SNSD’s YoonA continues her run as Innisfree’s spokesmodel with the release of a new CF for the cosmetics brand.
In the new CF, the idol revealed the secrets behind how one could keep their skin dewy and moist. She spilled the beans on green tea’s ability to keep the moisture in one’s skin. She says in the CF, “If you plant the green tea seeds from Jeju Island in your skin in the morning, they keep your skin hydrated all day.”
No wonder YoonA’s skin is so radiant!
Top 10 from the list:
SNSD – Gee
Brown Eyes – Little by Little
Yoon Do Hyun – I must’ve love you
Big Bang – Last Goodbye
MC The Max – Time to Love
Brown Eyes – Already 1 Year
BoA – No. 1
Big Bang – Haru Haru
Position – I Love You
Wonder Girls – So Hot
Before we actually begin analyzing the list, here is how Melon calculated their chart: 40% was tallied from streams on their website and the other 60% from downloads on their website for the songs released after 2005. For songs from 2000 to 2004, it was 70% record sales and 30% air time respectively.
At the top of this chart we see the wildly famous ‘Gee’ from SNSD, with Brown Eyes and Yoon Do Hyun each tossing in hits of their own. Then the list shows a mix of R&B/ballad singers along with idols, 5 out of the top 10 being idols and the other half being ballads. The genre of Hiphop peaks at 31 with Jo PD, followed by Epik High at 43. One thing to note is that trot actually didn’t make an appearance, despite Jang Yoon Jung and her massive hit Umuna. Another thing to note is that anything that would be considered hard rock or heavier are nowhere to be found; all rock bands that showed up on the chart did so with songs that lean towards their softer side.
Hence, the Korean music industry according to Melon’s chart can be summed up as idols and ballad singers sharing the big pile while the rest nibble on crumbs.
While the list is very easy to understand and is from a source many love and trust, it does have loopholes and should be taken somewhat with a grain of salt. First, the chart that they refer to for rankings of songs released before 2005 uses a different calculation method and is not compatible with Melon’s chart. I would advise not to use this chart when making a comparison between a song released before 2005 and a song released after 2005. Second, the chart was compiled by ranking songs in order of how much streaming and downloads were made from Melon’s webpage. So sales made from other sources, such as people who bought the physical CD instead of downloading it from Melon, or people who bought their music from other websites, are not accounted for here. It also does not count for technological development and legal changes that happened along the way. For example, people used P2P programs such as Soribada to illegally download music until 2006, when the government finally shutdown Soribada. We have experienced much chance between 2006 to 2010 too, as digital music market showed growth while CD sales kept diving, meaning that newer songs have the advantage here. Those that studied economics might be familiar with the term inflation – and this chart isn’t adjusted for it. In short, the older the song is, the higher the chance that it is underrated or placed inappropriately on Melon’s chart.
Stay tuned to allkpop as we wait for Melon’s chart for hottest songs of the next decade in the 2010s. Hopefully, I’ll still be around then.
Following the ‘Dance Version’ PV that was released earlier this week, Shoujo Jidai (SNSD) has just revealed the full regular PV for “MR. TAXI“.
Unlike the previous video, this one features close-up shots of the members in addition to their energetic dancing.
Check it out below!
Now is the more relevant part for those of you that are wondering where SM comes into all of this.
Since this park is being built in the countryside far away from Seoul, Korea’s capital that is famously holding close to half of the national population in its area, it needs to differentiate itself from other theme parks and recreational complexes in order for people from Seoul to travel down there and keep the area alive by feeding it cash. That, is where our friends in the idol business come in; as they provide the complex with the contents of their company. Different zones named after their celebrities, including, but not limited to, SNSD, TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, f(x), and BoA, will be offering fan meetings and autograph sessions.
There is also a plan to have the stars stay at the hotel in the complex and then name the room that they stayed in after them, so that their fans would want to stay in the same room their idol did.
Might sound a bit weird or creepy, but hey, there are people out there that are willing to spend extra just so they can sleep in the same bed that Changmin or Yuri did. In short, SM’s involvement is to spice the complex up with some flavour of its idols.
SM is not the only entertainment industry representative in the game though; movie director Kang Jae Kyu is to take part in this project as a shareholder and shoot his movies in the studios in this complex. Mr. Kang was the director of Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, the 4th highest-grossing film in Korean history, so I guess we can say he is pretty famous… making him a strong ally.
The city of Munkyung doesn’t really have many tourist attractions, and the complex is planned around the concept that it will create itself; that is, unlike the traditional method of putting hotels/restaurants/bars where a tourist attraction already exists (like a beach or a hot spring), they’re building the tourist attraction themselves along with all those other things – like a Disney Land.
In this case, the major attraction isn’t Mickey and Snow White; it is what SM has to offer. It is really up to them to get people down there and spend money. Will Jo Kam Do become a major attraction and a centre of hallyu wave, or will we end up studying about it in business class as a case of complete failure? Whatever the result may be, I look forward to writing about this baby in future.
Can’t wait for them to finish building it. Can you?
Stay tuned to allkpop for a few years as they build that thing from scratch.
Korea’s main entertainment agency SM Entertainment’s expansion in its real estate business will take place in KyungBuk. SM’s plan is to create a large scale visual and cultural tourist spot. Visitors may actually see how SM artistes’ dorms look like.
On April 27th, according to the real estate industries, SM and Fides Development had chosen MoonKyung City as the location for the development of the theme park. They will be developing around 888,186㎡ of area and the project will be completed around 2016 with investment involving 354.2 billion Won.
The development will start in the SaeJae area, which covers an area of 35,894㎡. Until 2012, Around 43 billion Won will be spent to develop the film studios , leisure complex, and visual support area.
Furthermore, a star zone for SM’s artistes will be developed where fanmeetings, fan signings and other events will be held. The facilities will also include stages for performances, water parks, spas and accommodations similar to the dormitories of stars like TVXQ and BoA.
SM Entertainment’s CEO,Kim YoungMin stated, “Korea’s cultural contents are not only accepted in Asia, but the whole world. We participate in this development because I feel the need to put Korea’s cultural advantages in one place.”
On April 26th, tickets for ‘SM Town Live World Tour in Paris’ which will be held at Le Zenith de Paris on June 10th sold like hot cakes.
Tickets were on sale through European ticketing sites livenation.fr, fnacspectacles.com, etc. In just 15 minutes, Europe proved to the whole world that the demand for Kpop is just as explosive. All the tickets sold online were grabbed.
Due to the overwhelming response, signatures are being collected on Facebook through a petition to have a Flashmob in front of the Louvre Museum on May 1st. It was reported that 4,000 signatures have been collected up to this moment.
‘SM Town Live World Tour’ had achieved great success through concerts in Seoul, Tokyo, LA and Shanghai. Even before the concert kicks off in Paris, early signs have indicated such great interest among European music fans towards the first ever SM Town concert in Europe. Once again, this confirms SM Entertainment’s capacity in placing itself as a global brand.
Come June 10th, SM Entertainment’s top artistes such as SNSD, TVXQ, Super Junior, f(x), etc. will heat up the stage and captivate the European music fans with their hit songs as well amazing performances.
