Prior to its official release on June 22nd, SHINee's debut Japanese single "Replay" has topped the HMV Weekly Chart as the most reserved single for the week. Japan's largest music store chain, HMV, opened pre-orders for "Replay" on April 27th.
On April 28th, the ringtone for SHINee's "Replay" was made available on Japanese mobile website Recochoku and instantly topped the mobile charts.
SHINee has signed with EMI Music Japan for their debut, and is set to perform at the Abbey Road Studios in London, England on June 19th. They are the first Asian singers to perform at the Abbey Road Studios.
The male group will also embark on a fan meeting tour in Japan called "SHINee Japan Debut Premium Reception" in July and will visit Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo.
SHINee's debut single is a Japanese version of their Korean debut single, "Replay."
SM Entertainment is reportedly considering a SM Town Live Tour in Latin America in July. According to sources in the music industry, SM artists, including SNSD, BoA, DBSK, Super Junior, SHINee, and f(x), are planning to have concerts in Latin American countries such as Brazil and Chile. The concerts are part of the SM Town Live World Tour that started last year.
People's interest in the Korean wave in Europe and its prospects is increasing after French K-pop fans did a flash mob in front of Le musee de l'ouvre on May 1. Their slogan was "One More Date" for the SM Town Live in paris scheduled to be on June 10. SM Entertainment is at the center of this unexpected Korean Wave heat. For it was through SM's decision to have a concert in Paris that Europe's K-pop love rose to surface. On April 20, idol group SHINee had a meeting with members of a French K-pop fanclub who visited Seoul.
We interviewed SM Deputy Kim Youngmin and SHINee on May 3, about a month left until Korean Wave's "Europe Landing." Kim has been leading SM's globalization as deputy since 2005.
- Did you expect K-pop will be this popular in Europe?
Kim: Never. I thought we could sell 6,700 tickets for a concert, but didn't expect the tickets would be sold out in 15 minutes and that people will protest...
SHINee:It's extraordinary. About one year ago, Korean friends in Europe said, "My classmate wants your autograph." I thought, We have some popularity in Europe, but didn't know it's this much.
- What do you think Europeans find attractive in K-pop?
SHINee:They seem to think it's different. We heard there are no dancing idols in Europe. We can proudly say Korean singers have everything from singing skills to fashion and dancing. Our albums are also made with the global market as our target. Some of our songs are from Europe, and we dance to the songs. I think that's why young women in Europe are attracted to us.
Kim: Singers with perfect skills after years of training, a producing system targeting the global market, and marketing using Youtube and SNS, all of these combined in harmony contributed to the success.
- Have you monitored the Korean Wave in Europe?
Kim: A team of about 20 people have checked responses on Youtube and SNS. We pay enormous attention to music videos and video clips on Youtube. A music video is uploaded in the SM Entertainment channel on Youtube before a new album is released. The viewer counts of K-pop music videos on Youtube amount to 2 billion.
- What do you think you can gain through K-pop's launch into the European market?
Kim: The size of the European market is estimated to be 7 trillion Won. It's larger than the US (6 trillion), Japan (4 trillion), and China (1 trillion). But our goal is not to be ranked on the European music chart and to sell albums. We aim to attract people's attention to the Asian music market through K-pop boom in the Us and Europe and to build the ground for Korea's future as an Asian Hollywood.
- What is your special strategy for the European market?
Kim: To begin with, we'll try to promote K-pop's excellent quality rather than to conquer the European market. I want to establish K-pop's status as one of the popular genres in Europe's main music industry.
SHINee: From the singer's perspective, the key seems to harmonize K-pop with the local culture. The French reporter said at our meeting with French fans, "You all look alike." We think each member should develop a more distinct character if we debut in Europe.
- There is a view this is only "temporary enthusiasm by a minority."
Kim: In the SNS world, what starts in a minor fandom can spread to the whole in an instant. We'll have to wait and see about Europe, but K-pop's competitive power is being acknowledged in the whole world.
SHINee: It appealed to a minority in the past, but we see the number of fans increasing with our own eyes. It is a genre that doesn't exist in Europe. Our music covers a broader range of sensibility than the band-centered European music.
- Europe experienced J-pop, and our singers sing songs composed by Europeans. Don't you think these factored in the boom?
Kim: That's possible. But it's not for European debuts that we buy songs by foreign composers, but because we want to get the best songs regardless of nationality. In case of J-pop, there is certainly a preference for Japanese culture in Europe, but the musical side is not outstanding.
- How would you rate K-pop's possibility of success in Europe?
SHINee:We do not know about the possibility of success, but we'd like to (debut). It will be fun. The concept of our music and dance is not totally different from the local culture, so we'll be able to make better contents out of a mixture of Europe's excellent music and ours.
