SNSD Want to Win Three Daesangs in a Row!

The first girl group in history to win a Daesang two years running at the 20th Seoul Music Awards, SNSD revealed through their joyous post-win comments that they will be working even harder in 2011, saying "We want to win three years in a row!". The members thanked the "fans who supported them day after day" and the "staff who worked so hard with them" to make the award a reality. They continued, "We were very happy to receive so many awards in 2010, and it's so great to start 2011 so well"

The following is from a Q&A with SNSD:

Q: In the twenty year history of the Seoul Music Awards, you are the first girl group to win Daesang two years in a row. How do you feel?
A: I have goosebumps. [She laughs] It doesn't feel real yet. It might sound like an obvious answer, but we feel a heavier burden of responsibility.

Q: What do you think was the driving force behind your retainment of the Daesang?
A: The huge love of the fans, and the teamwork of the members. I think the passion for performance and music from all nine together, worked. We will be growing musically even more in the future, and we want to show it. We are thankful for the fans, because our fans know and love our passion.

Q: You win a lot of awards. Doesn't each award get less exciting?
A: Not at all. Recently, all the members got together and we were reminiscing about the time we received the rookie award. I think every time we win an award, we think back to how we felt at that moment.

Q: You've now reached the pinnacle in Korea and Japan. What are your goals in 2011?
A: We want to work diligently in both Korea and Japan and be loved by our fans. If there was one more thing, we do want to go out into the wider world. So that we can meet our fans in countries around the world. But more than anything, at the next awards, we want to win the Daesang three years running.

Top Korean pop stars are riding Hallyu’s second wave

When The Beatles hit the United States in the early 1960s, they helped launch what would eventually become known as the British Invasion.

The Asian equivalent is hallyu - the Korean Wave of drama, film, music and culture that took Asia by storm beginning in the late 1990s. Beginning with television dramas and originally restricted to Asia, hallyu is now going through a second phase, with music groups leading the way into the coveted American market.

Fans cheer for Girls’ Generation, one of the K-pop bands that is gaining traction in the United States, at an event organized by the group’s fan club Soshified on Jan. 8 in Los Angeles. [JoongAng Ilbo]

Song Gi-cheol, a Korean pop culture critic who has studied this phenomenon, said, “K-pop has started to achieve the quality of American pop. The music that we’re producing now is well-produced and the singers themselves show a lot of talent.”

Another band that has had success in the North American market is the nine-member girl group, Girls’ Generation.

When the group participated in an event in Los Angeles organized on Jan. 8 by the fan club Soshified - which is a combination of the shortened Korean word for Girls’ Generation, Soshi, and the English word “satisfied” - 500 of the group’s 120,000 members worldwide were present.

One fan club member said, “I’ve started learning Korean because of my love for K-pop. It is hard for people of all ages to enjoy a single genre of music but K-pop doesn’t seem to have that kind of limitation.”

Last September, a concert held by SM Entertainment, the largest entertainment management company in Korea, produced a concert in Los Angeles with some of their most popular groups, including Girls’ Generation and Super Junior. All 15,000 tickets for the concert were sold out a month in advance.

That was just one strategy that entertainment companies have started using to market their acts.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Jan. 13 that Korean singers and groups are using social networking to promote their music. According to the article, “YouTube’s video-management features are gaining traction in emerging markets where local content producers are seeking a cheap way to reach overseas audiences and create demand for its artists without having to open offices or partner with labels in other countries.”

It also reported that SM Entertainment had used the video sharing site to distribute video of its acts, and said that its two biggest competitors in South Korea, YG Entertainment and JYP Productions, and about two dozen smaller labels had done the same thing.

In a recent study, the JoongAng Ilbo examined the popularity of K-pop by surveying 923 video clips of Korean acts - specifically those managed by SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, the country’s top three management companies - that were uploaded to YouTube in the year 2010.

The results showed that the videos by the Korean performers got 793.57 million hits from people in almost every country worldwide. Over 500 million views were from the Asian continent, 120 million from the American continent and 55 million were from Europe.

Lee Won-jin, the managing director of Google Korea, said, “The fact that K-pop videos had almost 800 million hits from viewers all over the world proves that K-pop has the potential to succeed in any given market.”

Tiffany and Sunny sing 4Men's I Can't

SNSD's Tiffany and Sunny show off their vocal skills by singing 4Men's I Can't on a radio show this morning,check out their cover here,impressive enough?

How Long Will SNSD Last?

Lee Moonsae gave a thumbs up to girl group SNSD for their teamwork.

On Lee Moonsae's MBC FM4U radio show, "Lee Moonsae's Good Morning", SNSD's Tiffany and Sunny, as well as Yoon Dohyun from YB Band were invited as guests.

On the show, Lee Moonsae asked, "After having to manage your physical appearance and your bodies, don't the members start to compete with each other?" Tiffany and Sunny both answered, "It's not like that." Tiffany said, "Just last night at midnight, we ordered pizza and ate it all together," and added, "When we are on diets, we really do it properly so we encourage each other."

On this, Lee Moonsae joked, "Being overweight isn't a violation of your contracts, is it?" But after that he added, "I think SNSD will go a really long time."

At this remark, fans who were listening to the radio felt sorry for Kara as they were reminded of the current situation with their company.

Note: This translation was not meant to compare or to emphasize that SNSD is superior over Kara in any way. Peace for all the world ^^

Kim Janghoon Surprises Taeyeon With A Hug!

Singer Kim Janghoon put on a different kind of performance by giving SNSD's Taeyeon a surprise hug.

On the 20th, Kim Janghoon appeared on stage to perform with PSY, who won the best album award, at the 20th Seoul Music Awards.

While singing his single 'I'm A Man', Kim Janghoon stepped off the stage towards SNSD, who were cheering them on. He proceeded to holding Taeyeon's hand, then held her head and hugged her, surprising Taeyeon.

When the audience started yelling, Kim Janghoon yelled, "Be quiet," causing laughter amongst them. After watching this, PSY commented, "You're a fool," causing laughter once again.

Kim Janghoon continued to sing while hugging Taeyeon and said, "It's okay because it's an award show," which Taeyeon nodded to.

This award show distributed a daesang, along with awards for rookies and every other musical genre to those that lead the music world in 2010.

Yuri plays Cello? SNSD rumoured to be filming for Dior CF?

SNSD's Yuri can play cello?

I am not so sure about that but according to Yurui912 @ Twitter,SNSD girls are rumoured to be filming for the latest Dior CF,this photo was taken during the shooting according to the info provided.

Honestly Yuri looks like she can play Cello,agree?

Top ten KPOP MVs on Youtube!

The top ten KPOP MVs in 2010 are as shown below

1.)SNSD - Oh

2.)SNSD - Run Devil Run

3.) Super Junior - Bonamana

4.)SHINee - Lucifer

5.)2NE1 - Can't Nobody

6.)SNSD - Hoot

7.)2NE1 - Go Away

8.)Super Junior - Like No Other

9.)2NE1 - Clap Hands

10.)Oh - Dance Version