J-Pop News
| To Whom Will Oguri Shun Send New Year Cards? |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 01 November, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 15,946 | Source: musicjapanplus.jp  The actor Oguri Shun appears in a new series of commercials that have recently begun to be aired. The TV ads are for next year's New Year cards sold by Japan Post Service. Oguri plays the role of a suit-clad company employee. The costars include actor Terao Akira and actress Eikura Nana. In the first 'episode' titled 'Noticing (Recognizing)', a younger employee asks the senior employee (Oguri) his address. When they had filmed the scene where the two employees talk to each other, Oguri made lots of ad-lib remarks that entertained and impressed the staff.
Oguri recalled a fond memory he had concerning New Year cards. When he was still in middle school, he had appeared in a 'Taiga' drama. ['Taiga (大河)' dramas are historical TV dramas broadcast by NHK.] After the filming, he sent New Year cards to actor Takenaka Naoto, who had played the lead role in the drama. "For a couple of years I wrote to Takenaka-san 'Happy New Year. This is Oguri. I played the character 'Sakichi'. Takenaka-san still remembered. I was really happy when he told me 'You and I are New Year card friends.'"
[In Japanese New Year cards are called 'nengajo (年賀状)' and are a important part of Japanese culture. In the cards people usually write 'Akemashite omedeto-gozaimasu (lit. 'Let's celebrate the arrival of a new year.')'. The cards are sent to close relatives, friends and associates. Each year is named after an animal based on the Japanese zodiac [which in turn is based on the Chinese zodiac]. There are 12 animals that respond to the 12 year cycle; rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar. This year is the year of the ox, and next year (2010) will be the year of the tiger.
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| Wang Lee Hom Films Commercial Half Naked |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 01 November, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 13,176 | Source: Zaobao.com, translation by Gibberish  Taiwanese Singer Wang Lee Hom, spokesperson of Brand’s Chicken Essence, gets half-naked filming a commercial for it, and he kept doing exercises last minute to make his good figure stand out.
Yesterday in Taipei through video conference, Wang Lee Hom accepted the media’s interview, and talked about him being spokesperson for Brand’s Chicken Essence. This interview is put up on Razor TV and STOMP website.
Before the interview, the reporters present first saw the commercial he filmed for the product. In the commercial, there’s a scene where he is half-naked and has a shirt draped over him. It is rare for Wang Lee Hom, who has always maintained a healthy image, to publicly reveal such a sexy side of him.
Wang Lee Hom laughed and said, “Before filming that scene, I did a lot of exercises. At that time, the director wishes I would reveal my upper body and I thought ‘Oh no, I need to do some push-up quickly!’ Ha!”
“I like the way this director films. This commercial used 2 days to film, so the graphics are quite rich. I personally like this commercial a lot, and am very happy that it would be broadcasted in Singapore. I just did the English dub for this commercial last week.”
Speaking about the ‘fate’ with Brand’s Chicken Essence, a few years ago fans sent Wang Lee Hom the Brand’s Chicken Essence and has thus made him discover the advantages of the drink, “I am always busy with my job, when tired, I will share it with all the working staff and we drink the Chicken Essence together.”
As a spokesperson, Wang Lee Hom’s attire yesterday was very “Brand”; green T-shirt with white jacket, and even his shoes are white.
Interaction with local music performers in April next year
Other than the commercial, Wang Lee Hom would be appearing in “BRAND’S Music Changes Live” concert at NUS University Cultural Centre in April next year.
The aim of the mentioned concert would be to discover local talented music performers; one of Singapore Idol’s judges, Ken Lin would be responsible in picking candidates and those who came in first four would be able to perform on stage together with Wang Lee Hom. To find out details, check out http://www.stomp.com.sg on the 1 December 2009.
A ‘date’ with Jackie Chan to watch movie
Recently, Wang Lee Hom has became good friends with Jackie Chan through their movie Big Soldiers, the two have even agreed to have a ‘date’ together to watch movie on Valentines’ Day.
Wang Lee Hom said that he is lately busy with his movie, world tour concerts and new album, and that his movie with Jackie Chan would come out in February next year on the Western Valentines’.
