Music Core performances from May 21st

MBC’s Music Core is back once again with yet another fun and exciting show!

Besides the usual stages, B2ST and Jewelry made their comebacks, while Heo Young Saeng debuted. Elsewhere, CNBLUE performed their goodbye stage.

Please Reade More: All Kpop

[Review] “Love Alone” by miss A

JYP Entertainment always possessed a clean and tidy production style and one of their latest releases, miss A’s “Love Alone“, pretty much lays down the same level of quality.

Comprised of Fei, Jia, Min, and Suzy, miss A debuted last year with “Bad Girl Good Girl,” placing them on the map as JYP’s first girl group post-Wonder Girls. Unlike their seniors, miss A were pushed into the scene with a musical style that was less glittery, and more contemporary. Their music wasn’t sampling any glaring genre or time period, which in hindsight was a clever move on JYP Entertainment’s part (or more accurately, AQ Entertainment’s), seeing as it was smarter to kick off a pop-career with a degree of flexibility than some form of limitation.

This approach was tested during miss A’s second mini album, “Step Up,” where the girls took on a very unconventional, pseudo-reggae style that took them to a totally different place than they had been before. The reception is split on whether or not it made sense with miss A.

But it seems like the age of “Step Up” was perhaps a phase and now miss A is back to the good ole’ pop routine the group debuted with.

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“Love Alone” is by far one of miss A’s strongest songs. Interestingly enough, what makes this such a nice song for these ladies is the simplicity of it. miss A have good voices all around and “Love Alone” brings them out really well, giving them a sense of resilience as the vocal-processing is kept to a minimum; in essence, we hear them, and not a slew of nuances and glitchy auto-tune.

The way miss A sings this particular song – which deals with unrequited love – does a really good job of selling its meaningful theme. It’s soft-spoken through the verses and chorus, which is what “Love Alone” asks for in the vocals; the overall effect gets infused even further with a feel-good beat and instrumentation.

“Love Alone” isn’t revolutionary for a girl group; it’s just a simple little tune that happens to push and pull in all the right directions without overdoing it.

miss A will be making a comeback soon, and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that they keep this trend up because they’re definitely talented and do a nice job of putting those skills to use when they’re give the right material.

After School’s E-Young injures her finger while playing the bass

On May 21st, After School’s E-Young guested on tvN’s “Big Question” and accidentally injured her finger while playing the bass for the audience.

A staff on set revealed, “E-Young is a rookie so we expected her to be nervous, but she did not stop her performance even while bleeding, surprising the staff and cast members on set. She was very professional with the way she calmly carried on.”

When asked whether it hurt, E-Young replied, “I had already started the performance so I wanted to finish showing it to everyone. I still have so much left to show, so I’m upset that I wasn’t able to.”

Netizens commented, “Her skin got cut, it must’ve stung so bad”, “Bleeding on broadcast, looks like she’s gonna hit a daebak”, and “I was so shocked to see her continue playing even while bleeding.

Who Are The Top 10 Sexiest Male Idols In K-Pop?

We covered thetop 10 sexiest female idols in K-Pop and readers gave Ga-In the majority of the votes. This time around, we’ll be tackling the top 10 sexiest males! Thank you to Korean magazines for giving us super sexy photoshoots. And a bigger thank you to the male idols for taking their shirts off for said photoshoots. Choosing just 10 idols was extremely hard but we somehow managed to narrow our top choices down.

But…who do you think is the sexiest male idol? Vote vote vote and if he’s not on the list, feel free to rant in the comments.

For ballad singers who never dance to their songs, 2AM‘s members are ripped! Jokwon’s taken and Changmin’s too sweet to be sexy so they didn’t make the cut but Seulong’s Mens Health cover was unforgettable

Sort of like Lee Hyori, Rain‘s name is synonymous with sexy. There’s the song “Rainism” which was deemed inappropriate for children under 19 due to lines like “trembling inside your shaking body is my magic stick.” For his most recent album, he didn’t even bother putting a shirt on for the jacket photos.

.MBLAQ‘s Lee Joon caused a frenzy after his shirt stripping moment during “Oh Yeah” became a hit. One provocative dance with After School’s Kahi later and Lee Joon’s status as the next hot idol was cemented.

aIf we’re being super technical here, everyone in BEAST should be on this list. But we can only fit 10 idols so Gikwang gets our vote. Full of charm and aegyo, his personality and his looks come together perfectly.

Jay Parkhas abs other male idols are jealous of and that’s saying something! Whether you fell in love with him when he was the leader of 2PM or if his smooth moves in “Abandoned” reeled you in, Jay Park’s undeniable charisma has never changed.

There was a time when you couldn’t search Taecyeon’s name without article after article about his shirt ripping performance during 2PM‘s “Heartbeat” appearing. People even wondered if he was addicted to taking his shirt off (they were joking) but most fangirls were just really really happy.

When it came down to the decision between TVXQ‘s Yunho and Changmin, Yunho’s man boobs were too much of a negative and Changmin’s snark was just that much of a plus. We actually looked forward to his glares on stage during “Why (Keep Your Head Down)” and all of those jackets without anything underneath made us want to kiss his stylist.

The title of sexiest member in Super Junior belongs to Siwon hands down. (Donghae might be a rival) Siwon knows how to use his expressive eyebrows to his advantage in photoshoots and music videos. On variety shows…not so much.

What makes T.O.P so irresistible? It has to be his deep voice, unique hairstyles, guyliner done right, dominating height…the list goes on and on. Big Bang‘s rapper proves you don’t always have to take your shirt off to be sexy.

