Yahoo Japan's Top Searched Celebrities

Yahoo Japan recently released data for the top searched terms in 2011 for male entertainers, female entertainers, and sport athletes. From the list of 20, a whopping 18 spots were filled by Koreans.

The ranking took the aggregate data from search queries on Yahoo Japan from January 1st to October 31st. Out of the top 20, only Lady Gaga at #5 and Avril Lavigne at #17 were non Koreans:

1. SNSD
2. Kara
3. TVXQ
4. Jang Geun Seuk
5. Lady Gaga
6. BIGBANG
7. Super Junior
8. Kim Hyun Joong
9. FT Island
10. 2PM
11. SHINee
12. CNBLUE
13. Supernova
14. JYJ
15. B2ST
16. 2NE1
17. Avril Lavigne
18. After School
19. Kim Tae Hee
20. T-ara

Source: Nate, allkpop.com

[Message] CNBLUEs College Entrance Exam Messages for BOICE

Hello. This is the fan club representative of FNC MUSIC.
November 10th 2011 is the day (for university entrance exam)!
This is CNBLUE’s message of encouragement for those who will prepare for university entrance exam.
With the power of support from CNBLUE members, hopefully you will have good result.
BOICE Hwaiting!


Yonghwa:

University entrance exam Daebak! You can go to which ever college you want to.
I will support you continuously! Hwaiting!
You should go to bed early on the day before the entrance exam!


Jonghyun:

University entrance exam Daebak!
I wish you would have good result as you put your effort~ ♥



Minhyuk:

Everyone!! Don’t get nervous and show your ability that you have been studying hard so far.
We, CNBLUE will support you in order for you to have good result.
Hwaiting~! University entrance exam Daebak!!!



Jungshin:

To Boice,
2011 university exam candidates! I wish you all the best.
Hwaiting!

Thank you.

Source: CNBLUE.co.kr
Translated by: cebununa @ cnbluestorm
Edited by: fizzy @ cnbluestorm

CNBLUE Release Events Gathered 14,000 Fans

CNBLUE held release event at Yomiuri Land East Open Theater!
Gathered around 14,000 audiences, exceptional as new artists!

CNBLUE released their debut single “In My Head” on Wednesday 19th October. And on Sunday 23rd October, they held a live event at Yomiuri Land East Open Theater.



This event, in which only the fortunate fans could participate as they were chosen out of all the CD buyers by lottery (lucky draw). The events was held in four sessions in two days. The previous day, Saturday 22nd October, two events were held in Osaka. For those two days in total, they have gathered about 14,000 fans to all four events.

The live concert started with “Man in Front of the Mirror” at the venue packed with lucky fans that were chosen through the lottery.

YongHwa (vocal & guitar): “(Finally) we could have our major debut, thanks to you all! We want you to listen to our new song!”

He greeted the fans and unveiled “Mr.KIA (Know It All)” and “Rain of Blessing” for the first time, those tracks are included in the major debut single album.

“Mr.KIA (Know It All)” is a cynical track, written and composed by YongHwa.

“Rain of Blessing” is a lyrical ballad track, composed by JongHyun (guitar & vocal).

The venue gradually got heated up.

Then as soon as the intro of the long-awaited debut single “In My Head” started, the fans cheer reached the maximum!! It was wrapped in such a large chorus in the fine weather of autumn sky.

After finishing their live performance of all the 6 tracks (excluding the encore), including three new tracks in their major debut single “In My Head”, the talk session gave the audience the glimpse of CNBLUE members’ real face and they also talked about the roots of music for each member’s music life.

Their roots of the music life are:

JungShin (Bass): MR.BIG, JongHyun (Guitar & Vocal): Eric Clapton, YongHwa (Vocal & Guitar): BON JOVI, and MinHyuk (Drums): Maroon 5. Each member’s personality can be seen in their choice of music.

When the MC asked them further about their enthusiasm for major debut,each member replied;

JungShin: “I’m filled with deep emotion.”

JongHyun: “Without being different from what we have done so far, we will become a band which can respond by our music.”

YongHwa: “We’ll do our best! Please keep supporting us!!”

MinHyuk: “It’s the day of our new departure, and also it’s the prologue of us. We’ll do our best!!”

The messages from CNBLUE unified audiences at the venue. At the end of the live & talk show, there was a lottery of signed posters from CNBLUE. The event ended very successfully.

