Big Bang’s Tae-yang wants to know “Where U At”

He says so in his brand new, soon-to-be-released single.

We announced earlier that Big Bang member Tae-yang would be releasing his second solo album sometime in October.

Though the exact date of the album’s release has yet to be revealed, YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk has revealed that the R&B crooner will be working with director Seo Hyung-seung on the MV for the album’s title track “Where U At“. Shooting for the video will take place this weekend.

Yang Goon also confirmed that Tae-yang will likely be releasing the song as a digital single, saying “It is being planned that the song will be released with a music video as digital media first. The estimated date for Tae-yang’s full volume CD is still to be announced. I will keep you posted about Tae-yang soon”. There has still been no word from YG on what the track will sound like.

Anyhow, current ontroversy aside, YG acts like 2NE1 and G-Dragonreleased some huge hits this summer. I wonder if Tae-yang will be able to follow suit?

Stars show up in droves for “Strong Heart”

No, it’s not a charity. It’s a variety show!

We reported earlier that singer/actor Lee Seung-ki and funnyman Kang Ho-dong would co-host a new SBS program called “Kang Shim Jang“, which translates to “Strong Heart“.

The show’s first episode is slated to feature a bevy of celebrity guests, including G-Dragon and Seung-ri of Big Bang and Epik High, among others. Kang Ho-dong will be the show’s main host with Lee Seung-ki as his co-host, quite an…um, interesting and potentially entertaining pairing if you ask me. The program will feature 24 guests who will discuss difficulties they’ve faced in their respective pasts.

The first episode of “Strong Heart” will air on SBS on October 6th. Will you tune in?

2PM’s Jun-ho and Jun-su perform “Only You”

So, what was the fan response?

As announced earlier, 2PM members Lee Jun-ho and Kim Jun-su hit the stage (without the rest of the group’s members) at the SBS Supermodel Contest 2009. The “Jun brothers”, as they are called by fans, performed the song “Only You“. Jun-su also took the time to apologize for not being able to appear as a seven-member group, but assured fans that he and Jun-ho would try their hardest and fulfill their promise to perform at the event.

The performance was not televised, but fan recordings of the performance show some cheering, but overall it looks like a somewhat unresponsive crowd. That’s understandable, as prior performances of the song featured seven happy young men dancing and enjoying their time on stage. When compared to those good old days, this performance was missing something.

Still, it must have been hard for them to get onstage given all that has transpired, so kudos to them for being so professional and sticking to their commitment to perform.

In other news, Jun-su really needs to lose that hat! I don’t get why he wore it, it even doesn’t complement his outfit. Jun-su, you are not LL Cool J circa the late 80s. Put the Kangol down!

Here’s a fancam of the performance~

G-Dragon will hold his first solo concert

Not one, but two!

That’s right! Coming this December, YG Entertainment’s resident “Heartbreaker” G-Dragon will hold his very first solo concert, or should I say concerts.

Yang Hyun-suk, the CEO of G-Dragon’s company,YG Entertainment, announced recently in a statement on the agency’s official website that G-Dragon will hold two solo concerts in the first week of December. Yang Goon also announced that the concerts will be held at the Gymnastics Stadium in the Olympic Park and tickets will go on sale sometime in early October.

Any other details about the upcoming shows have yet to be announced, but I’m sure that’s not stopping all you fangirls from jumping for joy (…not to worry, I’m right there with you). So, do any of you plan on attending?

[MV] Clazziquai plagiarizes Lady Gaga in “Tell Yourself?”

Just kidding.. I couldn’t resist the coincidental comparison.

Up-beat Electronica group Clazziquai has just released their second music video off of their album “Mucho Punk” following their fairly well received single “Love Again” today, September 25, 2009. “Tell Yourself” is a positive, bubblegum-like track that makes listeners want to bob their heads in lazy glee. Well, me at least. Tick-tick-stop-play-stop-i-tick-play-i-i-i…..

Check out the MV for “Tell Yourself”

KARA Nicole displays her English skills

…Say what?

Originally from the states, Nicole’s “broken Korean” has become so notorious and loved that it’s even earned her a hilarious position on popular quiz show “KBS Star Golden Bell.” Well, the ever-smiley Nicole of popular girl group KARA recently appeared on “Star English,” a show onEBS English, to showcase her natural English ability.

