Mnet 20s Choice Awards

You’ve been hearing bad reviews of the Mnet 20s Choice Awards, and it doesn’t get much better here. Except since I didn’t watch all of it, I won’t say whether it was good or bad. I can only share my experience with the bit that I watched.

The first thing I watched was JunJin and Wondergirls. I shouldn’t have. I really shouldn’t have. Jun Jin singing over Sexyback was bad, The Wonder Girls coming out in shimmery robes trying to mimic Victoria’s Secret models was BAD. But what was really bad was their performance of So Hot. All they have to do is whine and moan into the mic, but somehow they messed it up. But none so bad as Ahn Sohee. It seems my dislike for her will never end, and I am truly sorry. But this girl cannot sing for her life, just listen. 

After watching that I decided that I wasn’t going to suffer through the rest. So my review of the show ends here. Okay, maybe, I’ll end up watching it, but it’s been covered enough already.

((By the way, I have been slacking so badly with this site. I’m going to make more of an effort to post at least once everyday, so be patient with me!))

Asian Variety Shows Coming to American TV

First it was I survived a Japanese Game Show and now Fox is taking The Wall game from Japanese variety shows and the Korean variety show, Jihwaza, for their new fall show, Hole in the Wall. Check out the preview below. (horrible quality but it’s still funny)

The game has been all over the world and America is finally get their hands on it. This is going to be hilarious. Just the preview made me crack up. The only difference is that in Asia you have celebrities doing these ridiculous things, in the US however, it’s just everyday people.

Jun Jin’s a Fake Tanner [Jun Jin's IC Initiation]

I was awe–but not surprised–by the fact that Jun Jin has a tanning bed.

Part 1 of 3

Jun Jin’s home was “revealed” on a recent episode of Infinity Challenge when the cast members surprised him at 2:40 in the morning. (No wonder Korean celebrities are dropping like flies, what the hell are they thinking shooting a segment for Infinity Challenge at almost 3 in the damn morning?)

Anyway, Jun Jin had been working out when they rang his bell and he showed them his gym. The first thing you see isn’t a dumbbell but a giant white tanning bed. Apparently, it was a present from fans. (I’m sorry but it is such a waste of bloody money to buy a famous, rich singer anything over 10 dollars. And honestly I don’t even understand giving celebrities anything that you can’t slap together with construction paper and glue anyway.)

Choi Ji-Woo in “Lovers in Asuka”

The overrated Choi Ji Woo is set star in the joint Korea-Japan production of Lovers in Asuka. 

This production is really a vehicle for the Hallyu Wave and since the Hallyu wave first hit Japan full force in Choi Ji Woo and Bae Yong Joon’s melodrama Winter Sonata Choi Ji Woo is the obvious choice to star in this drama. The shooting starts in September in Nara prefecture, Kansai and Choi Ji Woo is clearing her schedule to prepare. I’m confused as to how much you have to do to cry on cue.

Look for this drama in December.

SM Entertainment and SBS’s “Untold Stories” [FAKE?]

EDIT: THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE FAKE, IF I FIND OUT FOR SURE THAT IT’S FAKE I’LL TAKE IT DOWN. SO DO NOT QUOTE ME AS A SOURCE FOR THIS NEWS.

BoA, Dong Bang Shin Ki, Kangta and Super Junior are featured in SM and SBS’s Untold Stories, a four chapter, twenty episode show.

To me this is kind of unnecessary and gluttonous. It’s like SM Entertainment decided to do an A&E autobiography on it’s artists but none of them, with exception of Kangta, has hit thirty. This is ploy for publicity and ratings and the sheer scale of these “untold stories” makes it seem rather self-important and vainglorious. If it was one group, or one artist it wouldn’t be as bad.

