SNSD’s Sooyoung shares ‘goddess’ selcas

On June 16, a series of SNSD’s Sooyoung’s selcas were posted by staff on SM Entertainment’s official Facebook page with the caption, “SOOYOUNG, taking time off to relax in her room~ But she didn’t forget about fans~! SOOYOUNG took these pictures by herself for the fans and sent it to us~! Her beautiful mind is one reason why we love her~! Thank you, SOOYOUNG~!!!”

In the photos she shows off a variety of expressions ranging from chic to bubbly. The recent selcas have headlined for her radiant smile and other features reminding netizens of her goddess-like beauty.

Comments on the photos included, “Oh wow, she looks so pretty,” “She really looks like a goddess,” and “Breath-taking beauty.”

Who is the most popular SNSD member among European fans?

On June 16th, the ladies of SNSD guested on SBS’s “One Night of TV Entertainment” and talked about their experience at the two-day “SM Town Live in Paris” concert.

Fans of K-pop came in from all over Europe for the concert, and just a few days before the show, European fans not only slept near the concert venue, but also stood outside in the rain, waiting for the show to begin. Despite it sounding uncomfortable, the fans assured that they found it enjoyable and that it was actually a lot of fun.

Even in Europe, SNSD’s older male fanbase stood out amongst the crowd. When asked to share a memorable incident, the girls shared, “We were sightseeing in the city when we ran into a fan by chance. The fan enthusiastically danced the choreography to ‘Gee‘ in front of us and said he was a fan”.

When asked who was the most popular member in Europe, they answered “Hyoyeon looks exotic so we think she is the most popular.” Hyoyeon humbly replied to this with, “I don’t really know why. It’s probably because I’ve always worked hard and diligently all along.”

SM Town Facebook updates with 2 pictures of Tiffany in Paris

TIFFANY! TIFFANY! TIFFANY! She's super lovely even without makeup~!!! TIFFANY sent us this photo to express how she loves fans all around the world~!!! Thank you, TIFFANY! Also, she looks so smart with the glasses~!

Going strong with their commitment to keep updating their artists' lives through their Facebook, SM Entertainment has posted two new pictures of Tiffany on the SMTOWN Facebook page (www.facebook.com/smtown).

TIFFANY! We finally realized that... Paris is TIFFANY's city~!!! This photo is an art!!! What do you fans think~?

Both pictures feature Tiffany in Paris, attracting the fans' attention as Tiffany was the only Girls' Generation member featured today so far on the Facebook page. The first photo shows Tiffany with her glasses, showing the look that made her earn the name "Nerd Fany". The second shows Tiffany posing very casually in front of the Louvre Museum, making fans agree to the caption of the photo.

What do you think of the new pictures posted?

SNSD’s Taeyeon voted #1 idol singer viewers wish to see next on ‘Immortal Song 2′

SNSD’s Taeyeon as been voted as the #1 idol singer viewers wished to see next on KBS2’s “Immortal Song 2“.

Easyday, a Korean portal site, recently held a poll asking netizens, “Which idol singer do you wish to see next on ‘Immortal Song 2′?”. Taeyeon, who’s well known for her talented vocals, received the most number of votes with over 45%!

JYJ’s Junsu took 2nd place with 21% of the votes, 2AM’s Jo Kwon came in 3rd with 19% of the votes, and Big Bang’s Taeyang came in 4th with 13% of the votes.

‘Immortal Song 2′ is receiving a great deal of interest for allowing idol singers to showcase their vocal talents through competitions.

Which idol singer do you wish to see next on Immortal Song 2?

‘W’ and ‘Vogue Korea’ release BTS shots from ‘SM Town Live in Paris’

In celebration of SM Town’s wildly successful concerts in Paris, “W” and “Vogue Korea” magazine went behind-the-scenes with the artists to capture their first moments there.

Using the beautiful French scenery as their background, maknae group f(x) was dolled up for a ’street shopping’ concept, while SHINee were shot under the concept of ‘boys night out’.

Senior groups TVXQ and SNSD were assigned the concepts, ‘the qualification of men’ and ‘Parisienne haute couture‘ respectively, while Super Junior went for a more casual, down-to-earth look.

Vogue Korea’s cuts focused on the backstage aspect of the show, and published stylish black-and-white moments of the members preparing busily for the stage.

Why are foreigners so captivated by K-pop?

There was a time when certain Koreans were flustered by even the slightest reaction from foreign lands about K-pop. Those were the days when international communication only existed through newspaper and Television. However, now that the Internet has opened new modes of global communication, marketing through such blind deception isn’t possible anymore.

In that sense, the back-to-back concerts on the 10th and 11th of June, “SM Town Live in Paris” carries that much more meaning. The artists Super Junior, TVXQ, SNSD, SHINee, and f(x) have never released a single album in France. Yet, approximately 14,000 fans in the area attended the concert to support their favorite foreign artist. This is why this first K-pop idol collaboration concert in Europe carries so much more meaning than just the surface definition.

So then, why has K-pop been able to cultivate the European wasteland (regarding Korean culture)? We’re able to find the reason behind this on the June 15th episode of tvN enews e-fact, who captured live footage in France.

e-fact concluded that, “The specific style of dance and music of idols, along with attractive looks also appeal to the European youth”. On an interview with the program, pop-culture critic Ha Jae Keunstated, “Nowhere in this world can you find cute, sexy, handsome, and pretty teams of kids that are able to pull off perfect performances along with high-quality music”.

