Yikes. Another celebrity car accident?

This time it’s Tablo and DJ Tukutz who were in a car collision that left the car “half wrecked.” The two were riding in a taxi at 3am on May 20th in Seoul’s Kangnam neighborhood and were rear-ended at an intersection where their taxi was waiting to make a left turn.

The driver of the car that collided with them was driving drunk. The trunk of the taxi was completely wrecked and all the windows shattered; Tablo and Tukutz were both admitted to the emergency room, received treatment and released, but both were readmitted to the hospital later that day.

Tablo described feeling “severe pains” in his lower back and neck. The X-ray taken that morning showed no particular injury so he was released to get back to work, but because of continuing pains, he made the decision to return to the hospital to get another checkup. Tukutz suffered from similar symptoms, and their work activities were canceled for the 20th and 21st.

Best of luck for speedy recoveries.

Via IS Plus

 
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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 ]

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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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Tablo was on MBC’s Goldfish — Radio Star program on the 30th, and revealed his bad history of dating the wrong girls.

He’d initially declined to answer the host’s question about bad exes, but when he was pressed to describe typical behavior, he “answered carefully,” saying, “Cheating was a given, and she lied a lot. I’ve also dated someone who lied and said she didn’t have a boyfriend when she did.”

The (persistent!) host Kim Gura asked specifically if he’d had money issues, and Tablo answered that there was one instance when one demanded a huge amount of money. Asked how much, he answered, “$80,000 or $90,000?” He continued, “When I told her I couldn’t give it to her, she accused me of playing around with her and made me out to be the bad person.”

He also said that because he’s so consumed with work when an album is about to come out, he tends to break up with his girlfriends whenever a release date approaches. But that’s not too unusual for the Epik High guys; Mithra Jin added that all three of them tend to get caught up in their work and have no time to date.

Tablo, hon, you’re just meeting the wrong girls. I know where you can find some really awesome, non-cheaty ladies.

Via Mk.co.kr, Hankyung

SONG OF THE DAY

Epik High with Younha - “우산” (Umbrella) [ Download ]

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After it became known that announcer Han Joon Ho is a member of Mensa — the group open only to those with high IQs (specifically, those who score above the 98th percentile on standardized IQ tests) — interest arose in the topic of celebrity IQs.

For reference, the average IQ is 100, although the range can be extended to include 90 through 109. (110-119 is superior intelligence, 120-140 is very superior, and above 140 is generally known as genius level. Conversely, 80-89 is in the “dull” range, 70-79 is borderline deficient, and under 70 is considered “feeble-minded.”) And yes, I know IQ can be considered an outdated standard of measurement.

Now, some of these names are familiar, but some are a bit surprising. Goong’s Kim Jung Hoon, a smarty? Whoaaa. Not that he seemed, well, un-smart, but I’m a little surprised.

SONG OF THE DAY

Epik High - “Lesson 2 (Sunset)” [ zShare download ]

Who’s a smarty and what’s their IQ? >>

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