Set List

1. Man in front of the Mirror
2. Coward
3. Illusion
4. Mr.KIA(Know It All)
5. Rain of Blessing
6. In My Head
（encore）
1.　Try again, Smile again

Source: mfound.jp
Translated by: CNBLove @ cnbluestorm
Edited by: fizzy @ cnbluestorm

[Interview/Trans] CNBLUE in Flying Postman Press

FLYING POSTMAN PRESS Vol.135

Theme: SMILE

Introduction

CNBLUE is an established rock band from Korea, they have great popularity in Japan too. Recently, they concluded their Japanese indies activities at Yokohama Arena, and finally they had their major debut single “In My Head” on October 19. Their music has catchiness like Maroon 5 & the heaviness like Linkin Park. This band’s music sense of scale is far beyond than just a K-POP group. J-Rock bred hybrid sound will attracts Japan, and the world too —-.

Page 1

‘Step by step, we aimed to make major debut’

– Why did you want to be a band in Japan?
JS: One of the reasons is because Japan has a well-developed band culture. There are many favorite bands. We wanted to compete with them as a band, so step by step we aimed to have our major debut here (as a band). So we are really happy now.

– Why did you feel attracted to the Japanese music scene?
YH: It is different from Korea, there are unique colors in it. Especially the indies scene, right?

JH: and there are many live houses, there are many unique bands. I feel that the Japanese bands are really enjoying their music. We were studying in Japan for six months, we’ve been playing at many small live houses, we were many inspired from the bands who played together at that time.

– Your average age is 20 years old, did you aim to be a professional band when you were first formed?
YH: Yes. we want to be professionals, we started towards being the professionals.

Page 2

‘We performed Opening Act for Linkin Park Japan Tour, I was really impressed at that time’

– So why did you start music?

JS: When I was in junior high school, my friend introduced me to Mr. Big. I felt that “To Be With You” is really good song, then i wanted to play the music. I wanted to play many various instruments, but I was very attracted to that heavy sound, so I began to play bass. I yearn to be like Mr. Big’s Billy Sheehan or Jaco Pastorius as a bassist.

YH: When I was in elementary school I listened to Bon Jovi. I wanted to sing like Jon Bon Jovi, so I practiced singing so hard. I had impact also when I met Linkin Park in junior high. We performed as the Opening Act for Linkin Park Japan Tour this year, and I was really impressed at that time. So then..it would the best if we could play with Bon Jovi too in the future (laugh).

–　I’m looking forward to that day (laugh). By the way, YongHwa-san’s guitar is Gretsch White Falcon, who inspired you to it?

YH: Actually, it is from the manga “BECK” (laugh). I saw it when I was looking for a guitar which would symbolize myself, then I tried to play it, and it sounded really good.

JH: I was the one who suggested “BECK” to him!

YH: I just remembered (laugh). But this White Falcon looks like a little luxurious, it’s perfect for me, right (laugh)? ..sorry, just kidding (laugh).

– (laugh). Do you two often talk about the guitar?

JH:　Yes, often. I also like Bon Jovi, when I listen to Richie Sambora’s guitar, I thought that I wanted to play in a band.

–Those are your similarities. Is there anyone else?

JH: When I listened to Eric Clapton, I was attracted to the guitar. After that, I knew John Mayer etc, more and more I drawn into it, especially i became to love of Blues.

Page 3

‘”In My Head” has a modern taste plus contemporary essence, I think it finishes off with fresh feeling’

–I think Jonghyun-san’s guitar ability really expressed such taste. How about Minhyuk-san?

MH: I was learning classical piano since kindergarten up till junior high. After that, I listen to music and with friends and began going to watch the live, at that time I listened Maroon 5 music, so I was interested in bands. It was then I started playing drums.

– Classical piano and drums, you’re like YOSHIKI of X JAPAN!

MH: YOSHIKI san is the best drummer I think!

YH: It is good. ENDLESS RAIN~♪ (started to sing)

JH: (laugh)

YH: I like L’Arc~en~Ciel too.　I came to like “GTO” anime, because they sang the theme song.

– The different cultures are mixed, forming their knowledge of music.

YH: I think so. We listen to various kinds of music without limiting the genres, it has influenced our sound and it is also became our strength. I think it will really be expressed in our songs from now.

JS: For example, “In My Head” has a modern taste, plus contemporary essence, it finished with fresh feeling I think.

YH: When I listen to this “In My Head”, I feel a rush of sensation in my body. I think such energy is transmitted to everyone who listened to it.

