Taetiseo discusses their experience as a unit and changes in style

Nearly a month into the release of “Twinkle“, Girls’ Generation‘s unit group Taetiseo remains at the top of the charts in addition to numerous wins on major music programs with a triple crown on KBS‘s ‘Music Bank‘.

In their latest interview with Star News, the trio expressed, “We’re really amazed but happy that the three of us can win so many great awards like this. It’s thankfully because of the fans that love all the nine members.”

As this is their first unit group since their debut five years ago, it’s expected to be full of new experiences and challenges. The girls said, “We earn a lot of strength from the members that are always supporting us from afar.” Seohyun added, “There are a lot of things that I’ve learned while promoting. I feel grateful for the support that I receive from the other members since we’re promoting away from them now.”

Tiffany stated, “The nine of us share group texts, so whenever we get done with our stage, they send us congratulatory messages saying they enjoyed our stage and that they’re always supporting us. YoonAand Yuri, who are in the middle of filming their own dramas, even send in pictures of themselves watching and monitoring our performances.”

On their change in fashion, the girls stated, “We’re able to try a lot more variety of styles as a unit.”Seohyun said, “I think our biggest charm is for the three of us to bring our individuality together into harmony on stage. I think the combination of the three of us is a fresh one.”

Taeyeon added, “Since there are inevitable restrictions with the way we have to dress when there’s nine of us, we usually resort to having to wear the same outfits. As a trio unit, however, it’s fun to be able to try different varieties.”

When asked to name one negative aspect of promoting as a unit, they replied humorously, “Our waiting room has gotten a lot smaller.” They also added, “We’re always communicating with the other members, but there’s a different energy compared to when the nine of us are promoting.”

Hyoyeon’s secret to her beauty is receiving love?

Girls’ Generation‘s dancing machine, Hyoyeon, has been making a name for herself lately on ‘Dancing with the Stars 2‘ with her dancing skills and her eye catching looks.

On the May 25th episode of the show, MC Kim Gyu Ri asked Hyoyeon what the secret to her beauty was. Hyoyeon smiled bashfully as she stated, “I’m not sure…“.

After giving some thought, and seeing Lee Hoon standing next to her, she joked, “It’s because of Lee Hoon oppa“. She also added, “I think it’s because I’ve been receiving a lot of love that I’ve become prettier.

In related news, Hyoyeon recently claimed first place on last week’s episode of ‘Dancing with the Star 2′

RELIVE IT: MBC ‘Korean Music Wave in Google’ takes the Bay Area by storm

On May 21st, 2012 MBC and Google set out to make history at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California with ‘Korean Music Wave in Google‘. The two forces joined together for an unforgettable concert that drew in a crowd of over 25,000 made up of casual K-pop listeners to fanatics, and even some who experienced the phenomena for the first time that night. The event was also streamed live through YouTube all over the world making this the most globally watched K-pop concert in history.

With the announcement of the concert being made public with free admission, fans bookmarked the ticket distribution site, cleared out their schedules for the weekend, as well as setting multiple alarms for May 12th 7:00 PM PST in preparation of the tickets going live. Although the notice was short, fans’ readiness was demonstrated by the crash of Powerhouse‘s page even before the site went live and tickets ran out within an hour despite the constant server errors.

With the exception of Google employees and MBC staff, who had VIP tickets, everyone else who managed to get an email voucher or ticket had no choice but to camp out or park themselves in line at the wee hours of the morning in order to secure seats up close near the action, or else face the massive lines that later went so far beyond that the end of the line was not even visible.

At 5:00 PM PST, the gates opened up and fans rushed forward pushing, shoving, and nudging one another, losing a shoe in the process, falling over barriers, and surprising the ticket checkers, who seemed quite overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of K-Pop fans.

After a fight to secure the best seats possible, fans waited patiently for another two hours before the vice president of MBC and the head of entertainment from YouTube stepped out to officially open up the ceremony. After the initial words, the display changed to a countdown announcing the beginning of the concert. Energy was high and excited screams filled the air. Despite the 12+ hours of waiting for many, it was surprising to see how much energy the audience was able to muster up to cheer for the opening of the concert.

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To kick off the concert was KARA with their highly popular track, “Step“. The crowd went wild as the girls showcased a perfect live performance in adorable, white outfits followed by a short talk session.Nicole, who grew up in the States, made the fans laugh as she stumbled over her own words and quickly blurted, “I’m so nervous!” The group then introduced the hosts for the night, who were none other than Girls’ Generation‘s very own Taeyeon and Tiffany.

