Siwon makes a barefaced appearance on ‘Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education’

Here’s proof that Super Junior‘s Siwon doesn’t need any makeup to look like a prince.

On the May 7th broadcast of KBS 2TV‘s ‘Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education‘, Kang Ho Dong, Lee Soo Geun, and TVXQ‘s Changmin asked their athletic friends to come join them over the phone. Changmin called in his labelmate Siwon asking if he wanted to grab a drink. Siwon, believing that he was simply meeting up with Changmin for a casual get together, arrived without any makeup on and seemed bewildered by the cameras upon entering.

Changmin as well as the other cast members complimented Siwon’s sculpted face sharing, “He is really handsome.” Siwon looked a little flustered as he said, “I was on my way to the gym when I received the phone call and came straight here. I have no makeup on and didn’t even shave. This if my first time doing broadcast like this.”

Are you digging Siwon’s ‘rugged’ look?

TVXQ to celebrate 10 year anniversary this year, opened the doors for idols who followed

TVXQ debuted in back 2003, and they’ve come an incredibly long way.

The legendary group will be meeting their 10th anniversary this year in December, and now the boysmen are more than just singers. Korean media outlet Newsen recently wrote an article chronicling how much the group has achieved over the years.

Yunho and Changmin have been active in both dramas and variety shows, and they’ve spread out from just Korea and Japan to all over the world.

Yunho has been sometimes criticized for his acting, but he showed much improvement in the recent drama, ‘Queen of Ambition‘. In the past, Changmin was never active in variety shows, but that’s changed recently and he has been a permanent panel member of ‘Moonlight Prince‘ and ‘Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education‘.

They then went onto create a record for themselves with a 5-dome tour in Japan, attracting 850,000 fans. They’re also have the privilege of being the first foreign artist to perform at the 72,300 seat Nissan Stadium. Of course, after that they’ll be heading toward the rest of the globe with their world tour.

It can’t be said that their road had some bumps along the way. They experienced the biggest pain when they split into halves with JYJ and TVXQ. But still, all five (even those who aren’t active under the TVXQ name anymore) broke out the road of ‘idol-dom’ for countless hoobaes that would follow in their steps.

T-ara N4 “Countryside Life”

There are a lot of strange things happening in T-ara N4‘s debut single, “Countryside Life“. To start with, some thought T-ara would pull a 2PM and hang out in Japan for at least a year while the scandal died down before attempting a Korean comeback. And as for the members of the subunit, Eunjung,Hyomin, and Jiyeon were the three at the center of last year’s alleged bullying controversy, andAreum is a new member who isn’t popular yet. Their “hip-hop” concept will unavoidably draw comparison’s to Girls’ Generation‘s “I Got a Boy” and puts T-ara N4 in direct competition with4minute‘s current promotions for “What’s Your Name?“. Perhaps strangest of all, “Countryside Life” is named after Korea’s longest-running drama, which told stories about rural life- probably the furthest thing from a hip-hop concept that they could have chosen for inspiration.

All of those oddities came before the song was released, but the song itself brought a whole new host of questions. Why is Taewoon from SPEED featuring as a rapper for a group that already includes three of T-ara’s rappers? Why do the most melodic lines in the song go to T-ara’s main rapper, Areum? Why is this song called “Countryside Life” when it has nothing to do with the drama, and the few mentions of “Countryside Life” in the lyrics make no sense?

The answer to the final question seems pretty simple- for attention. But did they really need the extra attention? Coming back so soon after such a big scandal (most people would wait at least a year before coming back), with a song asking “Why you hating?” (sic) and telling netizens to “Mind [their] own business” was a pretty aggressive move that didn’t do anything to silence the haters. At the same time, dragging the so-called ‘nation’s drama’ into it (even landing cameos from the drama’s actors in the MV) only served to upset people more. Perhaps T-ara and their marketing team figured out something that most of the rest of K-Pop has yet to realize- you can’t silence the haters.

