Korea Observer

Fans are outraged after food items sent to South Korea by Polish fans for SHINee’s Jonghyun ended up in the stomachs of writers of a broadcasting station.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Organizers of the 11th Korean Music Awards released the list of nominees for this year and non-mainstream artists dominated the different categories. The Korean Music Awards recognizes talent than popularity or album sales, paving way for independent singers to be acknowledged. (Clockwise from top) SHINee, EXO, f(x) and G-Dragon (Photos from official Facebook pages of SHINee, EXO, f(x) and G-Dragon)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Boy band EXO and SHINee’s Choi Minho became the most searched K-pop group and Korean personality in the Philippines in 2013, respectively. Google Philippines released its annual year-end Zeitgeist, a collection of the top search queries by Filipinos on google.com.ph. (Clockwise from top left) SHINee's Minho, EXO, Jang Geun Suk, Girls' Generation, Yoo In Na and SHINee. (Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com and EXO's Facebook page)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin A much-awaited K-pop concert in Singapore that would have featured acts like EXO, SHINee and KARA was cancelled by the organizer due to “contractual obligations” to a Korean broadcasting company. Fans are angry and scrambling to get ticket refunds after Fatfish Entertainment announced that the “MBC Korean Wave In Singapore 2013″ concert would not push through. Teen Top, B1A4 and miss A at the press conference in Singapore for the concert last August (Photos from the MBC Korean Music Wave in Singapore 2013 Facebook page)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin   The top 10 artists and other nominees in the 2013 Melon Music Awards have been revealed. These 10 artists are G-Dragon, EXO, BEAST, SISTAR, Davichi, Dynamic Duo, Busker Busker, SHINee, IU and Ailee. Nominees (clockwise from top left) G-Dragon, SHINee, IU and SISTAR (Photos courtesy of Melon website)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin As early as 8 a.m. last Sept. 7, many Filipino fans were already at Araneta Center in Quezon City for the K-pop Republic concert, one of the most anticipated K-pop events of the year. One of the them was 13-year-old Erica Ocampo, who came from Malolos, Bulacan.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin K-pop boy band SHINee’s main vocalist Jonghyun wants to try “sinigang,” a popular Filipino dish, while EXO-K’s Baekhyun wants to go to Baguio with other members of the group.

(Clockwise from top left) Cast of "Rooftop Prince," SHINee, EXO and Girls' Generation By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin The Korean drama "Rooftop Prince" became the most searched TV show in the Philippines for the first half of 2013, according to Google Philippines, which released its Google Zeitgeist list for January to June 2013. It is a list that showed what Filipinos searched online on Google.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin K-pop diva Lee Hyori, 2NE1's CL and bands SHINee and Infinite were among the winners at Mnet's 2013 20's Choice Awards held July 18 at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Ilsan. This is the seventh year of the awards and the ceremony was hosted by Shinhwa's Minwoo and Jun Jin and Kim Seul-gie. (Clockwise from top left) Miss A's Suzy, Shinhwa, Infinite, SHINee and 2NE1's CL. (Photos by www.newsen.com)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Girls' Generation dominated albums sales in Korea while rappers Psy and Baechigi led in digital rankings for the first half of 2013. Gaon Chart, Korea's version of Billboard, has released the rankings for January to June 2013 of album sales, digital singles and online downloads. (Clockwise from the top) Girls' Generation, Psy and Baechigi (Photos by www.newsen.com)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Boy band Super Junior and their company SM Entertainment dominated physical album sales in 2012. Rankings of album sales by company and artist were posted on Korean music chart site Instiz, which showed percentage sales top K-pop artists got last year. Clockwise from top left) Super Junior, Wooyoung and Big Bang (Photos by www.newsen.com)

How does SHINee view their new album? CSI investigator Onew will satisfy your curiosities about SHINee's new album. 

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - K-pop stars attended the 22nd Seoul Music Awards held last night at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul. Psy won the daesang, or grand prize, but he was unable to attend the awards ceremony due to his busy schedule. Epik High's Tablo received the award on his behalf. Psy instead sent a video message to thank the organizers for the award, his agency and family. Last year, Super Junior won the daesang. Winners (from left) SHINee, Super Junior, Lee Seung Gi and Big Bang (Photos courtesy of sportsseoul.com)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - A 15-year-old girl from Brooklyn, New York, who suffers from a hereditary disorder affecting the nerves and muscles, fulfilled her dream of meeting her favorite K-pop group SHINee.

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

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Boy bands Super Junior, SHINee and FT Island held their various concerts over the weekend in Korea, Japan and Taiwan. After touring seven countries, Super Junior ended their Super Show 4 world tour on May 26 and 27 with encore concerts at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. FT Island, Super Junior and SHINee. (Photos courtesy of their Facebook pages)

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 )

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines — Five-member K-pop boy band SHINee’s comeback album, “Sherlock,” has entered the Billboard charts. It was released online last March 19, followed by the physical album on March 21.

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.