[INFO] WIN A TRIP TO KOREA ! THE 2011 K-POP COVER DANCE FESTIVAL !

In celebration of ‘Visit Korea Year’, the Committee of ‘Visit Korea Year’ is hosting the ‘2011 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival‘. Capturing the global boom of cover dances of K-Pop artists, the ‘2011 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival’ is open to everyone in the world to audition.

Cover dance is learning and performing the choreography of any dance; it is an evolution of watching and appreciating–it is feeling and enjoying the same art as the celebrity. The Committee of ‘Visit Korea Year’ aims to ride the Hallyu Wave to share and shape Korea’s finest contents with the global community through the ‘2011 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival’.

The ‘2011 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival’ will be open for audition to everyone with access to the Internet. There will be two rounds to qualify where the winners are chosen through an open online popularity count for the 1st round and the top contenders will then proceed to the 2nd round where they will be judged in person by famous Korean choreographers, musicians, CF directors, and other professionals. The ones chosen in the 2nd round will be given the chance to compete in Korea to perform at the festival.

You can find details and audition online at the ‘2011 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival‘ homepage (which will launch shortly). The 1st  round will be open online through July 24th. Then in September for the 2nd round, the judges will fly over to a number of countries, according to the total count of auditions and popularity, to pick the final qualifiers. The final qualifiers will finally compete in Korea in October at the ‘2011 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival’.

The Committee will invite all contestants who pass the 2nd round, to Korea, to tour the beautiful attractions of Korea and provide them with the chance to meet the original artists of their cover dance.

Secretary general of the Committee of ‘Visit Korea Year’ stated, “I believe through utilizing K-Pop, which has become a core essence of the Hallyu wave, and its counterpart ‘cover dance’,  we will be able to promote Korean culture interactively”, and added, “this is a great chance for Korea to impress the world as an attractive and energetic spot to visit”.

In related news, on May 28th at the ‘Seoul World Cup Stadium’, a cover dance team formed of 31-members from 11 different nations opened up the ‘2011 Dream Concert‘ and introduced the ‘2011 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival’.

[NEWS] YUNHO REVEALS TVXQ'S FULL BORA BORA NUDE BEACH STORY

Yunho’s long-awaited nude beach story has finally been revealed!

On the 7th, SBS’s ‘Strong Heart‘ invited back many of the past ‘Strong Heart’ champs from the last year and nine months to pick out the best ‘Talk King’ of the stars.

TVXQ’s Yunho started out the show with a placard that read, “Bora Bora nude scene.” He shared,“When TVXQ were rookies, we went to the Bora Bora islands to film our music video for ‘Hi Ya Ya Summer Days‘… The beach and scenery was so lovely that it looked like a scene from a movie… We played with the stingrays in the ocean and also partook in water polo. At that time, we were so full of youth and excitement that we put all our focus into the game and ended up taking our swimsuit bottoms off.”

His confession surprised his fellow cast members on the set but he continued on, saying, “However, we were told that shooting for the video would begin immediately. The staff members were heading towards us on the beach and because there were female staff members present, none of us got out of the water. We were just watching them from inside the water. Because we were embarrassed to tell the staff the truth, we told them, ‘We’re in an important match right now. Can you just wait a little?’ to delay and buy some time. The problem was we couldn’t figure out which floating swimming briefs belonged to which member. In time, we eventually wore our own swimming briefs and ended this incident.”

However, their adventures in Bora Bora didn’t end there.

Yunho added this tidbit, “That isn’t the end of the story… Right outside the doors of our hotel, you can go swimming. Even the floors were made of glass so you could see the ocean underneath. The building was such that if you look up from the ocean, you can see into the hotel room.”

Yunho also shared the group’s little mischievous adventure.

He said, “Since we were at a resort, it was full of newlyweds. As it got dark, our curiosity arose. We all thought, ‘Let’s have a special experience this once,’ and went swimming in the ocean. We started peeking into other people’s room from the ocean and saw various couples kissing… We went from room to room as if it were a world tour. Let’s just say some of the things I saw that night, I’m taking it to my grave.”

Who knew that the members of TVXQ were such peeping toms?!

[NEWS] KIM HYUN JOONG MISTAKEN AS BAE YONG JOON BY A CHINESE FAN

SS501’s Kim Hyun Joong revealed an incident where he was mistaken to be actor Bae Yong Joonbecause he couldn’t speak Chinese.

On the June 7th broadcast of SBS’s “Strong Heart,” Kim Hyun Joong was a guest as a part of the‘Special Strong Heart King of Kings’ episode.

During the broadcast, he revealed that people call him a “Bae Yong Joon look-alike” and “2nd generation Bae Yong Joon.” Because of the similarities, he was once mistaken as Bae Yong Joon by Chinese fans during the Asian Games. Kim Hyun Joong stated, “A Chinese fan asked for my autograph but handed me a picture of Yong Joon hyung.”

