May Pang's Asian Media Internet News

Welcome to the month of July… in Korea that is! July 1st is such a special day! It’s a national holiday in Canada, it’s the start of a new month, and last but not least, it’s the day where Korean music artists such as Jo Kwon, TaeYang, and new girl group Miss A, among others, release albums and singles this day.

Let’s start with Jo Kwon. The 2AM vocalist has been a regular along with BEG vocalist Ga In as a married couple on the Korean variety show, We Got Married. Recently Kwon decided to showcase another event for his lovely wife. Did he succeed since his couple ring event? I would say yes. Throughout the show, he made up a melody from the first time they moved into a new home. From then on, with a couple of revisions and help from song writers and producers, he came up with a final track called “The Moving Song,” and performed it for Ga In when they moved from their small villa to their new spacious apartment. Fans worldwide absolutely enjoyed the song, to the point where they requested and begged for the song to be released on mp3. Wish granted! “The Moving Song” or in this case, “The Day I Confessed,” was released as a digital single. Kwon tweeted this update before his departure for the States to join the Wonder Girls on their world tour.

Next up is new girl group Miss A. I have been hearing a lot of things about this new group from the Twitter updates of Jo Kwon and 2PM members NichKhun and Taecyeon. So who is this new group? Under AQ Entertainment, a sub-label under JYP Entertainment, Miss A consists of four members, Fei, Jia, Suzy, and Min. Min has been receiving training prior from joining the group. Miss A released their debut MV called “Badgirl Goodgirl” on June 30th and is scheduled to have their debut performance on M! Countdown on July 1st. Since JYP has this tendency of releasing such successful groups like Wonder Girls, 2PM, and 2AM; seeing how much potential they have, I’m sure Miss A will do very well!

Last but certainly not least, the moment VIP fans have been waiting for, for over two years, the release of TaeYang’s full length album “SOLAR.” Throughout the past two weeks, we have been hearing teasers, seeing photos through personal cafes and websites, and just flat out waiting for the Big Bang vocalist to come up with something to ‘WOW’ his audience. I personally was one of those people anticipating this release. TaeYang is also scheduled to have his comeback stage on M! Countdown on July 1st with his title song “I Need a Girl.” His best friend and Big Bang member G-Dragon will join him in his performance. This man made me wait for so long, I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us.

July is one packed month, and this is only the beginning. Let’s see what is in store for us in the world of K-Pop. I hope you’re ready!

Listen to Jo Kwon’s “The Day I Confessed”:

Listen to Miss A’s “Badgirl Goodgirl”

Listen to TaeYang’s “I Need a Girl”

source: allkpop, alwaystaeyang, twitter, newsen, LOVEISBEG @ youtube, sweety5552288 @ youtube, essbee023 @ youtube

Police announced Wednesday that Korean actor and singer Park Yong-ha, known mostly for his role in 2002’s 겨울연가 or ‘Winter Sonata’, was found dead in his apartment in southern Seoul early Wednesday morning by an apparent suicide. Early reports say it looked as though he hung himself with an electrical cord.

Friends and family say the 33-year-old actor had been severely upset for awhile as he dealt with his father dying of stomach cancer, however, his suicide still came as a shock. There was no note, but family members told media that he kept saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” the night before his death, as he massaged his ailing father.

Park first debuted in 1997, but shot to stardom across Asia after appearing in ‘Winter Sonata’ with Choi Ji-woo and Bae Yong-joon. After that, he went on to release a series of popular albums and singles, including ‘Just Yesterday’, the opening theme to the SBS drama, ‘All In’ with Lee Byun-hun and Song Hye-kyo. He was recently cast with Yoon Eun-hye in a new drama, 러브송 or ‘Comrades, Almost a Love Story,’ which is a remake of a 1996 Hong Kong film, and was set to begin filming in July.

Suicide has become a major social issue in South Korea as more and more celebrities and public figures are choosing to end their lives, which often leads to thousands of ‘copy-cat suicides’. After actress Choi Jin-sil died, there were a reported 1,700 within the following month. The health ministry in Seoul said that in 2007 about 23.9 people in every 100,000 kill themselves and more than 14,500 people committed suicide in 2009, which equates to about 35 suicides a day. The country now has the highest suicide rate out of all of the 30 OECD countries.

Choi Jin-sil, her brother Choi Jin-young, model Daul Kim, former President Ron Moo-hyun, Boys over Flowers actress Jang Ja-yeon and now Park Yong-ha. There is a serious problem with suicide in South Korea. Even today, it is still consider taboo to openly talk about depression or even mention that the stress of everyday life is too much to handle. Admitting that one needs help is still seen as admitting failure.

But even with suicide brought to the forefront with the rising number of high profile deaths, so far all anyone seems to do is sit back and wonder who’s going to be next.

Rest in peace, Park Yong-ha. And may all our thoughts and prayers be with his family and friends during this tough time…

source: Washington Post, JoongAng Daily, AFP

For my Pick of the Week, recently, I have been watching this Korean variety show called “우리 결혼했어요” or in English “We Got Married.” The show is based on bringing two celebrities together, where they both go through the trials and tribulations of being married. The show has been going on since 2008, but it caught my eye this season with, as fans call them, the “Adam Couple” aka 2AM’s Jo Kwon and Brown Eyed Girls’ Son Ga In.

To me, this couple is really cute; just seeing them together, makes me feel all cozy inside. I normally see Jo Kwon being so rambunctious and humorous on other variety shows that it sometimes questions me about his ‘diva’ like personality. However, on We Got Married, we get to see this other side of him; how he cares for his woman and what he would do in such situations. As for Ga In, I love her personality. She is one of those ladies who can stand for her own but when she needs someone to comfort and care for her, one look and she got it. She has these tendencies of making Jo Kwon jealous, the push-pull effect, where the woman pushes the man away but really it just pulls him in to love her more, however I feel like she does that to test if he truly cares for her; and he passes every time. In some ways I can relate to Ga In, since I like putting my man to the ‘test.’

Even though We Got Married is a just a television show and the married couples are supposed to be fake, I personally feel that The Adam couple would make it well in real life; as from watching the show, I see a very strong bond grow between them. Just recently, Kwon spent money out of his own pocket to by Ga In couple rings. Although his event to give it to her was sort of fail (They went to the movies where he hid the rings in the popcorn so when she would reach for some popcorn, she’d find them. Later he found out, she doesn’t like movie theater popcorn.), it still turned out well since she did end up finding the rings, her face glowing in happiness. They were even asked to make a couple song during the 2009 holiday season called “We Fell in Love.” Are they trying to hint their fans? Should they date in real life? It looks like it’s getting serious between those two and I would hate to see this relationship end once their time is up on the show.

For anyone who is interested in a show that shows true character and humor at the same time, I do recommend We Got Married. Maybe future newly weds might learn something after watching it!

Watch “We Fell in Love”

source: BEGISLOVE4 @ youtube

Are you ready for Solar? “Solar” previews that is! For the past couple of days, Big Bang’s TaeYang has been giving us audio teasers from his album. So far we have heard the intro, “Solar,” the second track, “Superstar,” now we skip a few tracks and are introduced to the fifth track, “You’re My.”

When I first saw the title of this track, as much as I don’t like criticizing anything or anyone in YG, I really thought there was a typo. It added to the curiosity of how this track was going to sound like. After hearing it, it made realize, there’s a subliminal message in TaeYang’s album: He needs a girlfriend. He needs some female love in his life; he’s referring his woman to ice cream and chocolate! Ladies, any takers for our Big Bang vocalist?

The song has a sensual feel that, in my opinion, can be used for some BMM, or ‘baby making music.’ It’s also pretty amazing how TaeYang is singing some songs ‘outside’ of the R&B level. Going to Lara Visconti’s article on his second audio preview, I too was slightly disappointed. However, after listening to it again and thinking about it, I would get pretty bored if he did the same stuff as before. I am really looking forward to this album now, regardless of what anyone says. What do you guys think?

Listen to “You’re My”

source: ygbigbang.com/taeyang, bigbangupdates

And the previews just keep coming! I’m sure everyone’s excited for TaeYang‘s new album SOLAR! Today, TaeYang released a preview for the track “SUPERSTAR.” The track has a heavy bass accompanied by trumpets. TaeYang’s voice and trumpets sound interesting at first but when I first listened to it, I was slightly disappointed. It’s a great beat and as we all know TaeYang has an awesome voice but the two combined is just strange. I’m sure lots of fans like it otherwise and maybe it’ll grow on me. We’ll find out on July 1st whether this track is really good or not. So, ARE YOU READY FOR SOLAR?

Check out the preview to TaeYang’s “SUPERSTAR!”

Hollywood is constantly making remakes. For the most part, they need to leave the originals alone. A few nights ago I decided to go to the movies, (thanks to a friend named Edward Hong) with a posse of friends, including fellow AMIN writers: Lara Visconti and Jessica Dawson to watch The Karate Kid 2010 movie. I was so skeptical. I am a fan of the original one with all of its cheesiness. I do admit that I watched  all of  The Karate Kid sequels ever made. Part two was my favorite, because Mr. Miyagi, played by the late Pat Morita, and Daniel, played by Ralph Macchio, went to the beautiful island of Okinawa. I hated part three and the feminist in me  likes part four just because for a change a girl was The Next Karate Kid.

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Yes, it’s true! After shooting down rumors of being on Glee in the past, Charice has announced that she will be joining the cast of Glee!

Charice stated on her Twitter, “It’s official. I’m on Glee (next season) but story behind it. When the rumor came out, it wasn’t true. But then after that; I tried to audition. And i made it!!! Let’s Party!!!!”

Entertainment Weekly has revealed that Charice will play an exchange student with powerful vocals that gives Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) a run for her money.

Seems like Charice is definitely excited, I know I am. I’ve been a huge fan of Glee since season 1 and this is definitely making me excited for the Fall!

Source: Entertainment Weekly, Twitter

Fans got really excited when they found out Big Bang’s vocalist TaeYang, real name Dong Young Bae, will be releasing his first full length album “SOLAR” on July 1st. Throughout the week, YG Entertainment has been releasing the track titles from his album, leaving the fans in suspense. Some of the tracks you may already heard, like “Wedding Dress,” “Only Look at Me,” “Where U At,” and “Prayer,” but there are new tracks that are to be heard. There will be two versions of this album: a regular version and a deluxe version.

Well, the full track list is finally complete! Along with an audio preview to the first track, which is called, “SOLAR.” The title track in which TaeYang is to promote will be “I Need a Girl,” featuring Big Bang Leader G-Dragon. The MV is already in the process of filming and it is heard that Sandara Park will be in the video, based on the photos from her me2day . What a great contribution for YG Family, they’re ALWAYS together! Also Shaun Evaristo, whom we interviewed in the beginning of this year, is to be helping YG Entertainment and TaeYang with choreography, so we all know that the dancing is going to be flawless!

I’m excited for this album to come out! Being a TaeYang fan myself, I’m ready to hear and see what he has in store for us. What do you guys think of his track list and audio preview?

Here is the full track list:

source: bigbangupdates, bbupdates2010 @ youtube, allkpop, soompi, omgkpop, ygbigbang,com/taeyang

Today’s a great day for every fan of T.O.P, as his debut solo single has finally been released today! “Turn It Up” is a heavy bass rap, with T.O.P’s extreme low voice, which matched it perfectly.  The style of this song is quite experimental, as the whole song is rap only, which is uncommon in South Korea.  Also, his solo album is believed to be released soon.  Let me stop holding you all up from watching his new MV!

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Let me introduce my pick of the week, Aqua Timez! First formed in 2000, this group consist of leader/vocalist Futoshi, guitarist Daisuke, bassist OKP-STAR, keyboardist Mayuko, and drummer TASSHI. Since their major debut on Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Aqua Timez has met great success on the Oricon charts and has released 11 singles and 6 albums to date.

Like many of us JPop fans, I too was introduced to this world through Anime. One Anime in particular I was keeping up with (until a little after the first fillers) was BLEACH. That was when I first heard Aqua Timez singing the end song “ALONES.” Too bad that ending song was running during the season of Bleach that got a bit too confusing and hectic for me to keep up with so I so I gave up watching it. However, when the song was played for me a few months ago at a friends house I immediately remember where I had first heard that catchy song.

I was lucky enough to see Aqua Timez at a concert back in April at the NHK Hall in Tokyo, Japan. I even took a small interview with some hard core fans Nina (15) and Hanna (15.)

Jessica: Who is your favorite member and what is your favorite song?

Nina: My favorite member is Futoshi! I really like the song Jitensha

Hanna: I like Daisuke. My favorite song the new one, Ehagaki no Haru

Jessica: What brings you to the concert today?

Nina: We tried to get tickets for the other shows but, they were sold out. We won the special lottery to buy the tickets for last show today.

Jessica: How did you find discover Aqua Timez? How long have you been fans?

Nina: I have been a fan for 3 years. I was watching the Anime “Brave Story” and heard their song.

Hanna: About 1 year. Nina is a big fan and she told me about them.

Jessica: If you had the chance to ask them any thing what would you ask?

Nina: When Futoshi thinks of lyrics, what goes on in his mind? I really love his lyrics!

Hanna: What do they all think and what feelings they get from their songs.

The concert was  very entertaining. Even though I knew about 3 songs that were played, I was still captured by the sounds that were being produced. It was really a lot of fun and the fans were really enjoying themselves. I defiantly would recommend this band. They have a great sound and it’s not that hard to have a song stuck in your head after just the 1st listen. I know I’m a new fan. Check out Aqua Timez

Here is the hit song Velonica

Check out my pictures too