This is the 「TONE」Buyers’ Event that was held on 1 & 3 November in Osaka and Tokyo. There were live performances, member talks, as well as secret videos, it was an hour packed with lots (of activities)♪ It was an event where you could feel really close to the two members, so it was really enjoyable!
[OPINION] 111105 Anti Fans And Their Power In The Music Industry
I remember that one of the things that caught my curiosity while falling into the arms of K-Pop was the idols and their anti-fans. I started reading story after story and when I read about DBSK‘s Yunho and the incident of the juice with glue in it, I asked myself, “Why do these people have so much power over the artists they hate?” It is something that up to this day I don’t understand clearly.
First, these people waste time hating K-Pop groups without even having a reasonable argument for that. Secondly, they elaborate plans, websites, manipulate pictures and even gather in groups secretly, to attack the person they hate when their anger towards said artist grows even more. I have seen plenty of websites and even groups on Facebook or Twitter, recalling “Anti SNSD”, “Anti 2NE1″, “Anti Kim Hyun Joong” and even “Anti DBSK”.
Why does this happen? Why so much anger towards a group or person? Just because a group does really well in the industry, it doesn’t mean that you have to hate it and become part of some sort of evil sect to attempt or to even destroy it. Sometimes, fans themselves create these evil monsters. I have read comments in which people get actually sick of X or Y artist just because of their fandom.
These little antis, can be divided in three categories. The first category is the “regular anti.” These anti-fans just comment or say they don’t like certain groups and that’s all. Their intention is to actually hurt the group’s fandom and not to hurt the artist itself. The second category is the “stalker or sasaeng anti-fan.” Here, some fans of a group are actually sasaengs without even hating the group, but why are they considered antis? Because they stalk their artist and cross the limits of a person’s privacy.
There have been cases in which stalkers follow an artist every single day. They spend too much time following them around, getting information of their schedule, and also there have been cases in which they trespass illegally into their dorms, as it happened to JYJ, or writing on their dorm’s walls such it happened on BEAST‘s dorm and Yoseob himself had to clean up the walls, or the case of Super Junior‘s Yesung who caught a fan writing on their dorm’s wall and had to tell her to stop
[Yoseob cleaning BEAST’s dorm wall]
Also, this category of stalkers, tend to check out their idol’s garbage. Some of them are so extreme that they get their idol’s phone number and call them several times at day. This last case happened to DBSK‘s Yunho and it was so stressful that he had to change his number. When he did, the same fan who was calling him non-stop obtained his new number in just five minutes and argued: “Why did you change your number?, that’s not good for you” and hung up.
Some of them, post very disgusting pictures declaring their obsessive love towards their idol without even realizing that it actually is a very sick kind of way to declare their love. One of these crazy girls actually wrote a love letter with the blood from her menstruation, and to prove that it was real, she even sent her panties. This happened to 2PM‘s Taecyeon. Other idols who have received bloody letters are, MBLAQ‘s Lee Joon, FT Island‘s Lee Hongki, Big Bang‘s Taeyang and G-Dragon.
[Taecyeon’s disgusting love letter]
Love letter to Lee Joon: ” Lee Chang sun (Lee Joon’s real name) don’t forget about me. You are everything to me. I love you. Remember that. Soojin”]
[3rd victim of the bloody letters: Lee Hongki. “Lee Hongki, do you know that I love you right?”]
[Letter addressed to Taeyang, scary uh?]
[The last victim of the letters, G-Dragon]
Some others stalkers follow the idol 24/7 and even videotape them. Honestly, the following video made me feel uncomfortable even to watch, in the case of SHINee‘s Jonghyun. He was feeling really awkward, surrounded and being videotaped when he clearly asked them to give him some space.
When these kind of fans break the boundaries imposed by the group’s manager, it gets until the point in which the manager has to react violently. This last happened when CN BLUE‘s manager got into a controversy for being accused of violence against a fan. A similar thing also happened to SHINee’s manager as he was recorded hitting the back of a fan’s head. Some of the group members looked surprised by the violent gesture.
[CNBlue’s manager incident]
[SHINee’s manager incident]
The third category is the dangerous one. These people are so full of nonsensical anger and hate that they actually attempt against the life of the idol they want to destroy. There have been really serious issues of attempting and almost killing an idol. I’m pretty sure that all Cassiopeias remember when Yunho got poisoned with a juice spiked with adhesive glue. After he drank it, he started vomiting blood and had a stomach washout done immediately. After the incident, he dropped all the charges against the person who caused that. Even Kim Heechul, who was really angry about the incident, got threats from Yunho’s antis so he had to stop tweeting about the issue.
