Has the effect of Idol Specials worn off?

In meeting the Lunar New Year, the three major broadcasting companies prepared special programs based around idols. However, these programs’ viewer ratings have not reached their usual standards.

The SBS special ‘Emperor of Idols’ that aired on February 2nd barely passed 10%, recording a 10.8% on AGB Neilson Media Research. Additionally, KBS special ‘Idol Healthy Beauty Contest’ that aired at 7:50 PM on the same day recorded a low 8.9%.

KBS’s ‘Idol Brain Contest’, shown at 7:55 PM on the 3rd, had recorded a 9.8%, MBC’s ‘Star Dance Competition’ recorded a 8.5%, and the SBS special ‘Star Couple Best of Best’ took a rating of 10.6%. In the case of MBC’s ‘Idol Star 7080 Pop King’ that aired on the 4th at 6 PM, it received a rating of 7.0%.

In contrast, the programs that didn’t completely revolve around idol stars thrived, like SBS’s ‘Youngest Looking Contest’, which recorded a 13.3%. KBS had recreated chance marathon games featured in the program ‘1 Night 2 Days’ into a separate program by itself with ‘Celebrity Chance Marathon Competition’, and recorded a viewer rating of 12.1%.

One point of view suggested that the idol-based special programs that sprang up everywhere at around the same time had scratched away at each other’s viewer ratings. There is also an opinion that proposes that viewers prefer programs that aren’t centered around just idols, but feature a cast with various age groups.

KARA appeared in latest Japanese anime Beelzebub!

I am not a huge fan of Japanese Anime but read a post from KARA Tieba saying that KARA appeared in new Japanese anime Beelzebub.


The writer must be a huge fan of KARA too,glad to see that KARA is getting bigger in Japan!

Luna, Bora, and Minah can’t spell “chicken”?

MBC’s “Idol Brain Collision” featured a number of events, some of which had questionable relevance, including a flexibility contest and arm-wrestling.

Relevance aside, some of idol group members were asked to spell the word “chicken” in English, and some of the answers were nothing short of comical. f(x)’s Luna, SISTAR’s Bora, and Girls’ Day Minah all failed to spell it correctly, but sure earned creativity points for some quick thinking on the spot!

Luna spelled it “chikien”, Minah spelled it “Chik Chik”, and Bora spelled “chcken.”

KARA’s popularity in Japan soars despite recent controversy

Ever since KARA returned to Japan as all five this week, the Japanese media has been hot on their trail.

The girls were bombarded by media attention immediately upon their arrival and followed them throughout their drama schedule for “URAKARA,” as well as their third single jacket album photoshoot.

Fuji TV even went as far as to follow the girls to their “URAKARA” film set, which is exceptional in itself since the drama is broadcast by their rival network, TV Tokyo. The network risked giving media exposure to the other network in order to report on their day-to-day activities as well as minor details like their plane seating list.

One news program nicknamed the arrival of KARA and the attention they’ve garnered as the “KARA Phenomenon,” which is a term that hasn’t been used since the legendary Hallyu star, Bae Yong Joon.

On the “URAKARA” episode broadcast on February 4th, the girls gave a short message for their fans stating, “We’ll be promoting in Japan into the future, so please look forward to us.”

Meanwhile, it was found that Seungyeon and Jiyoung’s parents accompanied the girls on their trip, and although they were revealed to be monitoring the girls’ activities, DSP Media added that they were not going on set with the girls.

4minute to represent Korea at “Billboard Japan Music Awards 2010″

4minute has been chosen as the Korean representative for “Billboard Japan Music Awards 2010“!

According to the ceremony’s official homepage, 4minute will be attending the awards show on February 6th held at Tokyo’s Midtown as the only Korean singer invited. The girls were already chosen as the “talented rookies to dominate Asia” in January of 2010 by Billboard and were nicknamed as the “spotlighted rookies.”

Through Star News, representatives of Cube Entertainment revealed on February 5th, “4minute has been nominated for the the selection of the newest rising stars of K-POP this year. They’ll be giving impressive performances at the ceremony that will further garner interest from fans.”

4minute commented, “Being invited to such a worldwide event with other artists is such an honor. We’ll be doing our best to prepare an impressive stage.”

Meanwhile, the girls are currently preparing for their comeback album, “Why,” (scheduled for March 9th) and are focusing on their Japanese activities.

Fuji TV reveals KARA’s plane seating on their flight to Japan

KARA’s plane seating on their flight to Japan earlier this week has been a hot topic ever since Japan’sFuji TV recently reported on it.

The network created a computer graphic visual of the information they discovered and reported that leader Park Gyuri sat in the center on her own, while the rest of the four members sat in a single row.

Fuji TV went on to report that the girls fell asleep immediately after boarding.

Netizens said, “They even investigated where they sat, that’s really amazing,” “Is it okay for a public broadcast network to do this?,” and “I guess it’s understandable since KARA’s popularity is so high.”

Check out Fuji TV’s full report here:

T-ara Transforms Into a Trot Idol Through the Song, Love's Battery

On the 3rd, T-ara was on MBC's Star Dance Competition and sang Hong Jin Young's Love's Battery. Park So Yeon, Park Ji Yeon, Hyo Min and the rest of the members performed a very stable stage and with good stage manner, they received a very good score. Although they were lip-syncing, the five member's choreography was on sync and shook the hearts of the male competitors.

Behind the stage, MC Kim Shin Young said, "It was the time cleanse your eyes," and praised the girls. The judges gave good feedback as well. Kim Sung Soo thanked the girls by saying, "My battery has been charged." Sung Dae Hyun said, "Can you perform this stage again for my father's 70th birthday?" The total points these girls earned was 86 points. Although they weren't able to get a higher score than their competitor, After School, they earned a high score compared to them.

After the broadcast, many of the viewers left a comment on the community board by saying, "They lip-synced and there was nothing special about the dance," "Maybe it's because they were busy with other Lunar special programs but it seems like they didn't put in a lot effort," and left negative comments about the girls.

Hyomin & Lee Joon Tore Leg in 180 Degree ‘Champions of Flexibility’!

T-ara Hyomin and MBLAQ Lee Joon showed a surprising flexibility.

Hyomin and Lee Joon showed tearing leg skills on KBS 2TV ‘Big Star X-File’,
which was broadcast on February 2nd.

Hyomin teared a leg in 180 degree,which made everyone surprised.
Lee Joon also showed a surprising flexibility by holding one leg up.

Hyomin rose up hurriedly after showing her skill as she said “It’s a hard
position to do after 30 seconds” and Lee Joon hesitated for a long time before
he tore his legs due to a past experience of his pants being torn before.

KARA Leaves Official Message, Continuing As Five

On the 3rd, KARA made an announcement on their official fanclub site. They declared their continuation as a group, “We, KARA, will continue to do our best from now as 5 members.”

On January 19th, 3 of KARA’s members announced that they wanted to terminate their exclusive contract with their company. That’s when the break up crisis began. It was being reported on daily in Japan as well. The girls arrived in Japan on the 3rd in order to record their drama “URAKARA”.

Below is the full message from KARA.

“Everyone,
Thank you so much for always supporting KARA.
During this time, we’ve caused everyone to worry a lot.
We, KARA, will continue to do our best from now on as 5 members.
Thank you so much for all the love you’ve given us.
Please look after KARA in the future.
From all of KARA”

Luna Will Be Making Her Musical Debut On the 4th

f(x)'s member, Luna, will be making her musical debut on the 4th.

Luna's entertainment company, SM Entertainment, confirmed on the 1st that Luna has been casted as the lead female character for the musical, Legally Blonde. The 4th will be her first musical performance and she said, "I'm currently practicing as much as I can for my first performance."

As a member of f(x), Luna has been getting good feedback regarding her surprising vocal skills and charming voice. That's why, from the many idols that performed on the stage, many people are expecting great things from Luna. Also, people are interested in her because they'll be able to see her acting skills as well and see a different side of her.

The staff of Legally Blonde said, "It's hard to believe that this is her first time on a musical stage because she's fitting in so well and is doing well with her seniors by using her cute charm. I believe the audience can expect a lot from Luna and I'm sure her hard work pay off and will be able to show a new charm of her character, Elle Woods."

On the other hand, Legally Blonde was originally a movie and it became a hit musical when it was performed on Broadway and the musical has been performed since November 19th. The 3 actresses who have been casted to play Elle Woods are f(x)'s Luna, Kim Ji Woo, and Choi Sung Hee (Bada).

King Of Idols (2pm, Super Junior, BigBang, Shinee, Kara ETC) subbed in English!

Enjoy the show here,courtesy of RMSUB,Thanks for the hard work!!

T-ara's maknae Hwayoung poses for Eollook!

Finally i have something to share about Hwayoung.

Cute maknae of T-ara poses for Eollook,check out the photos of Hwayoung for the fashion brand here,she looks innocent and cute here,any Hwayoung's fans here too?

4minute offered dried persimmons to CUBE staff for the Lunar New Year!

It was recently revealed that 4minute offered dried persimmons to the staff of their entertainment company, Playcube, as gifts for the Lunar New Year. One of these lucky people stated "4minute thanked us and brought us dried persimmons as a present for the Lunar New Year. I thought it was admirable of them to think about their company's staff, I was touched". One of their managers eventually thanked them on twitter : "The dried persimmons are delicious!! If they're not the world's most delicious dried persimmons!?^^ Thank you 4 4 4 4minute ♥"

The girls also presented the fruits to staff from Music Cube and from Zanybros, the music video production company CUBE often works with.

An Update on 4Minute's participation to 2011 Grand Collection in Tokyo

Earlier, we have just announced that 4minute will perform at Yuri Katsura's Bridal Fashion Exhibition that will be held on the 23rd of February.

