Can pop stars be forgiven practically any offense? That is a question on many lips after the revelation that singer Lee Hyo-lee’s latest album “h.logic” contains no fewer than six plagiarized songs. Lee admitted to the wrongdoing and vowed to refrain from promoting the album. Yet she appeared on a recent SBS program.

The producers say Lee was not directly responsible for the plagiarism, but the public sees things differently. They feel it is unseemly for Lee to make out that she is a victim herself, and that the producers of TV shows should not sweep the problem under the carpet.

Unlike other artists accused of plagiarism, who deny their wrongdoings to the end, Lee owned up. But the fact that half of an artist’s album consisted of songs that had been stolen from foreign artists leaves an indelible stain on Korean pop music as a whole. Lee in a statement issued by her management agency Mnet Media said she had “no reason to be suspicious” since she was given the songs by the agency. She claims her rookie songwriter, a person by the name of Bahnus, lied to her.

It was after all not the first time that Lee has been accused of plagiarism. And given that she had been promoting herself as a consummate professional while producing her latest album, these comments seem rather pathetic. In an earlier interview she claimed the album contains songs that were strictly screened from 1,000 songs submitted by a wide range of composers. “We even checked to see if any of those songs were similar to other tunes out there using the iPhone application ‘SoundHound’.” The comments have lost all credibility.

Accusations of plagiarism surfaced on the Internet shortly after the album was released in mid-April, but she continued to market the songs until the end of May on various TV and radio programs. Bahnus had apparently left Mnet Media on May 10 “taking all responsibility” for the accusations of plagiarism. That means Lee and Mnet Media had about 40 days to recognize the suspicions, making it difficult for Lee and Mnet Media to escape criticism that they fooled the public.

The larger problem is how frequent such are. Many if not most singers releasing new albums these days are accused of plagiarism. This is because singers have become cash cows rather than artists who are able to communicate with the public. Singers who present original songs about their own emotions are an endangered species, while a handful of composers contracted by powerful management companies dominate the tunes that top the charts. This increases the risk of plagiarism as each one of these composing machines churns out more than 50 songs a year.

Lee’s biggest mistake was in fact her failure to take charge of her songs and her album, contrary to what she has been saying in public. If a 13-year veteran of the entertainment industry and Korea’s reigning queen of pop is in such bad shape, things must be even worse for the younger singers who are being groomed by their agencies. Veteran rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Shin Jung-hyun said in a recent interview, “There is no real music on Korea’s pop music scene these days. There is only greed”. Gone are the days when singers made their own music and conquered the stage with powerful voices and honest pride.

Source: hancinema.net

After it is announced that Lee Hyori will not be releasing a followup hit after hitty Chitty Bang Bang?for her 4th album, there has been great interests regarding her activities to come.

The truth is Lee Hyori 4th album -Logic?promotions was somewhat disrupted by the CheonAhn naval ship sinking in May. With the great popularity that the songs like hitty Chitty Bang Bang? ring It Back?and wing?received on music charts, there has been great interests from fans as to what the follow up hit to the album will be.

But with the CheonAhn naval ship sinking accident in May, the activities for her followup hit has become uncertain. After her comeback, her comeback stage was postponed for about 3 weeks due to the accident. In addition, with the opening of the 2010 World Cup games on 11th June, the followup hit activities was further postponed.

Another reason for that is also that Lee Hyori contract with her agency Mnet Media is coming to an end. There are plans for her to leave Mnet after her 4th album promotions and to set up her own agency with her manager during her Fin.K.L days.

But it does not mean that fans cannot look forward to Lee Hyori follow up song promotions. Lee Hyori will be participating in various World Cup events and there is high possibilities that she may continue to promote for a while after the World Cup season.

Source: StarToday + kbites

A Korean pop concert held yesterday at the Expo Culture Center caused something of a stampede – reports of how bad it got vary, from the Epoch Time’s rumor that someone died to Shanghai Daily’s blithe announcement that the streets were “blocked by fans.”

