You may not have heard of Korean singer “Star”, but that won’t be for long, as she is fast becoming one of Asia’s most popular celebrities–thanks to her beautiful rendition of the theme song to Korean series “Full House.” The song has long mirrored the popularity of the show itself, and Star’s fame has grown in direct proportion to that popularity. In China, she’s been getting so much attention, that there are claims of a tour in which all that’s expected of the young singer, is a performance of the “Full House” theme song alone. That may be hearsay of course, but a quick look at this live performance online gives a glimpse into just how popular the song has become.
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No, you’re not seeing things, that really is Korean singer Rain’s picture on the side of a 777. Korean Airline’s top execs recently announced that they will be promoting Rain’s current tour, as well as Korean culture in general, throughout several of their hub airports worldwide. Not much is known whether Rain will be the only pop star promoted, but one can only hope he’s not the last. Just imagine–huge crowds being stirred to a frenzy, upon seeing a gigantic, hot pink, Lee Hyori plane getting ready for take-off..
Korean artist Younha, has recently secured an interesting new job for herself, after proving to be quite skilled in conveying Japanese sensibilities to her fellow Koreans. She’s been chosen by Japan’s National Tourist Organization, to promote Japanese tourism throughout her homeland of Korea, and the organization hopes to build more public interest in visiting Japan. The trend lately within Asian tourism, has seen Japanese destinations losing out to more exotic Asian locals, and the JNTO hopes to remind Koreans, and other Asian nationals, just how interesting a trip to Japan can be.
Despite an earlier downpour of rain, Chinese artist Jolin Tsai, went on to give a mesmerizing performance in front of an estimated 15,000 fans assembled at Petaling Jaya stadium in Malaysia. Many behind the scenes insiders believed that, because of the massive flooding throughout the city earlier that day, that many fans would hesitate to make the trek to see the show. Those worries turned out to be unfounded as the stadium filled to near capacity quite quickly. Jolin went on to give one of her most spirited performances to date, as if to say to her fans, “I won’t forget this show of loyalty.”
A study published by Japanese music ranking company Oricon, has made a few quite interesting discoveries. Oricon wanted to probe why Korean artists are making such headway against the once dominant Japanese. Some interesting facts came out in the study, the first being, that many feel that Korean stars interact much more often with their fans–refreshing considering the distance that some Japanese stars have been known to keep with theirs. Another interesting discovery, was that fans like to see their favorite Asian pop stars involved in TV and film projects as well–a trait that Korean artists are known for, often diversifying amongst many different artistic projects quite well.
The Asian wave continues into the United States, with another Asian star making headlines throughout the mainstream US press. This time, it’s Edison Chen, who has been named one of People magazine’s sexiest people alive. The People article, not only called him sexy, but also complimented him on being a multi-dimensional star– mentioning his broad influence in Asian music, film, and fashion. He seems to have been picking up alot of attention after his work on the film “Grudge 2″, which exposed him to many new fans in Canada, the UK, and the US. When asked what qualities he himself thought to be sexy, Edison replied “confidence”, which he no doubt seems to have himself in spades.
With Asian music’s incessant need for bigger and better artists, scouting for talent in other Asian regions almost becomes a necessity. With that being said, it makes perfect sense that Japanese music industry heavyweight Avex Trax, would make an announcement of their leasing a major new office in vibrant downtown Shanghai– opening it for business almost immediately. Many talent scouts have been reporting back on a huge backlog of undeveloped talent within China, and Avex is looking to begin tapping into that market as quickly as possible. Not much is known yet what they have up their sleeves, but rumor has it that there are several very promising artists already lined up and ready for development.
If recent rumors are correct, Korean pop idol Lee Hyori, is set to become the highest paid female singer in Korean history. After coming to the end of her current contract, she’s received several very lucrative offers, and has been spending quite a lot of time going over each of their pros and cons. What may be the deciding factor in the end, has less to do with the money offered, but rather the vision of the current CEO of this rumored new agency. Evidently the CEO has such an interesting take on Lee Hyori’s future career, enough to woo the young Asian star, and I’m sure enough to keep her fans on the edge of their seats for many years to come.
Billboards of a mysterious girl began popping up all around Tokyo recently, apparently a promotion put out by Asian music label Avex Trax. The billboards, come only with a brief tag line, a picture, and a url directing those interested to a web page online. Not much is known so far about Avex’s motives, but what is known, is that the female depicted in the pictures is a well known South Korean commercial actress, and it looks like Avex Trax may be gearing her up for some sort of Asian music debut sometime in the coming months..
The Korean phenomenon, better known as Bada, had a pleasant surprise during a her recent trip to China. After performing a few songs at the “F1 Korean Wave Concert” in Shanghai, she apparently impressed the audience so much, that she was the talk of the town for several days afterwards. This came, not only from fans, but from the press as well, many of which gave her glowing reviews throughout the Chinese media. Since that time, her management’s phone has been ringing off the hook with offers for return visits to be made as quickly as possible.
