaku, who starred in the original 1978 White Tower (then remade in Japan in 2003, again in Korea last year).

I always thought the “scandal” denouncing Ivy was absurd and hypocritical, so I wish her well. I don’t like her hit singles, but she DOES have strong vocals that are much better showcased in her ballads, and sets herself apart from the pack of gyrating lip-synchers by singing live while dancing (for which she prepared in her trainee days by singing while running on a treadmill — trivia!).

Via DongA.com

SONG OF THE DAY

Ivy – “낡은 자전거” (Old bicycle) [ Download ]

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Okay, I’ve gotta say this ticks me off on so many levels.

Singer Ivy is being sued by the cosmetics company she was hired as brand model for, under the accusation that her scandal last year did the company considerable damage. Her “inappropriate personal life events” degraded the company’s public image and value, allegedly, and they have filed a lawsuit against her management company, Fantom Entertainment, demanding recompense of $500,000 (500 million won).

A rep from company Able C&C (which owns Missha and Beautynet) said, “In cosmetics advertising, a brand model has a very strong influence on the image, as well as a tremendous effect on sales.” And now they lay the blame for a decline in business on the fact that Ivy was blackmailed and threatened and accused of being anything from a liar to a slut and had her name publicly dragged through the mud by salacious gossipmongers, netizens, and the general public. Way to blame the victim, huh, society?

The rep also censured Ivy, saying that because she acted in a way “damaging their honor” and “damaging the value of the product through acting in a way that stirred public criticism,” she had violated her contract with them, and no longer has any “advertising power.” Really? Since when does being the victim of blackmail count as breach of contract?

You know, frankly I don’t care if Ivy has a sex tape — which, by the way, has never been produced. Her ex-boyfriend, who’d blackmailed her last November with what he claimed was private video footage, giving rise to sex-tape rumors, was tried on criminal charges and convicted. What pisses me off is the gleeful rush to cast stones and label her some kind of whore because her violent ex-boyfriend may or may not have a private video of her, which he used against her illegally and for which he was punished.

Uh, WHO’S in the wrong here, again? Who’s the victim? Why is Ivy all of a sudden the defendant in a situation where she was so clearly the target? Where SHE was the one most hurt?

I don’t even count myself as an Ivy fan — her music is very hit or miss with me — but all this Ivy backlash is beyond irritating. It’s ignorant and narrow-minded. Well, fuck you Able C&C and Missha cosmetics. I wish I used your products so I could now STOP.

Via Mk.co.kr

SONG OF THE DAY

Ivy – “난…” (I…) [ zShare download ]

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Where’s pop singer Ivy’s “Leave Britney alone” guy when she needs one?

She’s had a pretty tough year, what with the allegedly violent and angry ex-boyfriend blackmailing her regarding an alleged sex tape that never materialized, and the subsequent airing out of the relationship’s dirty laundry, including accusations of cheating with fellow pop singer Wheesung. And the netizens have torn her apart over the smear on her reputation. It doesn’t matter that her ex was found guilty and sentenced to hard time for his blackmailing; a woman is accused of sexual promiscuity and the “slut” tag gets thrown far and wide.

In the wake of all this ugliness, Ivy resurfaced online on the 24th on her own fan cafe, explaining her long absence due to being sick and tired of the internet, sick of her name being in the news. She wrote to her fans, “I’m doing fine. I’m praying to erase all the bad memories in my mind. Since I’ve only been at home, I’ve gained some weight, and my health has gotten a little worse. Sooner or later, I’ll have a medical checkup done.” She added, “[My fans] were probably worried about me… This year, I hope for lots of happy things.”

Well, things can only improve, right?

Via My Daily

SONG OF THE DAY

Ivy – “그날까지” (Until that day) [ zShare download ]

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