Kris shows his support for EXO's concert?

EXO had their first of three concerts today on May 23, rousing up fans and other idols with their exciting performances.  

Meanwhile, member Kris, who is currently trying to get out of his contract with SM Entertainment, was absent, but allegedly updated his Weibo bio before the first concert writing, "Work hard, fighting!"  Fans are speculating this was a message meant for his group members before they stood on stage.

Despite the complexity of the current situation, it appears Kris still wants to show his support for the group.  Stay tuned for updates!

[UPDATE] It appears he wrote this a while before the concert and the lawsuit, maybe sometime in April.

source:allkpop

Heechul, Lawyer Kang Yong Suk, and More Weigh in on EXO Kris’ Situation

On the recent broadcast of JTBC’s “War of Words,” Super Junior‘s Heechul expressed his opinions on the current situation of Kris and EXO. 

The May 22 episode of the JTBC show, the broadcast covered the topic of “Million Sellers,” highlighting both g.o.d‘s and EXO‘s achievements in selling over one million albums. However, Heo Ji Woong commented, “We don’t want to talk about the albums; our main interest is on Kris’ lawsuit.” Kang Yong Suk, who is a lawyer and former politician, stated, “It is a lawsuit to terminate ones contract,” and further elaborated on the legal circumstances of the lawsuit. Moreover, the lawyer also commented on how the lawsuit was similar to that of former Super Junior member Hangeng, as Kris had chosen to work with the same lawyer who had worked on Hangeng’s case.

However, SM artist and Super Junior member Heechul’s perspective sparked the most curiosity out of the show’s panels. Heechul expressed, “This situation (with Kris) is different than Hangeng’s lawsuit. In Hangeng’s case, he was only allowed on two shows, and it was difficult for him to do activities in Korea.” 

When Kim Gura mentioned, “Since Hangeng had been lonely [in Super Junior], SM tried to supplement such loneliness by adding more Chinese members and separating the EXO members in to two groups of EXO-K and EXO-M,” Heechul agreed to that statement.

Heechul also added, “In Kris’ situation, the issue is that he let down the trust of his fans since he abruptly left one week before EXO’s concert after preparing all the arrangements and choreography, and after recording all the music.”

When Park Ji Yoon asked, “Doesn’t it take a lot of time and money to change all the arrangements and choreography?” Heechul answered, “Everything is flipped upside down. The music was already recorded, and all the choreography and formation was prepared, but that’s all changing now. In EXO’s case, their choreography had already been arranged into formations of six against six, but that is all flipped upside down [by the lawsuit].”

Furthermore, in regards to Kris’ actions, Heechul said, “I want to approach this as an ill-mannered act by Kris to the fans. If you look at it in another way, this lawsuit could have been predicted because there were issues in the past with Kris. Fans also know about these situations, but Kris would abruptly go missing from the stage, or sometimes he would not come to the company when EXO had activities; there were times when he would go overseas and not come back.”

When the conversation turned to the other EXO members’ actions of unfollowing Kris on Instagram or expressing their opinions through their SNS, Heechul commented, “There’s even such saying that SM forced the members to do that,” which he denied and expressed were not true. Although not an EXO members, Heechul’s perspective as a Super Junior member and a SM artist has been helpful in further understanding this situation.

Want to find out what other insights were shared regarding Kris and EXO? Check out the full video below. Remember to click the close captioning (CC) on the bottom of the video if English subtitles do not show up. 

source:soompi

Nam Goong Min Greatly Impressed by His Wife Hong Jin Young

On the May 24 episode of the MBC show “We Got Married,” the wedding reception of actor Nam Goong Min and singer Hong Jin Young will be shown.

In this episode, while Hong Jin Young was appreciating the band that was playing at their wedding reception, she surprised Nam Goong Min by suddenly going up the stage and performing a special number for her husband, in front of a lot of people.

Nam Goong Min, who closely watched the performance of his wife Hong Jin Young said, “My ideal type has changed. When she was singing, her veins were showing and it made me feel giddy.”

“I was trembling. I had to avoid Nam Goong Min’s gaze because I was so nervous,” said Hong Jin Young of what she remembered while performing onstage.

