Your Two Cents: Idol-Star Relationships...To Reveal Or Not To Reveal???

Hi all,
So this week, I thought I'd get your opinion on something that was a very hot issue last week in kpop...especially in the idol world. I'm sorry to rub more salt in the wound for you SHINee fans, but as we all know, Shin Se-kyung and SHINee's Jong-hyun were announced to be dating. I think it's been a couple of months already. Some fans are being happy for the couple while others have lashed out at the young actress, Shin, by leaving vicious comments on her cyworld page or joining anti-Shin Se-kyung cafes. Shin ended up having to shut down her mini hompy while SHINee members weren't left unsupervised for even a second at their weekly live music performances.



I almost feel bad for the two because everyone should have the right to date who they want freely, without being scared of the vicious netizens. However, I remember when I was a teeny bopper myself. I absolutely hated any girl that even came within a 100 foot radius of my favorite stars. Haha

Let me ask you all, if you were a star or the manager of a star, would you reveal it to the public who you're dating (or who the star that you're managing is dating)? Or would you go out of your way to keep it a secret? What do you think is the "right" thing to do?

Plus, if you have anything to say regarding the netizens' response towards the young couple, this is your chance to voice it!

To present arguments for both sides, there ARE couples that have been well-received. For example, Se7en and Park Han-byul are looked at quite favorably. If anything, it's helped their careers or brought them more positive attention.

If any of you guys ARE SHINee fans, I just want to say that REALISTICALLY, those two aren't gonna get married or anything. I mean it's possible of course, but HIGHLY unlikely. They're both SOO young with SOOO many future relationships to go through. So don't be too sad. =)

Alritey, answer away and don't forget to tune in next week on KPI to hear everyone's responses!

Words Behind The Music: San E featuring Min of miss A "맛좋은산" "Delicious San"

“맛좋은산” “Delicious San”
-SanE



아아 마이크 체크 하낫 둘 산이가 왔어요 산이 값싸고 맛 좋은 산이가 왔어요
Mic check, 1,2! SanE’s here! SanE~ cheap and delicious…SanE’s here!

yeah boy (흥흥) Yo! Yo!
안녕하세요!
Hello!
(baby ba-baby) mic check one two! one two!(흥흥)

산이랑 놀 사람 여기 여기 붙어라~ 짜자쟌
People who want to play with SanE, here! Here! Stick right here! Ta-da!


자 애들은 가 촌스런 랩 하는 애들은 봐 이모 삼촌 잠깐이면 돼 안 사도 되니 한번 듣고나 가 싸게 드릴께
Kids, get out of here. Kids that rap corny, watch. Aunties, uncles, I only need a second. You don’t need to buy anything, so just listen for a bit and leave. I’ll give it to you cheap.
골라 골라 산이를 골라 들으면 놀라 자빠지고 막 몰랐던 애들은 엄마한테 졸라 엄마 엄마 이거 사줘 나
Pick , pick, pick out SanE. Once you hear it, you’ll be surprised. You’ll fall over on your back. For kids who didn’t kow, go beg your moms. “Mommy, mommy! Buy me this!”

(산이 준비됐나?) 준비됐다! 그대 기다렸던 만큼 나도 기다렸다 믿어주세요~
저는 랩을 할 테니 형은 떡을 썰어주세요~
(SanE, are you ready?) I’m ready! As much as you’ve waited, I’ve waited too. Please believe me~ I want to rap, so hyung, you just cut me up some ricecakes~

나는 화끈해 다른 애들과는 다르네 또 새로 나와 따끈해
I go all in. I’m different from the other kids. I’m also fresh, so I’m still nice and warm.
주목! 나만 바라바라바라봐 내가 싫다면 다른 사람 알아봐
Attention! Look, look, look only at me. If you don’t like me, go look into someone else.