JS: And “Mr.KIA (Know It All)” is rhythmical and groovy. “Rain of Blessing” is a ballad written by Jonghyun with a romantic feel.

YH: I’m studying the music equipment and arrangements, because I want to show the various expressions in our band sound (music). In this song we finished with another instrument, what we used to play always, like a synthesizer. I really enjoy creating a sound like that.

Page 4

‘We keep developing more and more, we want everyone to be touched by our future songs and live’

– The title song “In My Head” is especially a large scale song, like it’s targeted to the world music scene rather than Japan.

JH:　Our dream is to be the No.1 on Billboard! Now, it is not just a dream, we are working towards it for real.

JS: I think it is possible!

YH: 　To that end, I think we always have to show that we are evolving. We want to show more and more, far beyond the expectations of everyone who support us.

JS: To do so, together, we each have to raise up our skills as musicians, and we need to keep time with us. I think it is important.

MH:　No doubt. To express our music and do performances better, it is important that we work hard together.

– Lastly, please give a message to your fans that support you in Japan.

YH: Thank you so much for always supporting us. When we were in indie scene, we were studying and working. But after this major debut, we want to show you our profesional activities more. Then, we will keep developing more and more, we want our future songs and live to be felt by everyone. Please expect a lot from us!

—-

THE STORY about ‘SMILE’

JS: To me, the first one is playing music live. Playing is fun for me & seeing audience smile makes me smile too. And GyuDon (laugh)! We have been eating it since the first time we came to Japan, it is delicious!

YH: When ‘In My Head’ finished I was very happy so I smiled a lot. And Japanese ramen (laugh). It always makes me smile when I add in rice or noodles.

JH: I like Japanese Onigiri (rice bowl). It has various tastes, my favorite is Mentaiko (raw cod eggs with chili) the most. If there’s one in front of me now, I think I would eat it right after this interview, it makes me smile instantly (laugh).

MH: We are living together, we are not bored (with each other) even though we have stayed together for so long. Especially Jungshin, he always makes me laugh. If I face a little hardship, I smile just because he is there.

Seungri Compares G-Dragon's Leadership to CNBlue’s Jung Yong Hwa’s

During a recent recording of SBS’s “Night After Night,” Big Bang’s Seungri compared G-Dragon’s leadership to CNBlue’s Jung Yong Hwa’s, causing everyone on set to burst into laughter.

Seungri started, “Recently, Jung Yong Hwa and his bandmates were spotted at X Department Store.” He added, “I was curious to see how they shopped, so I followed them. The members were trying on various clothes one by one when I saw Jung Yong Hwa paying for them with his personal credit card.”

Once Jung Yong Hwa acknowledged the situation, Seungri amusingly responded, “GD, are you watching this? We’ve debuted six years ago, yet our leader has never bought clothes for his fellow members. I was touched to see how much Jung Yong Hwa cared for his bandmates.”

This episode will be aired tonight, May 30th on SBS at 11:15PM KST. Guest stars for tonight’s episode include Seungri, Jang Woo Hyuk, Tony Ahn, Kim Tae Woo, K. Will, Lizzy, Kwanghee, Go Young Wook, Kim Kyung Jin, and Jung Joo Ri.

Source: soompi

SBS Inkigayo unveils poll for the celebrities fellow idols want to have an outing with

G-Dragon and Nana top another poll, selected by their fellow idols, as the male and female idols who they want to have a spring outing with.

Last April, SBS Inkigayo made a popularity poll targeting the idols and the staff who have guested on the program. Additionally, they asked female idols to select the male idol they wanted to have a spring outing with and vice versa.

The results were announced on the 20th of May and it was revealed that G-Dragon was selected as the top male idol that female idols want to have an outing with. He was then followed by TVXQ's Yunho and ZE:A's Kwanghee which both shared the second spot. Third place was shared by Big Bang's TOP and CN Blue's Yonghwa, while Beast's Doojoon and Kikwang ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

Meanwhile, Orange Caramel's Nana ranked first for the female idols whom male idols want to spend their spring outing with. She was followed by IU and 4Minute's HyunA in second and third respectively. Ranking fourth and fifth on the poll was Girl's Day's Mina and f(x)'s Sulli.

What do you think of SBS Inkigayo's poll?

Source: BreakNews and BigbangUpdates

G-Dragon ranks 1st in 'the musician mostly wanted to create school song' poll

Music website Monkey (www.monkey3.co.kr) has held a survey about ‘Which musician do you want him or her to create your school song most?’ from 12^th to 18^th, May.