Super Junior‘s Kangin went on a two year hiatus and did his mandatory military service after his drunk driving scandal, although that was a long time ago, people still bring it up in every article written about him. Three years after Lee Hyori found herself embroiled in a plagiarism scandal, people still bring it up. K-Pop scandals never seem to die, and it’s near impossible to turn detractors back into fans with apologies and periods of reflection. So why even bother with the reflection and apologies? You could argue that it’s just how things are done, but that system clearly only does so much good; maybe its about time someone tried a new approach- and who better than T-ara N4?

While many assume that “Countryside Life” is a message to the haters, it seems that the exact opposite may be true- it’s a rallying cry to T-ara’s remaining fans. Sure, the choice of subunit members and the dismissive message may anger their antis, but those people weren’t going to buy albums anyway. By asserting that they refuse to be victimized by the haters, “Countryside Life” reminds listeners that T-ara have been (and still are) victims of a media circus, and that they need their fans to stand up for them now more than ever. Getting a reaction out of their fans is what’s going to drive sales and help T-ara re-establish themselves as a top act.

The song itself is a bit odd. Taewoon’s rap is uninspiring and doesn’t add anything to the song- had it been moved closer to the end of the song and replaced with another verse of Hyomin’s rapping from the beginning, it would have been more effective. It’s also strange that the song doesn’t have a traditional chorus, Eunjung sings the pre-chorus, and then we have the “ting-a-ling” post-chorus, but in place of an actual chorus we get a shout of “Party people!” along with an instrumental dance break. As a result, the first minute and a half of the song feels like it’s building up to something, but all of the tension fizzles once the second round of “ting-a-lings” comes up and you realized that the moment you’ve been waiting for has already passed twice.

The Fun is Back

That said, the song does deliver what we’ve come to expect from T-ara’s main group- it’s fun, it’s catchy, and it makes you want to dance. The choreography is more difficult than we’re used to seeing from T-ara, but there are still a few copy-able dance moves, and even a few shuffling references to their infamous “Lovey Dovey” choreography. The sax and accordion lines, which we’ve seen elsewhere in songs like Orange Caramel‘s “Lipstick” and SISTAR19‘s “Gone, Not Around Any Longer” are trending. The video is a lot of fun (as expected, since it was directed by “Gangnam Style” director) and fans of the original G7 of ‘Invincible Youth‘ will surely be amused to see Hyomin back in her farming get-up.

Ultimately, however, T-ara N4′s debut single isn’t about the song or the video; it’s meant to prove that T-ara is still important and relevant in this vast K-Pop landscape. While the complete chart information isn’t available right now, YouTube view counts make it seem like T-ara is holding their own against the other May comebacks. 4minute’s “What’s Your Name?” is the clear winner with the most views, WhileSECRET‘s “Yoohoo” is also enjoying success. The combined viewcounts of T-ara’s drama and dance versions of “Countryside Diary” on Core Contents Media‘s official channel and LOEN Entertainment‘s channel are comparable to SHINee‘s viewcount for “Why So Serious?” Yes, this subunit debut is odd, and could even be classified by some as offensive. But it might just turn out to be a smart move that will ultimately pay off for T-ara as a whole.

Siwon is “Sexy, Free & Single” at the Met Gala

It wasn’t just Psy who was invited to the annual costume ball in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. A handsome gentleman, Super Junior‘s Siwon was also in attendance at the Met Gala, otherwise known as the ‘party of the year’ on May 6!

He first hinted that he’d be at the Met Gala when he wrote,

He then confirmed he’d be at the Met Gala, writing,

At the Gala, he posed next to a bed of roses and wrote,

New Yorkers, did you manage to catch him while he was in New York?

Universal Music Malaysia brings you TVXQ Official Concert Merchandise

TVXQ is coming  for <TVXQ! Live World Tour ‘Catch Me’ In Kuala Lumpur> at Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam on 18 May! In the meantime, Universal Music Malaysia will be bringing in TVXQ Official Concert Merchandise and Universal Music is going to organize a TVXQ concert merchandise pre-order event on 11 May (Saturday), 12pm to 8pm at 6^th Floor, Sg Wang Plaza, Kuala Lumpur.

