Uee, has been cast for the childhood role of the character, ‘Mi-sil’, played by actress Ko Hyun-jung. The production team for the drama, ‘Queen Seon-duk’, was in search of an actress with an innocent and intelligent image to play the younger ‘Mi-sil’ for the reminiscent scenes of ‘Mi-sil’ as a young adult. After searching high and low amongst a long list of rookie actresses, the production team ended up offering Uee the role.

Episodes 13 and 14, starring Uee, will air in Korea on July 6th and 7th.

The actor is back with a new MV for his follow up track, ‘Soliloquy’.

The result of an idea that Lee Jun-ki came up with himself, the latest music video has a bit more drama than his previous MV, ‘J-Style’. Don’t expect to see the cutie dancing but be prepared to see a more seductive side of him and a kiss scene as well. The new MV is supposed to show two different sides of Lee Jun-ki, going back and forth between his calm and passionate sides.

Although  the track isn’t that great, Lee Jun-ki looks HOT. Ladies, you definitely won’t regret sparing 4 minutes of your life to watch it.

Indeed, good singing is timeless.

In a cloud of bright color and autotuned dance songs, DaVichi and SG Wannabe’s Kim Jin-ho remind us that there is still hope for the talent known as singing. I have a self-professed love for DaVichi since their debut with “I Hate You Even Though I Love You”, and even though, Mnet Media is steering them toward mainstream tastes, their vocals are undeniably rich and do indeed hold mass appeal. I hold a lot of reverence for SG Wannabe as well, especially Jin-ho, who I find extra amusing because of his histrionic singing gestures.

For yesterday’s Mnet M!Countdown, DaVichi and Jin-ho performed “Timeless,” which was originally sung by American Idols Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini for their horrendous attempt at a movie, “From Justin to Kelly.” There’s also a Korean version sung by DBSK’s Xiah Jun-su and Jang Ri-in (Zhang Li-yin), but of course, its much more interesting hearing them sing in the original English. DaVichi and Jin-ho have sang this song before in the past on “Yoon Do-hyun’s Love Letter,” but they pack extra power and emotion this time around, and I enjoy counting how many times Jin-ho fiddles with his earpiece. Enjoy~

Recent M!Countdown

Love Letter February 2008

Don’t get too excited Hyun-ah fans, she can’t redeem herself by going back to her glory days.

For last night’s Mnet M!Countdown, 4minute performed Wondergirls’s original hit, “Tell Me.” As you may know, Hyun-ah was originally a member of the Wondergirls right up until the release of “Tell Me” and she was forced to resign from Wondergirls due to her medical condition. If there was criticism about her hogging too much attention in Wondergirls, now she has 4minute’s “Hot Issue” and she is definitely touted as the centerpiece for the group.

For some reason, it somewhat irks me that the Wondergirls are considered M!Countdown Heroes after only two years since their debut, but I suppose it makes sense because “Tell Me” was such a humongous hit. Either way, 4minute does a fairly mediocre job lip-syncing to “Tell Me” and performing the choreography. It’s fun to watch though.

Maknae So-hyun does a better job of singing So-hee’s parts than So-hee. Doll face Ga-yoon finally get some time to shine as she sings as Sun-ye. Honestly, Hyun-ah gets way too many parts during this performance. It’s understandable she gets the first verse, the rap, and the solo dance because those parts were originally delegated to her, but does she really have to sing Sun-mi’s parts as well with her whiny high-pitched voice? Leader Ji-hyun looks like she doesn’t get any solo verses, and although she gets the role of Ye-eun, Ji-yoon feels under-utilized.

Check it out~

FINALLY!

After pushing back the release date for G-Dragon’s solo album, it has finally been announced that it will be released on his twenty-first birthday on August 18th. It was initially postponed in the Spring due to G-Dragon suffering from slight depression and needing time to recuperate by vacationing in Europe. Now that he is all better and taking Japan by storm, it’s finally time to make good on his promised solo album.

G-Dragon will be the fourth member of Big Bang to venture into solo activities. In other Big Bang solo news, there are plans for Tae-yang’s first full solo album in the works and Dae-sung to release a non-trot solo album later this year.

No time to slump for the Big Bang boys. They are keeping busy throughout 2009.

What a lucky girl!

