Friday, August 1, 2008

Won Bin is Finally BACK! In a New Movie
After a 4 year absence, Won Bin is back on track and will star in the new movie, "Mother", directed by Bong Jun-ho.
Since the sad puppy-eyed actor has been out of work for so long, he has smartly postponed his knee surgery for the film. POPSEOUL! thought that he already had knee surgery? So what does this mean? The 31 year old is getting knee surgery again?
Kim Hye-ja also stars. Filming of the "Mother" will begin in September 2008.
Wonder Girls to Debut in US
The Wonder Girls, the five-girl pop group and sensation of the year, are expected to perform in the United States for the first time next year. The group, created by singer and producer Park Jin-young (also known as JYP), will make a guest appearance at his concerts next February in New York and Los Angeles. ``The Wonder Girls will be appearing as guest singers in Park's concert and will sing their hit `Tell me.' It will be their first U.S performance and it will hopefully be an interesting and exciting experience for them. However, we don't have any specific plans for their debut in the U.S.,'' said JYP entertainment. The agency explained that no specific dates or plans have been confirmed yet, but that the Wonder Girls will be learning some new dance moves from Park himself and other well-known professionals as soon as they arrive in the U.S. The Wonder Girls have been one of the most popular groups this year with their hit song ``Tell me'' and their cute and sexy dance moves. Many people have created and posted UCCs (User Created Contents), or video clips, on the Internet copying their choreography. This eventually became a huge trend among all ages from teenagers to working adults. The Wonder Girls, the five-girl pop group and sensation of the year, will give the first performance in the United States next year.
K-pop Stars Go Overseas
As record sales continue to drop, it is no wonder why Korean pop stars are increasingly going overseas to find new markets for their music. Male pop stars Rain and Se7en, as well as female singers Lim Jeong-hee, Min, G-Soul and Yangpa are preparing to debut in the U.S. Super Junior and Fly to the Sky are holding overseas concerts, while Big Bang and SG Wannabe are making their debut in Japan this year. Boa and TVXQ, known as Tohoshinki in Japan, have concentrated on activities in Japan last year. BoA is one of the most popular J-pop singers, while Tohoshinki is attracting many Japanese fans. According to Japan's Oricon charts 2007 year-end rankings, Boa's album ``Made in Twenty'' ranked 31, selling 340,093 copies. Tohoshinki's album ``Five in the Black'' sold 37,686 copies in Japan (ranked 294). Both albums are also available in Korea. Tohoshinki's album sold 28,484 copies in Korea, while Boa's sold 17,482 copies. Because Tohoshiki's album is considered a ``foreign album,'' it was the second best-selling foreign album in Korea in 2007.