At that time, Kim Hyun Joong repeatedly stated in English, “No! No Bae Yong Joon,” because he couldn’t communicate with the Chinese fan. However, the Chinese fan misunderstood him and thought ‘Bae Yong Joon’ wouldn’t sign the autograph for him because he was annoyed by him. The fan persistently followed Kim Hyun Joong around until finally swearing at him and leaving his side.

Kim Hyun Joong stated, “Well, that’s how I got rid of one Bae Yong Joon fan” – drawing much laughter from the guests and audience.

[NEWS] TVXQ WASN'T SPARED FROM A CRAZY SCHEDULE

Former 5-man group, TVXQ and their grueling schedule has caught attention. This after initially alarming fans from SNSD’s crazy schedule, which was revealed last week.

SNSD’s written out day to day schedule recently surfaced to the online community. The schedule proved the hard work of current sky-rocketing popularity of SNSD, showing that they barely have a moment to rest from June 8th until the end of July. Some perspectives saw their busy schedule as not a sign of popularity, but more of a health concern.

However, the spotlight has shifted back a few years as the former 5-man TVXQ’s schedule recently appeared online as well.

The schedule plotted out TVXQ’s errands for a year, from July 2008 to July 2009, excluding but not limited to: magazine photo shoots, studio recording sessions, movie filming, DVD filming, cover photo shoots, and CF shoots.

With that said, netizens were shocked to see that the schedule had the 5 members entering and departing the country almost as often as normal people have mealtimes and pulling multiple gigs a day with barely a day to rest throughout the year. Netizens commented, “SNSD doesn’t even compare to this”, “Is this even possible?’, ‘That’s horrible, that must have been so painful’, ‘Celebrities have it hard’, and ‘They need avatars’, sharing both their feelings and concerns.

[NEWS] CNBLUE AND SEO HYO RIM ARE SUMMER CHIC FOR "BANG BANG"

Photos from a summer pictorial featuring CNBLUE and Seo Hyo Rim have just been released!

The stars got together to shoot some fun looks for casual brand ‘Bang Bang‘, using vivid colors to portray a ‘Spicy Pop Summer’ theme.

Bright solids and checkered prints dominated the spread, as CNBLUE and Seo Hyo Rim modelled outfits that could be worn both at vacation spots and in the city.

They also emphasized that cool beach feel with their long shorts.

Check out the photos below!

[NEWS] GOO HARA PICKS UP TARGET SHOOTING WITH LEE MINHO

Actresses Park Min Young and KARA’s Goo Hara revealed their target-shooting skills on the set ofSBS’s “City Hunter“.

On the upcoming June 9th episode of “City Hunter”, Park Min Young and Goo Hara will show off their shooting skill in an attempt to impress the character played by star actor Lee Min Ho.

On June 2nd, during the filming for the target-shooting scene, which took place at an arboretum in Gyeolgido, Paju, Park Min Young and Goo Hara successfully resembled professional shooters wearing a vest, glasses, and earplugs.

Park Min Young, who is playing the role of a presidential bodyguard, displayed her charisma and sincerity with her great shooting skills. Goo Hara, who is playing the role of the President’s spoiled daughter, displayed a cute expression and pose while attempting the target-shooting.

An official from the production company stated, “The atmosphere was hot during the filming of the target-shooting scene of the ‘Hunter women’. I think the shooting skills of the two ‘City Hunter’ actresses, who possess different charms, will bring much joy to viewers.”

[NEWS] KIM HYUN JOONG TALKS ABOUT "BOYS OVER FLOWERS"

Kim Hyun Joong has finally revealed his thoughts about the hit KBS drama, “Boys Over Flowers“.

The idol appeared on the June 8th broadcast of MBC’s “Knee-Drop Guru” and talked about his singing career as well as about his personal life.

He started talking about how he got to play a significant role in “Boys Over Flowers”, saying, “I received a phone call from the ‘Boys Over Flowers’ production company. I didn’t know what it was, so for the first time in my life, I read a romantic-comedy manga. It was quite difficult to read because [in the manga], the characters had stars in their eyes and they were too blinding.”

He elaborated, “When I auditioned, they told me I looked very similar [to the character in the manga]. Inside, I had some worries because I’ve never acted before. I thought I should try my hardest anyways and studied by reading the manga.”

Kim Hyun Joong even studied the hand gesture of his character and was surrounded by a controversy concerning his unnatural acting. He said, “That [hand gesture] was even stranger. I finally realized that being natural was the best thing.”

He added, “I received a lot of negative comments such as, ‘My hands and feet are curling from such unnatural acting. Just stick to being a singer but you’re not a great singer either.’ After reading such a harsh comment, I really wanted to find the IP address of the commenter.”

He remained humble about the success “Boys Over Flowers” has received, stating, “I think it’s because the exporting team did a good job selling [its rights] overseas. The production team, Lee Min Ho, andGoo Hye Sun led the drama well so I was naturally able to do well.”