After secretly filming the MV for Ariel Lin’s upcoming first album “Xing Fu Yu Jian” (”Meeting Happiness“), the MV for the song “Firefly” featuring Super Junior’s Dong-hae and Si-won has been released. I personally love Taiwanese MVs of this sort, a sweet song with a simple love story narrative. I also have a tender spot for Ariel Lin’s singing because she is predominantly an actress. Ariel Lin displays good chemistry with both SuJu boys, and they even insert Super Junior’s “Love U More” and “Sorry, Sorry” a little bit in the beginning. Can’t wait for the ELFs to get all up in her business for sharing sweet moments with their precious boys, or maybe they might be nice and like the MV. *laughs*

Check it out~

I’m just going to explain what happens for you in case you don’t fully understand Mandarin or Korean. If you just want to watch the MV, please do so and skip this spoiler explanation until after viewing the MV, or you can just not read it at all and have your own interpretation.

Si-won plays Ariel Lin’s old lover, who suddenly left her to possibly wait for him to eventually come back. As she seems to wait fruitlessly for him with a broken heart, Dong-hae comes into her life and slowly cheers her up with his dorkiness. Dong-hae and Ariel develop a strong friendship, but Si-won comes back into her life as Dong-hae’s old high school buddy. Dong-hae does not know Ariel and Si-won know each other, so they all just hang out like a fun trio. When Ariel is sleeping on Dong-hae’s shoulder, Dong-hae reveals to Si-won that he is very glad she is sleeping so well now because she used to have trouble sleeping after having a tough time. Dong-hae also says something along the lines of “Even though she has a lot of character and isn’t very gentle, I would like to stay by her side forever unlike the guy who abandoned her before.” Si-won seems to be satisfied with Dong-hae’s confession. In the last scene, Dong-hae asks if Si-won has found the girl he was looking for. Si-won reveals that he did, but that he’s not able to find that love anymore. As he gets on the train, Si-won’s voice-over says “To have a chance to meet again is also a type of happiness: No matter when and where, whoever you meet, whatever the result is. Those are also a type of happiness.” As Si-won leaves, Ariel holds Dong-hae’s hand, as she realizes Dong-hae has and always will be there for her and she doesn’t love Si-won anymore.

Of course, you only bring the best and the biggest to the Tokyo Dome.

As TVXQ’s last stop for their fourth live tour on July 4th and 5th, the “Rising Gods of the East” are going to perform at the famed Tokyo Dome as the first Korean group to do so. Apparently, Rain was the first Korean artist to perform at the Tokyo Dome in 2007, but he failed to draw a crowd big enough to fill the whole stadium. I don’t foresee that sort of problem for TVXQ though. They are going to receive a packed house if anything.

The Tokyo Dome boasts a 55,000 seating capacity, and is about four times bigger than the largest stadium in Korea. Top Japanese artists, such as SMAP, KAT-TUN, KinKi Kids, and X-JAPAN, as well as many world stars, including Madonna, Bon Jovi, and The Rolling Stones, have all graced the Tokyo Dome in the past.

The boys are flourishing in Japan. All we can do from Korea is watch from afar and go “Atta boys!” as we wait patiently for their return to the motherland. When is that going to happen? *shrugs*

Did you guess correctly? Here’s one more school photo to possibly help you out. Maybe this might be too hard because her eyes can be misleading. Why? Not because she has technically gotten work done on them, but rather…

…it’s because she wears sunglasses all the time! It’s 4minute’s Jun Ji-yoon. Turns out she has eyes after all. No surprise there. 4minute is sure on the up and up, since they won “Rookie of the Month” on Cyworld for the month of June.

Although ex-Wondergirls Hyun-ah may have originally been the headliner for 4minute before their debut, Ji-yoon has stolen the spotlight with her “Hot Issue“ persona as permanent sunglasses wearer. Got to sport those sunglasses onstage, backstage, on set, outdoor, indoor, no matter what the occasion. That girl can’t take off those babies because she is contractually obligated to maintain that image by Cube Entertainment as revealed on “Park Kyung-lim’s Starry Night” radio show.

Don’t get into a frenzy though, folks. She’ll reveal those sparkly eyes soon enough during one of their “Hot Issue” performances. So far, the picture shown below is the only recent photo released of Ji-yoon sans sunglasses. Do you like Ji-yoon without the unnecessary eye gear or do you have a sunglasses fetish?