See the impromptu performance of Hong Jin Young that was so good it made Nam Goong Min change his ideal type on “We Got Married,” to be broadcast on May 24, 5:10 p.m.

source:soompi

Kara’s Fan Club Protests Adding New Members

Kara‘s fan club Kamilia has been hitting the headlines in Korea with banners hung at locations throughout the country in protest of the addition of new members. The girl group, originally a five-member outfit, was rocked by the news of the departure of two of its members earlier this year. Ex-members Nicole and Jiyoung left DSP Media when their contracts with the entertainment company expired.

Recently, however, DSP has launched a search for new members for the group, in the form of a reality show called “Kara Project.” The show is airing on cable channel MBC Music. It seems fans of the group have reacted angrily to this idea, however. Photographs of the banners posted on Twitter and Facebook, show that for a certain section of Kara followers, it would be preferable for remaining members Hara, Gyuri and Seungyeon to continue as a trio.

The banners are adorned with slogans which read, “DSP Media, we are opposed to adding new members to Kara.”

The protests come ahead of the group’s scheduled meeting with fan club members, “Kamilia Day Fan Meeting.” The event will be held in the afternoon of May 24. Up to 5,000 fans usually attend such events, but so far, only around 1,000 people have signed up for it, as fans continue to show their displeasure at DSP’s decision.

G-Dragon gets a kiss from Haru on 'Superman Is Back'?

In the preview shown on the last KBS 2TV's 'Superman Is Back,' Haru visited Osaka with her mother, Kang Hye Jung, in order to see her father at the YG Concert. 

There, she again become the excited fan girl of Big Bang's G-Dragon, who asked her sweetly, "Did you enjoy the show?"  Also on the show, he asked her for a kiss.  Haru, who was in her father Tablo's arms, closed her eyes and puckered up.  As G-Dragon was concerned his make up might get on Haru, he even wiped it off his cheek in preparation for her kiss.

You can see whether Haru succeeds in giving G-Dragon a kiss when the episode airs on May 25!

source:allkpop

DSP Media Ordered to Pay Up for Damages Due to KARA Contract Dispute

The courts have ruled that DSP Media needs to pay for damages incurred to a clothing company due to KARA‘s loss of good image from their member contract disputes with the entertainment agency.

On May 21, it was ordered by the Seoul High Court that “DSP Media pay 50 million won to Real Company.” Fifty-million won is about 50 thousand dollars USD. 

The judges of the case explained, “Before the dispute, KARA had a bright and friendly image but after negative reports of their conflicts came out, their good image fell sharply. This violated the endorsement requirement in the contract for the group to maintain a dignified image.”

However, the court also ruled that Real Company needs to pay DSP Media 50 million won in endorsement (modeling) fees since KARA fulfilled their duties before their conflicts arose. 

In 2011, all members except Park Gyuri announced that they would be terminating their contract with DSP Entertainment and filed a lawsuit. While the conflict was later resolved with all five members remaining with the agency, Real Company, a clothing company that KARA was endorsing, filed a lawsuit against the entertainment agency, asking for compensation for damages incurred by the group’s loss of image.

source:soompi

SHINee’s Key Unexpectedly Meets His Mother-in-Law on “We Got Married Global Edition”

SHINee member Key will have a surprise meeting with his Japanese mother-in-law.

In the upcoming May 24 broadcast of MBC Every1’s variety program “We Got Married Global Edition 2,” Key will be surprised with an unexpected meeting with his virtual wife Arisa Yagi’s mother.

At the recent filming for the show, Arisa Yagi took Key to a nearby Korean Table d’hote and asked him to wait in the room by himself while she excused herself to use the restroom.

Key then opened the door to the room without any thought, and was caught by surprise when he found Arisa Yagi’s mother already waiting. It is reported that Key, who was shocked by the unexpected surprise, grabbed his shoes and ran out of the room. After calming himself down, he returned and bowed in respect to his mother-in-law.

In the personal interview, Key confessed, “Something was a bit suspicious because my wife is not one to go to the restroom after telling me. I just thought it was an event, so I panicked because I had no idea that my mother-in-law would be there.”

Also, you can watch Heechul and Puff Kuo go on a camping trip in the upcoming episode as well.