This event was a warning about the power of K-pop: South Korea had planned a “classical and pop” concert that included insanely huge acts – Kangta, BoA and Super Junior, whose Shanghai shows sell out at 10,000+ seated stadiums each year they come. They’re so insanely huge that it almost makes you wonder what organizers were thinking when they arranged that show.

To get in, all you supposedly had to do was get an Expo ticket and line up at the center, an act which, if you’re a student, costs 90RMB. That’s less than the Super Junior 2009 show’s ticket prices at Yuan Shen Sports Center, where the cheapest you could get in for was 480RMB. Unfortunately, there were only 5000 tickets available, and half of those had already been given to South Korean groups – a fact that eager Chinese K-pop fans hadn’t been made aware of.

By midnight on Saturday, according to Lianhe Zaobao, there were already 2000 people waiting outside the Expo’s Pudong door. Night watch people were blindsided. By the time the limited amount of tickets sold out (The Standard reports there were less than 500), roughly 5000 people were waiting around.

When the crowd realized all tickets were gone, they began to get violent. A witness on the internet said that “several girls were stepped on and over by several guys. So messy, so messy, All the crying and yelling turned into one big wave. There were so many shoes. One girl even fell from the second floor.” The original post has already been harmonized on Tianya. Lianhe says the rumor that this girl died hasn’t been confirmed, though Hong Kong’s Apple Daily seems to be reporting it as fact.

What they both agree on is that hundreds of people were injured, whether from the pushing and shoving or from heatstroke. The Expo official report itself said that “In the event, several tourists suffered from heatstroke and abrasions and were rushed to nearby medical facilities at the park.”

Source: K Bites

On May 22nd one of Japan’s biggest fashion and music events, the “Girls Award 2010″ had been held at Yoyogi Kyogijo Daiichi Taiikukan. While model Sawajiri Erika certainly gained a lot of attention, the one causing the most excitement among the audience was certainly Tohoshinki’s XIAH junsu with his gigantic solo performance!

Known to be a great dancer, he presented his stunning dance performance and his singing skills, while his unbuttoned jacket revealed his trained chest and arms, which caused cheers among the fans. On the other hand, the moment he almost kissed one of his female dancers caused an aggressive outcry of frustration!

On that day, Kuroki Meisa also held her first live performance, along with other popular middle school students such as Nishino Kana, Aoyama Teruma and Juliet. Overall, about 80 popular models gathered at that event. Models like Marie, Fuji Rina, Kato Natsuki, Kinoshite Yukina, Minami Akina, Sasaki Nozomi and other presented the latest fashions, which cause the guests in the hall to sigh a “Kawaii (lit. “cute”)” ever so often!

Source: musicjapanplus

BoA has undergone a dramatic image change, when she had cut her long, trade-mark hair, showing her grown self as a woman. “Today is the last performance of this tour, and I will give my best to make this a splendid performance for all of you!” the singer had shouted towards the audience seats. At the Tokyo International Forum, she had performed songs like “BUMP BUMP!feat.VERBAL(m-flo)”, “Possibility duet with Miura Daichi” among others as part of her final performance of her “BoA LIVE TOUR 2010 -IDENTITY-” – it had been roughly two years since her last one in Japan.

On the tour, which succeeded her album release, BoA commented: “More than ever, have I been involved in the whole production process as well as the lyrics. Right now I am showing you my IDENTITY with this very important and rather adventurous album. Because there is this great trust between me and the fans, I believe that you will support me with my next challenges as well!”

With a great dance performance and her overwhelming voice, BoA showed a brilliant performance and stirred the excitement within all of her fans. More on the performance of that day will be shown at WOWOW on May 11th!

Source: musicjapanplus

The wedding picture of singer Eun Ji-Won has been revealed.His marriage to his first love known only as Miss Lee was held at a beachside in Hawaii US last April 21 but he had to rush back to Korea the next day for his full-fledged TV activities, arriving at Incheon International Airport.

