Junsu’s Interview regarding the SM lawsuit

JYJ’s Kim Junsu recently opened up about his group’s exclusive contract nullification lawsuit.

Kim Junsu met with reporters on the 29th at a hotel in Essen, Germany and when asked about the possibilities of TVXQ getting back together now that JYJ’s lawsuit with their former agency SM Entertainment has ended after three years and four months, he stated, “I lament the fact that I’m not able to introduce myself as a member of TVXQ.” Though it wasn’t a direct answer, it seems as though even he sees the chances of TVXQ getting back together again to be low.

Kim Junsu stated, “I, too, find this situation to be unfortunate because I entered the entertainment industry and started out as a singer through TVXQ,” and “Though the situation is unfortunate and regrettable, the title of ‘TVXQ’ will always remain in my heart and I believe that other people, and not only myself, will remember and never forget the five years that I performed as amember of TVXQ.”
He continued to add, “Nothing will ever be as memorable and fill me with joy than if I could stand on stage again as ‘TVXQ’ one day.” Kim Junsu didn’t hide his affection for TVXQ as he said, “We were fighting a battle against our company (SM Entertainment) and their unlawful practices; it wasn’t that we wanted to throw away our title of ‘TVXQ’ or leave ‘TVXQ’.”

He feels the same way about the name that introduced him to the world, ‘Xiah’. Kim Junsu stated, “When I perform in musicals, I use my real name of Kim Junsu. Regardless of what name I use, I give people my all to repay them for remembering me and coming to see me. But I started out as ‘Xiah’ and I would like to keep performing under that name as a singer.”

Though Kim Junsu made his debut and became famous as TVXQ’s Xiah Junsu, he has no longer been able to use that stage name since beginning his lawsuit against SM Entertainment.

When he released his first solo album in May, he released it under the name ‘XIA’, which was his name ‘XIAH’ from his TVXQ days without an ‘H’.

Source: [star mk]
Translated & Shared by: dongbangdata.net

TVXQ returning to stage with new album

It has been nearly two years since K-pop duo TVXQ released their last album, and now they are set to make a comeback performance with the release of their sixth record “Catch Me.”

The boys will be performing their title track “Catch Me” and “I Don’t Know” on KBS’ “Music Bank” on Friday, MBC’s “Music Core” on Saturday, and SBS’ “Inkigayo” on Sunday, according to their agency.

K-pop duo TVXQ are making their comeback with their new album “Catch Me.” (S.M. Entertainment)

The Transformers-like dance moves of their latest music video caught the attention of fans, with nicknames such as the “hulk dance” or “dragon dance” coined to describe the group’s new choreography.

Tony Testa, a famous hip-hop choreographer who also choreographed the moves for SHINee’s hit song “Sherlock,” said he sought to express the anger and sorrow of “Catch Me” after being inspired by Joss Whedon’s blockbuster action hero flick “The Avengers.”

As K-pop fever continues to stretch its borders, it appears that Psy is not the only one catching the attention of foreign listeners. TVXQ’s “Catch Me” was aired on the Monday episode of “Live! with Kelly & Michael,” a popular American morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and former American football star Michael Strahan. A clip of the song was played at the beginning of the show as the opener while Ripa and Strahan danced in front of their live studio audience.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)

Credit: Korean Herald

K-pop album sales in Japan hit all-time high in 2011

Japanese purchases of Korean pop music hit an all-time high last year, according to industry data.

According to Oricon Inc., a provider of music industry statistics, sales of albums, singles, DVDs and blue-ray disks of K-pop increased for the third consecutive year to 24.47 billion yen ($310 million) last year, up 22.3 percent from 2010.

South Korean signers’ annual market share also rose from 6 percent to 7.8 percent during the period. The comparable figure for 2009 was 3 percent. Korea’s leading idol groups Kara and Girls’ Generation advanced to the Japanese market after 2009.

Also in 2011, a total of 10 singles or albums of K-pop singers or groups, including TVXQ, Big Bang, Girls’ Generation, Kara, Jang Keun-suk, T-ara and 2NE1, reached the top position on Oricon’s weekly chart, breaking the record of 2008 when five were on the chart.

Girls’ Generation’s album by the same name and Kara’s “Super Girl” ranked within the top 10 of the Oricon albums yearly chart, selling 642,000 copies and 451,000 copies, respectively.