나(나) 그대(그대) uh-음음음 산이랩은(내랩) 정말(정말) uh-음음음
Me (me) You (you). Uh-mmmm SanE’s rap (my rap) is really (really) uh-mmmm
세상사람들(세상) 모두(모두) uh-음음음 산이랩을(내랩) 듣고(듣고) uh-음음음
People of this world (this world), everyone (everyone) uh-mmmm SanE’s rap (my rap) listen to it (listen) uh-mmmm

대세는 여자그룹아이돌 근데 난 여자, 그룹, 아이돌 셋 다 아니고
the trend is female group idols. But I’m not female, a group, or an idol. None of the three
나이도 26살이고 그래도 here i go~
and age 26. But still, here I go~

요즘 가욘 정말 문제가 많아 시험지처럼 노래보다 필요없는 전신성형
kpop music these days has a lot of problems…just like a written test. Rather than songs, there’s more useless full-body plastic surgeries.
모든 노래 똑같은 후크송에 오토튠
all the songs sound the same. Hooks with auto-tune.

질려 질려 양심이 찔려 빌보드 차트에서 빌려온 실력
it gets old, old…pokes at my conscience. Borrowing talents from the Billboard charts.
들어본 멜로디 표절이 트렌드 그래도 팔리는 짝퉁 브랜드
a melody I’ve heard before, plagiarism’s a trend. However it still sells, a bootleg brand.

차렷! 모두 열중셧! 나는 직접 준비가 된 뮤지션 명품 복근 대신 명품랩 (여기 서비스) 한번 더줄께!!
Attention! Everyone, at ease! I personally prepared myself as a musician. Rather than top quality abs, I have top quality raps (this one’s on the house). I’ll give it to you one more time!!

자 여러분 맛 좋은~ 맛 좋은 랩이요 맛 좋은~ 아주 그냥 죽여줘요 거기 새치기 말고 줄 서줘요(x2)
Here everyone, tasty and delicious rap! Delicious…the taste really kills! You over there, don’t cut and stand in line please! (2xs)

예전엔 드렁큰 타이거 힙합을 아느냐? 이젠 우리 할머니도 힙합을 알아
Before, did you know about Drunken Tiger’s rap? Now even my grandma knows hip hop.
“랩?그냥 그거 빠르게 말하면 되 빠르게 말하고 빠르기만 하고 좀 다르게 말하면 돼”
“Rap? That, you just have to talk fast. Just be fast, and talk a little different.”


NO! 틀렸지만 참 잘했어요 (힙합은 했지만 랩은 안 했어요)
NO! You’re wrong, but nice try (got hip hop, but not rap)
내 랩을 들어봐 넌 쿨해지고 재 랩을 들어봐 넌 우울해지고
Listen to my rap. You’ll become cooler. Then listen to his rap. You’ll become bluer/more depressed.

나는 키 작고 또 미쳐 보이지만 진짜 쿨한 힙합보이
I may be short and look kind of crazy, but I’m a really cool hip hop boy
난 이 시대 10대 20대를 대표해 모두 where u at!!
I’ll represent the teens and 20 somethings in this generation. Everyone, where u at!!

(산이 산이 산이) 자~ 내 이름이 뭐니? (산이 산이 산이) 세상에 모든 money!
(SanE SanE SanE) Here~ What’s my name? (SanE SanE SanE) All the money in this world!
(SanE SanE SanE)
다 누구에게 가니? (산이 산이 산이) 더 크게 많이 많이! (산이~)
Who is everyone going to? (SanE SanE SanE) Louder…much much louder! (SanE~)

Your Two Cents: Curious About Korean Culture???

Hi my beloved readers/listeners~

How was everyone's week/weekend? Hope it was a good one full of laughter and REST! Haha I know I shouldn't be complaining because I'm still at a "young and fresh" age, but I gotta say, my body can't keep up with me like it used to. Whereas all-nighters were no problem before, now I can't do 'em anymore. LOL Rest is VERY important.

Anyways, it's the last Y2C for the month of October. MAN! Isn't that crazy? I've been doing some reminiscing about the year of 2010. I know we still have two full months left, but those months are going to FLY by! It's already been over 2 years since I came to Korea and started broadcasting. It's been about 9 months since I joined the KBS World team and started my posts on KPop Connection with DJ Young and KPop Interactive on Sundays. I've met AMAZING people, interview some very talented and sweet singers, and more importantly, gotten introduced to the international KPOP fan base (aka YOU ALL). So thankful for my life and the opportunities that come along with it. Let's all take a moment to just be thankful.

...

