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Friday, November 30, 2012

2012 MAMA Results!

If you haven't been watching, or fell asleep like me, here are the awards winners from the MAMAs. (I am going to have a heck of a lot to say about some of these! In another post.)

Best Female Rookie : Ailee

Best Solo Dance: PSY

Best Male Group: Bigbang

Best Female Group: Sistar

Best Asian Awards: Wang Lee Hom
AKB48 (Japan)
Agnes (Indonesia)
Sarah Geronimo (Philippines)
My Tam (Vietnam)
Taufik Batisah (Singapore)
Li Yuchun (China)

MNET PD's Choice: B.A.P

Best Collaboration: Trouble Maker

Best Male Dance: SHINee

Best Female Dance: f(x)

Best Vocal Performance Solo: K.Will

Best Vocal Performance Group: Davichi

International Favorite Artist: PSY

Best OST : Eunji & Seo In Guk "All for You"

Best Band Performance: Busker Busker

Best Male Rookie: Busker Busker

Best Female Solo: IU

Best Music Video: PSY "Gangnam Style"

New Asian Artist: EXO
New Asian Artist (Thailand): Natthew
New Asian Artist (China): TimeZ

Style In Music: Gain

TVB's Choice Award: Joy Yuen

Guardian Angel/ Worldwide Performer: Bigbang

Best Rap Performance: Epik High

Best Male Artist: GD

2012 MAMA LINE Award: Super Junior

Best Global Group Female: Kara

Best Global Group Male: Super Junior

International Artist Award: B.o.B

Artist of the Year: Bigbang

Album of the Year: Super Junior "SFS"

Song of the Year: PSY "Gangnam Style"


Source: Hallyu8.com

Monday, November 26, 2012

Will the Cast of "Glee" Be Able to Pull Off Psy?

This is what I'm wondering after seeing AllKpop's article on this.

ABC's hit musical drama, "Glee", will be airing their take on Psy's famous hit, "Gangnam Style".

Everyone has done the horse dance by now. Why not the cast of "Glee", too?

Cast admits it was a challenge learning the song in Korean. Let's see what America, the world, and especially the Koreans think about this latest copy.

Just remember, mimicry is the most sincerest way to compliment someone.

Click here for the link to the article with a teaser.

Source: AllKpop

Friday, November 23, 2012

Vote in the MAMAs!

Whether you live in Asia, Europe, the US or anywhere else in the world, support your favorite artists by voting in the MAMAs!

I'm especially asking all FT Island, f(x) and Super Junior fans!

Vote! You'll only have until Wednesday, 11/28!

Here's a link you can use below:
http://mama.interest.me/visite?s=1352106514736

Thursday, November 22, 2012

K-Pop Fans! Vote in the MAMAs!


Rock the vote! The voting for the 2012 MAMAs (Mnet Asian Music Awards) is still underway. It's been so close for some of the categories!

Vote for your favorite artists! Like these below!

If you're an FT Island fan, vote for them in the "Best Band" category and "Song of the Year" category.

If you're a CNBlue fan, please vote for them in the "Best Global Group- Male" category.

If you're an f(x) fan, vote for them in the "Best Global Group- Female" and "Best Dance Group- Female" categories.

Super Junior is also up for "Best Dance Group- Male" and "Artist of the Year"!

Show them how much you love them by supporting them!

http://mama.interest.me/visite?s=1352106514736

Voting ends midnight on 11/28/12. Go and vote!


Seung Hyun, Are You Single?

Song Seung Hyun
(Photo Credit to rightful owners)


That was the question that FT Island's Lee Hong Ki posed to the younger Song Seung Hyun on the show "All the K-Pop". (Goodness Hong Ki, can you not put anyone on the spot like that? Lol!)

To which, he answered, while looking very flustered, "yes, I have a girlfriend."

Now, Primadonnas and fans all over are wondering if this is a "my fans are my girlfriend" kind of moment, or if this is indeed the truth.

No one will really know except the lovable Song Sari and the rest of FT Island.

All I know is I hope he will be happy and not, "lonely lonely" like the lyrics to "I Wish" goes.

Chukhaeyo Song Sari!

Fans will keep on dreaming about the rest of FT Island. You know, those talented, funny and sexy men. =D

Source: AllKPop (you gotta read some of the comments. Hilarious!)

Happy Thanksgiving from the Fab Filorean!

As the United States gives thanks this day, I am grateful to all of you that have come back and read my posts and also thankful to all of you that have stopped by for the first time. 

You all have given me a reason to continue this creative outlet of mine. I'm so happy to know that there are others out there that share in my enthusiasm for Korean culture, dramas and music. (Lately, it's been mostly FT Island, sorry!) I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, God bless you!