Kim: We are most rewarded when we succeed in an uncertain market condition. We don't have to overstretch ourselves, but Europe is a market worth a try. SHINee will have a European debut showcase in the Abbey Road Studios, called a "Sacred Site of Beatles," on June 19 after the concert in Paris. We need a long-term strategy, but the current K-pop boom can be semi-permanent if we don't cling to the ranking in Europe.
SHINee's dancer's tweet with pictures (he deleted it after that):
I’m here with Chansub-hyung, Hyuckju-hyung, Kyungsuck-hyung, Go-jongsu, Kyungmin-hyung and Onew~ We are fishing, having a barbecue, drinking soju! It’s like a piece of art here..Youngwoon-a (Kangin’s real name), lets come here together when you are on vacation!! Onew caught 4 fishes.
TRANS:
Isn’t Onew busy? There’s also beer grandpa and football player (2 dancer hyung’s nicknames). Onew-ya, are you close with female idols? Perhaps…autograph? Ah nevermind.
- Other members were resting in the waiting room while Taemin was filming solo part.
he was playing with his coordinators. He looked very close to them.
- After lunch SHINee went to another shooting place
Taemin likes to play rock scissor paper with coordinators.
Minho sat on one of the coordinanor's lap won the game and Taemin went and buy coffee for her.
One of the dancer said: “Tae ah. When you grow up if you buying stock you going to loose”.
Taemin said: ah! Why is that....? he was so cute saying that.
- Taemin was looking for his cellphone again and run to washroom. So funny. Kkkk
- Taemin was massaging cody 's neck. I can't stand it. boo....TT I want massage too. I'm been working so hard.
-Jong and Taemin singing and playing. They sang Sung Si kyung song.
Their voice suit each other. I wish I had record that. TT
-Key and Taemin like to dicuss about puppy and kitten. He was so excited while talking.
- There was scene Yoona have to smile brightly to camera.
Jong imitated fans saying: I like you Yoona. You are mine.
Onew and Key were laughing so loud. Three times louder than in Hellobaby.
Onew making devil laugh like "WooHahahahahaha!..." Taemin was laughing so hard. And keep saying : DaeBak!" he really like saying the word.
- When Jjong was singing 'Wedding Dress by Taeyang', Taemin and Onew joined in too.
- They filming around 3 am in the morning. Only Taemin solo scene left.
Taemin was chatting with the dancer. I was standing on the wall. Director ask me to move. When he ask me to stop, I was standing beside taemin. He lifted up his head saw me and said hello. I said” hello ^^;;. he is so good looking. TT . I never expect him to say hello.
- Taemin made mistake twice and have to re do. He looks so sorry. Others keep saying it's OK. After this the filming is finish.
We’ve reported earlier that French Kpops fans have begun protesting and are calling SM Entertainment to extend the SM Town Live in Paris by adding an additional concert and on May 1st, these fans held a protest at the at the Louvre Museum via a flashmob.
The reason behind this is that they want SM Entertainment to give them a second date for SM Town Live in Paris because not all fans were able to buy tickets to the concert as Le Zenith only holds 6,000 seats.
The protest attracted both local French media and Korean broadcasting company, MBC. In the news clip, a group of Kpop fans were interviewed and were asked which Kpop group they favored, they replied, SHINee, TVXQ, SNSD, Super Junior, Teen Top, and Infinite. One fan said, “This is not something that occurs everyday. This is something we’ve been waiting for a long time.”
Another fan said, “For a moment I was going to cry because I saw that it was full.” Another said, “There was a lot of people who couldn’t get their tickets. I would really love to go see it [the concert].”
Over 1,000 fans gathered and protested in front of the Louvre Museum pyramid. Some fans were seen with their fan gears including, posters, face paint. Of course, this attracted non-Kpop fans, who stood near the crowd in curiosity.
Some were seen dancing to SNSD’s “Mr Taxi”, Super Junior “Sorry Sorry,” TVXQ’s “Mirotic,” SHINee’s “Replay,” and f(x)’s “Lachata.” There was also a crowd who sang an acoustic version of Shinee’s “Hello”.