Okay! With that said and done...on to this week's Y2C question:

Do you have any curious questions about any aspect of Korean culture? For example, when I first started typing and texting in Korean, I didn't know what all the "ㅜㅜㅜㅜ" or "ㅠㅠㅠㅠ" were for. They're Korean emoticons for tears! LOL do you see it? the horizontal line represents the closed eyes while the vertical lines are the tears running. Another one was all the "~"''s that were used. They represent a sorta dragged out tone to something. For example, "what are you doing?" with a little "~" put at the end gives it a more "whatchaaaa dooooiiinnnggg??" kind of feel. I don't know if I explained that well, but anyways. So any questions on culture? typing methods? phrases? (i.e. what's with all the "hwaiting"'s?!) etc. etc. etc.

Throw me your questions and I'll try to answer as many as I can on this week's KPI. If you don't have any questions, what WERE some questions you had and how did you get them answered? Let me know~~~~~~~~

Your Two Cents: Most Unique Voice???

Hi all~
Hope everyone's been having a great month of October so far. We've already passed the midpoint so far which means Halloween is just around the corner!

This week's Y2C question is about a singer's voice. I don't necessarily mean how great of a singer they are. Some people have nice voices, but they can't sing all THAT well. Some people have not such nice voices, but can do amazing things with it (vibration, falsetto, etc. etc.) that makes them an amazing singer. I think the best example of explaining my point would be Fly To The Sky. Most people think that STRICTLY from a vocal technique point of view, Hwanhee is the "better" singer. That man can put so much ups an downs in one breath that it leaves you in awe. However, (this is just MY opinion!!! please don't get offended) I actually like the tone of Brian's voice better. It's more clear and sweet. Do you guys get the point I'm trying to make?

Basically, I want you guys to get the difference between just the voice tone and quality versus singing ability.

ANYWAYS, so this week's question: Who do you feel has the most unique voice tone? Where the second you hear it, you know who it is. This isn't about who's the best singer. It's simply just the voice. Actually, re-using the example from before, I think Hwanhee is one of the singers at the top of my list. The second I hear Hwanhee, I know it's Hwanhee. Another example can be Bobby Kim or Kim Gun-mo. They both have unique voices.

Answer away, and don't forget to tune into KPI on Sunday! ^^

Your Two Cents: Best Male Star With Makeup???

These days all male idol group stars are wearing makeup. Man...these kids are wearing more eye liner than me!!! And THAT'S saying something! Hehe.. I have to be honest with you guys...at first, I was a little thrown off by this trend. Granted now there ARE some American singers sporting the eye makeup (i.e. Adam Lambert), but still. It's not exactly the norm for male stars to wear such heavy eye makeup. The more I see it though, I guess I can kind of understand the logic. Us Koreans, we're not exactly blessed with the same big, beautiful eyes as some other foreign singers so why not use a little bit of makeup to enhance them? And girls wear makeup, so if you think about it, guys are getting a little gipped when it comes to getting some help to look better. Actors on stage wear makeup for theatre performances and essentially, singers are doing the same thing right? Performing!

Anyways, regardless of whether you're FOR the male stars wearing eye makeup or AGAINST...this week's question is going to be more specific. (Although I DO want to know if you're FOR it or AGAINST it too!)



Which male star do you think pulls off the eye makeup look the best? Some stars look better with it than others. Some stars look COMPLETELY different with eye makeup while other stars don't look that different. All of those factors taken into consideration, which male star just looks the best with eye makeup?

If you're a guy, even better!!! I wanna know how you feel about this eye makeup trend. More importantly, would you do it?

Answer away and don't forget to tune in on Sunday for KPI! ^^

CD Drawing Winners For September!!!

Congratulations to our September CD Drawing Winners!!!
For those of you who didn't win...you know what they say! Try, try, and try again!
Just email me your full name, mailing address, and the top two kpop CDs that you'd like to win (just in case your first choice is sold out, we'll try to get your your second choice!). angela@kbs.co.kr

Winners are picked and announced on the second Sunday of every month on our KPI program on KBS World Radio. ^^

Well, without further adieu...the winners!