And, of course to continue on my FT Island kick, here's a photo that was tweeted today by their leader, Choi Jong Hun. I think it's an old pic from earlier this year, but oh well!

FT Island Leader Choi Jong Hun
(credit to it's rightful owners)


Saturday, November 17, 2012

Idols Begin to Get Into the Holidays

Ah, the holidays... The precious time between Halloween and the New Year.

The weather gets a little chillier, the fashion starts to skew to warmer clothing. People are, usually, in better moods. In general it's time for a bit of celebration.

I love the holidays. And apparently some stars love the holidays too. Such as actor Song Seung Hun and FT Island's Choi Jong Hun.

When I saw these guys post these pics up on Twitter, it made me smile and feel just a little bit more of the holiday spirit. And as the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving this upcoming week, I'll be thanking the heavens for idols and actors.

A/N- I've FT Island'd This Blog

Been looking at my posts and almost everyone of them has something about FT Island or a member. Yikes! I need to write with more variety otherwise I will have to name this blog to be all about FT Island.

:-P

Monday, November 12, 2012

Commentary: Why FT Island?

If you've read my other posts, you will notice that I write a lot about FT Island. I am an unofficial Primadonna. Yep, I said it. They are one of my favorite artists right now.

Honestly, I used to be a die hard SS501 fan, and a big fan of Kim Hyun Joong. But when they "disbanded", it just wasn't the same anymore. They will always sound better as one to me, none of this solo activities crunk.

So...I started searching for another K-Pop group. Which was kind of hard to do since most of them danced to techno or cutesy music. Anyways, I was at home, sick, re-watching "You're Beautiful" starring the one and only Jang Geun Suk and Park Shin Hye. I was thinking of what a shame it was that Go Minam ended up with Hwang Tae Kyung instead of Shin Woo when the scene, where a karaoke singing Go Minam gets soaked up on stage, comes on.

To save a bit of face, one of the A.N.Jell members, Jeremy (Lee Hong Ki), takes over on "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and goes to stand next to Minam onstage. She is joined by Shin Woo (Jung Yong Hwa) and Tae Kyung (Jang Geun Suk) who wraps a tablecloth around the shivering Minam. Btw, that moment where he rips the tablecloth off the table is so gallant.

It got me thinking, Shin Woo and Jeremy actually sing pretty well. I wondered if they were multi-talented as well. So I did a bit of Google searching on them and found out that they were members of two groups (CNBlue and FT Island) under FNC Entertainment. Interesting that two FNC artists were acting together in the same drama.

This led me to a couple of their videos. CNBlue's "Oettoriya" (Loner) and "Jidokhagae" (Severely) by FT Island.

CNBlue's M/V of "Oettoriya" was a bit confusing for me, I don't think I got the concept as clearly as I would have liked. But the song was very catchy.

FT Island's "Severely" was a different story. Let me back up a bit and just say that the first thing I saw on YouTube for this M/V was a comment from a viewer saying "Noooo! Hong Ki!" or something to that effect. I thought, what the heck is this about?

I watched the video and I understood. Right from the beginning, that scratched in guitar intro had me hooked. The music was strong and powerful and the music video was so heart wrenching. I got immediately that Hong Ki's character was trying to go back in time to change things. (I wish he wouldv'e tried harder, but that's all moot now.)

I thought to myself, this is what I have been looking for. I was sick and tired of hearing the same sort of country and R & B and Pop music in American pop culture. Same songs that the stations feed us over and over and over. Blech!

Finally, there was a K-Pop group I could relate to. None of this dance club upbeat techno crunk. Their sound was unique, raw, real and downright emotional. I connected with their music on this level and also as a musician. They looked like they really loved what they did, that's something that's rarely seen in American music nowadays so I really appreciated that.

From there, I wanted to know everything about Lee Hong Ki, Choi Jong Hun, Lee Jae Jin, Choi Min Hwan and Song Seung Hyun. I read articles, I watched videos, listened to their music, watched them on variety shows. There was loads of information on the internet about them and they were hilarious! Just as I imagined a band of brothers would be. (Now granted, CNBlue was also all over the internet, but they weren't promoting as much at that time.)

All this while being sick in bed for a few weeks. Such a short time to convert, haha. In a way, I hated being sick, but in a way, I am glad I was. I found hope in music again.

FT Island, kahmsahabnida!


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Lee Hong Ki Wants to Do Music He Wants to Do

FT Island Vocalist Lee Hong Ki
If there is one drawback to being a contracted star, it's the creative limitations put on you.

Lee Hong Ki, the lead vocalist for K-PopRock group FT Island, expressed his concern over being scared about not being able to produce the music that he would like to produce.

On the show, "Do Dream", he expressed that "The music I want to do and the music that the general public likes are different."

I would just like to say, that not everyone agrees with that sentiment. I am not sure if he's talking about the public in general or the audience in Korea, but I, for one, have many varied musical interests and I wouldn't mind hearing the type of music that he would like to put out. Not everyone likes to hear the mainstream stuff. In fact, fans get bored of hearing the same sound over and over. That's why FT Island has become so popular, their sound is different! Instrument playing K-Pop artists? Who would have thought? Not dance pop techno music? Awesome! Some of the biggest hits in music have come from artists that went against the mainstream likes. You never know until you put it out, Hong Ki.

Now, whether or not that is possible is a different story. Like I mentioned before, one of the drawbacks to being a star under contract is that you are limited by your contract. If FNC Entertainment says that he has to sing whatever they put in front of him, well, Hong Ki is sure out of luck.

I hope he will be able to come to a compromise with his agency if that's the case. And I hope he trusts fans, like myself, and will be able to put out music that he likes soon.

Source: KpopStarz

FT Island To Release New Japanese Album



South Korean K-PopRock group, FT Island, will be releasing a new Japanese album towards the end of November.

About a month ago, it was tweeted by lead vocalist Lee Hong Ki that he had called all the members over to do a bit of work. In the tweeted message was a photo of Song Seung Hyun and Lee Jae Jin in front of a computer hard at work at composing. Could this new album be the result of their efforts? Possibly so.

The single, "Polar Star" will be released on November 28th along with the full album. "Polar Star" is the group's 9th album in Japan.

Included on the album is a song composed by bassist, Lee Jae Jin called, "Fallin' For You" which he describes as a song about a man wanting to be close to his love. Another song, "Beautiful World" is a song composed by leader, Choi Jong Hun, who describes his song being about a man looking at his beautiful love.

I think the complexities and hardships of love work very well for these two. Isn't it quite a coincidence that they release these two songs about love after they have experienced break-ups of their own within the last year?

Here's the teaser again with the article that was released through Yahoo. I do not own the video, the credit goes to FT Island and Warner Music Japan.


Friday, November 9, 2012

Record Breaking Psy


Notch another accomplishment under Psy's belt.

This South Korean artist turned international superstar received a certificate from the Guinness World Book of Records for the Most Likes on his Gangnam Style M/V on YouTube!

It's one thing to break out of your own country and start a trendy dance move, but to be marked down in the Guinness World Book of Records is something entirely on its own! It's a book that many people have tried to get into, but only a rare few have accomplished.

This guy just keeps on breaking records and setting the bar higher for any South Korean artist. Honestly, I don't think that any artist from South Korea will even come close to the sensation that he has caused in just the span of a couple of months. It's just crazy! So much so, even our newly elected President claims he can do Psy's Gangnam Style dance!

Congratulations (축하 해요!) to Psy!

Source: AllKpop

(Note: I do not own the photo nor claim any rights to it.)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

"Apple Girl" Kim Yeo Hee Makes News

It's been a while since I've heard about Kim Yeo Hee. Or, maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention cause I've been following CNBlue and FT Island practically non-stop. =D

But here she is again, making news.

If you don't remember her, she was a woman who had signed up to date a star on Mnet Scandal. Her boyfriend of one week was Lee Hong Ki, vocalist of K-PopRock group, FT Island. (Lucky girl) Although he ended up breaking her heart (really, did we think that they would end up together?) that didn't stop her in her dreams of becoming a star. She's been hard at work composing and practicing for her Japanese album, "Green or Red". And she just released a PV of one of the tracks on her new album called, "Raindrop".

To see it, go to the article by clicking the link here.

If you want to refresh your memory of her date(s) with Hong Ki, click on the video below. (I do not own the video, nope, no rights to it. I just like to watch the show.)


Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

FT Island's Jong Hun Cheers on SAT Takers

Although it doesn't apply to me anymore, I still think it's sweet when idols/stars/actors cheer on their fans as they prepare to take their SAT's.

It was cool to see that they even take SAT's in other countries. Yea, I've been pretty sheltered and I didn't know this till, like, this week. Lol.

