On Naver’s recent “First Half of 2011 Music Chart” for digital downloads, f(x)’s “Pinocchio” and SECRET’s “Shy Boy” ranked 4th and 6th, respectively.
Counting only girl idol groups, these two respective groups were the top 2 on the Naver Chart with f(x) being 1st and SECRET being 2nd.
Last year, which was when girl groups were all the rage in K-pop, neither f(x) nor SECRET were included on the top 10 downloads chart for Naver.
On last year’s “2010 Naver Music Digital Download Chart“, miss A, 2NE1, and SNSD were the only girl groups on the chart; miss A’s “Bad Girl Good Girl” was ranked number 1, 2NE1’s “Go Away” ranked 3rd, and SNSD’s “Oh!“, “Hoot”, and “Run Devil Run” were ranked 7th, 9th, and 10th, respectively.
Although girl groups were continuing their rising popularity for the first half of 2011, f(x) and SECRET made their stand as new leaders. Both SNSD and miss A weren’t active in the first half of 2011, while 2NE1’s “Lonely” and Park Bom’s “Don’t Cry” arrived too late to overcome the bars already set by SECRET’s hit songs, “Shy Boy” and “Starlight Moonlight“, as well as f(x).
f(x)’s popularity was most apparent as although they released “Pinocchio” in late April, they had ranked the highest of all girl groups for Naver’s chart.
Source: edaily via Naver
It’s been officially announced that the third ‘2011 Incheon Korean Music Wave Concert‘ will be taking place at the Incheon Munhak Olympic Stadium on August 13th!
The upcoming concert shows a very promising lineup, packed with a huge range of the hottest Korean idol groups. The full lineup is as follows: - Super Junior - 2PM - SNSD - 2NE1 - B2ST - KARA - SHINee - 2AM - f(x) - miss A - T-ara - MBLAQ - CNBLUE - F.T Island - S.G Wannabe - SECRET - 4minute - SISTAR - Son Dambi
Not only will this concert be another great influence to the rapidly growing K-pop wave, but it will also be helpful in exposing the beauties of the city of Incheon, especially to international tourists.
It’s said that a big group of French tourists have already booked their seats for the phenomenal concert, and concert organizers have predicted that many other international fans and media outlets are preparing to make their way to Incheon next month to watch the concert.
Check out the official teaser down below!
On July 15th, MTV and Cyworld announced, “On this coming July 23rd at 8pm in Seoul Gwangjang-dong’s AX Korea, we will be holding a promotional concert to celebrate the successful hosting bid for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games“.
This event is a part of Cyworld’s ‘Dream Campaign‘, which promotes one having a ‘Dream’. In order to celebrate the fulfillment of the entire nation’s dream of being selected for the 2018 Winter Olympics, the nation’s top singers will be coming together to put on an exciting concert, titled ‘PLAY your DREAM‘.
A total of 17 artists will be performing, including DJ DOC, MBLAQ, T-ara, The Grace – Dana & Sunday, Jang Jae In, INFINITE, ZE:A, 8eight, Mighty Mouth, W&Whale, Block B, HITT, Dal Shabet, Alex, Lim Jeong Hee, 45rpm and Hwayobi.
The MCs are set to be Kwon Ri Sae of MBC’s ‘Birth of A Great Star‘ and singer Son Ho Young.
This event will be aired on July 30th at 8pm on MTV, and will also be broadcasted in 10 different Asian countries through MTV Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and more.
‘Music Bank‘ is back with a fun and exciting show that was chock-full of amazing performances!
Besides the usual stages, male group MBLAQ made their long-awaited comeback, while Jang Woo Hyuk began follow-up promotions with “Weekend Night“. SECRET faced off against 2PM for this week’s K-Chart, and in the end, it was the latter who clinched the K-Chart win. Congratulations to 2PM on their triple crown win!
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< Backstage MC Cut with 2PM & SECRET >
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Other performers included Code V, HITT, Navi, Girl’s Day, Rumble Fish, Mighty Mouth & Soya, J, ZE:A, Can, Jang Woo Hyuk, CSJH Dana & Sunday, Boyfriend, 8eight, HyunA, Sunny Hill, Min Kyung Hoon, MBLAQ, SECRET, T-ara, and 2PM.
(* SECRET, B1A4, and A Pink had their goodbye stages this week.)
On July 13th, 2PM’s Nichkhun caused laughter among netizens when he uploaded the above photo with the tweet, “I see this is why they call it the ‘Pig Nose’ =]“.
In the photo, Nichkhun is making a cute expression while holding a plug adapter that is commonly referred to as a ‘pig nose’ between his nose and mouth.
Fans commented, “You are too cute!”, “Haha piggy Khun“, and “Will you please charge my cell phone with your nose?”
He’s definitely the cutest pig I’ve ever seen!
Source + Photo: Nichkhun’s Twitter
KBS 2TV’s ‘”Music Bank” successfully hosted their show at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. KBS’s 9 o’clock News spotlighted “K-POP Festival Music Bank in Tokyo” which took place on July 13th.
