It’s the most wonderful time for the year! Here’s some of the most wonderful, or not, news from the past week in K-pop.
- Following the Korean entertainment expansion trend,WellMade StarM (agency of actor Lee Jong-suk) has bought out Dream T Entertainment (Girl’s Day.s Agency) and production company Show 21. They have also invested in a new company with producer Shinsadong Tiger called In The Street. (SportsKorea)
- Choi Hyun-jun of V.O.S. announced via his official fan cafe that he will be getting married to his girlfriend next May and that his soon to be wife is pregnant. (TVReport)
- Boohwal‘s current lead singer, Jung Dong-ha, announced that he would be getting married to his non-celebrity girlfriend of 8 years in January. (MBN)
- SM Entertainment got fans in a tizzy with the release of images and a Facebook page for SM Rookies, SME’s possibly new co-ed group.(TheChosunIlbo)
In K-pop:
- Getting into the Christmas spirit were: Cube Entertainment‘s artists released an MV for their “Christmas Song,” Mystic 89‘s artists teased their coming Christmas offering, Verbal Jint and Shin Seung-hoon teamed up for a “Christmas Request,” TVXQ released a short version PV for their new Japanese Christmas release “White,” Bikiny released their “White Love,” 2BiC had a “Lonely Christmas,” but so did Crayon Pop, Koyote sang of “After Winter” featuring child actress Kal So-won, and Exo released their not-a-sub-unit-but-there’s-only-like-three-of-them-singing “Miracles in December.”
- Singer/songwriter 40 released his duet with Lim Jeong-hee “Like a Movie,” Hyene released “Love 007,” Nine Muses want to rick to you like “Glue,” Jevice tells us to “Don’t Answer the Phone,” History released the performance version “What Am I to You,” in their latest release Untouchable take fans on a “Trip,” Barbara released the MV for “MAMA,” Secret made their return with “I Do I Do,” Seo In-guk and Zia released the duet “Loved You” and M.I.B.said to “Worry About Yourself First.”
- Legendary rock band Deulgukhwa released their latest album Deulgukhwa, 27 years after their debut, which features two discs and 19 songs–some of their old hits and some new songs. they also released the MV for the song “Walk On.”
- Sweet Sorrow sang of love “Again and Again.”
- Younha released her latest album Subsonic and the MV for the song “Not There” featuring Eluphant.
- T-ara made their return with “Do You Know Me.”
- FNC Music released the MV for duet between C.N. Blue‘s Jong-hyun and Juniel “Love Falls.” They also released videos for the MV making, song recording and an MV reaction by Jong-hyun, Jung-shin and Juniel.
- Urban Zakapa made a comeback “Blind.”
- Gag woman Shin Bora made her official debut as a singer with the release of the song “Frozen” with an MV starring B1A4‘s CNU and APinks‘ Ha-young.
- Lee Young-hyun teased her “Infection” featuring Kanto and G.Na will sing of David Foster‘s “Mornin’.”
- Congratulations to VIXX who won their first ever #1 on a music show on this week’s Music Bank for “Voodoo Doll.”
In K-drama:
- Dia released “Farewell For Myself” for the Reply 1994 OST, 4Men‘s Kim Won-joo sang of a “Beautiful Day” for the Infinite Power OST, Navi sang “Missing You” for the Come, Come, Absolutely Come OST, G.Na released “Drama” for Please Remember, Princess which stars Infinite‘s Sungyeol and 4Minute‘s Ji-hyun, Hwanhee released his first song post army duty “Fever” for the Pretty Man OST and Lee Min-ho sang of a “Painful Love” for The Heirs OST.
- Song Ji-hyo and Choi Jin-hyuk will tar as a divorced couple in tvN‘s upcoming drama Emergency Couple which will take over their Friday/Saturday slot after Reply 1994 ends. (Union Press)
- Even it’s finale couldn’t save Mirae’s Choice from dismal ratings–it ended with a series low of 4.1% in third place behind Monday/Tuesday champ Empress Ki and the debut of Han Hye-jin and Ji Jin-hee‘s new drama A Warm Word. I can understand why as the story was inconsistent and the ending was an unresolved disappointment despite having fine actors in the show. The Heirs has a commanding lead in the ratings for Wednesday/Thursday dramas (ever since the conclusion of Secrets) with a 23.9% rating with Medical Top Team in second place with a rating of 5.8% and Pretty Man in third place with ratings of 3.8%. (UnionPress, SportsChosun)
In K-variety:
Good news for Winner fans. The champs of YG’s survival show will star in their own variety Winner TV which will air every Friday for 10 episodes starting on the December 13th on Mnet. The show will follow the Winner members Kang Seung-yoon, Lee Seung-hoon, Song Min-ho, Nam Tae-hyun, and Kim Jin-woo as they prepare for their official debut. Personally, I’d be a big fan of Loser TV and find out what’s going on with Team B.
- YG Entertainment seemed to have something up their sleeves when they released images with the caption “Who is the Next YG Creator?” with no other information. A day later they revealed that it is an open opportunity for individuals to join YG Entertainment as Package Designers, Graphic Designers, Motion designers and Creative Planners. It appears to be open to applicants worldwide, but knowledge of the Korean language is required.
- Fans appear to be open to giving the third season of 1N2D a chance. It’s debut episode ranked at the top of the Sunday ratings. (SportsKhan)
(SM Entertainment, The Star, YouTube [1],[2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8])