Dressed to dazzle in a short red dress to compliment her vibrant hair, Tiffany charmed the audience with her fluent English, while Taeyeon shined with her smooth emceeing skills in an elegant orange gown. The girls drew much cheer from the crowd, and introduced the next act, which were the fine men ofMBLAQ.

As the center screen/doors slid open, the members of MBLAQ emerged dressed to impress in sharply tailored, black and white suits. They launched right into their latest hit “This is War” much to the screams of A+ and the K-Pop lover filled audience. Fans could be heard singing along and their enthusiasm did not die down as the boys continued into their next song, “Y“. The members managed to somehow look unruffled and handsome as ever even while struggling to catch their breath as they concluded two powerful performances in a row. The group drew many ear piercing fangirl screams as they took the time to converse with the audience with Thunder introducing in English their next track in the line up, “Oh Yeah“.

As MBLAQ made their leave, SISTAR made their entrance in classy, yet subtly sexy black and gold outfits. Belting out “Alone“, they left fans mesmerized with their “crane leg dance” and flawless vocals. Up next was their trademark body wave choreography with their catchy track, “Ma Boy“, and along with it came the screams and shouts of male and female fans. It also seemed the Shoreline staff standing guard in the aisle nearby could not help but glance behind to sneak glimpses at the girls as he bumped along to the music. The girls then greeted the audience in their upbeat manner and Dasom flaunting a bit of English as fan service before they drove the crowd wild again with their hit track, “So Cool“.

f(x) came next with “Pinocchio (Danger)” and continued their performance with their hit track “Hot Summer“, ironically, as the weather started to get chilly. However for the moment, the girls left the audience oblivious to the temperature drop as they witnessed live the adorable choreography that had won their hearts through their computer and TV screens at home. The group shined during their talk session as Amber, feeling right at home having been raised in California, riled up the audience asking them to shout even louder and bringing laughter asking Krystal, another Californian, if she was “gonna go crazy”. Krystal responded with the classic, “duh!” much to the amusement of the audience. The group then launched into “NU ABO” to finish off their performance with a bang.

The audience was then treated to two special performances from Wonder Girls‘ Sun and Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun. Sun put on a beautiful cover of Insooni‘s “Father” in remembrance of her late father and to express the importance of showing one’s appreciation and love for one’s father. Almost like it had been planned, the audience swayed their arms in unison as she sung the moving song. Seohyun was up next with a song of a completely different feel, covering Cherry Filter‘s “Flying Duck“. With her punk rock transformation complete with a pink guitar around her neck, Seohyun delivered an upbeat crowd pleaser.

To finish up the performance they started earlier, KARA was back with a change in outfit. The girls had the audience bobbing along to “Lupin“, before following up with the last track, “Mister“. As soon as the girls announced “Mister” as their next song, the crowd roared in approval and all eyes were on the girls as they performed their wildly popular “hip dance”. The song had even the uncle fans in the audience moving to the beat while also trying to steady their hands to capture every moment of the girls with their cameras and phones.

After a line up of several girl groups, B2ST brought back the male force as they stepped out in studded grey suits. It seemed the audience, at least the fan girls, were ready for some male presence, as the screams were deafening. To the crowd of thousands of screaming fans, the group put on performances of “Shock“, followed by the extremely popular, “Fiction“. Banners and signs were waved in the air nonstop throughout the performances even as fans concentrated to absorb every lasting detail of their favorite member. The group then brought out “Beautiful“, which had the audience singing along to the familiar catchy tune.

Up next was another girl group who definitely had many on the verge of hyperventilation. Opening up their part of the show with “The Boys“, Girls’ Generation had the audience shouting “Girls’ Generation makes you feel the heat!” The same Shoreline staff member was back in the aisle again and it seemed he was also captivated by the power and beauty of the seven ladies in their sparkling outfits, as he seemed unable to take his eyes off of them. The girls then explained the absence of members YoonAand Yuri, who had to stay back due to their dramas, and adorably asked the crowd for their support as they were standing on stage as seven rather than nine. The audience drank it all up as they cheered on the girls with loud screams. Performing “Taxi“, followed by “Gee“, fans went nuts as they sang their hearts out and danced along.