Monday, July 28, 2008

JYP Thinks Rain is a Failure?
The Clouds are up in a storm because of Park Jin Young's (JYP) recent interview with GQ Magazine where he showers Rain (Bi) with negativity.The Clouds (Rain's fans) were upset when JYP said, "If you compare the Wonder Girls vs Rain, 1/3 of Wonder Girls music income is more than half of Rain's music income." He continued, "Wonder Girls profits are high with low promotional costs and they have a hit song. On the other hand, you have Rain with high promotional costs and no hit songs at all."The Clouds are thundering JYP with expletives and are labeling him an egomaniac. What makes matters worse is that today is Rain's 26th birthday.It's a Wonder, if this will strain the relationship between the two bitches Girls. Musically, both Rain and the Wonder Girls are at the bottom of the barrel. At least the Wonder Girls are SO HOT... well at least Yoobin.
Rain to Return to Music this Fall
Since his entry into the Hollywood movie market, singer and actor Rain has been a busy man. He has finally announced that he will be returning to the music business this September.
Rain held an official event with his Japanese fan club, "The Cloud," on June 30th at the Tokyo Dome JCB Hall. He announced at the event that he would return as the "singing Rain" with an album for Asian fans "possibly as soon as September."
At the fan meeting, Rain performed his hit songs, "I Do," "How to Avoid the Sun" and "Instead of Saying Good-bye."
June 25th was Rain's 26th birthday and "The Cloud" fans had prepared a song and cake for him that night, for which Rain graciously thanked them.
"Besides the fan event, Rain will give an interview on the hit Fuji TV program "Cho Nan Kang 2," according to one of Rain's agents. The agent said, "He is also planning on bringing his fans a song in Japanese towards the end of the year."
Rain has been in Berlin, Germany, for the past four months working on the shoot for the Hollywood film "Ninja Assassin." As soon as the filming is finished, the singer and actor is planning to hold a fan event in Korea.
Rain Heads to Japan from Berlin Movie Shoot
Actor and singer Rain (Jung Ji-hoon, 26) has been in Berlin filming a movie, but he will be flying to Tokyo, Japan on the 30th for a free admission meeting with his fans at JCB Hall. His agency, J.Tune Entertainment, recently posted photographs of the celebrity on his website (http://www.rain-jihoon.com).
Rain is in Berlin, Germany, for the filming of the upcoming Joel Silver & Wachowski Brothers flick, "Ninja Assassin," directed by James McTeigue. They are running on a grueling schedule, spending over ten hours a day in action, hoping to wrap the shoot by the end of this month or early June.
Rain's agent in Berlin said that during the day off that the celebrity gets per week, he spends it resting at home or sometimes ventures out to watch a movie.
"Rain is making preparations for the fan event in Japan whenever he has the time," his agent added. "He's very excited to stand in front of his fans again."
Rain in Dance Battle on "The Colbert Report"
Singer and actor Rain finally met the popular U.S. comedian Stephen Colbert, the same man who lampooned him on national TV.
Rain was in L.A. for the premiere of his Hollywood debut in "Speed Racer," and on the night of the 5th, he showed off his dance skills on the nationwide TV program, "The Colbert Report." The program had been pre-recorded on the 28th at the New York City studio for cable TV's "Comedy Central" channel.
"The Colbert Report" is one of the most popular comedy shows in the U.S. and its guests include entertainers and athletes as well as political figures such as Hillary Clinton.
Rain's agency, J. Tune Entertainment, announced that after the recording of the show, "Colbert became a great fan of Rain's. He even went to the Tribeca Film Festival in New York to watch Rain's performance in 'Speed Racer.'" The agency also reported Colbert as having said, "Rain's scenes in 'Speed Racer' were incredibly thrilling."
Rain's Agency Targets Japanese Market
Rain's entertainment agency J. Tune Entertainment (CEO Cho Dong-won) is preparing to launch a cellular content service for Japanese fans.
On April 28th, a J. Tune representative announced that they have signed a contract with ACCEL Corporation, a Japanese company dealing in wireless services and that they are ready to provide "top quality content that will fulfill the needs of fans in Japan."
ACCEL will receive entertainment content from J. Tune and release it in early June to Japan's three major cellular service providers - NTT Docomo, KDDI, and Softbank.
"We plan on sharing footage of Rain's performances and his daily life through the content service which can be viewed in Japan anytime, anywhere," a J. Tune representative said. "We hope that Japanese fans will show great interest in this new service."

Rain in "TIME" Magazine for 3rd Consecutive Year

Rain in "TIME" Magazine for 3rd Consecutive Year
Actor and singer Rain was asked for an interview with the weekly U.S. journal "TIME," according to J. Tune Entertainment.
Every year, "TIME" magazine presents a select list of "100 of the World's Most Influential People" and currently, Rain has surpassed Britney Spears on the online voting site, "2008 Time 100." The request for an interview comes from the "TIME" video web coverage segment, "10 Questions."
This is the third consecutive year that Rain has been linked to "TIME." The Hallyu star was chosen for the "TIME 100" list in 2006 and walked the red carpet with powerful figures such as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and movie mogul Jerry Bruckheimer.
In 2007, he was ranked number one on the online voting system set up for the "TIME 100" and introduced to "TIME" readers as "Asia's Prince of Pop." Once again he is ranked first on the online poll this year along with an interview that can be viewed by a global audience.