Hello everyone, and welcome back to Week in Review. The weekend may almost be over, but there is still time to catch up on this week’s news!
Headlines
- The 31st Golden Disc Awards took place this week:
- Day 1 was dedicated to digital sales: Twice won the daesang, while Taeyeon, Mamamoo, G-Friend, Lee Hi, Urban Zakapa, Zico and Suzy and Baekhyun were also awarded bonsangs. Black Pink and Bolbbalgan4 were awarded the two rookie awards, while Jaejoong made his first award show appearance in… a while to collect the Golden Disc Asia Star Award. Rounding out the honorees were Sistar, Sechskies, CN Blue, Crush, and Gummy.
- Day 2 was for physical sales, or albums: Exo won a record fourth daesang, with bonsangs awarded to BTS, Seventeen, Vixx, Shinee, Taemin, Infinite, Monsta X, and Got7. NCT and I.O.I won the rookie awards, with Red Velvet and Big Hit producer Bang Si-hyuk rounding out the list of honorees.
Debuts & Comebacks
- Rain returned with “The Best Present,” produced by Psy. He had teased the collaboration during the pres conference for his recent Singapore concert.
- Happyface Entertainment‘s Minx have redebuted as Dreamcatcher, with two new members and a horror-themed MV.
- Dreamcatcher’s labelmate Subin, of Dal Shabet, also put out more solo music.
- Sonamoo think they love you in their new single.
- Young Cream, formerly of M.I.B, released “042.”
- 2PM‘s Jun.K dropped his last album before enlistment.
- Girl group A-Daily released the MV for “White Snow Day.”
- Hello Venus is back with “Mysterious.”
- WM Entertainment‘s new female soloist, I, debuted with “I Wish.”
- EXID got into hot water for its depiction of certain cultural sites in the Chinese MV for “Up & Down.” After fans raised concern over scenes showing the members dancing outside traditional buildings, and Hani sitting on a throne, Banana Culture promptly edited and reuploaded the MV.
- If there’s only one video you watch this week, make it Matilda‘s mash-up of 2016 songs to the tune of their debut single, “Macarena.” It’s the second video in our playlist, above!
Teasers &Announcements
- f(x)‘s Luna, Mamamoo’s Solar, and EXID’s Hani are teaming up! They are coming together to release for a soul-infused pop song from producer Park Geeun-tae, who also produced Baekhyun and Suzy’s “Dream.”
- Speaking of Suzy, she will be making her solo debut with Yes? No?
- SNSD‘s Seohyun will be the first SM solo debut this year, with “Don’t Say No.”
- Teen Top‘s Niel will be dropping his next solo release on the 16th.
- Block B‘s Kyung will be dropping “When I’m With You” on the 18th, featuring BrotherSu.
- Kasper will also be dropping a single on the 18th after signing on with DSP Media.
- Kang Si-ra of Produce 101 fame will be debuting solo on the 19th.
- Are you hopeful for CLC‘s upcoming mini? Looks like the MV will be a smash.
- BoA and Nine Muses are both slated to make comebacks before the end of the quarter.
- And we have 2NE1 farewell single on the 21st.
- Loona is preparing to introduce fourth member Yeojin in its multi-million dollar pre-debut project.
- Woollim Entertainment is preparing to debut a boy group and a girl group this year through its W Project.
- I.O.I are preparing for their final comeback with a Jinyoung-produced song.
- Hyorin is one of eight Korean acts announced for SXSW this year, with Big Phony, Neon Bunny and more joining their compatriots at the Austin festival. Are you planning on attending this year?
- New MBC drama Missing Nine will begin on the 18th — Jung Kyung-ho and Baek Jin-hee lead the cast, which includes Exo’s Chanyeol.
- Female artists are holding solo concerts!
- Brave Girls have announced the departure of member Yoojin, while member Hyeran will be on indefintite hiatus.
- Red Velvet‘s Joy will be making her acting debut in March, playing the outspoken school student lead in a remake of manga series The Liar and His Lover (Kanojo wa Uso Wo Aishisugiteiru). Lee Hyun-woo will be playing the male lead, a genius composer.
- Exo’s Kai has also been cast as the male lead in KBS teen drama Andante.
- Lee Joon-gi and Kim Ah-joong are in talks to star in a KBS remake of American TV series Criminal Minds.
- Minzy is also in talks to join season 2 of Sisters’ Slam Dunk, which will be focusing on the creation of another girl group.
- CJ E&M has launched a new channel in Singapore, tvN Movies, dedicated to Korean film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gxol64pb9Y
Other News
- The Wonder Girls‘ poster was removed from JYPE’s building facade, though the agency claims that negotiations with the members are still ongoing.
- “Fall Back” isn’t a bad song, but everything else feels amateurish: the current promotional strategy seems to be to encourage fans to spam radio stations into giving the A.Leean single some airtime. Fortunately, it seems the person running the Twitter has been let go after appearing to criticise CL‘s chart performance in the US.
- Taeyang was knowingly scammed on holiday in Europe by a guy who liked his hair.
- Meanwhile, YGE had to refute G-Dragon/Dara dating rumours after the pair was seen out on the town.
- Some happier news: WSJN‘s fanclub name is Ujung, which can mean both ‘friend’ and ‘space
- K.A.R.D have answered my prayers by performing a genderswitch version of deut single “Oh Na Na.”
(10Asia, Asiae, E Daily[1], Hankook, Instagram, Joy News 24, Osen, SBS[1], SM Town, Sports Donga, Sports World, SXSW, TV Daily, Twitter[1][2][3][4][5][6][7], Yonhap[1][2][3][4][5][6], YouTube[1][2]. Images via: Seven Seasons, Top Star News)
