Translate

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Are They Really Married?


The Korean Variety World is filled with a lot of creativity and tends to innovate itself continually. For this post, I will talk about the variety/reality “We Got Married”. This post is a follow up of one of my previous post, “Did They Got Married?”. But this time I will talk to you about their last season, their Fourth Season. I like most of the couples on this season, a few where previously mentioned, but the ones that made a space on my agenda are the following.  


All the rights to this image to their respected owners


1.    Song Jae Rim and Kim So Eun: Born on February 18 of 1985, Song Jae Rim is a model turned actor who began his acting career on 2009 and is known for his characters on "The Moon Embracing The Sun" (2012), "Two Weeks" (2013), "Inspiring Generation" (2014), among other projects. But what really gave him his fame was his appearance on "We Got Married" Season 4 on 2014 with fellow actress Kim So Eun. Kim So Eun was born on September 6 of 1989, but made her acting debut before Jae Rim, which makes her his senior (seonbae) on the industry. Her acting career started with a small role on 2004, until she got the part of Gum Jandi's best friend on the 2009 hit drama "Boys Over Flowers", the one that marked a great impact on her career and from which she is better known. Later she started on "A Good Day For The Wind To Blow", "A Thousand Kisses", "Scholar Who Walks The Night", among others. The role of Chu Ga Eul on "Boys Over Flowers" and on another drama, gave her the opportunity of winning the Best New Actress Award on the KBS Drama Awards of 2009. The first encounter with Song Jae Rim was on a blind date, so both actors where on a dark room before actually meeting each other, when they finally meet Kim So Eun had a feeling of him been her husband but he didn’t know who she was. This first meeting was very peculiar and gave us the greatest ground of how entertaining they would be. Song Jae Rim's chessy lines and out-front expressions, as well as his 4D personality, was what made us love every episode. They won Best Couple, he won Best Male Newcomer, and she won New Star of The Year on the MBC Entertainment Awards of 2014. Their virtual marriage lasted from September of 2014 to June of 2015. After almost a year and a half after the SoRim Couple come together again for a drama, "Our Gap Soon". In this drama, from the SBS channel, they portrayed a couple of 10 years, which gave us all the feelings of their past work and did not disappoint us at all with their incredible work. That is why both actors won Special Award Actor/ Actress in a Serial Drama on the SBS Drama Awards of 2016.

       



2.   Eric Nam and Solar: Eric was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, the oldest of three brothers, graduated from the Boston College in 2011 B.A. on International Studies with a minor on Asian Studies, which later helped him get an incredible job as Business Analyst at Deloitte Consulting in NY. After stablishing himself with a job in NY, then he ventured on his passion, music. He signed with B2M Entertainment on 2012, on 2013 he released his first mini album titled Cloud 9. He was better known for his work as a MC, correspondent of the entertainment show “Section TV”, and a great number of variety show appearance. He later left his job as correspondent and focused more in music, on December of 2015 he signed with CJE & M, later he appeared on the reality show “I Live Alone”, where he showed his everyday life with the audience. On the other hand, we have the wife of the show, Kim Yong Sun aka Solar. Born on February 21st of 1991, Solar is the leader and main vocalist of MAMAMOO, signed under Rainbow Bridge World. She debuted on June of 2014 with the track “Mr. Ambiguous”, considered as one of the best K-Pop debuts of 2014, Retro-Jazz-R&B concept with strong vocals is what makes the group one of a kind. Solar also ventured on the acting world with a part on the minidrama “Imaginary Cat” with actor Yoo Seung Ho, where she portrayed his first love. On April of 2016 both joined the virtual marriage, where their first encounter was on a Scape Room, where Eric had to help Solar scape without knowing who she was. After a couple of hours, they finally could meet and it was a great surprise for both. Their marriage lasted approximately eight months, where they started a little awkward, later develop to friends and finally you could see how they started to feel attracted to each other. The development of their relationship was fun and one that the audience love it, that was the case that they won Best Couple on the MBC Entertainment Awards on 2016. The Dong Couple (the name comes after the combination of both names), while always be remembered as a fun, cute, and sweet couple.  
     


3.      Henry Lau and Yewon: Henry was born in Canada on October 11 of 1989 to a Taiwanese mother and a father from Hong Kong. He came to be part after auditioning for SM Entertainment on their Global Auditions in Toronto on 2006. He has a classical music background since he played since age 5 and the violin since age 6. On 2007, he appeared in Super Junior's MV for the track "Don't Don" in which he played the violin. It was in 2008 that he officially made his debut as a member of Super Junior M, with the mandarin remake of the song "U" of 2006. Their debut album "Me" was later released on April 23 of 2008. Later on, the same year he didn’t made public appearances and dedicated his time to study music at Berkley College of Music in Boston. He composed two songs with Super Junior's leader, Leeteuk, on 2010 and 2011. On 2013, he made his solo debut with "Trap", but what really has got him his fan-base is his 4D personality on variety shows. He has made great appearances on variety shows and was part of the cast of "Real Men" since February 2014 to January 2015, the show concept is to send celebrities to real military bases in South Korea and experience their hard work. Besides music and variety, Henry has made an impact acting on 2015 with the Mnet drama "Persevere, Goo Hae Ra" and the incredible drama with Shin Minah and So Ji Sub, "Oh My Venus" that ended on early 2016. In March of 2015 was confirmed that Henry was going to be part of "We Got Married" alongside Yewon, an ex-member of the girl group Jewelry and an actress. Kim Yewon was born on December 5 of 1989 and made her debut in 2011 as a member of Jewelry. The group later disbanded on 2015 and she ventured on her acting career. She is best known for her cameo role on the drama "Replay 1997", where she portrayed Sung Shi Won (Jung Eun Ji) big sister. Other acting projects had been on the dramas "Miss Korea" (2013) and "Hotel King" (2014). Her appearance on variety shows has been good received and most people know her as part of the "G8" on the show "Invincible Youth 2" with fellow female idols (Sunny and Yuri (Girls' Generation), Amber (fx), Suzy (missA), Bora (Sistar), Ko Woo-ri (Rainbow), and Jiyoung (KARA). The show took place on a fishing village in Daebe Island, where they had to live the hardships of that area with games, missions, and special guests. The show first aired on November of 2011 and ended on November of 2012. After the disbandment of the group on early 2015 she was cast on the reality "We Got Married". Their virtual marriage lasted just 2 months, which it ended on June. The couple made a nasty departure from the show, because of a scandal involving actress Lee Tae Im and Yewon (using informal speech towards her "seonbae" actress), and the objections of viewers and netizens about Yewon appearance on the show alongside the beloved Henry. It was decided by the producers as well with the labels, that the couple would leave the show. After a year, the couple reunited casually and Henry uploaded a picture of them, but had to remove it after all the bad reaction it received. On October of 2016 Yewon's contract with Star Empire expired and she passed to join Jellyfish Entertainment, now she is part of the cast on the Korean version of Saturday Night Live. I was saddened by the end of this couple since they had so good chemistry and would had develop in something really good, the few episodes that aired where full of fun and cuteness, from which I hope all the true fans love it as much as me.     



4.      Choi Tae Joon and Bomi: The actor Choi Tae Joon was born on July 7 of 1991. He made his debut on 2001 on a small role as young Jo In Sung on the drama Piano, later on he was known for his role in Padam Padam (2011) as Im Jung. Other projects that he has appeared on are Adolescence Medley (2013), Mother's Garden (2014), All About My Mom (2015), The Flower in Prison (2016), and his latest project was Missing Nine (2017). On May of this year he will be acting alongside Ji Chang Wook and Nam Ji Hyun for the rom/com "Suspicious Partner", the story of two layers with different perceptions who come close as the solve cases. For the time been, he is one of the hosts of the variety show "Hello Counselor" since September of 2016. Yoon Bomi, born on August 13 of 1993, is one of the members of the girl group Apink, also songwriter and actress. She was first introduced as a member of the group on the reality show, Apink News on 2011, made her debut with the group with the songs "I Don't Know" and "Wishlist" from the album "Seven Springs of Apink". She also made some acting jobs (cameo on "Replay 1997", web drama "Love Profiler K") and great appearances as an MC for variety shows. She is well known on the variety world, since her personality surface and charms the audience, and because of her hard work on them ("The Human Condition" 2014, "Real Men Female Edition" 2015). On September of 2016 Choi Tae Joon and Bomi started they virtual marriage from episode 341 to 363. The first encounter of the couple was memorable, since she mistook him with actor and friend Ji Chang Wook, and the last made a special appearance on their wedding day. This couple was cute and charming, Bomi's personality is one perfect for variety shows, as well as Tae Joon's bragging in every opportunity is was clever and funny. The couple seemed sincere on the development of their relationship on the show, which was fun to watch.

 


5.      Jota and Kim Jin Kyung: Lee Jong Hwa, better known as Jota, was born on February 15 of 1994. He first was a dancer, before that he wanted to be a professional Judo athlete but couldn't after an ankle injury. His debuted as sub rapper and lead dancer for the boy group Madtown on October of 2014, with the song "YOLO". Later on, he changed position to vocalist.  He has made great impression on variety shows, especially the ones that involve physical interaction (sports), his appearance on "Let's Go! Dream Team" and "Cool Kiz on The Block" helped him to get a great number of fans and is well known on the variety field. But he isn't only good at sports or physicals jobs, among the idols he is a good cook for which he was able to be part of the show "Wednesday Food Talk". Kim Jin Kyung was born in March 3 of 1997 and is known for being the first runner up on "Korea's Next Top Model" of 2012 on the channel On Style. After the show, she has appeared on top magazines (W Korea, Vogue Korea, Elle Korea, etc.). She is part of the model management and fashion event production agency Esteen, which is also the house of Super Model Soo Joo Park and Irene Kim (model, MC, and global brand contributor for Estée Lauder). Other projects that she has been part of are playing the female lead on various MV's, been Seo In Guk's "Seasons of the Heart" one of her most memorable works (for me, at least). Now she is venturing acting with her first lead role alongside EXO's Kai for the drama "Andante". On May of 2016 Jota and Kim Jin Kyung started their virtual marriage on "We Got Married" from episode 321 to 350. They were a very fashion looking couple, since both love it so much. The chemistry between them was sometimes shy and cute, but never hiding the affection that was growing.    





6.      Gong Myung and Jang Hye Sung: Kim Dong Hyun, aka Gong Myung, was born of May 26 of 1994. He is part of the group of actors who then turned to singers, 5urprise, who made his debut on MV's on 2012 and later was on a web series called "After School: Lucky or Not" on 2013, where actress Kim So Eun was the lead. The group 5urprise was made on 2013 by a collaboration with acting agency Fantagio and LEON Entertainment, the other members are Sea Kang Joon, Yoo Il, Kang Tae Oh, and Lee Tae Hwan. They were selected by going through a two years program on Fantagio called "Actors League". They released the OST for the web series "After School…" titled "Hey You Come On", to later release their first single on 2014, "From My Heart". The projects that Gong Myung has acted on are "Splendid Politics", "Beatiful You", "Entertainer", "Drinking Solo", and "Bride of the Water". Jung Eun Joo, better known as Jang Hye Sung, was born on April 29 of 1991. She first made it to the entertainment industry as a free agent, for which she had a lot of hardships at the beginning of her career. But in 2015 she was cast for the drama "Oh My Venus" playing the role of model Jang Yi Jin, who was a fan but also obsessed with Joon Sung (Sung Hoon) a professional boxer, and finally becoming a couple at the end. This role helped her to later get a contract with FNC Entertainment and portraying Princess Myung Eun on the drama "Moonlight Drawn By Clouds" on 2016, which gained her more recognition. Before the couple was cast on "We Got Married" on late 2016, they were part of the show "Candy In My Ear". This show is about an entertainer having a phone call with a "stranger" for a whole day, where they can share their thoughts and secrets, until the end that he has to guess who the "stranger" was. For Gong Myung he didn’t get it right, but made a great impression on Hye Sung. That is why when they meet again the sparks were so obvious and cute, her display of affection on the show was too much for him but they make it work anyhow.






Well, this is all for Season 4 of “We Got Married”. It was announced that the show will get a break to re-inventing and star at fresh on a new season. The season will end on early May, with a special episode with the only couple that still is virtually married, actor Choi Min Yong and comedian Jang Do Yeon. So far, the fourth season has been the longest of the show, and for me it had great couples and a very good panel, with Park Mi Sun as the official MC of the show. Now all we have to do is keep the memories of the amazing couples and hope for a greater season.   

Friday, April 14, 2017

KPOP Charts 2017, 3th Edition: My Top 10


Hello everyone!! I will now let you know what songs I’ve been listening to since the last post.

1.       DPR Live- Know Me ft Dean

2.       DPR Live- Right Here Right Now ft Loco & Jay Park

This first two songs are from the same artist, that is why I will share the same space on the post. Dream Perfect Regime is an independent multi-genre music and video group (dreamperfectregime.com). This group creates, direct, and edit different types of visual work, as well as curate’s artist stemming from different music backgrounds. The group is based on Seoul, and its main goal is to engage viewers to a unique experience with visuals and audio output. Two of the visual producer you might know, since one is Christian Yu, former member and leader of the group C-Clown and was known as Rome, and the other guy is Scott Kim, one of Amber’s (F(x)) friends and was part of the YouTube Channel “What The Pineapple”. The group has been active since 2014, and now they are taking a more active part on the music side of it. They released a couple of projects the last March, from which we have the collaboration with Dean, as well as with Loco and Jay Park.







3.       Highlight- Plz Don’t Be Sad

The group Highlight has made their debut, well re-debut. Formerly known as Beast, the past month the members had made their “debut” after departing from Cube Entertainment and stablishing a joint label, Around Us. On February, the group decided on the name “Highlight” because it was the last title of their album as Beast, and released their mini-album “Can You Feel It?” on March 20. Two songs where released, “It’s Still Beautiful” which is a slow song, and “Plz Don’t Be Sad” an upbeat track.





4.       CNBlue- Between Us

CNBlue has made their comeback since “You’re So Fine” from April 2016. 7º CN is their seventh mini-album and their lead single is the track “Between Us” which conveys the confusing feelings that can lead to a romantic relationship.





5.       GOT7- Never Ever

GOT7 has finally arrive! After the release of “Departure” and “Turbulence” the group has released the last album from this series, which title is “Arrival”. For the first time JY Park “Asian Soul” has produced a song for the group since their debut on 2014. The single track “Never Ever”, has the feel of “The Asian Soul” and it’s has the dance music touch.





6.       Code Kust ft G Soul and Tablo- Fire Water

Code Kust is a producer from Highgrnd and has released a couple of tracks, like “Parachute” and “Beside Me”. For this song we have G Soul, a JYP Entertainment R&B artist who has made his debut on 2015 after 15 years of training. Alongside him we have Tablo, founder of Highgrnd and leader/ producer of the Korean hip-hop group Epik High. This track is part of the album “Muggle’s Mansion”, in which the previous two tracks are part of.





7.       Rap Monster ft Wale- Change

The lead rapper and leader of the boy group BTS, Rap Monster, is well known around the music industry in South Korea for his amazing rapping skills and lyrics, as well internationally. That is why you shouldn’t be surprise when I mention his collaboration with Wale, an American rapper from Washington D.C. The collaborating song “Change” is in English, and it was released on March 19 under iBig Hit.





8.       So Ji Sub ft Changmo- Are You With Me?

After a long time our beloved So Ji Sub is back with new music. Even though So Ji Sub is known internationally by his incredible acting projects (The Master’s Sun, Oh My Venus), he is also a R&B/ Hip-Hop singer. His last music project was on 2015 with the song “So Ganzi”, this time his back with a more romantic/ slow song. You can really fall for him all over again after you hear him sing.





9.       Eric Nam ft Somi- You, Who?

I personally love Eric Nam, he had a great job after graduating from college and was gaining a lot of money, but his passion was music. So, he moved from Atlanta to South Korea to persuade his dream, and slowly he has gained the attention of the Korean fans, and international fans. Born and raised on the US, Nam was going for a whole new goal on the Korean music business that let him debut on 2013 with “Cloud 9”. From singer, MC, correspondent of the entertainment show “Section TV”, and a great number of variety show appearance, Nam was a well-known raising star. On 2016, he came more active to the music scene with great collaborations and his digital single “Can’t Help Myself”. Now, for this new single, Nam has made a collaboration with JYP’s singer and former member of I.O.I, Jeon Somi. It’s a cute track, filled with love and innocence.





10.   Gugudan- A Girl Like Me

Jellyfish’s girl group, Gugudan, has made their comeback with the song “A Girl Like Me’. Whit a little more mature look than the one they use to have for their debut on 2016. Obviously, the song has that catchy beat and great choreography, a great characteristic from any good k-pop group.





Well, this is all for now. Thank you for the support and hope to be back next month with more great music from the Korean scene. Like and share ^.~            

Saturday, March 11, 2017

KPOP Charts 2017, 2nd Edition: My Top 10

Hello everyone!! Sorry for my late post, but had some things on my way and couldn’t write sooner. For this Edition, I will be talking about the songs that were out on February and that I love so much. Hope you enjoyed and check them out.    

1.       The Song by ZionT: Zion T has made his comeback with "The Song" that is also referred to as the "Love Song", which is absolutely great. This is the first release of the artist after signing with The Black Label, a sub-label from YG Entertainment. This song is more on the pop side, a different sound from his usual hip-hop/R&B sounds. OO is the second full length album of the artist, and has being well phrased by different media including Billboard.  
   
2.       Lost Without You by Mad Clown ft Bobbalgan 4: Mad Clown has made us a great gift with his new single, "Lost Without You". The song is an excellent example of his great work, on the music and the lyrics. The collaboration Bobbalgan 4, the female duo that first made their appearance on Superstar K 6 on 2014, makes the song even better with their innocent vocals. 

3.       Spring Day by BTS: The incredibly talented boy group BTS has re-release their second full length album WINGS with the title "You Never Walk Alone". The title track, "Spring Day", made an all kill on eight of the major online music charts on Korea which even made the system collapse with the traffic overload.   

4.       Knock Knock by TWICE: On the middle of January it was announced by JYP Entertainment that TWICE would be releasing a special album, titled Twicecoaster: Lane 2, a follow up of the album Twicecoaster: Lane 1. This was announced after a successful 3 day, concert which is the first stop of their world tour. On February, the single "Konck, Knock" was release, and until now has won numerous number ones on different music shows. Cuteness and energy on their choreography has made the group very popular and loved around the world.

5.       Don't Recall by KARD: The group hasn’t made their official debut and are taking the world by storm since the release of the track "Oh Na Na". The coed group created by DSP Media has released their second track "Don't Recall", which is part of three release project before their official debut. A few weeks later the group released their hidden card, an English version of the track. The group has received a good response from international fans for their new sound on the k-pop industry.   

6.       Not Today by BTS: A week after the release of "Spring Day", on February 19, the group made a second MV with the track "Not Today". This track has that energetic sound and choreography that has made the group well known around the world. The MV broke the previous record they had on YouTube with the song "Spring Day", with more than 10 million views in less than 24 hours for a k-pop group.    

7.       Yesterday by BlockB: The song "Yesterday" was released as a digital single on February 6. The track was composed by member Park Kyung, and was an all-kill on real time charts on Korea. Currently the group is on tour around Europe. 

8.       Rain by Beakhyun x Sooyu: Sistar's Sooyu and EXO's Beakhyun has made a collaboration released on February 14, and it was number one on all major charts on South Korea. The song was released by the sublabel of Starship, Starship X. Both artists have great vocals, and are loved by their respected fans very much. The song talks about a lost love and the nostalgia that one can feel on certain occasions, like when the "Rain" falls. Sooyu is known for her incredible collaborations with a great number of artists, and Beakhyun has taken the charts by storm last year with the collaboration with Suzy for the song "Dream" which also won numerous awards. 
    
9.       Come Over by DEAN ft Beak Yerin: DEAN is a singer/ songwriter and producer that has taken the eye of the music industry in South Korea and also on the American market. He started writing songs for other idols by the age of 18 under the name of Deanfluenza, at age 20 he was under the wing of producer Hyuk Shin of Joombas Music Group. He has credit for the tracks "Black Pearl" from EXO and "Voodoo Doll" from VIXX. Dean made his debut as a singer in 2015 on the USA with the single "I'm Not Sorry" ft Eric Bellinger, on October of the same year he made his debut in South Korea with the song "Pour Up" ft. Zico, from which it was named Best R&B and Soul on the Korean Music Awards of February of 2016. On early February, he released his now project, Limbo, from which he had two tracks, the title track "Come Over" and "The Unknown Guest" The song "Come Over" works the topic of a past relationship with an upbeat sound. The singer was asked why he choose Yerin to feature on the song, to which he answered that he was a fan of her and that he loved her voice. The track made a quick raise to the top of the Korean music charts. 
   
10.   Let Me Love You by Junggigo x Chanyeol: On February 26 singer/songwriter from label Starship Entertainment has release a collaboration with EXO member Chanyeol title "Let Me Love You". The song is a love confession on which we can hear the two artists sing for a girl that they think is the one. Yes, I said, both signing! Since last year we have been surprise with one of the rappers of EXO with his sweet soft voice. This track was part of a project made by Starship with a series of collaborations on February, the other two songs are mentioned on this list (Lost Without You and Rain).  

That is for now, thank you so much for the support and hope you keep coming back. Check them out and share ^.^