SNSD's interview with Malaysia's 'The Star' newspaper

Malaysia’s ‘The Star’ newspaper tried to interview the girls while they were in Jeju Island for the Wonderful Jeju Super Concert on April 24th but due to their schedules, the interview could only be conducted through e-mails. Here are some contents of the interview which was published in the Star2 section of the paper on June 12th:

2010 was a very good year for Girls’ Generation. How are you going to top that?

Taeyeon: I’m not sure how we will prepare our concept for our performance, but we will never disappoint our fans.
Yuri: Many fans like our style. We will come back with a perfect stage which is full of SNSD magnetism.
Sooyoung: We always try to show fans a mature and varied performance. We hope they will love our new album, Mr Taxi (released in Japan last month).

People always accuse Asians of copy­ing the West in music but when Lady Gaga released her single. Bom This Way, recent­ly, she was accused of plagiarising your Be Happy by your international fans. What does this say about the growth of K-pop?

Taeyeon: Yes, many people throughout the world are interested in Korean pop music. But it is more important how K-pop applies to various styles rather than just being copied in other countries.
Yuri: There’s a craze for popular Korean cultures in many Asian countries because Korean pop music is a successful com­bination of the old and new.
Sooyoung: It is inevitable to refer to western music because it was developed earlier than Korean music. However, K-pop also reinterprets its style well.
Seohyun: Recently, Korean pop music has become successful in the western market. I think it is because there are so many singers who work hard at it. That’s why it’s getting popular with foreigner audiences.
Sunny: Because of the growth of Korean pop music, many fans can easily get the experience. So we will try to put up better performances for our fans.
YoonA: I would like to show our music to fans from other countries. We are supposed to go to Japan next.

Fans love your style. Can you recom­mend any Korean fashion lines or shops for Malaysian fans who want follow your style?

Taeyeon: I would like to introduce Myung Dong as a great place for youngsters’ culture.
Yuri: There are many famous places, but I would like to suggest Rodeo Street, Sinsadong garosugil.
Sooyoung: We also read many fashion magazines to find the best fashion.

The article also mentioned:

“Unfortunately, they were not able to say when they’ll be heading to Malaysia for a concert” - Star2

"Former cutie now mature woman"...Tiffany's Air Has Changed

On the 11th, at 1:30pm, the "SMTOWN Writers & Publishers Conference" was held at the Marriott Rive Gauche hotel in Paris, France.

Representative Lee Sooman, world-renowned music producer Teddy Riley, and Girls' Generation's Tiffany, as well as 50 European songwriters attended this event.
During this time, Tiffany was able to share on behalf of all SM artists, the training and debut process, and other things that are unique to SM's system that she herself had experienced.

Most of all, Girls' Generation's Tiffany showed off her fluent English skills and her doll-like features. Tiffany, who wore a pink mini dress to flaunt her long legs, drew the attention of the many present European reporters with her fairy-like appearance.

On another note, SM Entertainment held a concert, "SMTown Live in Paris", to celebrate the "2010-2012 Visit Korea Year". Through the concert and the conference, SM artists were able to present their music and performance. Furthermore, the conference served as a time to present to the world what music style SM is seeking, and also a time to actively exchange and form global relationships.

SNSD performs ‘Run Devil Run’ on Music Japan

SNSD recently performed their hit song, ‘Run Devil Run,’ on Music Japan earlier today.

On the 12th, the nine girls took to the Music Japan stage and gave fans a spot-on performance of ‘Run Devil Run.’ While the performance was technically pre-recorded, the performance nonetheless pleased many fans.

In the performance, the girls are seen wearing midriff-bearing white tops and white pants. But no matter what the girls wear, they always look quite spectacular, don’t they?

Check out the video below!

SMEnt's Lee Soo Man on expanding Korean Wave

The Korean Wave is advancing into Europe. Korea's largest showbiz management agency SM Entertainment is making the first move with "SM Town Live" at the 6,700 capacity concert venue Le Zenith de Paris on June 10 and 11.

The concerts proved extremely popular, with tickets for the first show selling out online in just 10 minutes. SM Entertainment originally planned to hold just one concert, but on May 1 several hundred French K-pop fans demonstrated in front of the Louvre and demanded a second.

SM founder and CEO Lee Soo-man is the person who is leading the bold move. "At one point, I was worried that we might be making reckless investment in something that could happen only in the far future," he told the Chosun Ilbo from the U.S. "But the plans to globalize our pop culture that we've been quietly preparing for more than a decade are starting to bear fruit."

SM Town Live in Paris will feature five popular Korean bands -- TVXQ, Girls' Generation, Super Junior, SHINee, and f(x).

"We've been building relationships and content with composers in various countries for a long time to globalize K-pop," Lee said. "This series of concerts is the fruit of those long-term efforts. SM has a pool of over 300 composers and producers in the U.S. and Europe, so we're capable of producing music that can appeal to people all over the world. I'm confident that we can captivate young people in France, the U.S., Britain and Germany with our music."

Asked about criticism that Korean-style showbiz management relies on "slave" contracts that bind singers and actors to their agencies for 10 years or more, Lee said, "These criticisms come from people who don't realize that this system is the driving force of the globalization of the Korean Wave. We select talented youngsters with a lot of potential at an early age, and nurture them into highly competitive entertainers through rigorous training."

But he claimed agencies are "also committed to giving them a normal education. There is a limit to American and European agency system as it only makes investment in already proven stars. But in Korea, we have a system that constantly discovers new stars. There is no place for those who seek a windfall or jackpot with a one-off investment in the Korean entertainment industry. We have produced stars through long-term planning and investment." In fact, he insisted the U.S. and Europe "are trying to learn from our system these days."

SMEnt's

SMEnt's

Original version of Mr.Taxi by Allison Veltz revealed

This song was written by Allison Veltz, Paolo Prudencio, Charles M. Royc, Scott Pearson Mann, STY. Allison Veltz recorded a DEMO version for the girls & SM Entertainment to hear and understand how it sound like when they are recording it.



Upon hearing it, which one you prefer? SNSD's or this version? Or maybe both?