Korean actress Lee Hana performed a few songs at the Grand Mint Festival 2008 on October 18 at Seoul Olympic Park in what should be her first stage performance since making her professional acting debut [via K-popped]
The 26-year-old actress is known for her musical capability. Her farther is a composer, and she studied music in university. She once said in an interview that she thought she would become a singer, but somehow started off as an actress (which she is doing pretty well anyway).
Lee Hana did show her singing talent on a few occasions in variety shows and in TV dramas, but this is probably the first time she sang in a public event at such level. I guess she was covering some songs from other artists because she has not released an album yet.
Sharing a couple of videos below… the first one is said to be Hana’s performance at her graduation ceremony, covering “Be Be Your Love” by Rachael Yamagata; while the second a short snippet of her singing in Korean drama “When Spring Comes”…
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The music video of “Eat You Up”, the English song that supposedly marks Korean pop star BoA’s US debut, has finally been released.
This MV was meant for the Korean (and Asian) audiences, with another MV targetting US market instead. There is however some changes of plans in midway; not sure if the heavily criticised US version would be released or not.
Update - the US version is also released; embedded further below.
Well, I shall refrain myself from commenting about this song anymore; I think I’ve talked enough since her American project was announced last month. So, best of luck for BoA; and here it is, both Asian and US music videos of Eat You Up…
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Yiruma is a world renowned Korean pianist-composer. He is getting back into the music world in recent months after two years of hiatus to fulfil his mandatory military service.
Sharing one of his famous pieces here, “Kiss the Rain”…
Korean star Eric Mun becomes the first member from pop-group Shinhwa to join the Korean army to serve his mandatory military service. Over 300 supporters, including some oversea fans, bid farewell to the 29-year-old star before he was enlisted last Thursday (Oct 9) into Nonsan military training centre.
Eric bids final farewell to fans and media before enlistment (Image from
Newsen)
Korean guys whose parents are both Koreans are required to join the army for 22-26 months (depending on enlisted units). If not mistaken they can choose to fulfil their duty in between the age of 20-30; most of the Korean stars are enlisted rather late though, as their careers are normally booming in early 20s.
Four other members of Shinhwa, i.e. Dongwan, Junjin, Minwoo and Andy will be joining the army in the next two years, which literally means that Shinhwa could be in hiatus for up to four years. Hyesung is the only member exempted from military service due to medical condition.
A star-studded K-pop concert will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on November 4 as part of the Korea Festival 2008 (Nov 1-18) organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.
The concert will feature some of the hottest K-pop stars, including the Wonder Girls, Shinhwa’s Andy & Junjin, Jewelry, Chae Yeon, and V.O.S etc.
The concert tickets will not be sold through the usual outlets, but will be given away over the next few weeks through the key sponsors [more on Coolsmurf]
Other events during the festival are food fiesta, traditional dance performances, taekwondo demonstrations, film festival and contemporary art exhibition etc. Check out the event website for details and updates.
Sounds like a fun event; too bad that the concert tickets are not for sale.
Extra note - for those who are buying/selling tickets via the comment section; kindly trade at your own risk.
Singapore tops the Asian ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 conducted by the World Economic Forum (and partners) using both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey.
The annual report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens, which in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources. Thus, the index measures the set of institutions, policies, and factors that set the sustainable current and medium-term levels of economic prosperity.
The top 10 overall ranking are USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Germany, Japan and Canada.
The top 10 Asian economic entities are Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and UAE.
Gay model Kim Ji-hoo (pic) became the latest Korean entertainer to commit suicide.
Choi was found dead on October 6; he was the second entertainer who committed suicide following the death of actress Choi Jin-shil last week. Earlier on October 3, transsexual entertainer Jang Chae-won committed suicide ala Choi Jin-shil’s method.
Initial police investigations suggested that Kim committed suicide because of career block and online harassment of his sexual preference, while Jang chose the path because of a broken relationship.
I’ve read somewhere that there was at least another two copycat suicide since Choi’s death… and the Korean authorities are fearing that the suicide chain would create a domino effect in the Korean society, which is already fragile with their high suicide rate.
Stop blaming the internet
The Korean government is drafting a law against malicious rumours and slandering via the internet, as the online harassment is seen as one of the major causes of entertainers’ suicide.
I doubt the law could work though; and the effect would be minimal even if it works, because the problem is not the internet itself… it’s a cultural and society problem.
Internet is just a medium that pulled the final trigger; there are still other mediums for spreading rumours and slanders… what the Koreans need are to find the root cause and solve the problems once and for all.
Popular Korean actress Han Chae-young and young actor Jung Dong-jin modelled for Andre Kim’s 2009 Autumn-Winter Collection on October 7 at Incheon’s Songdo Convensia. The fashion show was in commemoration for the grand opening of the high-tech convention centre and exhibition hall in Incheon.
Andre Kim is a famous Korean designer renowned for his evening and wedding gowns [image from Newsen]…
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