October 1st, 2012

onEW

NHK bans K-Pop from Kohaku



Amid anti-Korean fears, Kōhaku, 'makeshift Japan' bans K-Pop, says Korea

NHK has gotten more strict on the appearance of Korean artists on its famous year-end show, "Kōhaku Uta Gassen," due to growing anti-Korean sentiment in the country, reported the Fuji evening newspaper. Korean media has also started to pay close attention to this situation, one by one reporting on it.
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However, in contrast we see Japanese politicians say rash and careless remarks as a habitual behavior, and it is impossible to suppress sarcastic laughter when a makeshift nation like Japan would insert politics into its cultural domain like this. It seems the Korean media will continue to berate Japan until they stop interjecting politics into every area of their country.

Source - SearchChina
Translation - hi_junpei @ aramatheydidnt

At last it's been decided! NHK Kōhaku will have zero K-Pop!

It has recently been made public that there will be no inclusion of K-Pop artists in NHK's "Kōhaku Uta Gassen" this year.

Last year, Korean artists Tohoshinki, KARA and Shojojidai made appearances, but there has been a deterioration of Japanese-Korean relations amid the Takeshima controversy, and NHK's decision "Is a reflection of viewers' animosity," theorized one official.


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Since the old days, the implicit rule that "Politics has no place is the entertainment industry" has been around, but that is no longer the case. With the Takeshima problem looming, there will be an unmistakable pause in the cultural exchange between the two nations. The decision to exclude K-Pop from Kōhaku Uta Gassen holds strong meaning.

Source - Nikkan Saizo
Translation - hi_junpei @ aramatheydidnt

arama!

Battle of the Biases: Round Three: Day Four



Hey there guys! I went away for the weekend. I was hoping an announcement would have been made, but I'm not sure if there was. Anyways, I am back today, so the battle continues.

The Eliminated are...
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Round Three: Day Four
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Just a quick reminder of how this game works.

There are 200 idols total. 100 Male, and 100 Female. Each gender is separated into RANDOM groups of 5. The schedule is like so...

SATURDAY(Anywhere from 12:01 AM - 5:00PM: Round #: Day 01
Vote until 5PM EST Sunday (At least 24 Hours)
SUNDAY(Anywhere from 5:01 PM - 9:59PM): Round #: Day 02
Vote until 10PM EST Monday (At least 24 Hours)
TUESDAY(Anywhere from 12:01 AM - 9:59PM): Round #: Day 03
Vote until 10PM Wednesday (At least 24 Hours)
THURSDAY(Anywhere from 12:01 AM - 12:00PM): Round #: Day 04
Vote until 12PM EST Friday (At least 24 Hours)

REPEAT FOR 20 ROUNDS + Semi Finals and then Finals.

Remember, you are ELIMINATING people with your votes. Vote for the one you like the least, to try and get them booted from the game.
yulyul

Why does Korea interpret netizen comments as public sentiment?

This is a really powerful editorial released by OSEN that's well worth the read. The article is long so I'm skipping irrelevant parts.


The picture above is of an 'enter key gun' and was drawn by Solbi to be released at her latest art exhibition.

It leaves a lasting impression in that the enter key is represented as a gun, and the resulting bullet is just moments away from hitting a falling woman. Solbi explained that it was an artistic expression of how every action and word of a celebrity is constantly placed on the chopping board for scrutiny and hate.

Others might think that for someone in a career that earns easy money for being loved by the public, that it's being weak to pay any mind to the hateful replies they sometimes receive. To the people that are on the receiving end, however, the replies crush their hearts harder than ever.

One idol star who's performed on stages all across the world once approached me with a netizen's ID and asked if I knew who that was. Of course, I had no idea. I nagged him for being so caught up in one hateful reply when he was receiving the love of so many, but he was serious.

"This netizen leaves a comment on every article related to me saying that he hates me. What about me does he hate? I really want to just spend 10 minutes and talk with him and see if he still hates me then. I want to know what he wants me to do for him to not hate me. There probably is no other option than to disappear from his eyes, right?"

On the internet, issues like plastic surgery and past photos for females and army enlistments for males are the most scandalous topics. The endless string of hateful replies can instantly crush the feelings of an exciting stage filled with cheers from their fans. It gets worse when the issue stretches to include their friends and family.

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tzuyu heart shaker

SNSD's ‘Oh!’ Reaches Number One on Oricon’s '10/8 Single Weekly Ranking’ Chart



Girls’ Generation’s latest Japanese single, “Oh!”, earned first place on Oricon’s “10/8 Single Weekly Ranking” chart, selling 66,000 copies since its release on September 26th. In addition, the DVD and Blu-Ray for “Girls’ Generation Complete Video Collection” reached number one on the “Oricon Weekly DVD” and “Oricon Weekly Blu-Ray” charts, with 40,000 DVDs and 19,000 Blu-Ray discs sold.

This is the first time Girls’ Generation earned first place rankings on the single and Blu-Ray charts since their Japanese debut in September 2010. They are the first female artist or group to reach number one on all three charts — Oricon’s Weekly Single, DVD, and Blu-Ray Rankings — in the same week. The only other group to accomplish this same feat was Mr. Children, a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1988. Girls’ Generation was able to achieve this feat even though they are a foreign music group in the Japanese market, making this an even greater accomplishment.

Source: Oricon, soshified
Written by: moonrise31@soshified
Contributors: arghninja@soshified, SeraphKY@soshified
Edited by: taengsoshi@soshified, residentbenchwarmer@soshified

mike

Any Singaporean L.O.Λ.E's willing to pay $500 to meet Nu'est?



Come October, K-pop fans are in for yet another treat! As confirmed by event organiser KPOPGAGA, they will be bringing in NU'EST for ShowKase 2 that is set to take place on 26th October 2012. NU'EST, the 5-member boy band (Aron, JR, Minhyun, Baek Ho & Ren) from Pledis Entertainment will hold a showcase in Singapore where an exciting lineup of activities await.


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source: hallyusg

Is the $300 price difference worth it though...