Oricon praised Soshi for brilliant Arena Tour performances

SNSD’s 1st Japan Arena Tour concerts gained quite a reputation from Japanese media.

On July 21st Oricon stated, “SNSD had their last concert for the Japan Arena Tour on July 18th at Fukuoka Marine Messe. The 14-concerts Arena Tour which was scheduled to start at the end of May in Osaka due to the catastrophic earthquake attracted a total audience of 140,000. Although the members were busy preparing for the release of their 1st Japanese Album, performances in Paris and also schedules in Korea, they managed to complete the tour successfully”.

The 3 hour concert has a total of 32 songs which includes Tiffany’s rap part in ‘Genie’, solo stages, Korean hit songs, etc. Although the girls received praises for their perfect live performances and the variety of display, Japanese media seemed to be interested about the girls’ tears. Tiffany, Yuri and the other girls said, “It was our dream to tour the whole country. We are thankful for the abundance of love we received”. Oricon further stated, “The members’ tears had shone even more”.

SNSD will be kicking off their 2nd solo concert ’2011 Girls’ Generation Tour’ on July 23rd and 24th at Seoul Olympic Park Stadium. Expectations are high as the concert will also feature songs from the 1st Japanese Album.

SNSD as stewardesses on flight back from Jeju Island?

The fact that SNSD made in-flight announcements during their flight back to Seoul from Jeju became a hot topic recently.

Recently, a post named “Things that happened on the plane when SNSD came back from Jeju” was posted on an online community portal site.

According to the tweet of a flight attendant on July 20th, SNSD members who just finished their schedules in Jeju, imitated the flight attendant as she made an in-flight announcement, because they found it interesting. The flight attendant then noted down the words and uploaded it through her tweet.

Also, it was said that as the plan is implemented, Tiffany and Sooyoung were the first to do the introductions and guiding information in both English and Korean, followed by all SNSD members making in-flight announcements.

In response to this, netizens commented “I also want to hear the announcement”, “There’s nothing they can’t do”, “Until now they’re still like 17 years old girls”, “I also want to enjoy the comfort for an hour” and “Really, those who take the plan are very blessed”, etc.

Take a listen to SNSD’s Korean version of “Mr. Taxi”!

Back in April, SNSD released an original Japanese track called “Mr. Taxi” which galvanized fans all over the world.

The girls performed a Korean version of the song for the very first time during their “2011 GIRLS’ GENERATION TOUR“, held at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul on July 23rd and 24th.

A clip of the performance has just emerged on the net, and the song sounds just as catchy as its Japanese original.

Could this be their next Korean single? Check out the performance below!

SNSD become surprise air stewardesses on Jeju Island flight

On July 20th, a stewardess on board with SNSD during their flight back from Jeju Island revealed that the girls had thrown a surprise event by joining the stewardesses for the in-flight landing announcement.

She tweeted, “The Jeju-Gimpo Asiana landing broadcast was completed with SNSD today. I wonder if the Chinese passengers knew that they hit jackpot.”

The girls were said to have watched the stewardesses give their live in-flight announcements while in their seats, and enjoyed themselves so much that the stewardesses suggested throwing a surprise event by asking them to join. Sooyoung and Tiffany both guided passengers in Korean and English before the flight landed.

It wasn’t until the end that passengers found out that the voices actually belonged to SNSD. The tweet continued, “SNSD was following along with the live passenger briefing and even began dancing, leading maknae Seohyun to blush. They were all so pretty, they were like candy for my eyes for the hour we were with them.”

A representative of SM Entertainment said, “It is true that the SNSD members were on that plane, but we didn’t know about the surprise event. We hope that the passengers enjoyed it.”

Mr. Taxi Korean Version

Check out the Korean version of Mr Taxi.

The girls performed this version during their concert in Seoul,prefer which version more?

SNSD’s Seoul concert to be shown globally through Facebook

On July 22nd, SM Entertainment revealed that they would be showing SNSD’s “2011 Girls’ Generation Tour” globally through their official Facebook accounts.

Through SM Town and Girls’ Generation, fans will be able to check out not only the performance footage, but pictures of the girls backstage and videos from their press conference. This is surely a treat for fans that weren’t able to attend the concert themselves.

The girls will also be using their new Facebook page to converse with fans all over the world.

SNSD’s tour will head over to Seoul on July 23rd and 24th.

Signs of 'Invincible Youth' Being a Huge Hit in Japan?

The KBS entertainment program "Invincible Youth" which ended last December in 2010 is slowly showing signs of being popular in Japan.

Asahi Newspaper reported on the 19th that the "Invincible Youth" DVDs sold well when it was released last April. The newspaper introduced the show as one where you could see Hallyu idols without make up and who offered a wholesome image that could not be seen elsewhere.

The episode where the members of the show including Girls' Generation Sunny visited Biei, Hokkaido in October 2009 was also mentioned, and the representative of Biei's tourism stated, "It has become a famous tourist location for Koreans. I didn't know that two days of filming would have this much of an impact."

Even though "Invincible Youth" has reached its end, the program's increasing popularity in Japan is most likely due to the presence of the Hallyu wave. Leading groups like Girls' Generation and KARA have attracted an overwhelming following, and with the entrance of more Korean idol groups into the Japanese music industry, interests in anything K-Pop related is bound to remain at an all-time high.