Jaejoong has a perfect body, tattoos and a smile that turns your knees to jelly. He even played a lonely assassin! He has a cat! He spends holidays with his members drinking soju! What more do you need?

Poll: SHINee’s Airport Fashion Faceoff!

With SHINee‘s Japanese debut just days away now, it looks like we’ll be seeing much more of their airport fashion in the future. But who rules as SHINee’s fashion leader?

There’s the obvious choice…Key. His tight jeans, trendy leopard jacket and wayfarers stand out just like the rest of his everyday wardrobe. Minho looks like he just came from school with his favorite hat and simple college student outfit. That’s if college students who look like models regularly hop on planes to Japan for their debut.

Jonghyun’s tank top and blazer look a little girly (ha, did he get them from Shin Se Kyung…er, too early for girlfriend jokes?) but he could rival Key when it comes to stand-out pieces. Oh Onew. It’s like celeb, celeb, celeb, celeb, the boy next door. Onew’s outfit looks the most practical for the plane though. That deserves some points. We chose to ignore Taemin’s boring outfit from his trip to Japan but on his way back to Korea, his super adorable black frames and graphic T-shirt made him the definition of an ikemen (hot guy).

JYJ’s Yoochun attends press conference for “Ripley”

On May 17th, MBC’s new drama “Ripley” held its production conference at the Banyan Tree with lead roles Kim Seung Woo, Lee Da Hae, Park Yoochun, and Kang Hye Jung in attendance.

As it’s his second drama, Yoochun was asked to explain the difference between his role in “Ripley” and his role in “Sungkyunkwan Scandal.”  He answered, “Well, I’ve gone from wearing hanbok to suits now…  I think the way the two characters express pain is different.  Unlike ‘Lee Sun Joon’, my character in ‘Ripley’ starts everything with a laugh.  He’s always smiling, but it only takes a moment for him to begin shedding tears.”

He continued, “There was definitely a lot of pressure, and even after I decided to take the role, I was still worried over whether I’d do well.  One of my greatest concerns was how the viewers would perceive me, especially since they thought well of me with my previous work.  Everyone treats me so well at the recording so I’m able to take part in it comfortably now.”

When asked about working with his seniors, he revealed, “I was so nervous, I made a lot of NGs.  I’d blush and sweat.  It’s my second drama so I’m definitely seeing a wider perspective in comparison to my debut.”

Kang Hye Jung praised, “Yoochun-ssi is so great at acting and works extremely hard.  I think he fits his character well of being a smooth man of the city.  A person of his level could probably take on dramas catering to the teenage audience, but he doesn’t rely on his popularity at all and is determined to live life as a true actor.”

On his reasons for choosing “Ripley”, Yoochun commented, “I’ve really wanted to do a melodrama.  I loved the character as well, and after seeing the line-up, I wanted to be able work with them.”

“Ripley” begins airing on May 30th.

Source + Photos:alkpop

the GazettE release a longer teaser for upcoming single, “VORTEX”

Last month, Visual Kei band the GazettE announced a new single, “VORTEX“, which will be released later this month on May 25th. The track will be the band’s first single of the year.

Just recently, Sony Music has released a longer teaser version of the title track, which you can view on Sony’s Official Website for the GazettE.

source:allkpoptokyo

SHINee releases MV teaser for “Replay -君は僕のeverything-”!

Having announced earlier that SHINee would be debuting in Japan with “Replay“, EMI Music Japan has today released the official MV teaser through their YouTube channel.

“Replay” was the song which SHINee debuted with in Korea, and this Japanese version will herald a brand new beginning for the boys in Japan.

source:allkpop.com

Check out a preview of Super Junior’s Japanese track, “Bijin”

A short preview of Korean boy band Super Junior’s song “Bijin (BONAMANA)” has recently been revealed!

The electropop dance tune is the Japanese version of their smash Korean hit, “BONAMAMA“. “Bijin” will become the group’s first Japanese single, and it’ll drop on May 18th as a digital single.

source:allkpop

Gear up for the ‘2011 JYP U.S.A Audition Tour’!

Want to be a star? Do you think you’ve got what it takes? Well mark your calendars because here’s your chance to work with one of Korea’s top producers and most successful artists, J.Y. Park!

The 2011 JYP USA Audition Tour is coming soon to the States and Canada, so be sure to check out the audition website for more information.

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*Audition Categories: Singer, Actor, VJ, MC, Model

Qualifications for Audition: Any resident in the US or Canada may participate regardless of nationality or gender. Candidates should be born from 1983 to 2001.

*Audition Schedule Stops: (Locations for the auditions will be announced at a later date)
May 21st, 2011: Los Angeles

May 28th, 2011: Vancouver

June 11th, 2011: New York

June 18th, 2011: Toronto

*How to apply:

1. Log onto http://audition.jype.com/2011usaaudition

2. Register as a member (a non-member application procedure is also available)

3. Input your name and email address

4. Receive the audition code via email (it will be sent immediately)

5. Fill out and complete the audition form

*Things to prepare for at the audition:

A. Vocal Part – One minute of singing (without MR)
B. Dancing Part – One minute of dancing, and Music CD
C. Acting / VJ / MC Part – One minute of impromptu or memorized acting (no designated script)
D. Model – Posing and Cat Walking

*Directions:
A. A list of those who have passed will be individually notified by July 10th.
B. JYPE reserves the right to keep copies of audition footage it has filmed and received.
C. The selected finalists will have an opportunity to be trained by the JYPE Training Program.

Registrations will be accepted the day of the audition.