The globally popular Wonder Girls continued the energy as they asked everyone, “Be My Baby“, showcasing an upbeat performance that had the audience chanting the chorus line. The girls then launched into an old favorite, “Tell Me“, which seemed to bring back memories for many K-pop fans who all shouted “Omona” right along with Sohee. The years spent in the U.S. were put to good use as the group showed excellent command of English as all the members were able to communicate with the audience fluently. Yenny even brought the whole venue on their feet as she taught them the famous choreography to their next song, “Nobody“. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement as everyone sang along and followed along with the choreography.

Then came one of the biggest names in K-pop, Super Junior. The group definitely made an impression as they made the most dramatic entrance of the night. Some of the members emerged from the middle of the venue and walked past the fans as they made their way down the aisle onto the stage for an unforgettable performance of “Superman“. The group then launched into “Mr. Simple” before introducing themselves to the audience. Their introduction and greeting were definitely one of the most memorable of the night as the members energetically shouted, “We are Super JuniUH”. Leeteuk also had the crowd laughing as he asked “My name is..? My name is..?”, to which the crowd shouted back,“Leeteuk! Leeteuk!”, and he answered, “Wow, you’re genius!” The group then brought the house down with their final performance with the song that every K-pop lover knows – “Sorry Sorry“.

The prestigious last stage went to the group often referred to as the ”Gods of K-pop”, TVXQ. The duo lived up to their nickname as they left the audience awestruck with a fearsome performance of “Keep Your Head Down“. They then slowed things down and delivered spot on live vocals with “Before You Go“. Even out of breath, the two took the time to thank the fans who cheered them on so loudly. Yunhoexpressed that despite feeling a bit physically drained after traveling from Korea along with performing at LA prior to this performance, he was so energized by the crowd that he couldn’t help but give it his all. He and Changmin then pumped up the stage asking the crowd, “Are you ready?! Are you ready?!”before diving into the final performance of the night with “Rising Sun“.

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They say that all good things must come to an end, and this concert was no exception as all the artists were brought out on the stage for the last time to bid farewell to the audience. Taeyeon and Tiffany closed off the unforgettable night with their final commentary, and Leeteuk reminded us about the message this concert hoped to bring as he eloquently stated, “Our languages and our appearances may be different, but we became united as one with music.” The groups then all lent their voices for the traditional Korean song, “Arirang“, and were also joined in by many audience members who also sang or hummed along, savoring the final moments of the night.

Hyoyeon displays her sensual charm for latest performance on ‘Dancing With The Stars 2′

Girls’ Generation‘s Hyoyeon once again dazzled viewers with another flawless performance on MBC‘s ‘Dancing With The Stars 2‘.

On the May 25th broadcast of ‘Dancing With the Stars 2′, Hyoyeon sent a video message to her partner saying, “I am practicing really hard, watching the videos. I will be sure to show you my best moves.”

Looking lovely in a pink dress, Hyoyeon showcased her more sensual charms and perfectly pulled off the sexy Roomba dance. Her teamwork with her partner seemed to progress each week, and their chemistry earned the praise of the audience members.

Judge Song Seung Hwan remarked, “You guys work better together each week,” and gave them a 6.Alex Kim told them, “If you work just a bit harder, you can create an even more fantastic Roomba dance,” giving them a 7, while Kim Joo Won who told them she liked their appropriate facial expressions also gave them a 7.

TaeTiSeo poses with their 3rd M! Countdown trophy!

TaeTiSeo won their 3rd trophy on M! Countdown with Twinkle yesterday.

The girls thanked fans for their support and pose with their 3rd M! Countdown trophy as shown in the photo above.

Once again,congratulations to the girls for winning!

Fanboy protects Taeyeon from a moth + laughter over cute mistake during “Twinkle” performance

The lovely ladies of TaeTiSeo held a special fan signing event at the Lotte Cheongnyangni Plaza in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul on May 24th.

During the fan signing, a fan took footage of a moth that was bothering Taeyeon. Taeyeon seemed a bit distraught by the moth but luckily for her, a fanboy came to the rescue. The fanboy went to town on the moth, slapping it out of the air and then stomping on it. Taeyeon appreciated his efforts and thanked him afterwards.

Additionally, on the same day, the kid leader made a cute mistake during TaeTiSeo‘s performance of “Twinkle” on Mnet‘s ‘M! CountDown‘.