1. Kim Valerio from Victoria, Australia
#1 Super Junior - Don't Don Repackaged
#2 Any 2AM
#3 And FT Island

2. Kristine Bui from London, England
any CN Blue or B2ST CDs

3. Stacey Agena from Mililani, Hawaii
CD: CNBLUE's Japanese singels
super junior bonamana repackaged cd album

4. Lilian Yau from Middlesex in the UK
1. B2st-Shock Of The New Era (Asian Edition)
2. SS501-Destination

Post Star Chat With Lim Jeong-hee!!!

Like always, here's the lowdown on how my latest Star Chat interview went. *cue evil laughter: muahahaha...*

So for those of you who missed it, I got a chance to interview Lim Jeong-hee for last week's KPI on KBS World Radio. If you missed it, never fear, you can just watch it again HERE.

When it comes to celebrities or ANYONE for that matter, you can tell a lot about them by their punctuality. So props to Lim Jeong-hee who came right on time with not one, but TWO managers. I have to say, her managers work really hard for her. They were very cordial with me and the staff. Brought me THREE copies of her latest mini-album and were carrying around a whole stack. I ran into them later after the interview and I realized they were circling the floor, giving out CDs to some of the producers they were running into. If you noticed during the interview, she kept mentioning how important it was to find a GOOD management team. I don't think that was just something for her to say. I think she really does appreciate her management, which is good because they do seem to work hard for her.

The first thing I really thought when I saw Lim for the first time was, "Wow, she's not photogenic." She looks so much prettier in person. Even the picture that she and I took together isn't very flattering of her. Don't be fooled all~ she's beautiful! I think the video clip is a little better though.

Okay so with the first impression stuff out of the way, personality-wise, Lim was very quiet and reserved. I could see why she's not exactly a singer known for her "variety show" talents. She's not cold or anything...not at all. She's very warm and sincere. She just seemed...REAL. She didn't care about the extra fluff, or about putting up an image, or about saying the "right" thing for the media to approve of. She thought about her answers and said it. That's all there was to it. Some of the younger stars or group stars think more along the lines of "how can I make this answer interesting or funny?". She didn't think like that. She just answered whether it was funny or not. It was pretty refreshing actually.

We talked a little about dieting and her weight-loss. She lost like 6-7 kilos! She said she hiked a lot up the mountain near her house. So ladies, that might be the way to shed those pounds if you're looking for Lim Jeong-hee's secret. Haha

We had to wrap things up quick because she had another schedule to get to RIGHT after the interview. She left asking if she could contact me when she needed help with her English. Haha

So that's it. Nothing all that juicy, but I really REALLY wanna emphasize that as just because some singers aren't right in the enter of the spotlight (in variety shows and lots of interviews) doesn't mean they should be overlooked. Lim is so sweet and RAW in a very genuine and souful way...whether it be in her music or in real life!

Your Two Cents: First Thing You'd Want To Do When You Visit Korea???

I've been getting a lot of emails (angela@kbs.co.kr) and tweets (www.twitter.com/itsangiepark) about how many of you are planning on visiting Korea within the next year or so. GREAT!!! Especially because the country currently has a VISIT KOREA campaign going on until 2012 (I think...). I can HONESTLY say that Korea is WORHT YOUR WHILE. It's an amazing country with so much diversity depending on what region you visit. I'd assume most of you are visiting the nation's capital, Seoul. Seoul is AMAZING. The food, shopping, sights, food, nightlife, food, culture, museums, food...LOL There's ALWAYS something to do. If you're bored, just grab a sandwich and some coffee, walk to a bustling area, and people watch! That's always fun too.

Many of you have never been to Korea, so here's this week's Y2C question:
What's the FIRST THING you want to do when you come to Korea???

If you HAVE been to Korea before, what is the best/most memorable thing you did on your visit(s)???

Let me know and of course, be sure to tune into KPI this week to hear everybody else's responses! This week, I have a SPECIAL giveaway for Y2C participants! ^^

After our STAR CHAT with Lim Jeong-hee, she was so kind to give me signed copies of her latest mini-album featuring the songs "On The Way To Break Up (featuring 2AM's Jo-kwon) and "This Can't Be Real". She's an AMAZING singer with such a beautiful, soulful voice so I think it's a real treat. I haven't decided yet how MANY copies I'll be giving away. I'm going to make that decision after I see how many people respond. ^^



Ok~~~ Answer away!!!