Among their accusations are the duration of the contract (13-15 yrs), unfair distribution of profit, and overloaded schedules etc.

I’m not going into the contract details; I can agree that the terms are unfair… but why sign the contract if it’s not a decent one to begin with?

These celebs chose to sacrifice their freedom to seek fame and fortune; some of them could argue that they were deceived (at young age), but there’s no denying that they were blinded by their own desire while penning the deal.

SM seems to have the legal advantage in the case; it’s afterall a signed contract. But TVXQ are getting huge backing from their fans; with over 800,000 throng of supporters threatening boycott on SM’s other products, the company might just seek a compromised solution to end the saga.

TVXQ vs SM Entertainment, the battle begins from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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K-pop stars – Infinitely Yours, Seoul commercials from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Tracklist (artist – song)

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Masamixes – K-pop 2009 special mash-up [1] from YeinJee's Asian Journal

[Updated] The confirmed performers for this year’s concert include SS501, Girls’ Generation, SHInee, Baek Ji-young, Kim Tae-woo, Lena Park, Tae Jin-ah and Son Ho-young (emcee) etc. Check the event website for updates.

Sharing some 2008 pics below of TVXQ, Chae Yeon, SG Wannabe and Girls’ Generation; image via its official website…

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Korean Music Festival 2009 in Los Angeles from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Pop band EXILE dominates the album chart with three albums in the Top 10, while the singles chart is ruled by the Johnny’s boybands, i.e. Arashi and KAT-TUN etc.

Pop group TVXQ is the only Korean artist(s) that made it into the singles chart, with “Beautiful You” at 73rd spot… known as Tohoshinki in Japan, the K-pop group has another two singles at 78th and 91st spots respectively.

Top 10 best selling Japanese albums of 2008

1. EXILE Love (EXILE)
2. Best Fiction (Namie Amuro)
3. 5296 (Kobukuro)
4. EXILE Catchy Best (EXILE)
5. Heart Station (Utada Hikaru)
6. EXILE Ballad Best (EXILE)
7. B’z The Best “Ultra Pleasure” (B’z)
8. A Complete: All Singles (Ayumi Hamasaki)
9. And I Love You (Dreams Come True)
10. A, Domo. Ohisashiburi Desu (GReeeeN)

Top 10 best selling Japanese singles of 2008

1. Truth (Arashi)
2. One Love (Arashi)
3. I Am Your Singer (Southern All Star)
4. Kiseki (GReeeeN)
5. Shuchishin (Shuchishin)
6. Hanabi (Mr. Children)
7. Soba ni Iru ne (Thelma Aoyama ft Soulja)
8. Don’t U Ever Stop (KAT-TUN)
9. Lips (KAT-TUN)
10. Beautiful Days (Arashi)

Oricon top singles/albums in Japan 2008 from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Sunye’s (from WonderGirls) wardrobe trouble seems to be grabbing the headlines though; and Big Bang’s fans are wondering how their favourite group managed to end up with nothing at all considering how red hot they are at the moment.

The Winners [via Kbites]

Daesang – TVXQ (Disk), Jewelry (Digital)
Bonsang (Disk) – TVXQ, Kim Dong-ryul, SG Wannabe, Rain, Brown Eyes, Shinhwa
Bonsang (Digital) – MC Mong, Brown Eyed Girls, Jewelry, Wonder Girls
NewComer Award – SHINee (Disk), Davichi (Digital)
Popularity Award – Son Ho-young, TVXQ (Disk) & F.T. Island, Tae Yeon (Digital)
Trot Award – Jang Yoon-jeong
Rock Award – Nell
Special Achievement Award – Kim Changwan
New Trend Award – Kim Jong-wook
Producer Award – Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment

Korean Golden Disk Awards 2008 from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Pop group TVXQ (known as Tōhōshinki in Japan) tops the singles’ sales chart for two consecutive weeks with their 24th Japanese single “Jumon-Mirotic”. This is their 4th chart topping Japanese single in 2008.

Actor turn singer Lee Byung-hun claims the 2nd spot also for two weeks in a role with his debut single, “Itsuka”; while Ryu Si-won dropping from 3rd to 4th with his 8th single “Kimito Boku”.

To be frank, I’m quite puzzled how the songs managed to lead the charts. I can understand that Mirotic is appealing to some audiences (although not to my liking), but the other two are just so average. Anyhow, sharing all three music videos below…

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Hallyu stars dominate J-pop chart from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Top 20 Japan’s most wanted girlfriend 2008

1. YUI 2. Kaori Mochida 3. Ayumi Hamasaki 4. Ai Otsuka 5. aiko 6. Ai Takahashi 7. Ai Kawashima 8. Kiyoe Yoshioka 9. Maimi Yajima 10. Yui Aragaki 11. Nocchi 12. Namie Amuro 13. Ayaka 14. Kaela Kimura 15. Kumi Koda 16. Misako Uno 17. Hiroko 18. BoA 19. Mai Kuraki 20. Reina Tanaka

Top 20 Japan’s most wanted boyfriend 2008

1. Jin Akanishi 2. Kazuya Kamenashi 3. Hyde 4. Jun Matsumoto 5. Tomohisa Yamashita 6. Takahiro 7. Takahisa Masuda 8. Jaejoong 9. TAKUYA∞ 10. Sho Sakurai 11. Koichi Domoto 12. Akihito Okano 13. Kentaro Kobuchi 14. Ryo Nishikido 15. Yusuke Kamiji 16. Yuya Tegoshi 17. Masaki Aiba 18. Haruichi Shindou 19. Teppei Koike 20. DAIGO

It seems like only singers are being short-listed for this poll. Korean stars BoA and Jaejoong (from TVXQ) are the only two non-Japanese celebs that made the list.

[Update] The video was taken down unfortunately.

Japan’s most wanted artist-lovers 2008 from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The auditions will be held from September 19 to October 25 in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Orange County (CA), New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. Nationality doesn’t matters, but it seems like they are looking for Asian faces only.

It’s funny that SM is calling it a ‘global’ audition when in fact the locations are limited to US and Canada. Regardless, it’s a chance for young Asian talents to try their luck if they are interested with the entertainment business.

Set aside the publicity purpose, SM do mean business with the auditions. If not mistaken Tiffany from SNSD and Henry from Suju-M were discovered from previous auditions… there might be a few more that I’m not aware of.

Check SM’s website for details and updates. Good luck if there is any taker here.

SM Entertainment Global Audition 2008 (US & Canada) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

AnyCall is famous for its CFs; its previous series featuring pop star Lee Hyori (AnyMotion, AnyClub etc.) were known globally via online video sharing sites.

With Hyori’s contract ending pretty soon, Samsung is trying to form a new hype with the quartet in AnyBand… obviously a worthy replacement.

BoA, Xiah, Tablo & Bora – AnyBand commercial from YeinJee's Asian Journal