When asked about their current “sexy image,” Nicole states that they’re “not sexy,” but simply trying to show that they’re becoming women as well. On being a singer, she states that she’s never considered herself a great singer and that she “likes dancing more than singing.” In fact, if kpop didn’t work out, she predicts that she would’ve attended the legendary arts school Juilliard as a dance or violin major. She also revealed that she was inspired to become a korean singer from the famous annual Hollywood Bowl festival and, for her audition, she sang Black Eyed Peas‘ hit “My Humps.” Interesting choice.

Perhaps it’s because the host was switching back and forth form Korean to English (speaking Konglish) but it seems like Nicole’s English has naturally began to falter. She was commonly stuttering, searching for the right words and using broken grammar. Once again, it could just be the host’s confusing Konglish. And, as shown from the screenshot, the producers can’t seem to get any sufficient English translators..

Check out the full interview~

Shin-ae reveals more wedding photos

They must be one of the most beautiful couples on earth.

Since Shin-ae’s wedding in May, netizens have been on the look out for Shin-ae’s wedding photos, but obviously Shin-ae has done a very good job of keeping her hubby to herself as she initially refused to release any more photos than necessary.

Finally you can get to see husband, Park Jae-kwan, with his lady lover in some studio wedding photos. He certainly grabbed one of the best fish in the sea; many men are jealous of this lucky exchange student.

Shin-ae revealed these additional photos of her hubby and wedding through her minihompy on September 22nd.

Check out the beautiful wedding pictures~

2NE1 on popular American beauty website

I was on one of my favorite time killers (www.lovelyish.com) when a bright, neon colored, familiar picture caught my eye. What was the famous “Lollipop” CF poster doing on a popular U.S. beauty blog? Judging from the extensive 2NE1 knowledge (CL, Minji, Pretty Boy, I Don’t Care) the writer was most likely Korean. Still, to see the girls (plus Big Bang) on another U.S. website is pretty fascinating considering none of them are actually pursuing American careers at this point.

Check out the full article~

Did American icon Mariah Carey really plagiarize 2NE1?

Not skipping a beat, Korean music industry mogul Yang Hyun-seok is finally making a rather extensive statement to the scandal that has received an overwhelming response: G-dragon’s weary plagiarism case. After being given a “warning” by Sony ATV for “With U,” “I Don’t Care,” “Heartbreaker” and “Butterfly,” the face of YG had a lot to say, amongst other things, on the YG homepage in defense of his current chart topper. Here are some noteworthy snippets:

“Mariah Carey’s song ‘Standing O’ sounds similar to 2NE1’s ‘In The Club,’ which was released 3 months prior. There are 8 lines (24 seconds) that sound similar and, with the repetition of the particular selection, the song contains a total of 1 minute’s worth of material that sounds similar. However, Sony ATV has not made any statement suggesting Mariah Carey’s song being similar 2NE1’s song.” He continued, “These plagiarism accusations brought up by SonyATV have hurt the pride of the 2 [producers Teddy and Perry] which cannot be easily recovered, as well as have put YG Entertainment in public the public eye.” Yang also added, ” Both the composers of ‘I Don’t Care’ and myself have not heard the music produced by Sony ATV.”

Basically: Mariah Carey’s song sounds familiar too but nobody’s mentioned it, we haven’t heard your music, these false accusations have hurt us. Hm.. seeing as YG is hardly the type to roll over and play dead, I’m not surprised/somewhat impressed with his boldness. What do you think of his comeback?

Listen to Mariah Carey’s suspiciously-familiar-sounding song “Standing O”here.

2NE1’s “In The Club”

Park Myung-soo calls G-dragon out

“It’s a national humiliation.”

Enraging fans and giving netizens a field day, Korean comic Park Myung-soo discreetly called out G-dragon today on the MBC radio channel “FM4U.” He commented,

“It’s not right to say who, but everyone on the internet knows and I find it strange that some people actually insist that the work isn’t plagiarism.” Park Myung-soo also says, in an “I-can’t-believe-this” tone, “Instead, people are calling it ’sampling.’”

The afternoon’s guests, Bae Gi-sang and Sang Dae-hyun, were also quite frank with the situation and added “It’s a national humiliation, plagiarism. It makes foreigners ask, ‘Are you a country with no originality?’. This situation is a wake-up call to other Korean musicians that they should create their own music.”

It’s pretty obvious that the topic was related to the recent G-dragon plagiarism scandal. What do you think? Is the “heartbreaker” really guilty?