Korean idol groups’ dances, songs, and appearances have actually risen to a level where they could compete anywhere in the world. There was a time when foreign pop music dominated Korean culture, but now the tides have completely turned.

Especially now that the giant entertainment corporations have shifted their aims towards the global market, producing albums that are relevant to the cause, the strength of penetration into foreign markets have grown substantially. Add to that the utilization of Youtube, Facebook, and other modes of global marketing, interest in K-pop has grown in even the Korean wasteland of Europe.

Not to leave out the renowned Park Chan Wook film, ”Oldboy”, which was awarded the Grand Prixat the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. This film brought, slowly but surely, much French interest to the pop-culture of Korea. With this said, foreign interest grew exponentially as foreigners were able to come across Korean music through online and social networking communities.

On top of everything, the reassurance of the explosive feedback to K-pop in European lands opened doors to positive, long-term outlooks into foreign lands.

In an interview with e-fact, the director of a French national broadcasting channel, France 2 TV, commented, “Korean musicians or groups should have no problems succeeding in other European countries, not to mention, any other country in the world.” The director continued, “They are perfect since they have all the basic necessities down along with fluent English. The fact that they have sold out 14,000 tickets in two days without any serious advertisement quantifies the huge potential of the Hallyu wave”.

K-pop Stars Taking Korean Musicals on Asia Tour

Producers are turning to leading K-pop bands and targeting overseas audiences in a bid to reinvigorate Korea’s over-saturated musical market, which is estimated to be worth W250 billion but is feeling the pinch as supply outpaces demand.

Japan, which boasts the largest market for musicals in Asia, is emerging as Korean producers’ prime target as they aim to capitalize on the popularity of K-pop stars in the neighboring country.

Korean girl group Kara saw their latest album shoot to the top of the Oricon Weekly Single Chart in the first week of its release in April. Now the band’s lead singer is ready to flood Japanese senses with her acting and singing talent as she prepares for her musical debut in the country.

“Kara’s leader Park Gyu-lee will star in Osaka from October to November,” Show Note, which produces the musical “200 Pounds Beauty,” announced on Wednesday. This is the first time that a leading star of the Korean Wave will make a musical debut in Japan rather than at home.

“200 Pounds Beauty,” a musical adaptation of the film of the same title, is a romantic comedy that has enjoyed great success since it premiered in 2008. The producers are planning an Asian tour across Japan and China from this fall until spring of next year.

Left: Park Gyuri of the girl group Kara, who will star in the musical “200 Pounds Beauty” in Japan; Right: Kim Kyu-jong (center front) of boy band SS501 takes a curtain call along with other cast members after performing the musical “Goong” at a theater in Kyoto, Japan /Courtesy of DSP Media and Group EightIn order to make a significant dent in the Japanese market, however, the producers felt a Korean Wave star was needed, and Kara apparently leapt at the chance to expand her performing repertoire.

Industry figures are now describing the partnership between Korea-produced musicals and Korean Wave stars as a marriage made in heaven, especially given the support that Japanese fans have already shown for both. “200 Pounds Beauty,” starring Jessica from Girls’ Generation, “Goong,” featuring TVXQ’s U-Know Yun-ho, and “Mozart!” in which JYJ’s Kim Jun-su made his musical debut, attracted a great number of Japanese.

Tour operators cottoned onto their success by designing package tours for Japanese tourists with tickets to the musicals. Now Korean musical producers are taking a more aggressive approach by flying the entire cast overseas and using K-pop stars as headliners.

Industry insiders predict this will open up a new market capable of generating more than W50 billion in ticket sales alone, not to mention the profits from derivative items. They arrived at this figure based on the assumption that the market can support 10 major Korean musicals, with each one having a potential stage life in Japan of 50 performances.

When Kim Kyu-jong of SS501 turned up in Kyoto on June 11 to play the main character Lee Shin in “Goong,” the 1,200-capacity theater could barely accommodate all of the screaming female fans who had come to see their “prince charming” in the flesh.

Most were already familiar with the plot, as the original comic book and TV series adaptation were introduced to Japan in 2000 and 2006, respectively, and many had shelled out 13,000 yen for the most expensive tickets.

“It would have been impossible to lure a Japanese audience of this size without having a Korean Wave star,” said a staff member from Group 8, which produced the show.

Kim Kwang-su, who produced the musical “Tears of Heaven,” said Korea’s young stars are leading the charge, and helping fans migrate from one medium to another. “Japan wants Girls’ Generation, Kara, Supernova, TVXQ, and Jang Keun-suk,” he said. “Musicals that are made in Korea lack appeal in the foreign market without the help of Korean Wave stars.”

The changing dynamics of the target audience are already starting to filter down to the way Korean musicals are being designed, insiders claim.

“We are now seeing the emergence of musicals that are being produced and directed with an eye on the Japanese market,” said musical director Yoon Ho-jin.

Others cautioned that an over-reliance on star power will ultimately backfire and weaken the art form itself.

“I feel a sense of disappointment in that the popularity is not a verification of the quality of the musical itself,” said Won Jong-won, a professor of media studies at Soonchunhyang University. “Although it may be harder in the beginning, if producers take a long-term perspective and work more on the quality of the musical, rather than simply relying on a star-studded cast, a bigger market will open up.”