Korean Connection (a Kpop fanclub in France) said, “We are so touched that this movement has not been just by Parisians, not just by the French, but also Europeans.” Other cities throughout Europe have also organized identical flashmob movements with the same objective as the Paris protest/flashmob:
Bordeaux - Sunday May 1st, Place des Quinconces, fountain
Lyon - Sunday May 7th, Place des Terreaux
Toulouse - Friday, April 29th, Jardin Japonais (Japanese Garden)
Nantes - Sunday May 1st, 39 Rue Félix Thomas
Lille - Saturday April 30th, Place De La République
Marseille - Saturday May 7th, Le parc borely
Tour - Saturday April 30th, Place Plumereau
Strasbourg - Saturday April 30th, Place Kleber
Metz - Sunday May 1st, Centre George Pompidou
Poitiers - Sunday May 1st, Place du Marché Notre-Dame
Nimes - Tuesday May 3rd
Genève - Saturday April 30th, Place du Molard
Madrid (Asian Club) - Sunday May 1st, Puerta del Sol
Barcelona (Asian Club) - Sunday, May 1st, Arc De Triomf
The 1st picture i think was taken last Saturday at the backstage of Music Core and the 2nd picture was taken dometime in February. If anyone is wondering what are those 2 words in the 2nd picture, it's Seohyun. Haha! Minho looks so cute!!!
You can see Taemin's pic at the bottom. Haha! I hope someone will scan the article/pictures about Taemin inside the magazine because apparently there's Minho as well. XD I think maybe it's about them going to the Converse event? Haha!
Not sure why Donghae tweeted an old picture. Haha! If I'm not mistaken, I think this was maybe during the King of Idol/Idol King (the show that took place in Pattaya Thailand) recording? XD
It is true that "Immortal Masterpiece 2" looks similar to "I Am Singer" of MBC Our Sunday Night. But the two programs have different formats. If "I Am Singer" is a survival game, "Immortal Masterpiece 2" will select only the winner.
They are also different in selection process. "I Am Singer" decides the ranking of the contestants with the help of audience judges, but in "Immortal Masterpiece 2" the “legend singer” who participated in the day’s filming will judge the idol contestants’ singing skills.
However, the program may lose its tension without elimination.
The production team is planning to make the competition serious enough to compensate for it. In the first season of "Immortal Masterpiece 2" the MCs imitated the old hit songs of “legend singers” to entertain viewers.
According to Kwon Jaeyoung PD, the second season will show serious stages with idol contestants singing and being judged like in real contests. He said, “The singers don’t have to worry about being eliminated, but as the contestants are all peers, they are already feeling competitive.”
SHINee Jonghyun, 2AM Changmin, BEAST Yoseop, and Sista Hyorin are confirmed to be in the season two. The production team is casting other idol vocals. The first episode will be filmed on May 16.
The “legend singer” guest for the first episode has already been cast. Kwon PD hinted, “You will be surprised,” and added “Wait until it is aired to find out who the guest is.”
FANACCOUNT For Jonghyun
The fan’s friend practiced with Jonghyun for the driver’s license test under a private tutor. Jonghyun took these photos for the friend when he went to take the driver’s license test
The friend said he was singing while driving and failed the test
While they were practicing for the test, Jonghyun kept singing.
So the friend couldn’t focus and said to Jonghyun he’s too noisy Jonghyun then said, “You’re like my mom and sister. They say I’m too noisy when I sing.
But I AM a singer!”
(He’s passed the test later)
All our boys are such cute pies…
You know there's a TV turned on before M Core starts, right? Onew sang all the CM songs as he watched TV. He was just toooooooo damn cute when singing The one Kim-Yoona filmed, singing n playing guitar stuff.
- When Infinite had their performance, Onew sang out loud this part, Uhu~~~~~~~Uhu~~~~~Uhu~~~~~~, everyone could hear him. A staff even asked him to go on to the stage, performing with them. kekekekekeke He continued singing all the songs anyway, not to mention he danced to K-Will's, Top Star (flower cup part), Pinocchio (Ttara Ttara Ttada part) and immitated Amber's facial expression.
- Onew even did wave dance (his whole body) in front of the TV...OH GOD...OH GOD....OH MY F** GOD. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ His thights were............. *&^&*%^$%#%^%&*&(*&)
- You know Onew danced to 'Rainbow' with Jiyeon, right? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He got so shy after that. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Continuously. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Too cute and funny. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You know when IL-Yo-Il(Sunday) noona did a great job at Opera Star, Onew got shy after cheering her up, right? He was a lot close to that. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- He nodded(between nodding n bowing) to his fans after it was finished. ㅋㅋ He kept bowing to a scenarist who couldn't see him from busy doing sth, as he looked her in the face, until she noticed him. She laughed so hard when noticing what he was doing. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- What I envied so much was Onew kept singing as he looked at a staff, face-to-face. it would have made my heard flutter if I were him... ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I would have shivered and been frozen for sure... ㅋㅋㅋ / (btw, he, the staff must be ahjussi, i guess. XD)
Source/Credits: a k-onsooni Translation by: April.A / vivz @ soompi