This makes me wonder, why are they so afraid of these people? Why are they so afraid of filing charges against their attackers? Shouldn’t they be punished? These anti-fans have gained such a power in the music industry that they can decide or control a person’s destiny. Remember the issue of Jay Park who decided to leave 2PM due to his accusations of being anti-Korean despite the fact that he apologized for it and went back to Seattle? Or the case of Tablo and his Stanford issue in which people were demanding the truth from him? Isn’t that too much?
They have acquired so much power and control over the artists they hate, that it is almost normal for the idols to have antis. They don’t even date and if they do, they date secretly in order to stay safe and away from stalkers and antis. When is this going to stop? Aren’t agencies supposed to do something against these people? To suffer harm from an anti-fan is not nice and we surely don’t want to see our beloved idols being hurt and suffering as it happened to Yoon Eun Hye when she got shot in her eyes by an anti-fan who was holding a water gun full of soy sauce and vinegar
The latest case was of Super Junior‘s Kyuhyun who was threatened while being on vacation in Spain by, what SM Entertainment said, “strange guy” who had a knife in his hands. Kyuhyun reacted quickly and was able to run.
I honestly think that this anti-fan thing should stop. There’s no reason to harm another person or to make them impossible to lead a normal life. They already have too many things and schedules to deal with so I think there’s no need of another living terror called “antis.”
Note: The content of this article represents views and policies solely of the writer, and in no way represents the editorial stance of Soompi.com or the whole editorial board.
[Trans] 111031 Finding Out About What Spain Thinks Of JYJ’s First European Concert
We were able to see that JYJ’s European fanbase continues to expand as time passes.
On the 29th, JYJ held a mini concert at the LA FARGA Convention Centre’s performance hall and sang ‘Empty’ and ‘Get Out’ to 5,000 cheering audience members.
Though it was a paid performance that showcased only two songs, people flocked to secure seats, showing the power of K-pop once more.
We asked the European fans who were waiting in line for the concert about JYJ’s secret to success. They all praised the group as they said, “JYJ’s intense dance moves and live skills have us hooked.”
Here is a Q&A session with their European fans.
Silvia Sanchez (17, student)
-How did you come to know JYJ?
▶In 2008, my friend sent me the ‘Mirotic’ album and told me to listen to it, and from that moment on, I became a fan. I started searching online for their videos and music and now, I’m such a big fan of JYJ. Their appearances in dramas made me like them more and I like them all so much that I make sure to check up on videos of them every day.
-Who’s your favorite member?
▶Jaejoong. His voice and the expression he has when he sings is so hot.
-What are your feelings on coming to today’s concert?
▶I really wanted to go to Korea because I like JYJ so much, but I don’t have the money to go there. I’m so happy and thankful that they decided to come all the way to Spain to perform. My friends and I couldn’t sleep for the past couple of nights because we were preparing gifts for the members. We got Junsu a football shirt with the number ’12′ on it while we got ordinary t-shirts for the other members. We hope they wear them and we would like to see them wearing the shirts.
Noemi Blaha (30, secretary)
-What are your feelings on coming to today’s concert?
▶I’ve been a fan of JYJ for the past three years. I like them so much but because I work, I don’t have much time to spare on other things. I only got three hours of sleep because of today’s concert. I’m so excited and nervous. I still can’t believe that they’ve come here to sing for us. They’re great singers, but they’re also very humorous and it was a great performance.
Charo (18, student)
-How did you come to know JYJ?
▶I was surfing the net a year ago when I randomly began searching up Korean singers, and I ended up clicking on a photo of Jaejoong and listening to their songs. Since then, I’ve been active as a JYJ fan. I like Junsu now too because his voice is so nice.
-What are your feelings on coming to today’s concert?
▶I spent an entire month preparing banners for JYJ’s concert with other fans. We paid for the production of the banner and put them up ourselves. There are over 50 banners hanging within the city of Barcelona that contain messages from JYJ’s fans, and we travelled through the other cities of Spain for a month, putting banners up for JYJ. I bought concert tickets after staying up all night for two days in a row as I waited in line. I was so excited for the entire two-hour train ride here and I’m still feeling that excitement as I wait for the concert to start.
Maria Amparo (24, student)
-What are your feelings on coming to today’s concert?
▶I’m a fan of TVXQ. I like JYJ’s music and I loved watching ‘SungKyunKwan Scandal’. I’m planning on downloading and watching ‘Protect the Boss’ as well. I really like K-pop and I was so excited to buy my ticket three weeks ago. When I first heard the news, I was so surprised and I couldn’t believe they were coming to Spain. I’m very thankful to them for flying all the way here.
