Korea Observer

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Twelve artists who topped Korea’s premier music chart in 2013 were recognized at the 3rd Gaon Chart K-pop Awards held on Feb. 12 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, with each getting a Song of the Year award for their respective hits. (Clockwise from top left) SISTAR, EXO, Cho Yong Pil, 4Minute, IU and Girls’ Generation. (www.newsen.com)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Korean rapper Psy and boy band EXO bagged the most-prized trophies at the 28th Golden Disk Awards held on Jan. 16 at the Kyunghee University’s Grand Peace Palace. Psy took home the Digital Daesang, or Song of the Year, for “Gentleman,” his follow-up track to his viral hit “Gangnam Style.” (Clockwise from top left) Psy with SHINee’s Minho, EXO, BEAST, SHINee and Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and Tiffany. (Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com, isplus.joins.com and No Cut News)

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)

MTV announced the nominees in the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards and among them are Korean singers EXO and U-KISS and the Philippines' Sarah Geronimo. This year, MTV EMA listed nominees under the Worldwide Act category by territory. (Clockwise from top left) Sarah Geronimo, EXO, SISTAR and U-KISS  (Photo by MTV EMA, EXO Facebook page and www. newsen.com)

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)

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

MBC Music Core today featured performances of Taetiseo, SISTAR, BTOB, BAP, EXO-K, Ivy, Mighty Mouth and more. 

By JONATHAN M. HICAP Manila Bulletin  MANILA, Philippines – Three K-pop fans, one from Singapore and two from the Philippines, won in a K-pop sing and dance contest held by Korean TV channel KBS World in Seoul, South Korea to celebrate its eighth anniversary on July 1.

Singer Kim Hyun Joong appeared on the episode of KBS 2TV’s “Happy Together” that aired on June 23, and talked about his individual ideal type of woman.