G-Dragon shares photo of MC Seungri interviewing guests Big Bang on Sakigake

As many of you know already, Seungri (V.I.) was chosen as an MC on Fuji TV‘s ‘Sakigake! Ongaku Banzuke Eight‘. The charismatic maknae recently interviewed his fellow Big Bang members who were special guests on the show.

On August 25th, G-Dragon tweeted the following:

MC:VI sama with just guest.. instagr.am/p/OwGJiwNgKP/

— G-DRAGON (@IBGDRGN) August 25, 2012

It should be interesting to watch the dynamics between the members as Seungri interviews Big Bang.

Bonus photo of G-Dragon with a unibrow (눈썹 = eyebrow):

눈썹?One of kind! instagr.am/p/OwL7aetgOG/

— G-DRAGON (@IBGDRGN) August 25, 2012

Source: G-Dragon’s Twitter

B2ST members reveal how they maintain great teamwork

The members of B2ST revealed they use ‘group chats’ to maintain their great teamwork.

During their interview with star lifestyle magazine @star1, the members stated, “We almost think it’s troublesome that we have such a good relationship with each other.”

In order to maintain a good bond, the members revealed they use Kakao Talk to chat with each other. When asked, “What do you think would happen if your chat rooms were visible to fans?” Hyunseung humorously replied, “Our fans would leave us.”

Yoseob explained, “We send each other pictures of ourselves with hilarious facial expressions to make each other laugh, but our fans wouldn’t like them.”

Junhyung then jokingly added, “That’s why I’m gathering all of Yoseob’s photos to put on display.” Yoseob replied, “But I’m being good to you right now,” causing the rest of the members to laugh.

During the same day, B2ST had a fashion photo shoot on the roof of a 42-floor building. Although it could have been a difficult considering the sudden heat wave, the members kept the scene alive with their continual singing and jokes. However, when the camera began to roll, the members transformed into serious models, receiving praise from the staff members for their high level of professionalism.

Source + Image: Hankook Kyungje via Nate

Brown Eyed Girls’ Miryo confesses she struggled after releasing her 1st solo album

Brown Eyed Girls‘ resident rapper Miryo, a former member of hip-hop group ‘Honey Family‘, recently sat down with reporters for an interview related to Mnet‘s hip-hop program ‘Show Me the Money‘

The interview took place at the Time Square M-PUB in Seoul on July 20th and was joined by the cast members from ‘Show Me the Money’, as well as the amateur rappers.

When asked whether her fellow members (Ga-In, Narsha, JeA)  monitor her appearance on the program, Miryo replied, “They all just enjoy watching the program itself. Because they love hip-hop, it seems like they aren’t watching it for me. They just watch it because the program is fun.”

Regarding her latest performance with hopeful rap contestant Iltong (Seo Sung Jo), in which they had to sing a song related to ‘love’, Miryo expressed her thoughts stating, “It was really difficult.” Without finishing her sentence, she continued, “It’s been so long since I last fell in love…”

In addition, Miryo confessed that she felt traumatized after her solo activities, realizing her shortcomings when standing solo and losing confidence on stage. Miryo had stepped out on her own as a solo artist with her first solo album, ‘MIRYO aka JOHONEY‘ on February 1st.

“To be honest, I struggled after releasing my first solo album earlier this year and I’m still struggling with it. Now that I think about it, I have always been in a group (Honey Family) even in the past and never had a solo career. I realized my shortcomings after leading a stage on my own for the very first time. That was a trauma for me and it eventuallly led me to become extremely nervous.”

“I ended up losing confidence on stage. But now, the survival aspect of the program, ‘Show Me the Money’, added to my stage fright, so I’m disappointed. However, I think I know what my problems are now. I just need to work harder and fix my flaws.”

The rapper also shared her thoughts on performing as a hip-hop artist saying, “A lot of people still only view me as Brown Eyed Girls’ rapper. However, I have a mindset similar to a non-idol member. I’m currently doing what I enjoy. I’m working with hip-hop musicians, rather than idols, so it doesn’t feel awkward at all.”

Mnet’s ‘Show Me the Money’ airs every Friday night at 11PM KST.

Source: TV Daily via Nate, Korean Ilbo via Nate

After School discusses their concept, Kahi, and their goal for “Flashback”

The fierce and sexy ladies of After School has recently made a comeback after a one-year hiatus with their newest title track, “Flashback“, which combines powerful performance and ferocity to become a worthy successor to their previous tracks, such as “Because of You“, “Bang!“, and “Diva“.

News outlet Sports Seoul recently sat down with the girls to pick their brain about some issues and questions surrounding their group and their most recent comeback.

 

• Did you know of your fans’ requests to return to your previous strong style?