In the category of total annual sales by an artist, Kara ranked fourth with 4.93 billion yen closely followed by Girls’ Generation with 4 billion yen. TVXQ was the ninth best-selling group, raking in 2.6 billion yen. (Yonhap)

 

Credit: The Korea Times

TVXQ Chosen by Oricon As No.1 “Most Active K-pop Stars of 2011

 

TVXQ has been chosen as the most active Kpop artists in Japan for 2011.

Japan’s Oricon recently released an article with the title “An Introduction to the most active Korean artists in 2011” and selected TVXQ as the most active K-pop stars. Coming back as a 2-member group, U-Know Yunho and Choikang Changmin have shown powerful performances that captured the attention of the viewers. Their single “Why (Keep Your Head Down)” sold over 230,000 copies in its first week, a highly popular group.

Oricon also picked TVXQ’s single “Why (Keep Your Head Down)” as the “Best K-pop Single/Album of 2011”

(Concert tour information omitted)

Source: [BaiduTVXQ + Sports Chosun via Nate]
Translated & Shared by: dongbangdata.net

Woman’s Magazine ‘Josei Jisin’ Reveals a List of the Top Paid Celebrities for CM

 

Tohoshinki ranked at #7 with 4 million yen

 

Credits: TVXQBaidu + enewsworld
Shared by: DBSKnights

K-pop stars to tour overseas in 2012

 

A JYJ fan from Peru holds a poster that says “Peru loves JYJ.” Fans in South America have been actively requesting K-pop groups perform in their countries through various media outlets. / Courtesy of C-JeS Entertainment By Noh Hyun-gi With seemingly unstoppable momentum, K-pop stars are advancing across the globe. Many fans have asked the artists to visit their home countries through innovative methods like uploading flash mob videos online. Moved by these active and sincere requests, K-pop stars will hold concerts around the world and are planning additional gigs to accommodate the enthusiastic fans. JYJ confirmed last week that it will hold its first concert in South America this year. The group is comprised of Jaejoong, Yuchun and Junsu, former members of one of Korea’s most popular boy bands, TVXQ. On March 9, the trio will perform at the Teatro Caupolican in Santiago, Chile. World famous bands such as X-Japan and Korn have previously performed at the venue. In November, JYJ will travel to the capital of Peru, Lima, and perform at Explanada Sur del Estadio Monumental, the second largest football stadium on the continent. The stadium had been a concert stage for Britney Spears, The Black Eyed Peas, and Avril Lavigne. They gained popularity in South America after releasing the English album “The Beginning” in 2010 which included tracks produced by Kanye West and Rodney Jerkins. Many local newspapers and TV channels in Chile have publicized the news of the upcoming concert. Super Junior is extending their planned stay in Taiwan in response to relentless requests by their fans there. As part of their world tour, “Super Show 4,” the band was going to present three shows at the Taipei Arena from Feb. 3 to 5. However, when the tickets for the third show went on sale online on Dec. 31, 2011, it sold out in 30 minutes and the tickets for the first and second shows that went on sales on Jan. 1 were sold out in 17 minutes. Multiple local newspapers have noted the popularity of the group following the speedy ticket sales. More importantly, fans who could not buy tickets kept requesting additional shows and many scalpers started to advertise overpriced tickets online. In light of this, SM Entertainment, Super Junior’s agency, decided last week to add another show and add another date on Feb. 2. TVXQ has also planned additional performances due to fan requests. Originally, “TVXQ Live Tour 2012 ~TONE~” was set to commence at Yokohama Arena in Japan on Jan. 18 and tour nine cities including, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Hiroshima and Osaka, and present 20 shows until the end of March. However, local fans pleaded for more shows, and SM Entertainment announced Friday that it will add extra concerts to the tour schedule. The band will add two shows each at the Tokyo Dome, a 55,000-seat baseball stadium in the capital of Japan and the equally large Kyocera Dome in Osaka. The extended tour will present 24 shows in 11 cities and last until the end of April. Boy band 2PM is taking on the unusual challenge of a six-day run at the Nippon Budokan, an indoor arena in Tokyo. The venue, originally built for judo competitions, holds 4,201 people and has hosted many musicians visiting Japan, including The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Various artists have carried on the cultural significance of the stage for recording live albums labeled at Budokan. While the band is no stranger to the arena, this is the first attempt for a Korean artist to perform for six consecutive days at the venue. The details of the concert are yet to be announced. YG Family, artists from YG Entertainment including Tablo, 2NE1 and Big Bang, will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the agency at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan from Jan 21 to 22.

leann.noh@koreatimes.co.kr

 

Credit: Korea Times

 

Japanese Artists Blogged about TVXQ

Kanjiya Shihori (born 12th December 1985, Tokyo-born actress)
Recently, I find that the two members of Tohoshinki are really charming! Although with such tall figure, they dance agility, it’s really respectable, by the way, even though I’m of small build but unfortunately I can’t dance.