I've been there, studying for the moment that will either make or break your life. (Sorry, a little dramatic.) I wish I had a sweet guy cheering me on to do my best. Like FT Island's Choi Jong Hun. =)

Choi Jong Hun tweets selca with a supportive message to fans taking SAT's. Source Choi Jong Hun's Twitter

Now, I dunno if I would be able to concentrate after seeing this. But I would certainly be smiling. =D

CNBlue Still On Hot Streak

Compounding on their successful concert stint in London, England, K-PopRock group CNBlue sold out their 8,000 Seoul concert "2012 CNBlue Live Blue Night in Seoul" within 10 minutes.

Yes, that's 1-0 minutos. For 8,000 seats. How many groups do you know that can do something like this? (Well, I can think of one other, but that's another story.) I don't even think that an American group would be able to pull this off. It is simply amazing!

A couple of years ago, these guys were just coming off of the streets of Japan. They were gigging on the streets. And now, they all have acting roles under their belts and are global stars. (At least, that's what the MAMA's are considering them as.)

These fans can't get enough of them. And they only have to wait a mere couple of months for their next album debut in January 2013. (I'm pretty excited about that!)

So proud of these guys. I hope they can continue this streak of theirs!

Go go go CNBlue!

Source: AllKpop

Sunday, November 4, 2012

2012 MAMA Voting

Voting has already started for the 2012 MAMA's (Mnet Asian Music Awards).

If you're into K-Pop/Rock as much as I am, please go and vote for your favorite groups/artists.

More votes mean more exposure for these artists. More exposure means that they will be noticed by others worldwide. When they're noticed worldwide, they can share their music. More sharing means more items being available to all!

Please go vote. I know there are those that are FT Island, CNBlue, Super Junior and Psy fans that pass through here. Currently FT Island is leading for Best Group Performance. CNBlue and Super Junior are both contenders for Best Global Group and Psy is in several categories such as Best Song, Artist of the Year and Dance Group of the Year.

Go and register to vote! Show your support! 

Check it out here.

FT Island's "Love Sick" Covered by Lee Young Hyun

Veteran singer Lee Young Hyun covered "Love Sick", a popular tune from one of my favorite groups, FT Island on "I Am a Singer 2".

I am gonna be up front and just say it. I did not like the version at all. I felt it did not do the original justice. During the first verse I thought it started off nicely. But as the tempo picked up, it fell to pieces.

The tempo wasn't the issue for me. Let me be clear. The issue was the tone of the voice. It was just...screechy. No backing to it. I understand Lee Young Hyun is a veteran singer, and she packed emotion behind the lyrics for sure. But I have to shake my head at her tone. It was like nails grating over a chalkboard.*shiver*

Nonetheless, as an FT Island fan, I am happy she covered it. When singers cover other artist's songs, it is paying them a huge compliment. And I hope FT Island and Primadonnas are happy about that.

Here's the link to the performance below with the article that broke with the story on AllKpop. (As always, I don't own the video)


Tell me, what are your thoughts?

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Jong Hun Snaps a Photo With Juniel

Pretty, talented and innocent FNC Entertainment artist, Juniel, broke onto the music scene this year and gave FNC it's first female solo artist. Showing off her talented guitar skills and teaming up with CNBlue's Yong Hwa, she proved she wasn't to be dismissed, that she was legit.

Choi Jong Hun, the leader of FNC's idol group FT Island, is currently finishing up promotions for their 4th Korean album "Five Treasure Box". Known for his impressive guitar and piano playing skills and flower boy face, he is showing the world that he can hold his own as a lyricist and composer as well.

Two talented young artists in their prime. Promoting under the same company. They're bound to run into each other at events and such.

But I wonder if their fans, especially Jong Hun's fans, would feel so comfortable? In a tweet Saturday, November 3rd, Jong Hun tweeted a picture of himself with Juniel.

"Pretty as always" Juniel and Choi Jong Hun
From what I could tell (translation and straight reading), he was complimenting Juniel by calling her "pretty". To which some fans responded with "you're an idiot", "Jong Hun...I will not let this go". Implying that his fans were uncomfortable with the closeness of the two in the pic.

On one note, they do make a fairly cute couple. On another note....well, Jong Hun...I can't say it's the smartest thing he has done. He doesn't have as much of a friendly reputation that CNBlue's Yong Hwa does. Because of his handsome looks, he's known as more the ladykiller. I can see why his fans wouldn't exactly be supportive. Jong Hun doesn't tweet pictures with women very often. In fact, I can only remember one instance within the past year and even then, fans tweeted back "ack! You're so close??" and "why are you close to each other?"

Although I agree that stars should be able to have their own lives. I would think by now that he would understand that he is still a very public figure. Even though it may have been a very innocent picture, many fans (including myself at first) may misunderstand at first glance.

I hope this doesn't escalate. Do readers feel the same?

Source: Choi Jong Hun's Twitter