“Our fans seemed to like concepts such as “Diva”, “Because of You”, and “Ah!“” said UEE. “So this time around, we chose to be powerful and sexy. Outright sexiness is something that hasn’t been tried before by After School, but this time we chose to follow our fans’ wishes.”

• Kahi, who was your leader and foundation, left the group. How do you feel?

“We were very sad that she was leaving, and in turn, she worried a lot about us as well,” said Jung-Ah. “But even if she graduates, she is still a part of Pledis Entertainment. We cheered each other up, hoping that both of us will do well,” she said. “Kahi unni yelled, ‘After School forever!’”

• What are some advantages/disadvantages to your graduation/admissions system?

“There are more advantages than disadvantages, we think. You graduate when you have confidence that you’ll be able to stand on your own,” Raina said. “But there will definitely be obstacles, such as having to do everything by yourself, when before, you had your members around you.”

• In place of Kahi, the newest team member, Ka-Eun was recruited

“Our maknae speaks Japanese very well, since she lived there for three years,” Jung-Ah said. “She’s a big asset to our Japanese promotions. (laughs) She’s tall and dances well.”

• Lizzy became an adult this year.

“Now, I want to show something new,” Lizzy confessed. “Since I was a part of Orange Caramel, I have a very cute image and I think this comeback will be able to change that. I even got to be in the center for a part of the opening.” (laughs)

• Along with the rest of the K-Pop world, you took off to Japan. Wasn’t it hard?

“For two months, we always stuck together, so I think it became an impetus to closer relationships between the members,” Nana revealed. “People didn’t know who we were as individuals at first, but that’s starting to change. A difficult part was that the yen was high, so we were financially strapped, I think?” (laughs)

• Due to your Japanese promotions, you couldn’t meet with your Korean fans.

“We worried about if we were going to be forgotten by our fans in Korea. That’s why we worked harder than ever on this comeback,” E-Young confessed. “We’ve waited so long for a domestic stage and I also wanted to do this kind of sexy concept. I’m more anxious than I was at my debut.”

• What are the goals of After School with their comeback?

“We’d like to place first with this comeback, and also want to hold a solo concert in Korea,” UEE said. “Also, we hope that our fans will keep loving us despite the member changes.”

Source: Sports Seoul via Nate

Rookie singer Juniel reveals her relationship with singer IU prior to her debut

Rookie singer Juniel who is increasingly gaining popularity with her charming voice and doll-like looks recently revealed her relationship with singer IU.

Juniel who has been dubbed as the “2nd IU” insisted during her interview that she was “not worthy enough to even be compared with IU“.

However, she did reveal her somewhat close relationship with IU. Juniel stated, “During my days as a trainee I personally met IU three times. A close older colleague of mine from elementary school was in the same entertainment as IU at that time. One day when I had free time and decided to meet up with that colleague, she had told me there was a “dongseng” she wanted to introduce me to. That person was IU.”

She continued with, “The first time we met we went to go see a musical together. The second time we met, we went to a karaoke room and had a blast. We also went to a café afterwards and talked for a really long time. Because we are both the same age, IU and I were able to speak comfortably and easily relate to one another pretty quickly.”

When Juniel was asked the question, “Do you two still hang out?” she shook her head and stated, “After we met about three times, I got rid of my phone to concentrate on training and rehearsing. That is when we stopped contacting each other and soon afterwards she had made her debut under the name IU. I’m not even sure if she remembers me. I haven’t had the chance to see her yet. ”

As for her title as the “2nd IU” Juniel stated, “I am extremely thankful of this title. However, I want to become a singer known for my own musical color and want to write legendary music. It has been four years since IU’s debut, but it has only been a week for me. I feel like I have received such a title because I have not had enough time to show everyone the kind of artist that I am. As time goes by and I have am more able to show everyone my own style of music, I believe that title will disappear. My goal is to showcase my own unique colors and become the best singer-song writer.”

Juniel, who was already widely known in Japan, made her debut in Korea on June 7th with her title song “Illa Illa“.

Source & Image: Star News

NYLON interviews Yubin during latest photoshoot

Wonder Girls‘ ever-sexy rapper Yubin has just been revealed to be the latest muse for NYLON magazine, and the company has just released a behind-the-scenes interview with the star on set!

The photoshoot turns the mundane into high fashion, with Yubin giving a twist to everyday scenes such as eating fries with ketchup and reading the newspaper. During the interview, Yubin dishes the latest scoop on the photoshoot concept, the group’s newest album ‘Wonder Party’, and more, She also shut down rumors of a possible solo career anytime soon, and asked viewers to give the Wonder Girls’ latest hip-hop bass-thrumming hit “Like This” plenty of love.

Check out the interview and a sneak peek of the shooting below –

SISTAR’s Hyorin under fire for criticizing ‘M! Countdown’

An online community board recently posted screen captures of SISTAR during an interview on one of Mnet‘s TV programs. The post has received explosive attention from netizens as they shared mixed reactions towards Hyorin‘s comments about Mnet’s ‘M! Countdown‘.