It’s also rather hoaky and campy, like a long Lifetime movie. The DBSK Chapters are:

Episode 1 - Yun Ho: The Country Boy
Episode 2 - Xiah Junsu: The Mountain’s Peak
Episode 3 - Micky Yoochun: The American Dream
Episode 4 - Choi Kang Chang Min: The Priceless Stairs
Episode 5 - Jae Joong: The Street Lights

For twenty of a record companies artists to simultaneously barrage us with stories that are supposed to make us feel sad, or happy or whatever, I find nearly obnoxious. But I know that for the most part these artists are going to speak honestly about where they came from and how they got to where they are so it bothers me even more to think that their memories and their pains or joys are going to exploited for profit.

Sneak Peak at Ya Shim Man Man: Season 2

If you’re like me, you really enjoy watching the funny, sometimes absurd banter on Ya Shim Man Man and you really miss the show since it’s cancellation. Season two was announced a couple of weeks ago, and for those who can’t wait here’s a sneak peak of what we’ll see, the new format, new guests and hopefully more laughs. 

Arashi’s Nino and NewS’s Ryo in “Ryusei no Kizuna”

The drama adaptation of Keigo Higashino’s novel Ryusei no Kizuna is set to air this fall with Johnny’s boys Kazunari Ninomya (Letters From Iwo Jima), Erika Toda (MisaMisa from Death Note) and Nishikido Ryo (Attention Please!) taking the roles of siblings.

(Is anyone else frightened by the control of Johnny’s Entertainment in Japan?) The story is about three orphan siblings, two boys (the older played by Kazunari Ninomiya) and one girl (played by Erika Toda), that become a team of Robin Hood wannabes that steal money from the rich. Their parents were murdered when they were younger and their formative years were filled with deception and lies so they have sworn to avenge the death of their parents. One day the two brothers have found the murderers, but they find that the people responsible might be much closer to home….

This drama is starting to interest me. I really like Ninomiya as an actor and I think Nishikido is adorable so I won’t mind watching him (unless he sucks). Looking forward to this drama to start airing this October on Fridays at 10pm on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting Station).

Big Bang on Change

Big Bang on Good Sunday’s Change. If you love Big Bang, not watching this is a sin.

This made me really like Lee Hyori and it is seriously the funniest Big Bang video I have ever seen. Ji Yong and Seung Ri put on prosthetic make-up and trick the other members by posing as directors on a shoot for their concert’s special video. This episode also made me really appreciate Seung Ri’s absurdness, he’s so funny in this episode. Kang In is also in this episode but I didn’t recognize him until part four, is it just me or did he gain some weight? The other part after the jump.

Japan’s “Mawang” and the Hallyu Wave

Japan’s Mawang is a Johnny’s Entertainment love fest. Ohno of Arashi, Ikuta Toma (still a Johnny’s junior) and some model Kobayashi Ryoko. 

I don’t doubt their acting ability but they have to do a lot to live up to the roles that Joo Ji Hoon and Uhm Tae Woong filled. I also just find the idea of these young-looking actors filling these roles slightly off. Ikuta Toma plays a detective but he’s only 23, as much as I enjoy watching him act he’s completely miscast to play a detective at his age. I know that when a movie or drama or anything is remade, you should never really expect it to be true to the original. It is now it’s own entity. (Like Infernal Affairs and The Departed, they are both great movies, but they are completely different films, the only similarities are the few plot points they share and they differ so greatly because they concern two completely different cultures: Irish-Americans and Mobs in Boston, and the triad in  Hong Kong.) So, I figure they changed the script accordingly and the drama will be very different from the original. But I still find Ikuta Toma playing a detective to be absurd. And the girl that plays Shin Min Ah’s role is only 18. (This is one of the things that bothers me about Japanese dramas sometimes, the pull of Johnny’s Entertainment and the obsession with youth).

The Absolute BullSh*t that is “On Air” Episode 21

Aigoo… I have the problem I’m about to talk about with a lot of Korean dramas and it is no doubt a cultural difference. (Note: this might not make sense if you haven’t watched any of the series). 

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