For this specific “Music Bank” concert, TVXQ, KARA, SNSD, 2PM, B2ST, 4minute, U-KISS, IU, Baek Ji Young, SECRET, Rainbow, INFINITE, Park Hyun Bin, Rania, X-5, and other artists put on their amazing performances.
The Music Bank concert was hosted by KBS and supervised by KBS Japan. The producer of “Music Bank” commented, “This concert is expected to be the biggest international concert to date”.
The concert met expectations and was successful as expected. Despite the temperature nearing 95 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 45,000 fans in Japan gathered at the Tokyo Dome, a landmark for concerts in Japan, to enjoy K-Pop.
Fans commented, “The dances are on a different level compared to Japan. The amount of practice is different”, “They’re so cool. I’m from Osaka”, as the reactions hit home in recognizing the Hallyu boom.
Before the concert, a meeting was set for Hallyu stars to meet Japanese cultural figures, as well. The meeting was to allow for the Hallyu boom’s consistent growth through cultural exchanges with people of influence.
The Tokyo Dome concert allowed the opportunity to recognize the heat of the Hallyu Wave and to continue its wave on forth.
On the other hand, KBS’s 9 o’clock news analyzed that through the idol groups’ popularity, the age range of Japanese consumers buying Korean products broadened from middle-age to youth in their teens.
A Japanese fan commented, “I first watched Korean dramas and listened to Korean music, but now my interest grew to the point where I have come to enjoy and love Korean food, as well”. Another fan stated, “I feel if I use Korean products, I might evenutally become as pretty as SNSD, so I like it”. Particularly, despite the great earthquake that tragically hit Japan earlier in the year, Korean cosmetic companies have reported their sales increasing in double digit numbers.
Likewise of the “Winter Sonata” boom causing Korean exports into Japan increase in substantial amounts, K-Pop’s popularity is shown as its rate of export has grown annually by more than 10% each year. Korean culture’s exporting power has already matured into the Japanese market.
KBS’s 9 o’clock news criticized that they should stop relying on stars to create ‘One-Hit Wonder’ effects, but rather strategize movements to bring up the image of Korea and its corporations. A Hallyu specialist in Japan stated, “The moment that the people of Japan accept Korean culture without realizing its in the Korean language, is when I believe the people of Japan will truly accept Korea”, suggesting a strategy for Hallyu to take off in Japan.
Having been pre-empted last week for the 2011 Mnet 20’s Choice Awards, Mnet’s “M! Countdown” is back with another episode of great performances and musical treats.
Besides the usual stages on the show today, MBLAQ, CSJH, HyunA, Girl’s Day, and ZE:A all made their respective comebacks. Elsewhere, Jang Woo Hyuk and Kim Hyun Joong begun follow-up promotions while HITT and Japanese girl group, Domino made their debuts.
With regular MCs Tony An and Shin So Yul away on vacation, T-ara’s Eunjung and Soyeon were recruited to be special MCs for today.
It was a hot battle between HyunA, T-ara and 2PM for the #1 spot on “M! Countdown” today, but in the end, it was T-ara who got the win! Congratulations, ladies!
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Homme and miss A’s comebacks were teased for next week.
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Other performers included J, 8eight, Mighty Mouth, Navi, and Sunny Hill.
The Gaon Chart is the national chart of South Korea and is intended to be the equivalent of the Oricon in Japan and Billboard in the United States.
Check out the chart rankings for the first week of July below!
=== Gaon Chart National Digital Singles Ranking
1. GG – “I Cheated” ft. Park Bom (‘Infinity Challenge’) – 135,916,600 Points
2. Drooping Snail – “Apgujeong Delinquent” (‘Infinity Challenge’) – 101,294,314 Points
3. Sea Route – “A Song Only I Can Sing” (‘Infinity Challenge’) – 87,418,735 Points
4. Cheolssa – “Please Shake It” (‘Infinity Challenge‘) – 80,769,431 Points
5. Paripigienne – “Pure Macho” (‘Infinity Challenge’) – 78,031,658 Points
6. Sweet Cotsorrow – “Will You Give Me Affection” (‘Infinity Challenge‘) – 67,711,986 Points
7. CM Haha – “Do You Want To Die Or Do You Want To Date” (‘Infinity Challenge‘) – 66,294,028 Points
8. T-ara – “Roly Poly” – 61,645,160 Points
9. 2NE1 – “I’m The Best” – 48,858,655 Points
10. Drooping Snail – “As I Said” (‘Infinity Challenge‘) – 45,316,113 Points
— Gaon Chart National Physical Albums Ranking
1. Various Artists – “Miss Ripley OST”
2. Kim Hyun Joong – “Break Down (EP)”
3. 2PM – “Hands Up”
4. Girl’s Day – “Everyday”
5. T-ara – “John Travolta Wannabe”
6. ZE:A – “Exciting (Special Single)”
7. HyunA – “Bubble Pop!”
8. Various Artists – “I Am A Singer 1″
9. HITT – “Here Is The Top”
10. B2ST – “Fiction and Fact”
Source: Gaon Chart
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Source: Sports Seoul
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