Foreign internet users have selected the six-man group Shinhwa as the best Korean singer of the year, according to Arirang International Broadcasting on Wednesday. The group’s song “Once in a Lifetime” received 60 percent of the votes cast by foreign internet users.

Shinhwa beat last year’s winner, Kang Ta, who came in second with 20.3 percent followed by TVXQ with 17.3 percent. Super Junior took fourth place followed by Bada, Se7en, BoA, SG Wannabe, Buzz, and Paek Ji-young, with all of them winning less than 1 percent of the votes.

Only foreign netizens were allowed to participate in the vote by blocking domestic IP addresses, with the number of participants tripling from last year to some 1.9 million.

By nation, Chinese accounted for the majority of participants with 1.35 million, followed by Americans, Australians, French, Canadians, Cambodians, Brazilians, Malaysians, Taiwanese, and Japanese.

Source: KBS Global

Twelve Korean singers and groups, including SG Wannabe, Fly to the Sky, Hwi-sung, Lee Min-woo and Jun Jin, will hold a showcase in Shanghai, China.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korea Culture and Content Agency, the showcase, entitled “Feel the K-POP in Shanghai,” will take place November 3-4. Other performers will include Tony Ahn, Kim Hyun-chul, Kang Kyun-sung, V.O.S., Typhoon and Ha Dong-kyun.

The purpose of the showcase is to publicize Korean music in the Chinese-speaking region and pave the way for Korean artists’ advancement to China.

Some 300 Chinese music producers, representatives of record companies, media outlets and music experts are expected to attend a business consultation slated for November 3 in Shanghai to discuss cooperation with Korean music companies.

The showcase will be attended by Chinese music experts and some 8,000 fans of Korean pop. The 12 artists and groups that will perform at the showcase were selected by the Korea Culture and Content Agency in July.

The director of the agency said that so far Korean pop music has failed to establish business ties with the Chinese market despite its popularity in the Asian region, and that the event will hopefully produce positive business results by promoting partnerships between Korean and Chinese music companies.

Source: KBS Global

Shinhwa will become the first band from South Korea to give a concert in Singapore. The event will take place October 10 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium as part of Shinhwa's 2006 tour.

Shinhwa will visit Singapore for the second time following its first visit in 2004 to participate in the Euphoria 2004 concert. That same year, the band became the first from South Korea to enter the top-ten of Singapore’s Mandarin chart with the song “Perfect Man.”

"We’ll do our best to leave a good impression in Singapore as the first Korean artists to give a concert there,” said the band.

The four-member band Lug will appear as guest peformers to open Shinhwa’s concert.

Shinhwa will sing “Once in a Lifetime,” the title song of its eighth album, as well as “Brand New,” “Perfect Man” and other hit songs.

On September 7, the band will domestically release its single “There Is a Sun in Our Hearts,” the first single the band released in Japan.

Source: KBS Global

Lee Min-woo, a member of the band Shinhwa, has been named PR ambassador of the Chinese music show “M. Music Club,” produced by Chinese production firm Enlight Media. Lee will participate in the opening show of the program and a news conference September 3 in a large studio of Enlight Media in Beijing.

”M Music Club,” which will air every evening for 20 minutes beginning September 10, is a result of a partnership with China Mobile, a subsidiary of the Chinese telecom service provider China Telecom. The show will introduce the best new songs popular in mobile media and events for artists and fans.

In the opening show of the program, Chinese singer CiCi will perform her song “Cinderella’s Magic,” which was selected the most recommended song of China Mobile in September. CiCi’s music video featuring and produced by Lee in May will also be introduced for the first time.

Enlight Media says the show is yet additional evidence that the Chinese music market has been transforming into a mobile market, just like Korea, and that the event, which Lee will attend as the only South Korean artist, will feature some 50 artists from Chinese-speaking regions whose songs have gained popularity via mobile communication means. Some 100 reporters from entertainment and economy-related media outlets will also attend the event.

