Blush performs in Seoul for first time

By Cecilia Park

Blush, a five-member multinational girl group, appeared in Seoul Wednesday, showcasing their fifth album.

The group sang its big hits such as "Dance on", "Holding to a Dream", "Electric" and "All Star" at a private hall near Dosan Park, southern Seoul.

They also invited Yoon Do-hyeon as a special guest. He was a judge and mentor of Project Lotus, a TV audition in 2010 to select members of the newly forming group, Blush. Today's show exclusively aired live all over the world by the world's No.1 live video streaming website, Ustream (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hot-issue).

"When I first met them on TV shows, I was worried sick about how they would turn out. But now I am glad to see them do so. They have become professional", said Yoon, who sang his song, "I am a butterfly", on the stage while playing acoustic guitar.

With one each from the Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, Blush debuted in 2011 with "Undivided" featuring Snoop Dogg. Their second single "Dance on" placed top of the Billboard Dance Chart.

They are known as the "Asian Spice Girls" due to their powerful dance moves and record producer Eliot Kennedy, who is famous for working with artists such as Celine Dion, Spice Girls, Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow.

Blush, who began promoting their new album in May, performed in Seoul as their final leg of the world tour, including the United States, Hong Kong, Japan and China

The group is expected to appear on domestic TV shows such as SBS MTV's 'The S h o w' to make them familiar with Korean fans.

Source : www.koreatimes.co.kr/... ( English Korean )

Girls' Generation, KARA, Wonder Girls -- Most Popular Groups Awarded Hangul URLs

Hangul Smart Domain Organization, which is the group that provides URL addresses in the Korean language of hangul, held an online survey from May 3-11th. The subject: who the most popular girl idol group is.

The site listed ten of the top girl groups as possible answers: Girls' Generation, Kara, Wonder Girls, 4minute, Secret, T-ara, Sistar, miss A, 2NE1, and After School.

The results from the 23,274 people who participated were very clear.
Girls' Generation garnered 48.22% of the votes as number one, followed by Kara with 30.17%. Wonder Girls was significantly behind at third place with 11.09%. Trailing behind even further were the rest of the groups with insignificant counts: 4minute had 3.82%, Secret with 2.01%, T-ara with 1.92%, Sistar having won 0.84%, miss A with 0.69%, 2NE1 with 0.66%, and After School last with 0.53%.

Being the top three winners, Girls' Generation, Kara, and the Wonder Girls -- along with their respective fan clubs -- will receive their very own Korean, or hangul, smart domain address. This would make them the first in the world to have hangul URLs (i.e. '소녀시대.홈', '카라.홈' '원더걸스.홈', '소녀시대.팬', '카라.팬', '원더걸스.팬').

A similar poll will be held for boy idol groups next!

Source : english.kbs.co.kr/Ent... ( English Korean )

Girls' Generation Blaze New Trail with Asian Tour

Girls' Generation successfully concluded their 10-monthlong Asian tour by setting a new record after attracting the greatest number of spectators for a Korean girl group to date.

In the bubble of K-pop, bigger is not always better

The trio Rainbow Pixie, from left, Kim Ji-sook-I, Oh Seung-a and Cho Hyun-young, is one of the newest sub-groups to emerge.

To keep up with the fast moving world of K-pop, it's no longer enough to follow your favorite boy or girl band. These days, fans have to keep track of an ever-changing array of smaller groups that come together almost as fast as they break apart.

These smaller groups are often formed from an already proven success, with bands like Super Junior and After School giving rise to newer and sometimes better versions of themselves before they are absorbed back into the original band or spun off again into another duo or trio.

Orchestrating this wave of constant combinations are the entertainment agencies who train and finance the bands until they turn out a profit.

By breaking down groups and repackaging them, the companies can spotlight individual members of K-pop super groups, which can consist of as many as 10 members or more. Members of the smaller groups are featured for more than just a few seconds each per song and the companies build a stronger fan base for the original group.

Trouble Maker, consisting of Hyun-A from 4Minute, left, and Jang Hyun-seung from Beast. Their hit song is also Trouble Maker. [JoongAng Ilbo]

According to pop music critic Kim Jag-ga, pop groups need to constantly evolve in order to make a profit for the huge companies that train and finance the bands.

SM Entertainment was the first to try this strategy when it broke the 13-member boy band Super Junior into four smaller groups each with its own style and concept. Two years after the group's debut in 2005, the company introduced fans to Super Junior T, a six-member group known for trot music hits, Super Junior M, a seven-member group with two Chinese nationals and a hit album released in China and Japan, and Super Junior Happy, a sextet known for its jubilant tunes and the 2008 EP "Cooking?Cooking!" But the most successful group by far has been Super Junior-K.R.Y., a trio of balladeers comprising the three best vocalists in the group. Their album "Fly" from last year has topped charts and the group has toured Japan three times.