Towards the end of the performance, Taeyeon was hit on the microphone which caused her to laugh and mumble some lines in the song. But being the professional singer she is, Taeyeon quickly covered her mistake and continued with the performance.

TaeTiSeo placed 1st on ‘M! CountDown’ for the 3 consecutive week.

The mistake occurs around the 1:50 mark below!

RELIVE IT: SMTOWN heats up Anaheim, CA for ‘SMTOWN Live World Tour III’!

In 2010, the SM Entertainment family threw their first-ever American concert at STAPLES Centerin Los Angeles, becoming the first K-pop agency to host an official ‘family’ tour in the States. In 2011, the agency outdid itself by taking over New York City’s Madison Square Garden, one of the most venerated music arenas around the globe.

Now, two eventful years later, SMTOWN has returned to the West Coast to kick off ‘SMTOWN Live World Tour III‘ in Anaheim, California!

With brand new songs, artists, projects and surprises under their belts, the third American edition of the SMTOWN Live tour certainly did not disappoint. Read on to relive the SMTOWN experience below!

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Following STAPLES Center and Madison Square Garden, the SM family can now add Anaheim’s Honda Center to the list of American concert halls where their stable of artists have graced. Drawing over 12,000 attendees, the ‘SMTOWN Live World Tour’ was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated K-pop events to take place in California this year.

SM Entertainment pulled out all the stops this year, transforming Honda Center into a dynamic performance arena for a spectacular evening. Three stages were spread across the stadium at the front, the center and inward toward the audience, all connected by runways stretching across the left, center and right parts of the stadium.

MCs Leeteuk, Taeyeon and Tiffany opened the show, with Leeteuk in a white suit and the ladies in black cocktail dresses. They each introduced themselves and brightly greeted the audience, promising a dynamic tour performance by all of the artists for the evening.

To kick off the evening, a video projection flashed onto large screens at the front of the stadium with aSkrillex inspired dubstep track. Fans screamed as SHINee emerged from lifts on the center stage to perform “Lucifer“, elevating and descending to the instrumental as backup dancers danced on the floor level below.

Although dancing in formations on the lift stunt seemed dangerous enough in itself, the five members turned up the heat with a rock version of “Amigo“, which featured a heavy metal break with the members full-on headbanging as they rose on the stage lifts. Finally, the quintet returned to the main stage to perform “Juliette“, complete with a new hip hop dance break after the final chorus to wrap up the opening performance for the night.

Without missing a beat, SHINee handed the spotlight to Super Junior, who turned up the hype by a notch with an intense introduction to a “Superman” remix, standing in a line side by side and facing the audience as they chanted in unison and approached the center stage lifts. The members proceeded with “Don’t Don” and “Bonamana“, including a frenzy of rock instruments for a climactic conclusion.

Fans weren’t given a moment to breathe as a smoky haze swirled about the stage during a transition. The powerful duo Yunho and Changmin of TVXQ stormed the stage with the heavy beat of “Way You Are“, which transitioned into the second chorus of “Mirotic” with Yunho’s rap and Changmin’s epic high note, only to close with a final orchestral finish. Although the performance gave a taste of two of the group’s smash hits, the short medley only left the audience begging for more.

In contrast, the ladies of f(x) stepped on stage to use their own charms to crank up the heat with “Hot Summer” and “NU ABO“. As a California native, Amber introduced the girls and warmly greeted the audience, as Luna occasionally piped in with confident English phrases.

Next, a lone shape rose out of center stage as Taeyeon was lifted into the middle of the stadium, dressed in a textured black jacket. The kid leader may be petite, but when she opened her mouth to belt out her ballad, “Devil’s Cry“, Taeyeon nearly brought the house down with her powerful voice.

The Girls’ Generation leader was soon joined by six fellow members for “Run Devil Run” in embellished black & bold vests and leather high-heel boots. Each member introduced herself to a massive cheer of audiences, and Sunny especially thanked fans for recently celebrating her birthday. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t come with lucky number 9, but tonight there’s a lucky number 7,” Tiffany explained. “You guys are gonna have to be able to fill in Yuri and YoonA‘s spots. Can you guys do that for us? They’re currently shooting their wonderful dramas ‘Love Rain‘ and ‘Fashion King‘, so if you guys have time be sure to check them out!”