Lee’s nomination as the show’s PR ambassador stems from his popularity in China as a solo artist and a member of the group Shinhwa. Shinhwa’s agency, Good Entertainment, said Lee’s fan base in China has expanded since the release of his second solo album early this year and Shinhwa’s concert in China in July, where he showed off impressive artistic skills and hidden talents. Another reason might lie in the fact that there are several letters “M” in the show’s title (Lee uses the nickname “M” as a solo artist).

Lee, who leaves for China September 3, said he was impressed by the enthusiasm of his Chinese fans during Shinhwa’s concerts in China and is excited to have an opportunity to visit that country again. He also expressed hope that the show will contribute to the development of the Chinese music market.

Source: KBS Global

Shin Hye-sung, a member of the group Shinhwa, has formed a musical duet with up-and-coming artist Sun Min.

The two will debut August 27 on SBS TV’s music show as part of efforts to promote its single album due for release August 31.

Sun, who currently performs in Japan, will return to Korea August 26 to appear on the SBS TV show and the 1st Seoul Drama Awards ceremony to be held on the evening of the same day at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall.

The duo’s first single album consists of the Korean-licensed version of the song “Keep Holding” from the original soundtrack of the movie “Sinking of Japan,” which opened in July and topped the Japanese box-office. Sun performed the song in Japan with famous Japanese singer and songwriter Toshinobu Kubota.

Shin and Sun will participate in the movie’s premiere in Korea on August 29 along with the movie’s director, Shinji Hikuchi, and lead actor Tsuyoshi Kusanagi.

As a solo artist, Shin will also release his remake album, “The Story Of Musicians,” on September 14. The singer says he is both excited and nervous to begin his solo activities, and hopes to show off a completely new image as a member of the new duo.

Source: KBS Global

Members of the male band Shinhwa gathered together at the premiere of the movie "Holy Daddy," which stars Lee Min-woo, one of Shinhwa’s members.

The movie’s VIP premiere was held August 22 in Seoul.

Despite their busy schedules, Shinhwa members attended the event because it was Lee’s first big-screen role. Even Eric Moon, who is currently filming a TV drama, took the time to congratulate Lee. However, Kim Dong-wan was unable to come because he was shooting the first scene of “Best Theater,” where he plays a lead role. Shinhwa members gave Lee a standing ovation when he introduced himself.

Shinhwa will give concerts in Japan and Singapore in September as part of its Asian tour.

Source: KBS Global

The six-man group Shinhwa, currently on an Asian tour, has held a successful concert in Bangkok, Thailand, following performances in China. The group held its first Thai concert on Friday at the Impact Arena, where many world-famous artists, including Korean singer Rain, have performed.

Shinhwa began the concert with the song “Perfect Man” from its fifth album and captivated the audience throughout the two-hour concert with its outstanding dancing and singing abilities. It performed all its hit songs from its eight-year career since its debut in 1998, including “Wild Eyes,” “I Pray 4 U,” “Hey, Come On,” “Once in a Lifetime,” and “How Do I Say.”

The audience welcomed the group by holding cheering pickets written in Korean as well as English and Thai. They also brought other objects such as balloons to express their enthusiasm. During the course of the concert, Shinhwa expressed their gratitude in broken Thai, to which the audience responded with deafening cheers and applause.

Lee Min-woo and Shin Hye-sung, two members who are also successfully working as solo artists, gave solo performances as part of the concert. Lee performed his solo hit song “Bump” accompanied by dynamic dance moves, and Shin displayed his outstanding singing ability by singing “Ditto.”

After the concert, a birthday party for Jun Jin was held onstage. The other members prepared a cake for him and sang a birthday song together with the audience. At the suggestion of the other members, the audience also gave Jun a thundering cheer, shouting “Happy birthday to you.”

“Thank you very much and I love you,” Jun responded to the audience. “I am thrilled to be with the other members here on my birthday.”

The group members also tried their parts to please the audience. Jun and Andy each picked up a doll among gifts the fans had placed on the stage even before the concert had started, and faced each other while singing “You’re My Everything.” Near the end of the concert, Kim Dong-wan picked up a pair of underwear and pretended to put it on and then take it off, evoking laughter from the audience.

Eric was welcomed a little more enthusiastically than the other members because he is quite popular in Thailand due to his role in the dramas “Rookie” and “Phoenix.” Whenever Eric rapped, he evoked loud cheers from the audience.

As a special event for Thai fans, Shinhwa released a music video for “Throw My Fist,” the title song of its recently-released Japanese album.

But the poor acoustics of the facility posed a minor problem. “The acoustics were not so good, but the audience’s response was great enough to make up for that,” Lee said.

Shinhwa will wrap up its tour after concerts in Singapore on Sept. 10, Tokyo on Sept. 24 and Osaka on Sept. 26.

Source: KBS Global

The Japanese media has praised Korean stars for their generous donations for flood victims.

Oricon & Entertainment World reported Sunday that Korean stars including actors Bae Yong-jun and Song Seung-heon donated a huge amount of money for flood victims.

Singer Kim Dong-wan, a member of the group Shinhwa, contributed 150 million won to the KBS benefit program “Request of Love” and asked it to use the money for flood victims, Oricon & Entertainment World said.

Actor Song Seung-heon sent 50 million won to KBS as a donation for flooding victims, saying that he hoped he could provide a little help to the victims. Song is serving in the military in Inje, Gangwon Province, which was hard hit during this summer’s rainy spell.

Actors Bae Yong-jun, Lee Byeong-heon and Yoo Ji-tae also donated 200 million won, 100 million won and 30 million won, respectively, Oricon & Entertainment World reported.

Korean entertainers are as generous as Hollywood stars in charity activities, the Japanese media company said. Some people downplay the goodwill activities of stars as a strategy to promote their own image. But many people view them favorably, since such acts have been shown to positively impact adolescents, it said.

Source: KBS Global

Korean singer Eric’s participation in a new recording by the Japanese group SMAP has drawn the attention of the Japanese media.

The online edition of the Japanese Asahi Shimbun reported Thursday that Eric, a member of the Korean idol male group Shinhwa, wrote lyrics for the rapping part of the song “Tokio,” which is contained in the new recording of the Japanese group. The new album “Pop up! SMAP” was released on July 26. “Tokio” is a remake of SMAP’s previous hit song.

Eric recorded the song in a studio in southern Seoul.

The Korean and Japanese groups’ friendly relationship began after Shinhwa’s Shin Hye-sung and SMAP’s Kusanagi Tsuyoshi sang the duet song “Sky,” featuring lyrics written by Shinhwa’s Lee Min-woo, for the Japanese group’s 16th album “Sample Bang” released in July last year.

It is the first time for Eric to individually take part in a recording by the Japanese group.

Eric said, “SMAP is one of my favorite groups. I was glad to work with them. I hope Japanese fans will love both SMAP’s new recording and Shinhwa’s first Japanese album, which will be released on August 16.”

Source: KBS Global

Popular group Shinhwa are revealing every single aspect of their 8th album making process.

On the 16th, Shinhwa will release their 8th album 'State of the Art''s 'Special Edition'. This special edition will be constructed as a CD and DVD where the CD will include a newly edited 'Throw My Fist' and 'Midnight Girl'.

The special edition's DVD will have all the scenes of the recording, dance practice, music video filming, jacket photo shoot, guerilla fan-signing locations and much more.

Furthermore, the special edition's album jacket will have all the unreleased photos from Shinhwa's 8th album photo shoot and episodes from their music video filming showing a large variety of the six men's natural and unseen looks.

Together with this, the secret notebook previously mentioned on which the members wrote messages to each other during the period of their 8th album recording will be revealed, providing a direct look into the encouragements and practical jokes played by the Shinhwa members as well as their exact thoughts during the time.

Shinhwa revealed, "This special edition shows the entire process of making the 8th album, as well as what the fans want to see; ourselves normally and what we have written" and "We hope everyone would learn more about Shinhwa through the special edition. We also ask for lots of love for our new album releasing in Japan too."

In the meantime, Shinhwa will leave for Japan on the 7th for promotion of the first official Japanese album 'Inspiration #1' also releasing on the 16th and then to Thailand for Shinhwa's 2006 tour, 'STATE OF THE ART in THAILAND'.

credits. ShinhwaChangjo.net + orenji728 (translation) + Money Today (source)