Korean Pop, with Online Help, Goes Global

By Lina Yoon / Seoul on August 26, 2010

As a child who used to hide from his parents to dance to cassettes of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, Dong Young-bae says he was too shy to tell anyone he wanted to become a famous dancer and singer. Not anymore. Today, the 22-year-old South Korean singer and dancer known Taeyang is facing the spotlight as an international pop star. Thanks in no small part to a long-standing trend in Asia that renders all things Korean cool, Taeyang is going global, riding the so-called Korean Wave all the way out west.

Better known in South Korea as the voice of the Korean boy band Big Bang, Taeyang‘s first solo album, “Solar,” released online internationally last month, hit No. 2 on iTunes R&B sales charts in the U.S. and No. 1 in Canada — a first for an Asian artist. “In the beginning, it was hard to believe I had fans buying my album so far away,” says Taeyang, which means “sun” in Korean. He says he didn’t do any promotion in North America for the album, which was recorded in Korean and targeted fans in South Korea and Japan. “The world is smaller now.”(See TIME’s special report “The Best of Asia 2010.”)

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE TITLE:

Seo TaiJi-Big Bang voted #1 as the combi project group which is going to be daebak

Singer Seo TaiJi and idol group Big Bang have been chosen as the combi which will be daebak if they are to join together to form a group.

A poll was done on music site Monkey 3 from 19th till 26th August on ‘Which combi will be daebak if they are to form a project group’ and Seo TaiJi-Big Bang combi was voted #1 on the poll with 42% of the votes from netizens.

Go under the cut for the rest of the poll results.

1. Seo TaiJi-Big Bang (42%)
2. Shin MinAh-Sam D (42%)
3. 2NE1 Sandara Park – Yoo SaeYoon (10%)
4. Park Myung Soo – Shin SaeKyung (6%)

S: MTStarNews + http://sookyeong.wordpress.com/

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Much love to anonyMoes for the tip! ❤

After a long day of shooting, the girls sat down with the editors of Allure Korea and talked about beauty, make-up tips and their plans for their comeback.

Did you girls like the concept for the photo shoot?
Sandara Park: It was fun because it’s still summer and we’re shooting a winter-like concept. Gold and brown make-up shows me as a true autumn girl, it made me feel good everytime I posed for the camera.
CL: I like photo shoots better because it gives us more freedom to express ourselves instead of being strict to guidelines, as is the case with shooting an advertisement. I really like brown and khaki colours so the two colors included in the make-up were very nice.

You are currently a the face of a cosmetics brand, do you have a lot of interest in that area?
Sandara Park: We’re currently models for Etude, I really liked that brand since I was so young, I don’t usually put make up on but I like putting bb cream on.
CL: It’s amazing, how could I become a model for a makeup company? I usually go around with no make-up on but I like drawing on my eyeline to increase the tails of my eyes. It’s not easy to put the eyeliner on.

What is your favorite makeup item you like to use from Etude?
Sandara Park: Bb cream and blush. The quality is good and goes into the skin very well.
CL: I like the moisturising cream from Etude. After applying the cream, the moisture doesn’t go away even after putting up so much make up. I like the texture as well.

Who is the best at doing their own make-up?
Sandara Park: Park Bom. She is really good at lining her eyes and is a smokey-eye make-up expert. I’m so amazed.
CL: Bom unni! She is good at doing her make up to give her true colours.

The make up for your live performances is very thick, is it hard to take it off?
Sandara Park: I cleanse around the eye with an liquid eye-remover due to the weakness of the skin around that area. The make up on stage is too thick so I must cleanse it throughly after the performance or else it will stay there and trouble the skin.
CL: I use a simple remover to erase my make up. The eye make up is really thick on stage so It takes around 10 swabbers to erase the make-up on only one eye. The eyeliner and mascara erases well with a swab stick.

How do you guys look after your skin?
Sandara Park: I usually just do sheet masks and always have skin and lotion on my skin.
CL: I drink a lot of water. If I drink a lot it clearly shows an improvement on my skin.

You’re coming back soon. What is the concept of your styling and dance steps?
Sandara Park: Teddy made this song, it’s very modern, free styling.
CL: We canot say bu…it is the best song ever. Please expect a lot from us.

What are your plans for the future?
Sandara Park: Coming back to the stage soon. Hopefully with a good song and great dance steps. We prepared hard for this so please have high expectations.
CL: I love it and enjoy it when I go on stage. I want to meet my fans on stage as soon as possible. Please wait a bit my fans!

Source: Allure Korea
Translated by netizensusadae@kpoplive.com
Written by wonderwonders@kpoplive.com

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thanks zhea for the tip 😀