The seven girls then continued with “Genie” and a laid-back remix of “Kissing You“. As the beat kicked in and white confetti continually blasted into the air, the members split off and spread across each stage to happily smile and wave at the audience. Seohyun and Sunny even linked up and adorably spun around on the middle stage.

Soon, SHINee returned to the spotlight in white outfits for “SHINee World. “Love Like Oxygen” started off with a dance segment heavy with tribal-like drum beats that continued to thrum throughout the track as water jets shot across the stage.

To the audience’s delight, the MC trio Leeteuk, Taeyeon and Tiffany returned to the stage to introduce the next segment, featuring surprise collaborations between SM artists. From Luna and Onew‘s adorably romantic cover of “Can I Have This Dance” (High School Musical 3) to Donghae andEnhyuk‘s performance of “Oppa Oppa” in crazily patterned suits with goofy disco-inspired dance moves.

Sister sensations (& also California natives) Jessica and Krystal dazzled with an upbeat cover of Katy Perry‘s “California Girls“, wow-ing the audience with extra ad-libs near the end. TVXQ & SuJu maknaes Changmin and Kyuhyun caused an uproar as they brought a girl from the audience onstage and serenaded her with a rendition of Bruno Mars‘ “Just the Way You Are“.

Suddenly, six unfamiliar figures in metallic jackets were revealed onstage as SM Entertainment’s newest group, EXO finally made its American debut with “History“. The six members of EXO-K were joined near the climax of the song by EXO-M as twelve concluded the song with a dynamic mirrored choreography.

Ecstatic fans went wild when the group made individual introductions, transitioning back and forth between English, Chinese, and Korean. “It’s so good to be here today at SMTOWN,” Canadian-bornKris shared. “We’re so happy to be here… yeah.“ FInally, EXO-K & EXO-M performed “MAMA“, beginning the first segment in Korean then switching to Chinese for the second half. Member Tao ended the stage with an impressive martial arts flip as the audience roared in appreciation.

EXO was followed by Girls’ Generation’s first-ever sub-unit trio Taetiseo, who dazzled the audience in black & pink outfits, raising some eyebrows when they were accompanied by a stageful of male back-up dancers.

The surprises kept coming the addictive hook to Far*East Movement‘s “Like a G6” pounded through the speakers, with Amber and EXO’s Kris emerging to rap and none other than Key covering DEV‘s sexy hook in the chorus.

Super Junior and TVXQ reemerged to perform their respective hits, including “Sorry Sorry“, “A-Cha“, “Maximum” and “Keep Your Head Down“, bringing back the testosterone-filled, adrenaline-pumping atmosphere the audience had experienced at the beginning of the night.

Finally, international pop star BoA made her anticipated entrance, fiercely dressed in a white tee, black jeans and black leather blazer for the equally fierce dance pop tracks “Look Who’s Talking“, “Energetic“, “I Did It For Love” and “Hurricane Venus“. To ease the energy and slow down the tempo, BoA also performed “One Dream” with Kris & Key from the hit reality show, ‘K-Pop Star‘.

Between songs, the petite singer flashed a smile and warmly greeted the stadium in English. She admitted being exhausted from flying in that morning, but was pumped nonetheless, and encouraged the audience to go all out, exclaiming, “You should all shake your booties!” BoA also admitted that she was done singing the same English tracks from her debut American album, teasingly hinting that a new English track was in the works.

Following BoA’s performance, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, SHINee, f(x) and finally TVXQ all reemerged in new outfits to perform their biggest smash hits. Super Junior’s “Mr. Simple” was particularly dazzling as the members performed a new dance break wearing bright LED jackets. Finally, TVXQ performed a rearranged version of “Rising Sun” to close the show.

For a concert of such epic magnitude with so many world-famous Hallyu stars, the stadium unified into a deafening chant for an encore, and indeed, all of the performers reemerged in white SMTOWN tees to sing together for a unified finale performance. As silver confetti rained from the top of the stadium and sprinkled onto the idols and audience members like snow, there was no doubt that ‘SMTOWN Live’ had delivered yet again.

Standing at the forefront of the Hallyu phenomenon, SM Entertainment has continually impressed with its foray into international fame, outdoing its previous ‘SMTOWN Live’ performances each year. Although attendees and diehard fans will undoubtedly be suffering K-pop concert withdrawal over the next few days, we can only wonder what SMTOWN 2013 will bring. Stay tuned!

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