The success of these sub-groups has led other major bands to follow their lead, with some of the smaller groups attracting even more attention then the originals.

That was the case with Orange Caramel, a quartet featuring the four youngest members of the girl group After School. The group was formed in 2010 and got their first taste of fame with an EP they released that June. They won fans over with their doll-like appearance and cute performances and they've topped online music charts with songs such as "A-ing", and "Shanghai Romance".

One of the newest groups to emerge is Rainbow Pixie, which debuted with the song "Hoi Hoi" and consists of three members of the girl group Rainbow.

It's gimmick is colorful costuming and choreography with lots of waving magic wands.

In other cases, the sub-group directs fans back to the original group.

The duo that is Sistar 19 won fame for its fast songs and short skirts, quickly surpassing the popularity of the four-member group that gave it its name. In its original incarnation, Sistar was known for light and cheerful songs.

Sometimes, the new groups are formed with members from other bands from the same entertainment agency.

Cube Entertainment used this tactic to form Trouble Maker. The popular group was a duo consisting of Hyun-A from 4Minute and Jang Hyun-seung from Beast and its self-titled EP went to No. 1 on various music charts.

But in a reflection of how quickly these groups come together and fade away, Trouble Maker is already part of K-pop history.

By Song Ji-hye [estyle@joongang.co.kr]

Source : koreajoongangdaily.jo... ( English Korean )

Girls' Generation Japanese albums to be repackaged and sold in Korea

Girls' Generation will release repackaged versions of its Japanese albums in Korea on Feb. 9, hoping to replicate their record-breaking success in the group's home country.

The album "Girls' Generation" was released in Japan last June and was itself repackaged as "Girls Generation – The Boys" to include two new songs and rereleased in Japan in December. These two albums will Now be available in Korean stores starting this month, and some will be sold with a bonus DVD showing clips of the ever-popular K-pop group.

Both "Girls' Generation" and "Girls' Generation – The Boys" did exceptionally well in Japan, with "Girls' Generation" breaking the record for the most debut albums sold by an overseas artist there. The K-pop sensation also became the first Korean female group to top Oricon's weekly album chart. Within one month of the album's release, sales exceeded 500,000, and the girls received the double platinum award from the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

"Girls Generation – The Boys" has sold more than a million copies since December, and it remained in the Oricon top-10 list for more than 17 weeks, the longest time period ever achieved by a Korean artist's album in Japan .

By Carla Sunwoo [carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr]

Source : koreajoongangdaily.jo... ( English Korean )

Brown Eyed Girls' Miryo to make a solo debut

South Korean girl group, Brown Eyed Girls' member Miryo will make a debut as a solo, Nega Networks, the company which managers the girl group announced on Feb. 3, 2012. But, Miryo's title song "Dirty" did not pass the KBS review and was not allowed to be broadcast.

Nega said that there was a problem in the lyrics and that some of the words used (Cockeyed/squint) had a harmful meaning towards people with eye sight disabilities.

"We will adjust a part of the song's lyrics and Miryo will be back on stage to promote her track".

As for now though, Miryo will be promoting another track from her album, "Leggo' instead of 'Dirty' for all coming performances until the track is edited.

The Brown Eyed Girls, often abbreviated as B.E.G., is a South Korean girl group managed by Nega Network. The group consists of four members: Jea, Miryo, Narsha, and Gain. They've debuted as an R&B/ballad vocal group in 2006 and challenged themselves with different music genres.

Rising to popularity in 2008, with L.O.V.E. and retro dance music How Come, they went and completed their transition into a electronica/pop group with Abracadabra and Sign in 2009. The group made their debut in Japan in 2010 while the members worked on their solo activities in Korea.

After tow years and two months the group returned with Sixth Sense, breaking away from the synth-based and electronic music, it is considered as Korea's first rhapsody inspired soul hybrid.

Source : theseoultimes.com/ST/... ( English Korean )

Dal Shabet's Viki

Viki, leader of South Korean girl group "Dal Shabet", is making a striking pose for the local camera crew at a live broadcast held at CJ E&M in Sangam-dong, Seoul on Feb. 2, 2012.

Dal Shabet was created by E-Tribe through their label Happy Face Entertainment.

The members include Viki (Leader), Serri, Ah Young, Jiyul, GaEun and Subin (Maknae). On March 15, 2011, "Darling" was selected as Dal Shabet's fanclub name.

Source : theseoultimes.com/ST/... ( English Korean )

Girls' Generation to invade France

Following its notable TV appearances in the United States, K-pop girl group Girls' Generation is set to release an album in France. SM Entertainment announced on Feb. 7 that the band will launch their album "The Boys" through French record label Polydor, an affiliate of Universal Music