Kiss and Cry

Just a small observation, I was watching Kim Yuna's Kiss and Cry and I noticed something interesting in the most recent episode 06/05/11. This is a new variety show and a variety first where ice skating is being showcased (they created a special ice rink for this show, which is pretty cool). The main MC is Kim Yuna (the first South Korean gold medalist of figure skating). The main purpose is to let public know more about figure skating. Celebrities are paired up with professional figure skaters for the ultimate prize of performing at Kim Yuna's showcase. Anyway, one of the competitors is DBSK/TVXQ's Yunho Yunho and his partner is Claudia Mueller. Claudia is half Korean, half Swiss. If I remember correctly, her father is Swiss and her mother is Korean and she wants to represent Korea in worldwide figure skating competitions and win gold like Kim Yuna. Anyway, the whole purpose of this article was just something I noticed in the most recent episode...

"Loser girl" v. "Asians in the Library" Girl

As our guest lecturer talked about last week, a girl was on a Korean variety show and she said that guys under a certain height 180 cm (about 5 feet 11 inches) were losers. I had heard about this incident in the past, but this time around it actually made me think of the "Asians in the library" UCLA student.

Similarities:

• Both were just "regular" people (aka not celebrities)
• College students
• Female
• Parodies made of their original video
• Exposing her information
• Threatened
• Emotionally traumatized
• Took a semester off of school (UCLA girl dropped out)
• Video went viral - quick responses

Differences:

• Youtube post v. on television
• Race v. physical appearance (height)
• People were asking UCLA to take action against the UCLA girl
• Easier access to information about the Loser girl
• More common in South Korea 

Similarities? none? One more harsh than the other? 

"I am a singer" variety show

We mentioned this new variety show "I am a singer" (나는 가수다) that showcases 7 singers in a competition between each other. Comedians are their managers and they have challenges and the audience votes for first place and seventh place.

There has been some controversy with the show itself because of the fact that one of the top singers in the Korean music industry placed last. But also, there has been some recent controversy with music companies grumbling about the fact that the music on the show is being sold (and so popular aka "dominating the music charts", because let's be honest, if it wasn't selling successfully, they wouldn't care). They are worried about the music chart "going into a crisis" if these songs keep getting sold. Are they just worried about their own idols making money? Or are they actually worried about the industry? Is it a bad thing to release these songs?

Breakdown of who gets paid what:
On the income distribution for the songs, MBC explained, “60% of the profit goes to the distributor and copyright holder. 10% of the remaining 40% is split into donations for the improvement of the music industry. Whatever’s left is divided 5:5 amongst the singers and us.”

MNet Kpop in the U.S.: hitting the TV near you?

Sacramento Bee (California)

April 1, 2011 Friday

Comcast to add Mnet Asian culture network

BYLINE: SacBee

SECTION: B; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 155 words

DATELINE: April 1 2011

Los Angeles-based Mnet, which bills itself as the only 24/7 English- language, U.S. TV network targeting Asian Americans and fans of Asian pop culture, said Wednesday that it has an agreement with Comcast Corp. to launch in Sacramento and three other metro markets later this year.

Mnet said the deal calls for its network to be launched on the D1 digital tier locally and in San Francisco, Chicago and Boston by Sept. 1.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We applaud Comcast's clear commitment to the Asian American community and are thrilled that they chose Mnet as the network to serve their subscribers in these strategic markets. We look forward to working closely with its local systems to bring the Mnet brand to the widest possible audience," said Adam Ware, Mnet's president and CEO.  Mnet programming covers a broad spectrum, including popular music, anime, drama/horror, food and celebrity interviews.

– Mark Glover

Idols ≠ singers (all the time)

With the rise of (despite the controversy) of the variety show program "I am a Singer" and even with programs like "Superstar K" and "Birth of a Great Star" (whether you agree that they are "good singers or not"... Is the next expectation and movement towards singers who sing? I mentioned in a previous post that I did not associate the word idol and singer for a couple of reasons. I think it's the square and rectangle argument. An idol is always an idol but not always a singer. (sorry for the weird analogy) In any case, we mentioned in class how variety shows can instantly rise people to fame (see the Gwanghee article if you don't know what I am talking about). 

