With Lyn, Park Hyo-shin, Seo In-gook, and SS501.

On November 7th, Lyn and Park Hyo-shin performed a duet together of “Falling Slowly” from the 2007 Irish movie “Once“. Simple yet profound with mellow, acoustic rock instrumentation, “Falling Slowly” is probably one of the most beautiful songs composed in the past decade, sung by two indie musicians (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova).

As two of Korea’s most talented singers, Lyn and Park Hyo-shin contribute a really great cover of “Falling Slowly” with their deep resonating vocals and a bit more soul than the original. They harmonize together incredibly well and there’s nothing like the raw power of good voices, so the accent is excusable. Check it out~

Park Hyo-shin did a little dance performance of “Deja Vu“. Although he leaves much to be desired in the flow department, his shy smile makes you go “Aww~it’s okay. You’re trying. A for effort.”

In addition to these two heavyweights, newcomer Seo In-gook from Superstar K and SS501 were also featured on “Chocolate”.

Seo In-gook certainly has an amazing pair of vocal chords, and his humble, yet smooth persona really makes the girls swoon. Just wanted to share his cover of Frankie J’s ”Don’t Wanna Try“~

SS501’s latest mini-album, “Rebirth“, is quite strong, and coupled with their bold new image, these boys are making no stops to the top. “Green Peas” is a quaint and simple song that highlight each of the boys’ vocals quite nicely. I’m totally digging Kyu-jong ’s skirt jacket.

Another SHINee member catches the swine flu.

SHINee leader Onew has recently been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as the swine flu. Onew’s illness comes after his  fellow SHINee member, Jong-hyun, was hospitalized with the flu last week.

Onew was sent to the hospital after developing a slight fever and is currently resting at home until he fully recovers. Since Onew is the second SHINee member to fall ill with the highly contagious virus, members Ki-bum, Tae-min and Min-ho have now also been tested for swine flu. As it stands, none of the other members currently have the virus.

Though their leader is currently out of commission, SHINee is still scheduled to perform on the November 8th taping of SBS “Inkigayo“. It is rumored that Super Junior leader Lee-teuk will fill in for Onew during the performance.  Earlier this week, Super Junior’s Ye-sung had to replace SHINee member  Jong-hyun (then ill with H1N1) during the group’s November 6th  KBS “Music Bank” performance.

Onew is just  another name on the the long list of celebrities who have fallen ill with the  virus. Fortunately, his fellow member Jong-hyun was diagnosed and released within the week. Let’s hope Onew can recover just as quickly!

Do you dig it?

U-Kiss emerges sleek in black, and with new addition Lee Ki-sup. “ManManHaNi“, produced by the famous Brave Brothers, seems like the right song to catch everyone’s attention, even though it’s nothing too special because we’ve heard this style numerous times before already. Yet, the trend isn’t broken, so why fix it.

U-Kiss has only had moderate success since their debut, will a track produced by Brave Brothers really push them to the top?

Check it out~

There is hope!

If you are an English teacher and want to hook up with an actor, don’t give up!

Lee Bum Soo(40) and his *engelisshi* teacher, Lee Yu jin (27) have came out of the love cocoon.

When we hear teacher-student love relationship we go (o_0). Like how Singaporeans say “choy, touch wood!” But when the student is almost twice the teacher’s age, we stop holding our breaths.

F.Y.I. The 40 year old’s lover was apparently also Rain’s engelisshi teacher. Wonder how Bum-soo English turns out.. Maybe with their status rise as couple, his language skills might flourish with her TLC.

…she’s back on your TV guide!

After being absent for a year, actress Nam Sang-mi returns to your telly with the new KBS drama Invincible Lee Pyung-kang (‘천하무적 이평강).

Lee Pyung-kang (Nam Sang-mi) works at the resort owned by Ondal’s (played by Ji Hyun-woo) father. Ondal is a spoiled heir who risks losing his inheritance if he fails the golf semi-pro qualification. Upon his father’s sudden stroke, the resort might be taken over by his step-mother(Choi Myung-gil) and step-brother. So begins the journey for Ondal to retake the resort with the help of Pyung Kang whom he’s not on good terms with.

The stars of the drama attended the press conference held on November 4th at Gangnam CGV, Apgujeong. Check out the photos from the event below.

Invincible Lee Pyung-kang will hit television screens on November 11th.

(Nam Sang-mi, Ji Hyun-woo (red pants) and Seo Do-young)

The singer has fully recovered from his bout with swine flu.

After being diagnosed with the highly contagious H1N1 virus earlier this week, SM Entertainment has revealed that the SHINee member Jong-hyun has recovered from the swine flu.

A representative for the company stated that Jong-hyun has been given the confirmation from the hospital that he has recovered from the flu. However, even with the green light from the hospital, Jong-hyun will remain at home  for the time being in order to get more rest. The singer’s health is still being monitored. I’m guessing this is a precautionary measure, as Jong-hyun could still be contagious.