Rocio Maldonado (14, student)
-What are your feelings on coming to today’s concert?
▶I’ve been a fan of K-pop for the past five years. I’ve been a fan of JYJ since they were a part of TVXQ and I’m a fan of Junsu. I’m planning on visiting Korea. I want to live in Korea with JYJ. I’ve waited three years to see this concert. This is going to be my first K-pop concert, and I’m so glad that it’s a concert by JYJ.
Sandra Vidail (24, office worker)
-What are your feelings on coming to today’s concert?
▶I recently became a fan of JYJ when I came across one of their songs. This is my first K-pop concert and I can’t wait to see what it will be like. I’m excited to think that I’ll personally get to see those powerful dance moves that I’ve been watching on Youtube. I’m a fan of Yoochun. I can’t believe that I’ll be able to see him smile in person. I want to marry him.
Oscar (19, student)
-What are your feelings on coming to today’s concert?
▶It’s been half a year since I first came across JYJ on the internet and I really like their songs. Most of all, their powerful performances are ones that aren’t easily found in Spain. They’re great singers and I like all three members. I listen to JYJ’s songs all the time these days. I’m especially addicted to their Korean songs because they have such great melodies and beats.
TRANS] 111031 Cultural Director Jang Jin Sang Is “Anticipating JYJ’s Role In Spreading K-pop Throughout Europe” Posted on November 6, 2011
“The K-pop craze continues to burn brighter in Spain. We want to thank JYJ for spearheading the effort to spread K-pop here.“
Cultural Director Jang Jin Sang, who began his job in Madrid, Spain in June, expressed his thoughts about the current condition of the K-pop craze that has swept over Spain.
Cultural Director Jang Jin Sang met with reporters at the POBLE ESPANYOL on the 29th and said, “When JYJ decided to hold a concert in Spain, they still hadn’t decided if they would hold the concert in Madrid or Barcelona. But they ended up choosing Barcelona because it was decided that if it was done here, people from Southern France would also be able to attend the concert as well as the citizens of Spain,” and “Though the influence of the K-pop craze and Hallyu Wave are still quite small in Europe, we believe the K-pop craze and interest in Korean culture will continue to grow in Spain.”
The reason why Director Jang made this statement is because Spain was the European country with the highest participation rate at the K-pop Cover Dance Competition that was held in Madrid, Spain on the 15th of September.
Director Jang said, “More than 50 Spanish teams participated in the competition. More and more people in Spain are beginning to like K-pop. Though B2ST came and performed a couple of songs as the judges for the competition, JYJ will be holding an official concert,” and “We’d like to see many more Korean singers come to Spain to perform like JYJ.”
He added, “We debated quite a lot on whether the culture center should sponsor the concert because it could be classified as a private concert,” and “But because this is the first time a Korean singer is holding a solo concert in Spain, we provided JYJ with 10,000 Euros (15 million Won) and that money was used to rent out the concert venue. The rest of the costs for setting up the stage and the additional facilities was paid for by JYJ’s agency C-JeS Entertainment.“
Director Jang explained that the tickets for the concert cost 100 Euros for SVIP, 70 Euros for VIP, and 50 Euros for regular seats, which doesn’t differ much from the ticket prices Spanish singers charge for their performances.
He also stated, “It’s been 69 years since Spain and Korea established diplomatic relations but a Korean culture center has been created in Spain much earlier than expected,” and “We don’t have culture centers in Italy or Switzerland yet. Taking this into consideration, we can make the conclusion that the Spanish have a great interest in Korea.”
Director Jang had a positive outlook for K-pop’s future influence in Europe.
He stated, “Europe has high standards for art and music, so it won’t be easy for Korea to compete in the European markets. However, K-pop continues to evolve and grow, and I believe the rate at which K-pop fans grow will increase as well,” and “I heard that many people are coming to JYJ’s concert because they talked about it on Facebook and decided to come together. Therefore, we plan on opening an official page for the culture center and share information about K-pop, and provide at least one or two K-pop related events every year.”
Meanwhile, Director Jang stated that Korean dramas do not have much of an influence in Spain.
He explained, “I heard that till 2007, overseas broadcasting companies could air Korean dramas for free. But 2008 came with copyright issues and because it was decided that these shows couldn’t be aired for free, it hasn’t been easy to watch Korean dramas overseas, especially in Europe. It’s because Korea’s influence in Spain is still quite small and because it’s not easy to air those dramas due to the prices. Though there are people who would like to air dramas here with the rights already secured, it costs almost 10 million Won to dub one episode, so I’ve heard that discussions continue with broadcasting companies due to the expenses.”