The imported concert merchandise from South Korea included T-Shirt, light sticks, towels, folders, postcards, and other various items. This pre-order activity is specially organized by Universal Music Malaysia to offer Malaysia Cassiopeia for their convenience so that they can pre-order their favorite concert merchandise in advance and collect it on the day of the concert at Official Merchandise counter. Do not worry if you are not able to attend the pre-order activity, you can also purchase it at Official Merchandise counter on the day of the concert. Available products are in limited quantity, while stocks last.

TVXQ! was temporarily stepped out of the lime light since in 2009. Four years on, TVXQ! members Uknow and Max returned to the K-Pop music scene in the form of a duo and introduced the brand new album in 2012.

After an absence of 6 years, the K-POP duo, TVXQ! will be back to dazzle fans with their live world tour “Catch Me” in Kuala Lumpur - to be held at Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam, 18th May 2013.

The new tour commenced in Seoul, Korea, October 2012 and proved to be more popular than ever, with 20,000 concert tickets completely sold out within five minutes. The K-Pop phenomena is making history as the first K-POP band to embark on a tour that includes performances at five major entertainment domes in Japan; following a concert at the Saitama Super Arena, TVXQ! then moves on to perform at Tokyo Dome, Osaka Kyocera Dome, Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome, Sapporo Dome and last but not least Nagoya Dome. The world tour will also take the dynamic duo to Hong Kong, Beijing and other Asian cities.

<TVXQ! Live World Tour ‘Catch Me’ In Kuala Lumpur> , organized by JPM Music, tickets prices range from RM168 to RM 688:

Sitting zone: RM168-RM688

Rock Zone: RM 688

Please visit TicketCharge Web Site www.ticketcharge.com.my  for more ticketing information.

For further information about TVXQ concert merchandise pre-sales activity, please stay tune to Universal Music Malaysia Official Website (www.universalmusic.com.my), Facebook: Universal Music Malaysia / Universal Music Malaysia Chinese or call to hotline 03-79587433 (ext 205/102).

T-ara N4 releases making of “Countryside Life” drama version MV

T-ara N4 has released their MV making clip for the drama version of “Countryside Life”!

Released on May 8th, the making-of video features BTS footage from the filming set, showing what goes on behind the cameras. 

It also included cameo appearances by several stars, such as Davichi’s Kang Min Kyung, former baseball player Yang Joon Hyuk, politician Heo Kyung Young, producer Duble Sidekick, who produced the song, Kim Wan Sun, actor Jung Woon Taek as well as Choi Bool Am and Kim Su Mi, who starred in the original MBC drama, “Countryside Life”.

T-ara N4 is consists of members Jiyeon, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Areum. The name stands for “Brand New 4”. The group’s title song “Countryside Life” is a funky and intense dance number produced by hitmaker Double Sidekick.

Check out the video below!

T-ara's Eunjung Clears Her Name 'Ricecake Eunjung'!

T-ara's Han Eunjung talked about being called 'Ricecake Eunjung'.

T-ara's new unit T-ara N4 which consists of Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon and Areum appeared on the latest episode of  Mnet's "Beatles Code" and talked about the bullying incident. Eunjung talked about feeding Hwayoung a ricecake forcefully. A video of Eunjung pushing a ricecake into Hwayoung's mouth on one of Japan's program was revealed and became a 'bullying evidence'.

Eunjung cleared the issue by saying "We had to do that as it was the policy of the game". She continued with "The loser team had to suffer by eating a food in a humorous way. We thought that it was a great penalty. We were also told that we had to show a horrid look while feeding the loser." and Jiyeon said that the PD told them to exaggerate it to become funnier.

Eunjung then talked about being called 'ricecake Eunjung'. She said that because of that issue, she can not eat a lot of ricecake anymore. "I checked Twitter during the Olympics and I was hurt as I read a lot of comments about being 'ricecake Eunjung." she said.

Hope this issue would stop soon as the members feel really sorry for Hwayoung. This also proves that the 'bullying evidences' were intended as they were told to do those things.