Watanabe Minayo (born 28th September 1969, Japan famous 60s singer)
In Hawaii’s room listening to Tohoshinki’s song which was play by なづき(Watanabe Minayo’s son).

Source: BaiduTVXQ
Translation: sshutingg @ OneTVXQ.com
Credits: OneTVXQ.com { One World. One Red Ocean. One TVXQ! }

Go Ara and U-Know Yunho’s close friendship

Go Ara “U-Know Yunho And I Became Close Friends By Showing Each Other Our True Selves”

Actress Go Ara showed her close relationship with her fellow SM Artists

Go Ara attended the press conference on 4 January, and shared stories about her movie “Pacemaker.”

This day, when Go Ara was asked who she is the closest to in the SM family, she said “Although I am close to everyone, I’m the closest to BoA and U-Know Yunho. U-Know Yunho and I shot “Heading To The Ground” together, and became closer because of that.”

Go Ara also said, “With U-Know Yunho, there seems to be nothing about each other that we haven’t seen. During the shoot, we’ve seen everything, from having our mouths opened wide to snoring. Because of this, we became closer friends that are comfortable around each other.

(Irrelevant portions omitted)

Source : [BaiduTVXQ + TV Daily via Nate]

Translated & Shared by : dongbangdata.net

Anticipation rises for “TONE” tour

 

Tohoshinki’s “TONE” concert tour 2012 will kick off January 18th, at Yokohama arena.

A great anticipation is rising among fans as some bloggers have been counting down day by day for their “dream day” to approach. However, at the same time, serious “ticket” battle has also risen among fans.

Throughout internet at twitter or blogs, fans are posting requests for exchanging or trading tickets.
The advance tickets were sold out instantly on the released day which made a record.

Dissapointed fans’ requests were flooded, avex decided to offer additional six performance due to
tremendous popurarity of Tohoshinki and incredible response from fans.

Tickets are currently auctioned over four times of the original price.
However there are still numerous fans who are struggling to obtain tickets and they requested again for releasing seats in blind area. Blind area tickets will be released on January 6, which avex agreed to reply to fans’ demand, avex explains

“It may be difficult to view the stage, however we decided to release blind area seats so that more fans can come to concerts. We ask for fans’ understanding for difficulty of their view. Tickets will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis”

Japanese fans are wishing good-luck to each other to be able to attend to “TONE” concert,  not only to see Tohoshinki’s performance but also, more, to “be there with Tohoshinki”  to show their support and love.

Anticipated fans all over the world are waiting and longing for that day to come soon, too.

Source: Naver, twitter, fans’ blogs, Tohoshiki official website
Translated by: Yumirin125 @ ContinueTVXQ.com
Distributed by: Yumirin125 @ ContinueTVXQ.com

TVXQ’s Mention of EXO in Special Power Interview

When they look at the rookies, it also seems as if they have different feelings. In particular, SM Entertainment will debut new groups EXO-K and EXO-M this year.

U-Know Yunho:

Some time back, we also saw the video teasers which were revealed. In fact, we had been observing those friends when they were practising. As seniors, we also gave them advice. When I look at the rookie groups, memories of myself as a trainee back then also surfaced. Those friends are by nature hardworking and capable, so I believe that they will do well. I am looking forward to them showing off their good sides constantly without any change.

Choikang Changmin:

Not just the rookie friends who will be debuting this time around, some years back when SHINee first made their debut, it was also the same. Rather than coming from the viewpoint of a senior singer from the same company, I am supporting them wholeheartedly. It will be great if they receive lots of love. Therefore, I hope that in the future, they will also become reliable seniors who will be able to help their junior singers, and that they will become another of SM’s senior singers.

EXO has been omitted>

Source: SBS News Interview Part 1
Translated by: CTVXQstaff_mug_ping @ ContinueTVXQ.com
Distributed by: CTVXQstaff_mug_ping @ ContinueTVXQ.com

cr: EXO__intl