There are totally 484 votes and among them, an overwhelming rate of 54 %(262 votes) went to BIGBANG’s G-Dragon whom captured the 1^st spot in the poll.

The talented idol group BIGBANG’s leader, G- Dragon is the composer, lyrics writer of ‘Love Song’, ‘Tonight’ and ‘Haru Haru’, etc. He can be acclaimed as the representative of the singer cum songwriter of Korea.

The people who have casted their votes in the poll commented on the self-produced idol, G-Dragon as  follows, ‘ I wonder how he produces songs’ , ‘If G-Dragon was to make the school song, the old style of it would be replaced with something new.’ And they feel sad because they do not have such a song now.

The second place is taken up by Jung Yonghwa, the lyrics writer, song composer, arranger and also the singer cum songwriter of CNBLUE. (23 %, 109 votes). The 3^rd place is taken up by JYP (10%, 50 votes) and the 4^th place is captured by the leader and composer of BooHwal, Kim Tae aWon (7%, 32 votes). Ranking 5^th is Baek Ji Young  (4%, 18 votes)who has composed the famous song ‘Monkey’ and the song has been performed by 2am. Finally the 6^th place is  Kim Yoon Ah (3%, 13 votes) who is also a singer cum songwriter. 

More information about the poll can be found at monkey 3 's website. 


Source: Jkstars
Translated by: Rice @bigbangupdates 

Jo-kwon, Best Husband On "We Got Married"

Singer Jo-kwon was chosen as the best husband from the popular reality tv show "We Got Married".

A survey was conducted by an online music site, Monkey3, involving 760 participants who answered from March 24th to the 30th. Those surveyed were asked to select the best husband from all of the pretend couples that were featured on the show.

40% (300 people) selected Jo-kwon, who was paired up with Brown Eyed Girls' Ga-in. Viewers of the show loved Jo-kwon for his wit and kid-like innocence. The two became so popular together that there were fans who would beg them to really date in real life.

Second place was Kim Hyun-joon with 24% (181 people). Kim was loved for his awkward yet cute ways with his wife, singer Hwangbo. Jung Yong-hwa, leader of CNBLUE, garnered 16% (124 people) for his make-believe marriage life with Girls Generation member Seo-hyun. The sweet and thoughtful Alex won over 9% of the votes (70 people) when he was featured on the show with Shinae. Nickhun followed with 8% (57 people), who's currently still with the show with f(x)'s Victoria. Lastly, Jung Hyung-don trailed with 4% (31 people), for his short marriage with Saori.

The next upcoming episode of We Got Married will feature Jung Yong-hwa and Seo-hyun's last episode after one year together. Filling in their shoes will be the new Lee Jang-woo and T-ara's Ham Eun-jung couple and the singer Kim Won-joon and broadcaster Park So-hyun couple.

Source: KBS WORLD
Shared by DKP 

Idols with the best vocals – Portal Ezday polls

These days, after having the music industry bombarded with young and healthy idol singers, there are many excellent singing idols, but who happens to the best of all?
Portal Ezday conducted a poll for the popular TV entertainment corner asking, “From the male and female idol singers, who has the best vocals?“.
2287 people participated in the survey, the results for best female vocal idol went to IU, and for made idol, Changmin of 2AM.
41 percent of the netizens picked IU as the possessor of the best vocals amongst female idols without a doubt in mind. IU was followed by SNSD’s Taeyeon who received 18% of the votes.
Other idols that ranked in the top 10 were, Seo In Young, Lee HaeRi (Davichi), Park Bom (2NE1), Jea (Brown Eyed Girls), Luna (fx), Hyorin (Sistar), Narsha (Brown Eyed Girls), Sun Ye (Wonder Girls).
30% of the netizens picked 2AM’s Changmin as the #1 male idol with the best vocals. While JYJ’s Xiah Junsu was at second place with 19% of the votes.
The other top 10(?) male idols with the best vocals went to  Lee Hyun (8eight), Jung Yong Hwa (CN Blue), Lee Hong Ki (FT Island), Kim Junsu (2PM), Simon (Supreme Team), Jonghyun (SHINee), Kyuhyun (Super Junior),YoSeob (BEAST), Daesung (Big Bang).
For the best female vocals (293) were men, (838) were women, (193) were in their 20′s, (450) in their 30′s, and (310) in their 40′s.
For the best male vocals (280) were men, (876) were woman, (208) of them were in their 20′s, (458) in their 30′s and (316) of the voters were in their 40′s.