Newly-wed Eun Ji-won wore a white tuxedo at his wedding and was showing happiness on his face from the beginning right up until the end of the ceremony.Meanwhile, the beautiful bride wore a flower tiara without missing a smile among the chintzy congratulating celebration from the guests.

For the preparation of his wedding, he left Korea on March 29 headed for Hawaii and was there until the wedding day so instead of going for a honeymoon somewhere else, Eun Ji-won stayed in Hawaii with his wife.Presently, he is still arranging and managing their new home in Yeoui-do and also their wedding pictures at the moment

According to Eun Ji-won,”I couldn’t even invite all of my friends so it was just a simple wedding reception with our families.There so much happiness that lingers around and that it feels to good to be true as if the wedding is like a magazine photoshoot or a commercial shoot.We’ll continue on living this way with full of love as best as we can.”

source: nate.com (written by Kim Ji-yoon)
translated by: below_mist@http://asianfanatics.net

KARA will work with a well known label company for their Japanese music market advance.

Korean girlgroup KARA is said to have signed up with Universal Music Japan recently and ahead of their official Japanese debut, they will be selling their Korean repackaged album on 28th April.

And coming 7th May, the girls will be heading to Japan for a fan handshake session to be held on 8th May at the Grand Prince Hotel. And on 9th May, they will be hading their official fanclub establishment ceremony with 3000 over fans in Yokohama.

The girls had their first showcase in Japan previously in February. Back then, the ticket for the showcase were sold out in just 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, the girls are set for their official Japanese debut in July-August.

Source: NEwsen + kbites

With news that the upcoming midweek SBS drama y girlfriend is a nine-tailed fox?will be set for August airing, many netizens are curious as to who Nine-tailed fox (Goo MiHo), the female lead alongside Lee SeungGi to the drama, will be.

It has already been confirmed that Lee SeungGi will be the male lead to the drama. Previously Lee SeungGi shot to fame as a actor when his drama rilliant Legacy?received overwhelming responses from viewers. In addition, this is also another drama by the Hong Sisters to look forward to.

The drama talks about the legendary nine-tailed fox who wakes up in year 2010 after being sealed for over 500 years. It will be a romantic fantasy drama, as stated by the the production team. As for the female lead, there are speculations that 2NE1 Sandara Park will be casted as the nine-tailed fox.

But the production team has commented that, e have not yet confirmed anything about the casting for the nine-tailed fox character. About Sandara Park being casted, that is just rumours.?br />
Meanwhile, netizens are already in heat discussions about how Sandara Park would really suit the role on various portal sites.

Source: Newsen, TVReport + kbites

2NE1 is a girl group that has always filled the stage with their charisma, but what would they look like as cosmetics model?

Last year, the groups successfully launched their consecutive hits, “Fire” and “I Don’t Care,” making the new group become instant super stars. And now, 2NE1 would be the protagonist to a new cosmetics ad.

On the 15th, SBS TV “One Night TV Entertainment” would broadcast the filming of 2NE1’s cosmetic ad. In the filming, the girls showed off a youthful and energetic charisma; a welcome show to fans who don’t see what they are up to these days since it has been rare seeing them on stage nowadays.

On the show, Sandara Park and Park Bom, who are in their late 20s, and then CL and Gong Minzy, who are still in their early years, would form teams doing the X-O game, that will reveal how they deal with stereotypes, their ideal man, and their inner thoughts about each group member.

The show would be broadcasted on April 15, at 23:05 PM.

Source: http://news.nate.com/view/20100413n08667
Translated by knucklepink@YGLadies

T-ara’s leader, Eunjung, gets cast as a character in a new horror movie.

It’s been announced recently Eunjung was cast as the heroine in the new movie “White” which begins shooting next month.

The former child actress/model made her debut long ago but this is the first time she’ll be appearing in a movie as an adult.

Eunjeong’s casting in this ‘White’ movie has gotten much attention and fear since she is an Idol because of the character’s genre and how the movie features sexual material.

Meanwhile, Eunjung has appeared in the 2004 drama “Land” and the movie “Madeline” beforehand.

Source: tiaradiadem