An update has just been made about the upcoming event announcing that 4Minute will not just perform but alsoRAMP on the runway as models of Yuri Katsura's most awaited set of bridal gowns. They are set to bring down the house not just with their fellow KPOP artists such as Supernova and Beast, but also with well-known models such as Alisa Urahama, Kagami Seira, Mao Nana, Nanami, Shima Hanamatsu and more.

Since the event also aims to promote Japan's rich traditions and culture, as well as the unified Japanese-Western art, Mr. Shogo Kariyazaki, a famous flower artist in Japan would offer his expertise by producing and decorating gorgeous bouquet of flowers that will be used for the show. Mr Chau Sang, a professional calligrapher, was assigned on making dynamic address book and calligraphy. AUNJ Classical Orchestra andJI BARK (composer) will be responsible for the over-all music for the event.

From the set of all the aligned participants of the event, we can now have a grasp or idea on how big this event would be. It's definitely something that we should look forward to, most especially because 4Minute will be participating on both parts of the event.

Take a look at DSP's female trainees! Possible KARA and Rainbow's hoobaes!

I came across these photos when i visited KARA's Baidu Thread a while ago.

According to reliable source,DSP has selected the best female trainees and here are the photos of the trainees who have entered the final round of audition.

I was shocked to see the photos of these trainees as all of them are qualified to be named as ulzzang,some of them might debut as KARA and Rainbow's hoobaes,are you anticipating the debut of these girls?

Check out their selcas here!


#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

Ryeowook Shows Support For f(x)'s Luna For Her Musical Debut, "Legally Blonde"

Ryeowook recently attended f(x)'s Luna's musical debut for "Legally Blonde"! Here's what he had to say about it.

[ Legally Blonde ] Although she is only a 18 year old girl, her stage presence, her singing and dancing skills, everything was excellent. All the tickets were sold out! After the performance, she started to relax,, cried of happinessㅜ It must have been a huge burden for her,, F(x) LUNA!!! You did great today Hwaiting

Isn't he sweet? What do you think? I want to see Luna's performance!

f(x)’s Sulli reveals a childhood photo

f(x)’s Sulli revealed her bold side once again!

On February 3rd, Sulli showed off her childhood photo through KBS 2TV’s “Lunar New Year Special Idol Brain Competition.”

Slyly, the f(x) member quipped, “I think I’m prettier now,” causing everyone to howl with laughter.

Sulli is known as a ‘bold celebrity’ for daring to show off her pre-debut photos, but she later backed up and apologized to show modesty.

f(x)’s Victoria wins idol flexibility competition

f(x)’s Victoria is famous for her flexibility and with this latest win, she’s lived up to her reputation as the ‘human folder’.

On KBS’s Lunar New Year’s special, “Idol Brain Collision“, Victoria and the other female contestants were asked to see how far they could stretch. Victoria was able to stretch out to an astounding 217 cm – that’s just over 7 feet!

Needless to say, she blew the other competitors out of the water. In the picture above, you can see the aghast faces of the other female idols!

Which star appeared on the most Lunar New Year’s programs?

There’s no better time than Chuseok and Lunar New Year’s for idol groups to get out there and promote themselves to the public. A variety of special programs lets them to reach out to a bigger audience, since everyone’s home from work and school.

Some would argue that KARA was the idol group who first kicked off this vigorous promotion cycle back during 2009’s Chuseok, when they earned the nickname ‘bolts of energy‘ thanks to Goo Hara’s efforts. By winning a variety of contests, she established the foundations for the rest of her group members to rise up on, resulting in KARA being one of Korea’s top girl groups.

SISTAR’s Bora continued the trend during 2010’s Chuseok by achieving exceptional results at MBC’s “Idol Star Athletics Championships”. The idol won the female 100m hurdle, the female 400m relay, the female 100m race, and a silver at the high jump. The achievements brought countless headlines for SISTAR in the weeks that followed.

So which stars hit it big during 2011’s Lunar New Year holiday? They’re none other than SECRET, T-ara, SISTAR, and rookies Han Groo and Dal Shabet. The girls dominated the Lunar New Year’s specials by appearing on almost every single show.

According to Sports Today, T-ara grabbed 1st place with a total of 11 appearances on the three major broadcasting networks - SBS, MBC, and KBS.

SECRET and SISTAR came out with nine and eight appearances, respectively.

Following those three groups were Girl’s Day, Rainbow, f(x), miss A, the Brown Eyed Girls, and Dal Shabet. Rookies Dal Shabet, Han Groo, and Co-Ed also garnered a surprising amount of appearances throughout the two-day holiday as well.

Male groups, including 2PM and MBLAQ, were also seen on the specials, but the number of their appearances paled in comparison to the girls’.

Unfortunately for some, the jam-packed schedule resulted in visible fatigue in their performances. Yet some groups felt that it was a good sacrifice, as they managed to set up a foundation for themselves and raise their popularity over the holiday, allowing them to further grow into top stars.

Special holiday programs have now become a staple for idols in the music industry, as well as a ‘must attend’ activity for rookie artists.