Girls' Generation & T-ara certified double platinum and gold in Japan

K-Pop groups Girls’ Generation and T-ara continue to solidify their growing status in Japan, as they achieved several album awards for their Japanese releases.

According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan’s report, Girls’ Generation’s title song from third Japanese single “Mr. Taxi” has been certified the double platinum status in Japan after they notched half a million digital ringtone downloads.

On the other hand, T-ara’s “Bo Peep Bo Peep” has achieved gold status after receiving over 100,000 paid download since being released on October of last year.

Under the Recording Industry Association of Japan’s (RIAJ) standard, music content selling over 100,000 copies are certified Gold, 250,000 as Platinum and one million as Million.

Hallyu Wave expected to cool down in the next four years, KoreaTimes reports

In contrast to the multitude of Korean and international articles praising the Hallyu wave’s rapid international spread and predicting its future growth, a new KoreaTimes article suggests that the viral nature of this success may not last as long as some expect.

“Six out of 10 foreigners believe the recent fad for Korean culture ― K-pop, movies and TV dramas and soap operas ― will decline over the next few years,” the report reveals. A survey by Korea’s Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism and the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) revealed that 60% of 3,600 people in nine countries doubt that the Hallyu wave will see lasting international success.

“The main reason foreigners doubted hallyu’s continued success is because they are ‘tired of standardized content,’” the article explained, attesting that 20.5% of respondents voted for this reason.

“Hypersexual dancing, lyrics and clothing are common among K-pop “idols,” and teen singers,” the report points out. “Korean drama series repeatedly revisit topics such as adulterous affairs, revenge and secrets surrounding the birth or identity of characters, making it difficult to move increasingly desensitized audiences.”

Experts believe that Korea must ‘sell its unique story’ in order to win over other countries by integrating the nation’s traditions into Korean pop culture.

As one representative from the culture ministry said, “Content that isn’t original and diverse will not survive in the market. It is essential to diversify the stories in the media … We also need to encourage financial investment in media, because you can’t create a masterpiece with just a great story and an idea.”

The report can be read in its entirety at KoreaTimes here.

This skepticism of the Hallyu wave comes as a shock to many Korean and international K-pop fans, many of whom are currently “drunk on the international Korean culture craze”. What are your predictions for the future of the Hallyu wave? We’d like to hear your reasoning in the comments section below!

TaeTiSeo performed Twinkle and Baby Steps on Open Concert!

Check out TaeTiSeo's performance on Open Concert,the girls performed Twinkle and Baby Steps on the show,enjoy!

Girls' Generation Shows Constant Popularity in Japan

Girls’ Generation is showing constant popularity in Japan despite being active in South Korea now.

The Recording Industry Association of Japan has released the certificate list according to the music sales of the last four months. According to this list, Girls’ Generation’s “MR. TAXI”, which was released on the 26th of April 2011, has been certified double-platinum. The certificate was awarded to the song in the ringtone (full version) division. Double-platinum certificates are only awarded to songs which have surpassed the 500,000 mark. In this case, the ringtone has been downloaded more than 500, 000 times.

This only proves how popular “MR. TAXI” is in spite of the fact that it was released over a year ago.

Note: Parts of the article not related to Girls’ Generation were omitted.

JESSICA惊人告白，“徐贤和我不搭调”

120520 TaeTiSeo won 1st place on Inkigayo + Performance clips!

Congratulations to TaeTiSeo for winning on Inkigayo,check out their performance on the show here.

Tiffany & Hyoyeon get manner hands backstage at ‘Dancing with the Stars 2′

Actress and model Choi Yeo Jin‘s partner on ’Dancing with the Stars 2‘, Park Ji Woo, recently posted a photo he took backstage with Girls’ Generation‘s Tiffany and Hyoyeon.

On May 18th, he tweeted, “Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany. Hyoyeon,” along with the above photo. The dancer looked quite happy in between the two lovely ladies of Girls’ Generation, but netizens have once against noticed another pair of “manner hands”.

They commented, “Park Ji Woo is a lucky man,” “Tiffany and Hyoyeon are really thin,” “Hyoyeon got first place [on the show] the other day,” “Park Ji Woo tried to pull off manner hands, and then froze up,”and “I’m jealous you get to see Girls’ Generation every week.”