MBLAQ's Lee Joon regards Rain top 'Momzzang'

In the “Entertainment Era” corner on the episode of “Live Info Show” that aired on June 15, the cameramen paid a visit to the place where singer Lee Joon’s commercial for underwear was being filmed.

Korean police: Daesung killed motorcyclist

By JONATHAN M. HICAP, Manila Bulletin 

MANILA, Philippines - Big Bang member Daesung has been found by the Korean police to have caused the death of a motorcyclist during a traffic accident last May 31.

The Seoul Yeong Deung Po police held at briefing Friday morning and announced the results of its investigation and autopsy by the National Forensic Service.

6 K-pop singers make it to Oricon chart's Top 50 bestselling artists for 1st half of 2011

By JONATHAN M. HICAP, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Oricon chart has released the list of the Top 50 artists in the Japanese music market for the first half of 2011, based on singles, albums and DVD sales.

While the rankings are dominated by Japanese singers, six K-pop singers made it to the list, namely TVXQ, Big Bang, KARA, CNBlue, Girls Generation and Jang Geun Suk.

Production companies owe Korean stars 2.2-B won in unpaid fees

By JONATHAN M. HICAP

Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - Korean stars are threatening to stop appearing in dramas and films due to unpaid talent fees amounting to 2.2 billion won (about P88.78 million) that production companies owe them.

800 Asian fans gather at Eric’s concert in Singapore for ‘Beautiful Spy'

• KBS’s new Monday and Tuesday drama “Beautiful Spy" (directed by Hwang In Hyuk, written by Kim Eun Young and Kim Jeong Ah), which will begin airing on July 11, disclosed stills taken on the overseas location in Singapore. 
  

KARA bags triple platinum, Big Bang scores gold in Japan

By JONATHAN M. HICAP

MANILA, Philippines - K-pop groups KARA, Big Bang and Girls Generation continued their rise in the Japanese music market.

The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) released its latest certifications for May on mobile phone and PC downloads showing KARA achieving two feats.   

SHINee's Jonghyun, Shin Se Kyung end relationship

By JONATHAN M. HICAP 
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines - K-pop boy band SHINee’s lead vocalist Jonghyun and actress Shin Se Kyung have ended their eight-month relationship because of their demanding schedule.
Shin’s agency was quoted as saying that the Jonghyun and Se Kyung’s busy schedule prevented them from seeing each other regularly that led to their breakup although they decided to remain friends, according to Korean media.

Promo Video: SHINee JAPAN DEBUT PREMIUM RECEPTION in LONDON

MESSAGE FROM SHINee: 

We are SHINee :)

We will finally debut in Japan on June 22nd and will get to meet more fans in Japan!
What a good news! right?

Popularity of Actor Kong Yoo’s Japanese Magazine ‘Monster’ Rises

The magazine contains various episodes and information about Kong Yoo (or Gong Yoo) such as his movies, TV commercials, stories happening during his poster shoots, travels, favorite music, books, hobbies, and his friends. A person from the publishing company of “Monster” said, “As the magazine contains various well-written content, the number of readers has been increasing thanks to word-of-mouth among Japanese fans. As readers are very much satisfied with the magazine, it is expected to have increased sales in the future.”

BEAST ends album promotions with a clean sweep of awards

By JONATHAN M. HICAP

K-pop boy band BEAST concluded the promotions of their first studio album “Fiction and Fact” on a high note, topping music charts and sweeping awards on Korean TV music shows.

The album was released online on May 17 and on the same week, the group began performing the title track “Fiction” on TV shows Mnet “M! Countdown”, KBS “Music Bank”, MBC “Music Core” and SBS “Inkigayo”.