Who would Wang Lee Hom bring on Valentines’ to watch a movie with?
He joked, “Of course it’s Jackie Chan, it’s ‘hot’ enough just with the two of us!”
Actually, Wang Lee Hom is so busy to a point that he doesn’t even have the time to rest this Christmas, “I need to film movie, there’s no time to have a holiday. If the audience likes this movie after they’ve watched it, then it will be my best Christmas present.” |
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| Ex- SG Wannabe Chae Dong Ha To Have A Comeback |
Added by: dilaChan | Date: 01 November, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 15,379 | Source: allkpop.com | Suggested by: tamaharu23  Chae Dong Ha, the former leader of the talented SG Wannabe is planning a solo comeback. He left the group nearly 2 years ago and now plans to return as a solo artist with the release of a new album sometime in November. He originally planned to release his new album back in September, but due to health complications the album release date was pushed back.
Chae Dong Ha left SG Wannabe because he had some issues with Mnet media and didn't renew his contract with them. |
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| Younha Releases Sukinada MV |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 31 October, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 17,700 | Source: akp | Suggested by: maoyang  Younha, the beautiful and talented singer dubbed "The Oricon Comet" for her chart topping hits in Japan recently released the PV/MV for her upcoming single 好きなんだ / Sukinanda. Sukinada, which means I Like You will be her 10th Japanese single and is scheduled to be released on November 18th. The single was produced by GReeeeN's producer JIN.
view here |
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| U-Kiss Releases MV Teaser |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 31 October, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 17,686 | Source: akp | Suggested by: Miki  U-Kiss is making their way back to the K-Pop scene just in time for the boy band fest! They have a new single titled Man Man Ha Ni? (만만하니).
U-Kiss returns after going through a 180 degrees transformation and the addition of a new member, Kiseop, making it a 7-member group. They seem to be joining the black concept along with MBLAQ and BEAST.
view teaser here |
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| HIGH And MIGHTY COLOR At Sakura-Con 2010 |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 31 October, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 17,670 | Source: sakuracon
Sakura-Con information and pre-registration at:
http://www.sakuracon.org/ |
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| Inoue Mao And Okada Masaki |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 31 October, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 21,695 | Source: udn, Translated by: sparkes_n15  With her popularity soaring in recent days, actress Inoue Mao has proven herself once again with her new movie 'Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu'. Teaming up with younger actor Okada Masaki, the movie opened last weekend in Japan and has already earned 250 million yen. With this good looking pair in the lead roles, the movie easily clinched the top spot at the box office. It beat new film 'Shizumanu taiyo' by acclaimed actor Watanabe Ken and actress Matsuyumi Yasuko.
Just recently voted the Best Dressed Eyes of 2009, when Inoue found out about the box office results, she happily thanked fans for their support. She expressed that she will continue to work harder and take on new roles to prove herself as a well-rounded actress.
As for her impression of winning the Best Dressed Eyes award, Inoue, who rarely wears glasses out in public, says that she's been nearsighted since she was young. While she wears contacts for work, the rest of the time she always wears glasses. She laughs and continues, "It's really stylish now for men to wear glasses. I find myself attracted to that type. If I see someone who normally doesn't wear glasses have them on, it will make my heart flutter!" |
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| Angela Zhang Shows Her Sexiness |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 31 October, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 21,658 | Source: udn, translated by : madelinepoh  Expectations for the MV of Angela Zhang’s new song, <Occasionally> in her new album <5th season> are rising like a raging fire that spreads all the way to the 5th wave. Ever since the album was released, Angela has been doing a lot of promotions which have lead to high expectations for the MV. She has also helped to break the barrier between different telecommunication companies. On 8th November, there will be a promotion event from Angela for her fans that is sponsored by three of Taiwan’s mobile phone companies and Chunghwa Telecom (China).
