Meet-And-Greet To Spice Up Dream K-pop Fantasy Concert In PH

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Fans can expect a lot more when the Dream K-pop Fantasy Concert is held in the Philippines in January next year, especially that meet-and-greet events will be held.

This will be the first time that a K-pop concert in the Philippines will feature six K-pop idol groups.

Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com and SM Entertainment

Style Icon Awards 2012 Nominees

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Who will be crowned Korea's style icon this year?

From K-pop stars to sports figures, the nominees for the Style Icon Awards 2012 are a mix of the most popular celebrities in Korea.

Billed as a search for the "Most Stylish Icons that Brightened 2012," the Style Icon Awards will culminate in an awarding ceremony on Oct. 25.

Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com and YG Entertainment

(PHOTO): Manila Bulletin print edition (June 26, 2012)

My K-pop article "K-Pop Groups Make It To Oricon 2012 Rankings"  published in the Manila Bulletin issue today, June 26, 2012. 

K-pop Groups In Oricon Rankings For 2012

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Several K-pop groups made it to the list of bestselling artists in Japan for the first half of 2012.

Oricon chart has released the list of top 50 singles, albums and DVDs from January to June.

Photos from www.newsen.com and Facebook pages of Big Bang & Super Junior

Gaon chart releases K-pop rankings for May

By JONATHAN HICAP

MANILA, Philippines - Gaon chart, Korea's version of the Billboard charts, released the single and album rankings for K-pop for the month of May.

TaeTiSeo, the subunit of Girls Generation, topped the singles and album rankings.

Girls' Generation Reaches 'Million' Status In Japan

By JONATHAN M. HICAP

MANILA, Philippines - K-pop group Girls' Generation reached another milestone when their first Japanese studio album sold 1 million copies in Japan.

The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) issued on June 8 the list of certified works for May that includes the Korean group's "Girls' Generation" album which has reached "million" status after being released in June last year.

Clockwise from the top) Girls Generation, Super Junior and Jang Geun Seuk.
(Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com and Super Junior Facebook page)

SPIN's Spin: 21 'Greatest' K-Pop Songs Of All Time

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/361299/spins-spin-21-greatest-kpop-songs-of-all-time

Rolling Stone picks 10 K-pop groups 'most likely to break in America'

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Rolling Stone website has picked 10 K-pop groups including 2NE1, Big Bang and Girls Generation that have the potential to break into the US music scene.

The website noted that while K-pop artists BoA and Se7en failed in their American debuts in the past, "K-pop has garnered a strong following without the help of any major American backing."

(Clockwise from top left) SHINee, BEAST, 2NE1 and SISTAR.
(Photos by www.newsen.com)

Girl's Generation Reaches Double Platinum Status In Japan

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila, Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Nine-member K-pop group Girls Generation achieved another milestone in Japan with their single "Mr. Taxi" reached double platinum status in Japan. 

(Clockwise from top left) Girls Generation, Kim Hyun Joong, T-ara and Bae Yong Joon. (Photos by SM Entertainment, Oricon, www.newsen.com and Keyeast)

[WATCH] YouTube presents MBC K-pop concert

Watch the entire MBC K-pop Concert held in Mountainview, California. 

2NE1, Filipina Sarah Geronimo, Girls Generation in 25 sexiest international singers list

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Korean pop groups 2NE1 and Girls Generation, as well as Filipino singer Sarah Geronimo made it to the 25 Sexiest International Singers You've Never Heard Of list by US-based music and trend site Complex.com.

Filipino singer Sarah Geronimo, 2NE1 and Girls Generation.
(Photos by www.sarahgeronimo.ph and newsen.com

Japan, US Top Global Recorded Music Sales

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Japan is now the biggest music market in the world in terms of value of singles, CDs and DVDs sold.

The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) issued its yearbook "Statistics Trends: The Recording Industry in Japan 2012," which showed that Japan has overtaken the United States in music sales in 2010.

KARA and Girls Generation (Photos by www.newsen.com)

Girls Generation's subgroup Taetiseo charts on Billboard

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Girls Generation’s new subgroup Taetiseo, composed of Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, made a splash with their debut by entering the Billboard and iTunes charts and real-time Korean music charts.

Photos by M! Countdown

Girls Generation, Super Junior top 2011 earners for SM Entertainment

By JONATHAN HICAP 

K-pop groups Girls Generation and Super Junior are the top earning artists under SM Entertainment.

In a financial disclosure filed with Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, SM Entertainment revealed that Girls Generation earned 21.73 billion won (P829 million) for the first three quarters of 2011.

K-pop groups nominated in MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2012

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – The list of nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2012 is out and six K-pop groups are included.

2NE1, KARA, Girls Generation, 2PM, CNBlue and SHINee got nominated along with music heavyweights like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Bruno Mars.

(Clockwise from top left) KARA, Girls Generation, SHINee &2NE1
(www.newsen.com

Koreans celebrate White Day, pick favorite celebrities

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin 

MANILA, Philippines – Today, March 14, Koreans celebrate White Day, a traditional event observed a month after Valentine’s Day.

White Day is when Korean men are expected to give women candies and other gifts.

Kim Soo Hyun (www.newsen.com)

New York Times: Social networking sites help popularize K-pop phenomenon

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - The power of social media, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, is propelling Korean Wave, or hallyu, to new heights and helping the spread of its popularity to North America and other regions.

Super Junior (www.newsen.com)

Forbes Korea's Top 'Power Celebrity 40' ranking

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines – K-pop group Girls Generation topped Forbes Korea’s “Power Celebrity 40” ranking for the second straight year.

The list is based on the celebrities’ income, influence and reputation.

Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com

[Korea.net]: K-Pop's official debut

2011 was an exciting year for K-Pop fans and the Korean music industry. In August, Billboard opened a new chart for K-Pop music, Billboard K-Pop Chart. Following the J-pop Chart, this is the second release of a country based music chart from Asia. And only a few months later, Google operated webcast provider YouTube launched its K-Pop Channel online. 

The news created a buzz among fans and industry experts alike as it was the first time that YouTube had created an exclusive channel for any one country. The main reason for the decision was based on the fact that there are over 5 million K-Pop related webcasts on YouTube, but only 600,000 of these can be found using the search word ‘K-Pop’. A separate K-Pop channel was in demand to facilitate the search for Korean music for K-Pop fans worldwide. 

Jenny Hyun blog claims songwriter was admitted to hospital, is schizophrenic

After Korean-American songwriter Jenny Hyun ranted and posted anti-black tweets, a post was uploaded on her blog, claiming that she was admitted to the hospital and she is a paranoid schizophrenic. 

Here's the post: