May Pang's Asian Media Internet News

This year marks the 5th Anniversary of Japan Day. This years event will be held in New York City’s Central park on May 22nd. In light of the devastating Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11th in the Tohoku region, this years theme at Japan Day is “Ganbare Japan!” which means “Good luck Japan!”

On May 8th at Central Park, there will be a 4 mile Japan Run called “Run for Hope” and will help with Tsunami relief efforts. Anyone can pledge to walk or run to support by doing a 4-Mile Virtual Run/Walk for hope between May 1 and May 8.

Since the first event in 2007, Japan Day @ Central Park has had three goals: 1) to build bridges of cultural understanding between the people of Japan and the U.S., 2) to say “Thank you, New York!” for providing such a nurturing home to America’s largest Japanese community, and 3) to facilitate stronger grassroots connections within the local Japanese community.

Our guest performers  will include Circus, Senri Oe, DMC, AISHA, Keiko Matsui, Mai Fukui, Yuka Takara, Lainie Sakakura and TEN-YOU, who is also our Official Artist for this year’s event.

For more information check out the main website at www.japandaynyc.org

Sounds like an awesome event. AMIN staff will definitely be there to support. Hope to see you all there!

Fans of music legend Seo Taiji, the leader of hit group Seo Taiji and Boys, have gone from shocked to outraged in a time span of just 24 hours.

On April 21, Korea time, it was revealed to the public that the star had not only had a relationship, but had, in fact, been married to upcoming TV star Lee Ji-ha for 14 years. And that the two filed for divorce. Rumors spread like wildfire and it wasn’t until April 22 that the dust finally settled and most of the facts came to light.

Seo and Lee married in 1997 in the US, when they were 25 and 19. Seo had gone to America to study after his group disbanded and Lee had moved there in 1994 for education reasons. The two moved around, living in Georgia and Arizona, but they separated after Seo returned to Korea in 2000 to resume his music career. They filed for divorce in 2006 and it was finalized in 2009, but now Lee has filed an alimony lawsuit against Seo, asking for $4.6 million for her share of their properties during their marriage and for more than $460,000 in alimony. Rumor has it that Lee is currently in a relationship with her Athena co-star Jung Woo-sung and that the couple has two children, though Lee’s agency, KeyEast, has denied in an official statement released on April 21 that they have children.

KeyEast said the two split because of differences in personality and lifestyle and that Lee filed the lawsuit in January after the two could not come to a compromise in their divorce settlement.

Fans of both stars are in an uproar over the secrecy surrounding the relationship, saying they deceived the public. However, pop culture experts in Korea have stepped up to defend the stars’ decision and said it should be respected.

“Seo Taiji is the epitome of mystique and secrecy,” said Shim Jae-cheol, professor of media studies at Korea University to Korean media. “He may have wanted to stay mysterious forever. And in the 1990s, it wasn’t considered as fashionable (for celebrities) to openly talk about marriage or relationships as it is today.”

Most experts say that when the couple first married, celebrities would often risk losing fans of the opposite sex if they revealed a relationship with anyone, regardless of whether it was with a fellow celebrity or just a regular person. Also, Seo Taiji has made a name for himself by being incredibly private and mysterious. It seems only fitting that he would keep his marriage a secret.

Other experts have said that the two were simply keeping their private life private, something that is seemingly impossible nowadays for celebrities, especially in Korea, where fans believe they have a right to know everything about their favorite stars. One expert, a professor from Kyung Hee University, said it is an abnormal situation for Seo and Lee, since they were simply trying to take control and keep their lives private, but fans criticize them for being deceptive.

But all experts agree that there should be certain limits for public discussion when it comes to marriage and divorce, even if public figures are involved, since they are personal decisions.

Source: Yonhap News

It seems like as if overnight hip-hop/rap group Far East Movement blew up with popularity. With songs like “Like a G6″ and “Girls on the Dancefloor,” it was almost a given that they would become highly successful.

Recently, Idolator got their hands on the original demo for Far East Movement’s hit song “Rocketeer” featuring Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic… but Ryan Tedder isn’t on this track. It’s the co-writter and co-producer of the song, Grammy winner Bruno Mars!

The song embodies a whole different feel when heard with Bruno Mars. It’s something that can’t be compared with Ryan Tedder. Both musicians are extremely talented in their own right and this version just begs to be listened to.

Click here to listen to Far East Movement’s hit song “Rocketeer” featuring Bruno Mars!

For those of you who may know, May Pang’s AMIN attended Otakon 2010 last year and hung out with fans and musical guests. It’s 2011 and Otakon 2011 is coming in a few months. Who’s the musical guest this year? It’s none other then Japanese R&B duo CHEMISTRY and dance group SYNERGY!

Here’s an excerpt from the press release from Otakorp:

Baltimore, MD (April 14, 2011) – CHEMISTRY, with an amazing six #1 albums on the Oricon National Charts, along with 4 person dance group Synergy are making their U.S. debut this summer at Otakon 2011 July 29-31 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore MD. Recent anime songs by CHEMISTRY include “Period” for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and “merry-go-round” in the recent OVA of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
CHEMISTRY is a Japanese R&B duo, composed of, Yoshikuni Dōchin and Kaname Kawabata. After winning the Asayan audition in 2000 which was organized by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, they debuted in 2001 with three #1 singles (“Pieces of Dreams,” “Point of No Return,” and “You Go Your Way”) and a #1 album (The Way We Are).
In June 2002, CHEMISTRY participated in “Voices of KOREA/JAPAN,” a Korean/Japanese collaboration vocal unit that sang the official theme song of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They co-recorded the first Korean/Japanese collaboration song entitled “Let’s Get Together Now.” The song, performed at the pre-opening festival of the World Cup held in Korea, was hailed as the first national broadcast of a Japanese language song in Korea since WWII. Their performance at the World Cup opening ceremony was broadcast in 160 countries worldwide.
Not ones to rest on their laurels, CHEMISTRY went on to produce #1 album after #1 album. Hits include songs “Your Name Never Gone” and “Tōkage feat. John Legend.”
In August 2010, CHEMISTRY recorded “a better tomorrow,” the world wide theme song for a Korean remake of the Hong Kong film “A Better Tomorrow” starring Song Seung- Heon.
The year saw the duo building on their successful career within Japan as well as highlights of increasing their presence in the rest of Asia including their endeavor to sing in Korean for the first time and in November, performing at the M-net Asian Music Awards held in Macao, receiving the Best Asian Male Artist award.
Also in 2010, CHEMISTRY worked together with the 4-person dance group Synergy to release “Shawty.” Another joint work of the two groups was released November 3, 2010, titled “Keep Your Love.”
This March, CHEMISTRY released their best of album, “CHEMISTRY 2001-2011,” which commemorates their first decade together as a duo.
To preview some music from CHEMISTRY, go to CHEMISTRY’s official site at:

http://www.chemistryclub.net

Otakon 2011 will be held July 29 – 31 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland

Who else is ridiculously excited about this?! I only got into CHEMISTRY in recent months but their vocals are excellent and I’m in love with their song “Shawty.” Synergy also brings an amazing vibe to the song as it shows a whole new CHEMISTRY as well. Those boys are definitely talented in singing and dancing.

For more information, visit Otakon’s official website!

Check out the music video for “Shawty”!