By Jonathan Hicap
Korea Times Correspondent

MANILA ― K-pop girl group 4Minute ended their first Philippine tour Sunday after promoting their first mini-album, “For Muzik,” in the Southeast Asian nation where K-pop is gaining popularity.

In Manila, 4Minute held shows in shopping malls, had autograph signing events for fans, and appeared on TV variety programs from February 5 to 7.

“For Muzik” contains the hit songs “”Hot Issue”, “Muzik” and “What a Girl Wants” and was released in the Philippines on CD-DVD format.

The members of the idol group ― Hyun-ah, Ji-hyun, Ji-yoon, So-hyun and Ga-yoon ― met the Philippine press on February 5.

However, besides arriving an hour late for the press conference, the girls were barred by the organizer of the event from answering personal questions, particularly regarding Hyun-ah and her past association with K-pop girl band the Wonder Girls.

Hyun-ah was an original member of the Wonder Girls but had to quit the group just six months after they debuted in 2007 due to her deteriorating health.

On January 22, JYP Entertainment announced that Sun-mi, another member of the Wonder Girls, was quitting the group to resume her studies in South Korea.

With Hyun-ah and Sun-mi experiencing similar misfortunes with the Wonder Girls, The Korea Times asked Hyun-ah if she would consider going back to the Wonder Girls if Park Jin-Young, owner of JYP Entertainment, asked her to.

However, even before the interpreter could translate the question, a staff member for the organizer stopped her from answering the question.

The press also failed to get Hyun-ah’s reaction on Sun-mi’s decision to quit, when the organizer again prohibited her from responding.

The questions 4Minute members did answer were mainly about their diet and lifestyle.

Answering a question from The Korea Times on their health, 4Minute admitted that they are on a special diet to maintain their sexy image as K-pop idols.

But they said they were having a hard time controlling their diet in Manila since they love the food.

When asked about their friends outside the group, 4Minute said they are close to the members of K-pop groups BEAST and f(x).

4Minute and BEAST are managed by Cube Entertainment, an affiliate of JYP Entertainment.

4Minute debuted in Korea last June with the digital single “Hot Issue” which became a hit and earned the group two Rookie of the Month music awards. “For Muzik” was released in Korea last August.

They received the Golden Disk Newcomer Award alongside girl group T-ara last December.

This year, 4Minute won the Newcomer Award at the 16th Korea Entertainment Arts Awards and the Popular Artist Award at the 2010 Asia Model Awards.

Hyun-ah is currently appearing on the TV variety show “Invincible Youth” (a.k.a. “Incredible Youth”).

jhicap@yahoo.com

He captivates the hearts of all women with his mellow voice, and now, singer Tei’s back with a new song that goes hand in hand with the cool fall weather. Without further ado, let’s start our date with Tei, who took a dip in the acting world and is back once again in the music scene, looking more matured than before.

He finished his short trip down the path of acting and now Tei’s back in the music industry. He released a new album after a year break and it’s good to see him on the stage again.
The new album’s title track ‘Venomous words’ brings out the best of Tei’s voice quality. This song is more rough and dramatic, giving a different impression from Tei’s past songs which were more classical with a strong feel of being in order.

Ballads are just the right genre of music for fall! Putting aside the never-ending popularity of idol groups, original ballad singers such as Park Hyo-shin, Lee Seung-gi and others are continually releasing new albums. Tei joined the list with a unique determination.

Aside from singing, Tei was cast in the drama ‘Love is Not for Anyone’ and successfully debuted as an actor. Even though it was his first time on the small screen, he portrayed a relatively important character, and decided to appear in this production after thinking about it for a really, long time.

Tei dominated the music industry with his debut piece ‘Love is a lingering scent.’ He made his presence known to everyone as soon as he debuted, and since then, the 21 year old young man started living a life as singer Tei and not Kim Ho-kyung.

Tei became a singer purely by chance. From a blunt 경상 (Gyeongsang) province man named Kim Ho-kyung who was in a band during college, a fortuitous opportunity gave him the destiny as a singer, and slowly transformed into the chic singer Tei.