The Tohoshinki album “TONE” release event was held in Tokyo and Osaka on 1 & 3 November.
For this event, nearly 200,000 applications were received, and among them 15,200 people were gathered at the location. This event was approximately 1 hour long, and included the members’ talk as well as song performances.
Yunho and Changmin talked about the secret story behind the album release, and also about the shoot for the recently released photobook “El Sol.” With such a special talk, the fans’ eyes sparkled involuntarily as they smiled. They could feel the members’ thoughts that were not communicated in magazines and television programs, and this was probably very satisfying.
Furthermore, questions for Tohoshinki that were gathered from the public, and a corner with things that the fanclub wanted Tohoshinki to do were held at the event, and fans definitely caught a glimpse of a new honest side to the members.
For the live performance, 「B.U.T(BE-AU-TY)」, 「Duet」, 「I Don’t Know」 were the numbers performed, that excited the crowd. Also, this time, the album version of 「Duet」 to be released in the single on 30 November was revealed for the first time, moving the participants to tears. At the end, they announced that there will be additional performances for their nationwide tour that starts in January 2012. Tohoshinki’s tour will see 20 performances held at 9 locations, gathering an expected crowd of 250,000 people.
With “TONE” doing well and staying in the top 10 rankings for 5 consecutive weeks, Tohoshinki will soon be releasing their first winter single 「Winter ~Winter Rose / Duet – winter ver. -」on 30 November. Also, the ChakuUta® version will be released starting 16 November.
[News] A Chicken Gets Lovestruck by JYJ’s Jaejoong
We know there’s a ton of JYJ fans out there, but this particular individual takes the cake for being one of the cutest we’ve seen in a while.
An series of photos have gone viral in Korea after they were uploaded onto a community forum under the title, “Part-time Chicken Shop worker is a JYJ fan“.
A part-time worker from a chicken shop is seen wearing their mascot costume in front of a cosmetics store, where a set of life-size JYJ cutouts were positioned for promotion. The chicken worker looks a little depressed, even in a state of static nostalgia — it’s almost as if they were longing to see someone.
The netizen who created the post explained, “I was looking outside the window and saw a random part time worker wearing a chicken costume. There were cut-outs of JYJ’s Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu outside of the cosmetic store. The chicken worker took a long look at Jaejoong’s picture in particular. The chicken had a leaflet in [his or her] left hand and caressed Jaejoong’s cut out. I was taking pictures right beside [him or her], but they didn’t even notice.”
Anyone feeling sorry for the chicken?
Source + photos: wstarnews via Naver
Shared by: allkpop
[NEWS] “DBSK Problem Should Be Solved After Some Time” — Yoochun
In a recent photo shoot for the November issue of High Cut Magazine, JYJ’s Yoochun opened up about the DBSK debacle and his early acting experiences.
When asked about the still on-going problem with DBSK, Yoochun said, “There are so many things to think about and also many things to sort out that it’s no longer a problem a single person’s big heart can solve. Whatever the future outcome, I believe it will be solved after some time.”
Looking back at his previous projects such as KBS drama“Sungkyungkwan Scandal” and MBC drama “Miss Ripley,” Yoochun also shared his frustrations with acting, saying, “The more I act, the more the flaws form, and they do not become fewer. That was really frustrating.”
The “Miss Ripley” star also said, “In my head I’m thinking, ‘For this line, I’ll do it like this,’ but when I actually act it out, it turns out to be completely different from what I had planned. It’s difficult to act.”
In the accompanying photos, Yoochun shed the soft and “flower boy-looking” style and went for a more masculine look. The 64th issue of “High Cut,” featuring Yoochun’s manly photos will be released on November 3.
[TRANS] 111028 Lee Yong Praises TVXQ’s YoungWoong Jaejoong On His Perfect Rendition Of ‘Forgotten Season’
Singer Lee Yong revealed that he was surprised when he heard that TVXQ’s YoungWoong Jaejoong sang the song ‘Forgotten Season’.
Lee Yong appeared on cable tv YTN’s ‘News & News’ on the 28th at 2:20pm and expressed his gratitude to his juniors who have sung ‘Forgotten Season’.
When Anchorman Lee Gwang Yeon asked, “Many of your juniors have sung your hit song ‘Forgotten Season’, what are your feelings on that?” Lee Yong replied, “I feel really great when I my juniors like and sing my song.”
He added, “I was so surprised when I watched TVXQ’s YoungWoong Jaejoong perform a perfect rendition of the song,” and explained, “I asked YoungWoong Jaejoong how he ended up choosing the song, and he said, ‘I practiced this song a lot because President Lee Soo Man likes it’.“