Girls' Generation Timetable for Summer Sonic 2011 Announced

Girls’ Generation, having just completed a successful national concert tour in Japan, will be back in action at Summer Sonic 2011. They will be appearing as a special guest in Tokyo on August 14th at Makuhari Messe alongside major artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, X Japan and many more.

The timetable and stage the girls will be performing on has just been released on the Summer Sonic website, stating that they will be the closing act for the “Mountain Stage” beginning at 9pm. Other performers that will be performing at the “Mountain Stage” include P.i.L.; The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion; Yelle, Gypsy & the Cat; House of Pain; Friendly Fires; Two Door Cinema Club; Yelle; the telephones; and opening act Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. Many artists will be performing simultaneously at different venues on different stages.

Summer Sonic staff previously commented that, “Summer Sonic’s organizer recognized the quality of their (Girls’ Generation) performances and that there was a high demand for them.”

Girls’ Generation members have also previously stated that, “We're all really excited to be able to stand on the same stage with so many magnificent artists from around the world."

Stay tuned to Soshified for more updates.

To read about Summer Sonic’s initial announcement about Girls’ Generation participating, go here.

Changes to artist lineup for ‘2011 Incheon Korean Music Wave Concert’

Last month we reported that the third ‘2011 Incheon Korean Music Wave Concert‘ will be taking place at the Incheon Munhak Olympic Stadium on August 13th. The concert featured a powerful lineup and not only will this concert be another great influence to the rapidly growing K-pop wave, but it will also be helpful in exposing the beauties of the city of Incheon, especially to international tourists.

Well, earlier today it was revealed on the official website that their was a change in the lineup for the concert. Originally, SG Wannabe, CNBLUE and Son Dambi were supposed to perform but due to circumstances / schedule conflicts they can’t perform.

In absence of these three artists, they’ve been replaced with INFINITE, TEEN TOP and ZE:A.

The other artists, Super Junior, SNSD, 2PM, 2NE1, B2ST, KARA, SHINee, 2AM, f(x), miss A, T-ara, MBLAQ, F.T. Island, 4minute, SECRET and SISTAR are all still scheduled to perform.

It’s said that a big group of French tourists have already booked their seats for the phenomenal concert, and concert organizers have predicted that many other international fans and media outlets are preparing to make their way to Incheon later this month to watch the concert.

WHich Kpop stars receive the most recognition overseas?

A survey with the above title was conducted from July 26th to August 2nd and a total of 191,674 votes were cast. SNSD topped the survey with a whopping 83,705 votes, which was 43.7% out of the total votes.

Fellow SM Entertainment labelmates Super Junior, who has just released their 5th album Mr. Simple, came in second with 49,852 votes (26%).

JYJ and TVXQ came in 3rd and 4th respectively with 15,408 votes (8%) and 10,405 votes (5.4%).

Also, KARA, Big Bang and SHINee were ranked fifth to seventh in the survey.

Fans commented on SNSD’s dominance in the survey; “Right now, SNSD. In the future too, it’s SNSD!”, “Asia’s best girl group, SNSD”, “SNSD is undisputed without having to consider for even a second”, etc.

SNSD named the most recognized Hallyu stars outside Korea

A survey entitled ‘Kpop Hallyu Stars Who Are Also Receiving Most Recognition Overseas’ was conducted from July 26th to August 2nd. From the result of the survey, SNSD captured the no.1 spot collecting 83,705 votes (43.7%) out of the total of 191,674 votes.

SNSD garnered huge supports from fans who commented, “Obviously, SNSD. The survey is meaningless”, “Right Now, SNSD. In the future too, it’s SNSD”, “Asia’s best girl group, SNSD”, “Without having to consider for even a second, the undisputed SNSD”, etc.

Super Junior who recently released their 5th album ‘Mr.Simple’ came in 2nd with 49,852 votes (26%). JYJ came in 3rd with 15,408 votes (8%), followed by TVXQ with 10,405 votes (5.4%) in 4th, Kara in 5th with 8,632 votes (4.5%). Big Bang came in 6th with 6,781 votes (3.5%) while SHINee were ranked 7th with 3,599 votes (1.9%).

4minute & KARA Even Stronger in Japan

Popular girl groups KARA, 4minute, etc performed at a K-Pop event in Japan and showed a spectacular stage, upgrading the Hallyu Wave.

On 30th July, some top Korean idol groups performed in 'Love-1 Festival 2011' that was held in Chiba Photo Park. 4minute, KARA, Kim Hyunjoong, MBLAQ, FT Island, The Boss, etc. On the day of the event, all 20,000 audience members showed their excitement despite the rain and other poor conditions.

In this event KARA performed first as the most popular group currently. They showed a wonderful stage with some popular songs of them like 'Jumping', 'Go Go Summer!', 'Jet Coaster Love', etc. They received all the cheers from the audience. The next performance is by Kim Hyunjoong who made a comeback with his solo album. He performed 'Break Down', 'Please', and 'Kiss Kiss', then successfully excited the audience. 4minute performed songs such as 'WHY', 'Heart to Heart', 'Mirror Mirror', etc.