In her new album, the song that was most highly anticipated by fans to have a MV is <偶爾Occasionally> which was produced by the famous producer, Mr. Wang Ya who also produced <隱形的翅膀Invisible Wings> for Angela. He has once again helped Angela to produce 17 new good songs. Angela has also made a breakthrough in the wardrobe department. She wore a low cut top with a layered fluffy skirt which makes her look like a flower petal. The volume of her skirt is so huge that it made her waist heavy and tight and she was unable to breathe. The self- ridiculed pain is like the pain when a person “moves about with bound feet”. Director Huang Zhong Ping requested for elegance with fluttery effect, so two electric fans were added in the air-conditioned room blowing vigorously towards Angela which made her feel really cold and she had to rub her hands together to keep warm.
Talking about an experience when she was almost scalded, Angela said: “I remember one winter years ago, where I had to do an outdoor performance and it was really cold that day. I secretly hid a warm bag that stuck on my abdomen under my dress. Halfway through my performance, I was almost scalded by the warm bag but I couldn’t even scream for help!” |
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| Big Bang In TIME Magazine |
Added by: xaosmx | Date: 31 October, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 21,657 | Source: akp | Suggested by: Sodonii96  The magazine is also known for presenting Rain as one of the "World's Most Influential People," which is also mention in this article. It seems like TIME can't get enough of kpop!
Big Bang was featured on their website as a Korean band that is currently trying to make it into the Japanese music scene. The article is titled, "How to Crack Japan: The Big Bang Theory." The story talked about how famous kpop stars set their sights on the Japanese market and that out of all the Korean bands that want to make it in Japan, TIME magazine called Big Bang the "most promising."
The author doesn't cease with the compliments towards the quintet group as they go on about the group's "fluid raps and great vocal harmonies" and unique style of hip-hop music.
Congratulations to Big Bang for cracking into TIME. Check out the article for yourself here! |
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Added by: xaosmx | Date: 31 October, 2009 (3 weeks ago) | Views: 21,659 | Source: akp | Suggested by: JuicyKiwiKoda  With the court agreeing on the injunction sent by the 3 members of TVXQ, the trio had the power to look at SM Entertainment's contract for the members. It was shockingly unfair and against public policy. The three members who stood up for themselves (Kim Junsu, Kim Jaejoong, and Park Yoochun) have the court on their side and are now proceeding with their main lawsuit, which is to get the shares and income that they deserve from their activities in the past 6 years.
Below is what the court has presented as the content of the members' contracts. The contract has been modified 5 times since their debut, so this is the overall review.
1. TVXQ has received $0 from their album sales till July 2008, and a very small amount after.
Before the fifth modification that the company made with their contract, it stated that the profit from albums and singles with sales less than 500,000 copies would go 100% to SM Entertainment, which left the members with nothing. There has been no Korean album that have exceeded 500,000 album sales between the time of TVXQ's debut and their 4th album Mirotic, which was the first album in Korea to sell over 500,000 albums for a long time.
On July 1 2008, the company changed the contract so each member would get 1% from album sales that exceeded 200,000 copies. For albums that are below that number, they are paid 0.6% to nothing. Through these terms, TVXQ has not earned a single cent since February 2009.
2. TVXQ has received $0 from sales of concert DVD's and albums with recordings from concerts.
The contract stated that the members are not entitled to get any profit from concert DVD's and "live" albums.
3. TVXQ received $0 from their appearances in TV programs.
In the contract, the members do not have a right to receive the shares made from appearances on television programs if they are featured in only one episode or if their appearance is temporary. SM has kept all the profit from TV shows where TVXQ were guests.
4. For other ways of getting profit, SM subtracts the total amount with all the expenses that the company has paid for them, including clothing, salary of company staff, stage preparation, rent, food expenses, and etc., which only leaves a fraction for the members of TVXQ.
As for all other sources of income, the contract says that the members do not get the full "net income", but only get a percentage of it. The contract states that the "net income" is the profit remaining after deducting their operating costs, which is the money that the company spends on them. The operating costs include expenses that are to be covered by the employer, such as salaries of the staff (manager, clothing coordinators, makeup artists, dance coordinators, back dancers, etc.), performance stages, living expenses which include water and electricity bills, travel expenses which include plane tickets, and meal expenses. The company might add something in addition to deduct more from the net income.
In conclusion, TVXQ actually received anywhere from 1% to 5% from all of their activities, which depending on how you look at it can still add up to 7 figures or more but still many consider this to be unfair.
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