Sexy cars and hot chicks? This is made for guys.

The hip hop duo One Two teased us with a vision of sultry Park Ga-hee of After School, but what do we get in reality? A few glimpses of Park Ga-hee looking cheeky as she feebly pretends to DJ behind turntables for the last half of the MV. That disappointment aside, I’m feeling this song. It’s obvious that One Two are taking a more mainstream approach as they try to be smooth and exude a lot of swagger, but they still maintain some of their goofy, fun side near the 1:50 mark. This particular style reminds me of MC Mong’s “Crazy” MV.

Overall, it’s a somewhat boring MV with a few good moments. Check it out~

For a while now, one of the most bold and characteristic fashion hairstyles has been the mushroom cut.

Just like the fungus, the mushroom hairstyle has many different variations. They range anywhere from short and round (like a straw mushroom) to long and flowing (like a shiitake mushroom). Poofy, close-cropped, wavy, straight, you name it. It can look absolutely cute and cheek-pinchingly adorable; yet cut or worn wrongly, it can really look cheap and ruin the day and eye-sight of anyone who sees it (I saw one such monstrosity at Lotte World one time, it still gives me nightmares). It has made appearances on the streets of Korea worn by everyday people, to the small and big screen where it is subsequently shown-off on the domes of various celebrities.

Most recently it has made an appearance with cute actress Han Hyo-joo (top right) of Spring Waltz and Iljimae fame. She is back again in a new drama called “Shining Inheritance” featuring K-ballad crooner Lee Seung-ki. In this drama, Han Hyo-joo sports the famous, or rather infamous mushroom hair-style that is and has been the rage in Korea for quite some time. It seems like she took “mushroom” quite literally as her hair could be confused with a large toadstool if seen far away.

The mushroom hairstyle has been displayed on the heads of other famous K-celebs as well namely Suh In-young, (bottom left) Jessica (Girls Generation) (bottom right) Kang Min-kyung (the taller part of the singer duo Davichi – middle left), Tae Min (of SHINee- middle right), Micky Yoo-Chun (of Dong-bang-shin-ki – top, middle) MC Mong (insert monkey joke/comment here- bottom midde) and more recently beautiful actresses Song Hye-kyo (middle) and Ku Hye-sun (top left)in the dramas “The World That They Live In” and “Boys Before Flowers.” Popular even several years ago, it seems that the mushroom cap hair style refuses to die and continues to spore and grow on the heads of Korea’s youth and celebrities.

So, what are your thoughts on this style? First hand knowledge from mushroom-hair wearers and aficionados is most welcome.

After seeing Yoona’s look of horror, we’re sure you’ve been dying to know what Tiffany was wearing (or not) during Girls’ Generation’s Music Core comeback stage.

Girl’s Generation appeared on “Chin Chin” radio to perform a couple songs and chat with their fans via radio. Upon being asked about Tiffany and Yoona’s skirt incident, Tiffany immediately stated she “really wanted to explain this.” Yoona clarifies that “of course” Tiffany wore the standard shorts under her skirt but, “because of her MC duties” with Yuri, had forgotten to “clip her skirt to the shorts” so that the shorts don’t really show.

Too bad she forgot to explain why she’d lift Tiffany’s skirt in front of  their fans.

Although she’s not our favorite, it seems like Tiffany’s been getting quite the slack for being the scandalous member of the group: does she really deserve it?

Watch the clip here!

Radio performance of “Genie”

SS501 has officially joined the Hallyu wave by signing a contract with Warner Music Taiwan. From June 27th until July 2nd, SS501 will be holding multiple press conferences, fan signings and other promotional activities in China. Although SS501 has never promoted themselves in China, they seem to have a strong fan base there, already. Not only did over 2,000 fans flock to the airport to catch a glimpse of the boys, they were also given the Golden Disk Award for pre-selling over 7,000 copies of their SS501 Super Hits album, on the 29th.

SS501 will also be releasing their first solo album, which consists of solo tracks of all members, this coming July 3rd. Once they finish their promotions in China on the 2nd, they will return to Korea and prepare for their first Asia tour performance in Seoul on August 1st and 2nd.