The Boss performed their debut song 'Love Power' and their 2nd single 'Love Bingo!'. MBLAQ performed their Japanese debut song 'Your Luv', etc. The other performances by Infinite, ZE:A, Rainbow, Supreme Team, etc also received much excitement from Japanese fans.

Hyomin "I fought with my director over the script"

Movie "Giseng Spirit' Hyomin, Beating Screen Report

With a movie and drama appearance, Japan advancements, and a new song to promote, T-ara's leader, Hyomin, doesn't have the opportunity to rest.

Among idol stars, there have been many who were at the forefront of the entertainment industry. Recently, Hyomin has come out of the crowd with her eye-catching schedule.

Hyomin commented that, "People around me have told me I have a lot of ambition," such a schedule would be impossible if she lacked the desire.

The horror film, "Gisaeng Spirit", will premiere on August 4th and will be Hyomin's big screen debut. Hyomin was also proud of the fact that her new song, "Roly-Poly," had achieved first place a few days prior on music programs. However, Hyomin stated that she weighed about "50-50 importance when comparing her movie and song."

"A singer's stage and a horror film are similar"

It is quite interesting how Hyomin became to star in the film. In actuality, all the T-ara members had read the script for Gisaeng Spirit and among them the one who got the role of the female student Yurin, was Hyomin. Initially, the role of Yurin was very small, but was increased due to Hyomin's high ambition for the film.

Hyomin commented that she wrote down her thoughts on the script, individual line by line; thoughts such as, "Yurin isn't necessary in this scene," or "This scene isn't scary at all." She even read all her thoughts for her director at their first dinner. "He would've either recognized my ambition or thought I was conceited."

In the following re-written script, the role of Yurin was made much bigger. Hyomin commented, "I think the Director took kindly to my boldness."

In the movie "Gisaeng Spirit", the characters Sunny and Yurin move into a mysterious house, which they have their concerns about. Hyomin's character Yurin is a female student with a very acute and sharp personality.

Hyomin began acting through last year's SBS drama, "My Girlfriend is a Nine-tailed Fox". "Gisaeng Spirit" is very different for Hyomin. However, Hyomin stated that she believed, "A singer's going up on stage and an actor acting in a horror film are very similar."

"I was told that I must overly exaggerate my movement and expressions in a horror film. A singer must show everything they can for the 3 minutes they have on stage. In the sense of what you have to show in horror acting, a singer's stage is very similar."

"Gisaeng Spirit" was originally filmed with the expectation that it was going to be rated 15+, but was given a 19+ rating. Hyomin commented that this made her even more excited about the film. She was excited to hear the nature of movie left a very deep impression.

"I hated hearing 'You're an idol.. can you do it?'"

During the movie's filming T-ara began music promotions and were preparing for September advancement to Japan. There were days when Hyomin would have to film for her music video during the morning and film for her movie in the afternoon. Even though she was without time, Hyomin welcomed the change saying, "Because I didn't have any time, it allowed me to focus more on my movie."

"Because I had so much to do there were times when I became acute, but this helped me in portraying Yurin's acute personality even better. Even though it was tough, I hated hearing 'You're an idol star, can you do it?' so there were many days where I believed I could do much better."

In June, Hyomin's fellow T-ara member, Ham Eungjung, released her new horror film "White: Cursed Melody." Given that Eunjung is older than Hyomin, rather than giving her acting advice she began by telling her to "always take care of your health."

"The time when I was most stressed was when I was writing down my schedule into my planner. I would wonder everyday how I would do all of this and take a deep breath. However, Eunjung saw this and told me to take it day-by-day; focus on today and don't worry about tomorrow. It was very helpful."

In the middle of August, Hyomin's character will begin appearing in a new MBC Monday-Tuesday drama, "Gyebaek". Hyomin will be attempting her first historical drama with a rather playful character role. Despite having to wear a hot traditional outfit in the hot summer weather Hyomin stated that, "Because I am getting a chance to act in something I want to, I don't even have an opportunity to feel the heat." Finally she laughed by saying, "Starting in September T-ara will be promoting primarily in Japan, so I will be busy coming back-and-forth from Seoul and Tokyo."

Shoe Marker Free Tickets to Watch 4minute & B2ST

A shoes multi-shop called Shoe Marker (http://www.shoemarker.co.kr) will be having an event until 10th August with tickets to the United Cube Concert (4minute, BEAST, G.NA, etc) as the gift.

Everyone can register at Shoe Marker's website, find the event thread on the homepage and write your own reason as to why you deserve the chance to join 'United Cube Concert' in 140 letters. They will be giving concert tickets for 10 people for 10 days (2 tickets per person). The winners will be revealed on the homepage every day at 6PM.

United Cube Concert is a concert by Cube Entertainment. It's the first family concert with 4minute, BEAST, and G.NA. The concert will be held on 14th August in Seoul Jamsil Stadium. It will start at 6PM and last for around 180 minutes.