MBC Every1’s “We Got Married Global Edition” will air on May 24 at 10 PM (KST). Check out the preview below!

source:soompi

IDOLA KECIL ULTRA

Did you all watch IDOLA KECIL ULTRA at TV9 tonight? I watched it. I’m battling with myself whether to watch IDOLA KECIL ULTRA or CERIA POPSTAR on astro ceria but since there will be re-run for CERIA POPSTAR, so I decided to watch IDOLA KECIL ULTRA.

I’m kinda disappointed on IDOLA KECIL ULTRA. I almost change the channel in the middle of the show. It’s kinda awful to me. The stage, camera quality, audio quality, the outfit, the song, the MC and even the judges make everything is awful. Everything is not right. Let’s talk about the stage first, the stage is too DULL. I don’t have any problem with small stage but it too dull, the light is dull plus with poor camera/video quality it’s just make it worse. The audio also not good, since I can hear it properly but this maybe just my ear got some problem. 

Lets talk about outfit, I think they make it “over the top” and its turn to “down to the hill”. I’m totally agreed with Tomok when he comments about outfit, some of them look good and some of that just look awful. About the judges, I still think they need someone better then that. I’m not saying they not good, they are good but they need someone that can give comments in proper way especially this show is for kid they contestant basically just a kid or teenager.  Tomok is ok but to combined with akim its not look that good. If you want them to be together, you need to add ‘senior’ judges that have fatherly/motherly figure. For MC..hemm..Alif is ok since this not first times he being MC for this show. I just see that he didn’t click with the judges. Try to ‘talk back’ on the stage definitely not a good manner mr. ok, may be he had a good attention but try to correct the judges more than once its not look good. I’m may be look trying to defense the judges but its not like that. MR. ALIF there has a different between battle in singing and dancing. Even the concept is battle but that doesn’t mean you need to outshine your partner and its also not about show off your talent or how high you can hit the not. It’s about harmony between two persons in singing. You may be seeing it at as a battle rather then duet but it is DUET since you sing together. You not suppose to be a different entity when you sing together or DUET. You are the singer you should know more then me. Even I’m not very fond towards the judges but I still like their sincerity in giving their comments. It’s just that they need to know which words they should used and more calm. I like when Tomok make decision to pass Haris and make the other two (sorry I not remember their name) went for another battle (That definitely a good choice). The new format (battle format) also nice but I prefer the old one because I think they cant show their full talent. Basically this format not new either, THE BAND, KPOPSTAR, THE VOICE also used the same format. 

Ok. I think just that my ranting about IDOLA KECIL ULTRA. Tomorrow I gonna watch re-run for CERIA POPTSTAR. Bye.

Younha Can Tell When Celebrities Have Feelings for Each Other?

Solo artist Younha has revealed that she tends to notice when two stars have something special going on.

On the latest episode of MBC’s “Radio Star,” she discussed her long-term career as not only a singer, but also a radio show host.

MC Yoon Jung Shin opened up the discussion on the intimate atmosphere in the booth, “The radio is a good place for showing your affection. Isn’t it only the DJ and the guests in the booth?”

Younha agreed by saying, “That’s right. After getting over the awkwardness and having a conversation, they even change their contact information. Sometimes I can tell that the guests have romantic feelings towards each other. The more I do it, the more I notice it.”

MC Kim Guk Jin asked, “Have you ever liked someone?” to which Younha honestly replied, “I have.” Hearing this, MC Kyuhyun continued by asking, “Have you ever written something next to your script?” 

Younha answered, “I don’t do such low-level things,” and evoked laughter with her comment.

source:soompi

Infinite’s Sungkyu Reported as Agency CEO’s Nephew is a FALSE

[UPDATE - 05/23] The following report was soon revealed as false. The statement after the showcase was a simple light-hearted joke between Sungkyu and Lee Jong Yeop, who are close, and the two meant that they are simply close like uncle and nephew. There is no familial relationship between Infinite’s Sungkyu and Woollim Entertainment CEO Lee Jong Yeop.

[Original post - 05/22] Sports Seoul recently reported that Infinite member Sungkyu has been revealed as the nephew of his agency’s CEO, Lee Jong Yeop.

This was said to have been revealed by the Woollim Entertainment CEO after Infinite’s showcase on May 21, after having kept it a secret up until now. Sungkyu said, “I became a part of Infinite after auditions and various tests of ability and talent. However, it’s not that there was no connection there.”

source:soompi