2014년 11월 28일 금요일

Apink - Emerging girl group in Korea these days

Emerging girl group in Korea these days.

Creating pure image behind Apink’s success

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Updated : November 25 2014
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A-CUBE Entertainment

The girl group Apink swept all major music charts in Korea with its song “LUV” when it was released on Monday. 

Many have been wondering how the girl group became a sensation in the music industry in such a short amount of time.

While other many K-pop girl groups have adopted a sexy image to gain popularity, Apink focused on maintaining an image of innocence and purity, according to Shinsadong Tiger, the producer of Apink’s new album, which included “LUV.”

The prominent songwriter said in a recent interview with a local news outlet that he wanted Apink to present not only an innocent image but a cute image as well this time. 

“So I took a long time to find a way to express the members’ maturity while keeping their identity. I asked myself, ‘When do people feel they are mature while retaining their innocence?’ And I came up with this idea that the time is when people miss their first love,” he said.

“I focused on retrospection. I tried to develop Apink’s pure image, not change it. I emphasized the beat and added more bars in the song to show the changes. Before this song, I tried to express the group’s identity with chord work or musical elements; however, I asked the group for a calm voice to express truthful lyrics in this song,” the producer said.

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(Yonhap)

“‘LUV’ is a sad song that talks about the past. I thought if I put spectacular strings in the song, listeners might get too much sentimentalized. Avoiding light or common beats, I adapt hip-hop elements to add heaviness to the song,” the producer said regarding his intention to include hip-hop elements in the song.

He also expressed hope that “LUV” would encourage people who have a busy life. “‘NoNoNo’ was a cheerful healing song and ‘LUV’ is also the same,” he said.

After debuting at the age of 19, Sinsadong Tiger became famous for his work with K-pop artists. He has also been criticized for following trends in popular music and producing commercial music for idol groups. He recently launched his own girl group named EXID.

By Park Gyu-oh (q5park@heraldcorp.com)

2014년 11월 25일 화요일

Pororo Taxies to run in Seoul streets

The most popular character for children in Korea. we call it 뽀통령. It means Poresident(Po+president).


Pororo Taxies to run in Seoul streets

음성듣기
/ Yonhap

Taxis decorated with images of the popular cartoon penguin "Pororo" will debut on the streets of Seoul this week, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said Tuesday.

Twenty "Pororo Taxies" will operate for six months in a campaign to improve the reputation of cab drivers, SMG said.

"Taxi drivers have a reputation for rejecting customers and aggressive driving. We wanted to improve the way people think by adding the fun factor to cab rides for citizens, especially children," SMG said in a press release.
The cabs will have Pororo-themed safety belts and stuffed dolls in the backseat.

Running on a reservation-basis, the taxies can be booked on Seoul's Public Service Reservation webpage (www.yeyak.seoul.go.kr/main.web).

Fares will be the same price as other cabs in the city.

Chinese like Soo-hyun, Dongdaemun and?

I love Gimbap. I ate it even when I went to Beijing, China. It was almost like Korean gimbap.

Chinese like Soo-hyun, Dongdaemun and?

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Updated : November 26 2014
Chinese netizens have picked the actor Kim Soo-hyun, fashion district Dongdaemun and snack food gimbap as their favorite things about Korea.

The state-run Korea Tourism Organization and Chinese Internet portal Baidu released their joint survey on the newest hallyu trends on Tuesday.
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Hallyu actor Kim Soo-hyun. (OSEN)

According to the data, Kim, the star of SBS’ hit drama “My Love from the Star,” topped the list of favorite Korean celebrities while gimbap was the most tempting Korean food.

After gimbap, the main food-related words Chinese Internet users typed into search bars were kimchi, dolsot bibimbap, bulgogi, tteokbokki, budae jjigae and naengmyeon. Samgyetang and jajangmyeon followed next. 

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Korean traditional food "gimbap."

The most-searched-for travel-related keywords among Chinese netizens were Korean visa, Korean food, Korean tour guide, map of Korea, weather in Korea, Korean duty free, Korean cosmetic surgery and must-have Korean makeup kits. 

As for Chinese consumers’ favorite Korean cosmetics brands, Seolhwasoo, Mamonde and Iope were first, second and third, respectively, followed by Missha and Amore. 

According to the survey, Chinese young women in their 20s and 30s were most interested in traveling in Korea. This age bracket also turned out to prefer shopping in Dongdaemun and Myeong-dong to visiting amusement parks. 

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Chinese tourists are shopping in "Pyeonghwa Market Place" in Dongdaemun, Seoul.
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A shopping plaza in Dongdaemun, Seoul.