Source: newsa.co.kr
Translated: alee@ibigbang.wordpress.com

Mnet to air an hour-long ‘CNBLUE Comeback Special’

CNBLUE will be kicking off their comeback activities with an hour-long special through Mnet!

The program, titled ‘CNBLUE First Step‘, will revisit CNBLUE’s recent showcase, as well as step back to the 21 days before the album’s release. The boys will discuss their feelings about their comeback, and share their processes of preparing the new album, in addition to readying an event for their fans.

Producer Park Chan Wook passed on, “CNBLUE had personally remodelled their most beloved shoes for their fans as a surprise gift. It’s scheduled to be given away through an event on their homepage after the show airs, so we hope for much support.”

The program will broadcast at 7:30 PM KST on March 24th.

Source: Star News via Naver
Credit: Allkpop

---

Jung Yonghwa and Seohyun records final We Got Married episode on White Day

CNBLUE’s Jung Yonghwa and SNSD’s Seohyun have recorded their final episode for ‘We Got Married‘ on March 14th.

The ‘YongSeo Couple‘ started their virtual marriage in February of last year and finally decided to part ways after a year of marriage. The cold Kyungnam man and the model student Seohyun’s fresh coupling received a lot of love from fans.

A representative from the show expressed, “The two singers’ schedules are very busy by nature, and they have endured a lot of difficulty for filming. Even though it was a shame, we just wrapped up our final filming. Yonghwa gave Seohyun a guitar as a present during the last filming.”

There is still footage left to be broadcast, and the YongSeo Couple’s last episode will be shown in the beginning of April.

Source: JoongAng via Nate
Credit: Allkpop

CNBLUE releases comeback teaser photo

On the morning of February 28th, CNBLUE’s official homepage unveiled a teaser photo of the group’s comeback concept.

The four members are seen dressed in chic outfits with a black-and-white theme.

Fans are ecstatic at finally seeing some physical proof of the group’s impending return; they were originally scheduled for a February 28th comeback, but were forced to push back their return date due to production delays for their music video.

That being said, their first teaser video will be released on March 7th. CNBLUE’s representatives revealed, “CNBLUE has prepared a lot of things for their first album. As much as the album has been delayed, we hope to deliver a higher level of perfection and satisfaction.”

The group is scheduled to make make their comeback on March 21st.

Stay tuned to allkpop for further updates!

Source + Photos: Chosun via Naver, CNBLUE
Credit: allkpop

The ‘Yongseo’ couple have a wedding shoot together

On this week’s episode of MBC’s “We Got Married”, the “Yongseo” couple took part in a goregeous wedding photoshoot, which got CNBLUE’s Yonghwa making comments about how proud he is of his beautiful “wife”.

The moment Yonghwa saw Seohyun enter in her elegant wedding dress and natural waves in her hair, he couldn’t stop his jaw from dropping. Even his fellow band members complimented her beauty, as they said, “She looks like a goddess.”

Yonghwa then said, “Your legs look longer in the wedding dress. What is your body length to head size ratio?”, to which Seohyun wittily replied, “22:1″.

Many viewers are hoping for a kiss scene next week, as the teaser for the next episode shows the couple lying together on the ground and Yonghwa nervously saying to the director, “Pl… Please shoot it in one go!”

Source: Newsen #1, #2 via Daum
Credit: allkpop

What happened after Yonghwa made breakfast for Seohyun?

Today, the We Got Married website released unseen footage of the YongSeo couple.

Having seen Jung Yonghwa make breakfast for his wife, Seohyun, in last week’s episode, this short clip, which was edited out from broadcast, gives fans a view of what happened thereafter.

In this clip, fans will get to see the couple act out scenes normally depicted in Korean daily sitcoms, while you will also get to hear Seohyun singing SNSD’s ‘Gee‘ while Yonghwa plays the enthusiastic fan with rough fanboy cheers, as they wash the dishes together.

Source: MBC’s We Got Married Official Site

Tip: sweetmelon

Credit: allkpop

Jung Yonghwa introduces Seohyun to his childhood friends

Jung Yonghwa introduced wife SNSD’s Seohyun to his childhood friends on “We Got Married.”


The couple visited his friends from Busan that he has known for over ten years.  His comfort showed as he felt at home and acted like a little kid with his friends.


There was also a girl friend, who he took the time to specially introduce Seohyun to.


But why did he do this?


The episode will air on January 22nd.


Source: Newsen via Nate


Credit: allkpop