On June 15th, a user uploaded the screen captures along with the title, “SISTAR’s Hyorin directly dissed a broadcaster“. According to the captions on the screen captures, Hyorin answered, “Well, they never give 1st place [to us]” and “A broadcaster that doesn’t understand SISTAR’s feelings?” when asked, “What is ‘M! Countdown’ to SISTAR?” Member Dasom also chipped in by saying, “A strict broadcaster?”

After reading the post, some online visitors commented, “Hyorin is cute. I guess they never won 1st place at ‘M! Countdown’. Soyu looks worried? How cute“, “I like Hyorin“, and “They said it for laughs. Calm down“.

However, some thought Hyorin spoke before thinking twice and commented, “Honestly, I think they have become a little arrogant after getting popular“, “This is considered cute? That pose looks arrogant to me“, and “It’s good to be careful with words that could mislead people.”

Do you think the girls went too far, or are online users blowing this up unnecessarily?

Source + Photos: Sports Seoul via Nate

Ha Ji Won talks about exercising for women

 

Actress Ha Ji Won recently revealed a few fun facts about exercising for women during an interview.

After the premiere of Ha Ji Won and Bae Doo Nah‘s new movie, ‘Korea’, Ha Ji Won held an interview with MBC TV’s ‘Good Day’.

During the interview Ha Ji Won was asked the question, “When will your muscles be able to take a break?” To this she answered with a smile, “In order to maintain youth, the right amount of muscle is always needed.”

She continued with, “Women actually need to do more strength training for their muscles. I have a lot of muscles because of my new film, but the right amount of training will help maintain youth.”

She then shyly stated, “It will also push up everything for a woman’s body“, causing the reporter to blush as well.

 

Source + image via Nate

What’s troubling actor Jang Geun Suk?

What’s troubling actor, Jang Geun Suk these days?

At the young age of 26, Jang Geun Suk has already achieved so much in life.  He has become a huge star, known throughout every corner of Asia.  The public have praised him as the top Hallyu star who conquered Japan.  With such a strong image and reputation, it’s only expected that high expectations would follow suit. However, low ratings in Jang Geun Suk’s latest drama seems to drawing much criticism from the public.  Jang Geun Suk has addressed this issue in his latest interview.

On April 27th, Jang Geun Suk had an interview session at the filming location of ‘Love Rain‘, where he shared his thoughts about the drama’s poor ratings and what not.  During the interview, he honestly expressed, “I wish people would stop expecting me to always achieve success“.

“I’ve never been too concerned about the poor ratings while filming the drama, thus far.  The shootings are fun and it’s enjoying to work with the staff, that I’m not bothered even if the ratings are bad.  One thing that I really want to say is…I wish people didn’t give me the pressure by always expecting me to achieve success.  I know that there have been a lot of talks about the poor ratings, but I am only 26 years old.  Do I have to obtain everything?  I think that I’m at the stage where I can experiment and experience failures.  Right now, I’m experiencing failures and freshly starting new challenges“, he said.

On this day’s interview, Jang Geun Suk stressed that although, people consider him as the top hallyu star, he has much to learn and experience.

Source + Photos: Osen

 

Ivy’s “Torn Heart” reaches #1 on music charts

Ivy‘s title track, “Torn Heart“, from her first mini-album ‘Interview‘ is currently taking music charts by storm. After the release of her single on April 27th, the song has already entered the top 10 of real-time music charts and reached #1 on Mnet‘s Olleh Music. At the same time as her album release, Ivy also unveiled her official home page titled “IVYNUS”, and its server crashed for an hour due to the flood of visitors.

A representative from Ivy’s agency stated, “Not only Ivy but her whole staff team that worked hard for her comeback can’t contain their joy at reaching #1, which we never could have expected. Ivy did her best to pour out her true feelings into this album, and I think she effectively delivered those emotions to her fans. Starting with today’s comeback performance, Ivy plans to show fans a more improved side of her.”

Ivy will be making her first comeback performance at KBS 2TV‘s ‘Music Bank‘ on the 27th.

Source: OSEN

Ivy releases jacket photos for ‘Interview’!

Innocent yet sexy.

Ivy released two jacket photos for her comeback portraying polar sides of herself.

On April 25th, Ivy’s agency excited fans with teaser photos for Ivy’s first mini-album ‘Interview‘, in which Ivy portrays a comfortable yet mysterious feeling. In one photo, Ivy is showing off her beautiful and innocent smile, while in the other photo, the singer made a 180 degree transformation with smokey makeup. In the mysterious and sexy teaser photo, Ivy’s crown is reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty.

Ivy will be releasing her new ballad song “Torn Heart” on April 27th. Check out the MV teaser!

Source + Photos: Star News via Nate