His songs are on the ‘must-have’ list for women’s mp3 players, and favorite songs for men to sing at karaokes. Tei’s ballads touches the hearts of its listeners and is well-loved by the public. Then, amongst his hits, which song does Tei choose as his favorite?

His 3rd album was released in 2005 and the title track ‘Loneliness Shouts’ was a fabulous piece which he had a good vibe for as soon as he heard it, and without doubt it became the no. 1 song within a month after its release, heating up the winter of 2005.

Since his debut, a majority of Tei’s songs had the theme of a man’s love in them. In his 1st album, a love confession was made through the piece ‘Love is a lingering scent’ and in his 2nd album, the song ‘Love is one’ shouted out one’s love for his sweetheart. What does Tei have to say about true love?

Chemistry is important between lovers but also between friends. Tei prefers coffee over alcohol, work-outs over cigarettes and he has a special friendship with singer Na Yoon-kwon who he shares similar interests with. They spend so much time together that their relationship was taken the wrong way on numerous occasions.

As he took up a new challenge as an actor, Tei got to become more open-minded, and stated that he wants to test his potentials in various outlets of the entertainment arena.

Come October, Tei is preparing a concert in a small theater, a first since his debut. He’ll meet his fans after a long break and we asked Tei how he wants to be seen by his fans.

We have a good vibe that something good will happen to Tei this fall. Just like his album title ‘The Shine 2009,’ we hope he outshines all the others this year and continues to illuminate the Korean entertainment industry with his exceptional talents.

‘First Love’s rating in 1996 had a rating of 65.8 percent. 14 years ago, ‘First Love’ with Choi Ji Woo and Bae Yong Joon, was a popular selling drama.

Girls ‘ Generation Fevruary 6 at Music Bank. Yoon-Tae Yeon, Jessica. Tiffany’s voices were emotional

February 6 at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, Hyundai Card Super Concert Ⅷ – Whitney Houston

Hallyu star Hyun Bin [AM Entertainment]

A recent poll has shown Korean actor Hyun Bin is the No. 1 Hallyu star Thailand.

In a survey conducted on Thailand’s largest Hallyu portal site Pantip.com, Hyun Bin topped a survey asking respondents to cast a vote for their favorite actor. The 28-year-old actor beat out some of Korea’s top celebrities including Rain, So Ji-sub and Jang Geun-suk.

Three dramas that Hyun Bin starred in also ranked within the top 20 of voters’ favorite dramas — “My Name is Kim Sam-soon” in fourth place, “Snow Queen” in 14th and “The World That They Live In” in 20th.

Both “Kim Sam-soon” and “Friend” have been showing in Japan starting last month. “Sam-soon” airs every afternoon on Fuji TV’s public network as part of its newly established ‘Hallyuα’ project and “Friend” on BS Fuji, Fuji’s digital satellite broadcasting station.

Hyun Bin, whose real name is Kim Tae-pyung, made his debut in 2003 with the KBS drama “Bodyguard”. He has been dating top Korean actress and co-star of “World” Song Hye-kyo since last year.

Reporter : Park Kun-ouc kun1112@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@asiae.co.k

TaeisBeBe
January 31, 2010

2PM member Nichkhun plans to spend Valentine’s Day with fans in Thailand, according to his agency on Thursday.

JYP Entertainment explained the Thai-American member of the popular Korean boy band will visit Phuket over Valentine’s, which also falls concurrently with the Chinese Lunar New Year this year, to spend time with his fans over a five-day period.

Nichkhun will introduce various aspects of Thai culture to his fans including the traditional martial arts muay thai and beach activities. He will also hold a dinner party on the last night of the trip.

In 2009 the Tourism Authority of Thailand named Nichkhun a promotional ambassador for tourism at an aim to attract younger tourists to the country.

The 21-year-old heartthrob became famous even ahead of his debut as a member of 2PM, shooting commercials in Thailand including one with Asian pop sensation Rain. It was recently announced that Nichkhun will be making his film debut in the comedy tentatively titled “Shining Diploma”.

Additional information regarding the event is available on www.modetour.com and www.nichkhunbreak.com.

Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr