G-Dragon opens official account on Naver’s LINE

Naver‘s LINE, a free direct messaging service, has become a hot topic among Kpop fans worldwide.

With the adding of official accounts from artists such as JYJ, SHINee, 2PM, and CN Blue, fans from all around the word receive almost daily updates from some of their favorite artist. Today, G-Dragon from YG Entertainment‘s own BIG BANG, announced the opening of his official account.

Naver’s LINE, has become the latest trend in interactive messaging services within the Kpop mainstream. Artists can easily update fans on their activities, post photos and videos, and hold global live fan meetings – as seen with the recent fan meeting held by JYJ’s Kim Jaejoong on March eleventh of this year. While there has been no word from YG or G-Dragon on the possibilities of a live fan meeting as of yet, fans are looking forward to any and all updates from the artist.

Since the opening of his account today, he’s amassed over 80,000 followers and the count is increasing exponentially as minutes go by. The addition of G-Dragon to LINE has many netizens wondering if and when the other members of Big Bang will follow suit, however there has been no word as of yet.

[Translation] “Hello. This is G-dragon. GD’s official line finally opened. Since it opened, I’ve been checking how many friends I’ve gained, and I’m very happy because I got many friends. From now on, get news about me through my line account and I will come back to you with many good news. Goodbye….”

To download Naver’s LINE, visit here. To follow G-Dragon’s account, simply click on “more”, then click on “official accounts” and change your country settings to South Korea, and hit follow. It’s as easy as that.

What do you think of Naver’s new messaging service? Are you looking forward to possible Global Star Fanmeeting’s in the future? Who would you like to see open an account?

Sources:
Photos: G-Dragon, LINE
Video: Youtube
Translation Provided By BigBangWorldwide.

CNBLUE Blue Moon World Tour Live in Singapore: tickets on sale now

4-member rock band, CNBLUE, consisting of Lee Jong Hyun (Lead Guitar and Vocal), Kang Min Hyuk (Drums, vocals), Lee Jung Shin (Bass guitar, vocals), and Jung Yong Hwa (Lead Vocal and Guitar), has been making waves since their debut in 2009.

With their impressive records, CNBLUE is now set to embark on its world tour with Singapore as the second stop.

Catch them live in Singapore on 13 April at Singapore Indoor Stadium, with the ticketing details as below:

Date: April 13th, 2013 (Saturday)
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium
Time: 7pm

Cat 1 Free Standing (Moon Zone) – S$258
Cat 2 Free Standing (Pen B) – S$228
Cat 3 Free Standing (Pen C) – S$228
Cat 4 – S$228
Cat 5 – S$198
Cat 6 – S$168
Cat 7 – S$138
Cat 8 – S$108
Cat 9 – S$28
Cat 10 – S$108 (Restricted view)

(exclude SISTIC booking fee)

Tickets are now available for sale via SISTIC website, hotline (+65 6348 5555) and islandwide booths.

Are you ready for the Blue Moon?

Source: SISTIC

Day 1: Winners at The 27th Golden Disk Awards Concert in Kuala Lumpur

The 27th Golden Disk Awards opened with day one emcees CNBlue‘s Yonghwa, performing a cover of Payphone by Maroon 5 and Nicole from KARA showing off her infectious dance to R&B’s Ne-Yo‘s Sexy Love.

INFINITE then took centre stage to perform Chaser and Be Mine with their energetic and powerful dance moves. For the song Paradise, the idol group took off their sparkly silver jackets and capitivated the crowd with their black outfits.

The four day monstrous event started with recognition in successful artists who achieved greatest physical sales in 2012. Awards were presented in between performances as the idols expressed their gratitude for achieving the prestigious award.

Rising solo star Juniel performed her mesmerising mellow song Bad Man before sharing the stage with CNBLUE’s Jong Hyeon for Illa Illa and My Love. Both artists played the guitar so well, I hoped that they would collaborate on a track.

And then the fans screamed. Troublemaker Hyuna and Hyun Seung of BEAST lifted the temperature of the venue with their steamy song before rookies BTOB performed a number of their songs (Secret, Wow and Candle).

KARA’s performance was met with a technical glitch when the lights blacked out. Fans lead a chant for the idol group while Yonghwa distracted fans from the glitch with multiple crowd waves. After the glitch was attended, KARA returned to the stage to perform Pandora, Jumping and Step. 4minute performed Volume Up, Mirror Mirror and Hot Issue. 

Pop rock idols FT Island changed the pace a little with their new songs from their 4th album. The band performed Life, Severely and I Wish. Following their senior’s performance, CNBLUE performed Hey You, First Step and their smash hit I’m a Loner.

BEAST performed Special, Beautiful Night and Fiction while B1A4 performed Good Night, Tried to Walk and Sechskies. Screams, cheers and then more screams,was all you could hear from fans screaming at the top of their lungs.

Dubbed as rookies of the year, EXO performed their powerful and charismatic debut song MAMA, History and Hot. The GDA winners of album of the year, Super Junior performed Bonamana, From You, Oppa Oppa before performing the lead song from their winning album, Sexy Free & Single. SHINee performed Lucifer, Stranger and Sherlock.

List of Winners for Day 1 Samsung Galaxy The 27th GDA in Kuala Lumpur

Album of the Year / Disk Daesang

Super Junior (Sexy, Free & Single)

Golden Disk Award Album Division / Disk Bonsang

INFINITE (Infinitize) / B1A4 (The B1A4) / FT Island (Grown-up) / CNBLUE (3rd Mini Album Ear Fun) / 4Minute (Volume Up) / BEAST (Midnight Sun) / KARA (Pandora) / Super Junior (Sexy, Free & Single) / SHINee (Sherlock)

New Rising K-POP Star / Rookie Award

EXO / Juniel

Best Dance Performance Award

Hyuna & Hyun Seung (Trouble Maker)

Best Group Performance Award

INFINITE

Next Generation Star Award

BTOB

MSN Southeast Asia Award

Super Junior

Malaysia’s Most Favorite Star Award

CNBLUE / KARA

JTBC Best Artist Award

BEAST

Popularity Award

SHINee

Golden Disk Producer Award

Han Sung Ho (FNC Entertainment)

**Not in particular order

Congratulation to all the winners for Day 1 of Golden Disk Awards!

About the Golden Disk Awards

Dubbed as “The Korean Grammy Awards”, GDA was founded in 1986 and it is South Korea’s most prestigious K-POP music awards show and is presented annually for outstanding achievement in the music industry. Award categories are based on the most popular K-POP music from the past year based on the digital downloads industry whilst bolstering the creativity of pop music and finding talented artists.

Candidates of the Golden Disk Awards 2013

Artistes who released their albums after December 2011, as well as albums and songs that are released or sold between January 2012 and December 2012 will be qualified for the awards. The awards are given based on the total combined sales volume of the albums, songs and judges’ votes.

Don’t forget to check our coverage of the Red Carpet & Short Interview  for Day 1.

Stay tuned for our continued coverage for Day 2!

Special thanks to the organizers Joongang Culture Media, Mediartncomm Co. Ltd, RougePR known as Rouge Creative Boutique (M) Sdn Bhd.

Event covered & Photos credits : kenny@hellokpop

Day 1: The 27th Golden Disk Awards Red Carpet in Kuala Lumpur

More than 15,000 fans and reporters gathered for the Samsung Galaxy 27th Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Stars and fans attended the 2 day event at Malaysia’s motor circuit Sepang International Circuit, which started from January 15. The prestigious event was split into two days to recognise winners who have achieved success in physical sales and digital sales.

The stars of the event arrived swiftly one-by-one in luxury SUVs onto the red carpet as fans cheered and screamed.

In order of their arrival : BTOB, Juniel, B1A4, EXO, CNBlue, FT Island, 4Minute, KARA, SHINee, BEAST and Super Junior.

The idols dressed glamorously for the event, often known as the Korean equivalent of The Grammy’s. Black attire were popular among the stars, with BTOB, FT ISLAND, EXO, BEAST and SHINee spotting well fitted black suits. CNBLUE fittingly dressed in a blue suits with a matching blue bow tie.

The ladies of the night were inspired by floral colours with solo artist Juniel wearing a knee-high pink fluffy dress while 4minute arrived with an elegant floral-printed dress.

CNBLUE dressed appropriately in matching blue suits and bow ties. Photograph: Kenny@hellokpop.com

Rookies EXO, who is split into EXO-K and EXO-M achieved great success last year when they debuted with their hit song MAMA, which earned them 18 nominations including best rookies and artist of the year awards.

The group said that it was their first time attending an event as extravagant as The Golden Disk Awards and said that they were excited to perform.

“We are really honored and we are looking forward to the performance tonight.”

Check back with us for our continued coverage of  The 27th Golden Disk Awards in Kuala Lumpur. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to be updated. Full gallery below.

Interview Transcript

After walking the red carpet, artists were invited to answer a few questions from the media. Check the transcript below.

Media : Are there any upcoming plans of release of an album?

BTOB : We do not have any specific plans yet but we are practicing hard right now.

Media : Will there be any showcase to be held in Southeast Asia?

BTOB : We are thinking to hold one in May or June.

Media : What would you like to share to the greeting of your fans in Malaysia?

BTOB : This is our 2nd time in Malaysia. We were here a month ago and we had really a good time. We are really glad that we finally came back really fast. Please expect a lot from us during the Golden Disk Awards and continue to show us love and support!

Media : This is your first time in Malaysia and Golden Disk Awards. How do you feel?

Juniel : This is my first time in Malaysia and for the Golden Disk Awards. I’m so happy and honored to be here and the food is really delicious and I wish to come back soon.

Media : Any greetings for your Malaysian fans?

Juniel : I’m Juniel, thank you for supporting me and this is my first time to be in Malaysia. Please continue to show your support and love to me and K-Pop!

Media : Any greetings for your Malaysian fans?

B1A4 : We are really glad to be here at the Golden Disk Awards tonight. Please show us your support and do look forward to our performance tonight!

Media : Can you share with us how it feels like to be in the Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia?

EXO : This is our first time the 12 of us as one come to such a big event, the Golden Disk Awards. We are really honored and we are looking forward to the performance tonight. Thank you very much!

Media : Greeting to your Malaysian fans?

CNBLUE : We are happy and honored to be here in Malaysia and for the Golden Disk Awards. For the love of K-Pop, we are looking forward to the Golden Disk Awards tonight and thank you everyone!

Media : If you have one thing to say to your Malaysian fans, what would it be?

CNBLUE : I LOVE MALAYSIA! CNBLUE 4th Mini Album, Re:BLUE, and the title song “I’m Sorry“, please show a lot of support for our song and album.

Media : Any possible concert in Malaysia?

CNBLUE : We are planning a world tour concert and really wish that we could come to Malaysia. I LOVE MALAYSIA! Please enjoy the Golden Disk Awards tonight. I LOVE YOU! Thank you so much! I LOVE MALAYSIA!

Media : How do you feel about being in Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia?

FT Island : We were here (Malaysia) for a concert before and we are happy to be here again. It is really cold in Korea now and I’m glad that we are in Malaysia because it is warm here. We are here for the awesome stage tonight, please look forward to that. I love Malaysia and thank you for everything!

Media : Hi KARA. Can you share how you feel about being in Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia and share something with our Malaysian fans?

KARA : We are so happy to be in Malaysia to be able to participate in the Golden Disk Awards. We are especially happy because our member, Nicole, is the emcee for the Golden Disk Awards tonight. And I hope you all enjoy the Golden Disk Awards tonight. Thank you!

Media : Can you share how you feel about being in Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia and share something with our Malaysian fans?

SHINee : We are so grateful for the support and love of the Malaysian fans showed us. We will try our best to be better and better, so please continue to show us your support and love like you all have shown us.

Media : Can you share how you feel about being in Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia and please share a few words with the Malaysian fans?

INFINITE : We are so grateful to be at the Golden Disk Awards tonight and we are able to see our Malaysian fans tonight. Please show us your support and love like how you have shown us.

Media : Will there be any possible concert held in Malaysia?

INFINITE : We do not have any specific plans for the concert in Malaysia yet, but we will come out with something really cool and awesome. So please show us your support!

Media : Have you had a chance to try any Malaysia food?

INFINITE : We don’t know the name of the food but it was so delicious. Sorry!

Media : Can you share how you feel about being in Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia and please share a couple of words with our Malaysian fans?

BEAST : We are so honored to be here at the Golden Disk Awards tonight and we are always so grateful of the support and love the Malaysian fans have shown us. We hope that tonight is going to be a good night. Thank you!

Media : Super Junior won the grand prize in the previous year of the Golden Disk Awards. How does it feel to be back in Golden Disk Awards again?

Super Junior : We are so grateful to be back in Golden Disk Awards and to be able to have great time with Malaysian fans!

Media : Do you have any words to share with your Malaysian fans?

Super Junior : Super Junior M just had a concert here and it has been a long time since Super Junior has seen their fans in Malaysia. We are so grateful to be here and please show the support and love that you have always shown us. We have prepared a lot of songs and we hope that it will be a great performance tonight!

Special thanks to the organizer Joongang Culture Media, Mediartncomm Co. Ltd, RougePR known as Rouge Creative Boutique (M) Sdn Bhd.

Event covered & Photos credits : kenny@hellokpop.com

How CNBlue’s Lee Jung Shin stole the hearts of the ajummas

CNBlue’s member Lee JungShin is receiving much love and attention from the ajumma (mothers) fans for portraying a cute, young male character on the drama My Daughter, Seo Young. 

On KBS2′s Weekend drama My Daughter, Seo Young, he plays the role of the youngest son, Kang Sungjae who has a lot of aegyo (cuteness) and has a warm heart. This character has stolen the hearts of ajumma viewers.

In one scene, Lee Jung Shin’s character serenaded his mother Cha Jisung (played by Kim Hye-ok), with a guitar playing before melting the hearts of older viewers when he said “Mom, thanks for marrying dad. I’m really happy that you are my mom.”

Lee JungShin said that he was being recognised more for his character than being the bassist of CNBlue. ”I’m very thankful to the ajummas who recognize me, it’s still very interesting to me. The character Kang Sungjae is similar to my real personality as well so I get to really focus and enjoy while I’m acting.” He said.

This drama tells the story of a father who separates with his daughter, their love, hate and reconciliation. Seo Young (Lee Bo Young) is a tough woman who tries to escape the harsh life of poverty with a strong passion to gain success, overcome her lower status and rise in society. On the road to fullfill her dream, she cuts ties with her poor family and incompetent father (Chun Ho Jin) who still love his daughter despite her bitterness. (Dramawiki)

My Daughter, Seo Young airs every Saturday and Sunday on KBS2.

Are you currently watching the drama? Tell us what you thought about the drama and Lee Jung Shin’s character!

Source: News and photo – The Star