There has been no announcement as to when Jong-hyun will rejoin the other SHINee members for the group’s promotions. Most recently Super Junior’s Ye-sung has had to fill in for the ailing singer during the group’s performance on “Music Bank“. Let’s hope it won’t be too long before Jong-hyun can rejoin his fellow SHINee members on stage.

Find out who spilled the beans.

On an upcoming episode of the program “Hello Baby“, Girls Generation member Soo-young revealed that Tiffany’s ideal guy is none other than 2AM’s Jo-Kwon. The juicy bit of gossip was revealed during one of the show’s truth games.

The confession comes after Jo-kwon himself revealed earlier in the year (on the MTV program “Class Up!“) that of all the members of Girl’s Generation,  Tiffany was the girl closest to his ideal type.  The pair’s back and forth confessions leave me wondering what Jo-kwon’s “wife” Ga-in thinks of her hubby’s little crush. Could this be the beginning of an idol love triangle?

Probably not, but you still might want to check out shocking confession when the episode airs on November 17th.

Or rather “Gaw ship girl” instead.

DSP Entertainment’s new seven member girl group throws down some mad Engrish skills in “Gossip Girl“. I’m not really spotting anything new from Rainbow, but they seem to be able to pull off the sassy, yet spritely image well. DSP knows how to pump out solid groups that have potential mass appeal, even if they’re not all that innovative. I also find their faces quite fresh and attractive, and fairly easy to distinguish from each other, which is always a plus since there are just SO MANY new girl groups out there now.

Check it out~do you think they’re “priddy”?

Someone get this boy some chapstick, STAT!

Just revealed on 2PM’s official YouTube channel is what appears to be a teaser for another new song, “Heartbeat“. With their new serious and mature image, these teasers are quite ambiguous and leave much to be desired…like their bodies~

Check it out~the concepts for the teasers are all the same, except for…

Chan-sung

Jun-ho

Woo-young

Jun-su

Taec-yeon

Nichkhun

It looks like the “Saturday Night” queen is an addition to the official MAMA ”no-show” list.

On November 6th, Pledis Entertainment made an official announcement that Son Dambi will not be able to attend the 2009 MAMA. According to an official of Pledis Entertainment, Son Dambi is unable to attend the award ceremony because she will be in the United States for her LA concert during that time. Could this mean Lee Seung-gi, who will also be performing at the concert in LA, will not be present at the MAMA ceremony as well?

In addition, the Pledis Entertainment official has revealed that it will also be difficult for After School to attend the MAMA ceremony. Apparently the girls are just too busy working on their mini-album, which is set to release late November.

Now the question isn’t who is going to be at the 2009 MAMA ceremony but rather who isn’t going to be there. Looks like Big Bang is going to be the brightest shining star(s) at the event, if they actually do attend that is.

…for his colleague and “hoobae”, G-Dragon.

Se7en, who is currently in the United States for various meetings, will be returning to the motherland, in time to make a surprise comeback at G-Dragon’s solo concert. Although Se7en is currently busy working on the recording of his upcoming album, he has decided to feature as a guest at G-Dragon’s “Shine A Light” solo concert, to congratulate his “hoobae”. 

Many fans are highly anticipating finally being able to see Se7en back on stage in Korea, since his last performance two years ago. There is also said to be great significance behind Se7en being a guest at G-Dragon’s solo concert, not only because this will be his first time comeback performance in Korea in two years, but also because Big Bang made their first stage debut and public appearance at Se7en’s concert back in 2006.

 It has also been revealed that Se7en personally made an international call to G-Dragon from the United States, to tell him that he wanted to be a guest at G-Dragon’s solo concert. Apparently G-dragon never had the chance to personally ask Se7en to be a guest at his solo concert because he didn’t want to be a burden. 

This concert is my first solo concert and I have been debating and worrying about who I should invite as a guest. I have been wanting to invite Se7en, who I have been close to since my trainee days, but I was afraid to bring up the topic thinking that it would be a burden (since he was in a hiatus in Korea for the past two years).

But it looks like G-Dragon should’ve just asked his “hyung” Se7en sooner.

I don’t know about anything else but having been close to G-Dragon since we were young, I just feel that it’s appropriate for me to be there for him at his first solo concert. As soon as I return to Korea, I will choose and practice the songs to perform at G-Dragon’s concert.

Lastly, here’s some even better news for all you Se7en fans out there. A YG Entertainment official has stated that they are considering revealing a new track Se7en is currently working on and stated,

You can expect to see how much more Se7en has grown during the two years he’s been gone.

G-Dragon’s “Shine A Light” solo concert will be held at the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Stadium this coming December 5th and 6th.

…in place of Jong-hyun.

Just yesterday, we reported that Ye-sung would be performing “Ring Ding Dong” on “Music Bank” with the members of SHINee, excluding Jong-hyun. On the 6th, Ye-sung took center stage and gave fans the “laser staredown”, while crooning Jong-hyun’s lines. Although the Super Junior member did a good job on stage, can’t help but feel that a lot is lacking without Jong-hyun’s vocals and presence on stage.

Check out the video for yourself below.