The program "I am a singer" takes 7 of the best most recognized singers in Korea (already establish singers, like other shows, they are already celebrities) and they compete against each other. The person who gets last place (7th place) is eliminated and a new singer comes in to take their place. There is a "challenge" every week, this past week singers sang one of the other 7 singers' hits and made it their own. 

Donations to Japan

As I am sure you guys are aware, there was a recent natural disaster. As the global community comes together, celebrities are also joining in helping organizations donating money and time. Just seeing the articles and stuff come out, I wanted to contextualize it within our class. Many Korean celebrities have been coming forth and donating money for Japan disaster relief. I am curious to know your thoughts on the topic. I originally wrote a different post a week ago, but I wanted to wait on it to see what other developments would come. I will adjust accordingly.

Korean celebrities from across the board are donating their own money to the cause. I am curious to know what your thoughts are. Do you think it is a marketing ploy? As you know, many Kpop stars are trying to make a crossover into Japan in this upcoming year. As we don't know yet how this will be affected, do you think that the donations were because of this? Actors Bae Yong Joon (star of Winter Sonata, known as Yon-sama for Japanese fans, hopefully you recognize his name $900,000 in addition to blankets, food, ect),  Kim Tae Hee ($86,000), Ryu Si Won ($175,000, one of the hosts for SBS charity program "Gain strength, Japan"), Won Bin (~$186,000), Song Seung Hyun ($175,000), Jang Geun Suk ($120,000), Choi Ji Woo ($200,000) Lee Byun Hyun ($600,000), Ahn Jae Wook (~$100,000) . Celebrities Kim Hyun Joon (actor/singer $100,000), JYJ (Kpop group, disbanded from original DBSK $600,000 also raising awareness through their world tour) In addition to stars themselves, top music companies SM Entertainment ($1 mill), YG ($500,000), and JYP ($300,000) also donated collectively gathering money from staff and artists. Other: Kara's recent single - all profit will go to Japan.
   Also, there is a "Pray for Japan" campaign going on, with celebrities like Big Bang, 2ne1, Wonder Girls, JYJ, INFINITE, ect through NAVER and a SBS Charity program held on behalf of Japan on March 16th (hosted by Ryu Si Won, Park Sun Young, and Kim Tae Hee, two of whom are listed above for personal donation).

I looked up, as well, US stars.
Sandra Bullock ($1 mill), Demi Lovato ($1 mill), Clint Eastwood ($1 mill) Kristi Yamaguchi ($10,000 ice skater), New York Yankees ($100,000). Additionally there have been tweeters urging others to support by donating to certain organizations (particularly the Red Cross) like Katy Perry (also donating sales of glowsticks to Japan, Justin Beiber, Lea Michele, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Ryan Seacrest, Kim Kardasian ect.  Jack Johnson canceled his tour and is donating the proceeds. Lady Gaga raised $250,000 by selling $5 "pray for Japan" bracelets on behalf of Japanese disaster awareness and Charlie Sheen said every ticket sold, $1 would go towards Japanese awareness, Linkin Park's Mike S. created a t-shirt sold for $25 which all proceeds will go to Japan, Blink 182's frontman Mark Hoppus auctioning off rare collectibles on Ebay for Japan. Also, Black Eyed Peas is reportedly dedicating their music video to Japan, which was shot there.

Fan behavior: limited to Korea?

I came across this article on Justin Bieber when I was looking for information about the reaches of globalization. Justin Bieber's concert in a mall got canceled of thousands of fans that mobbed the mall. Or hospitalization of fans gathering for Bieber Sorry, don't know too much about Justin Bieber, but this reminded me of something in Kpop so I decided to blog about it really quickly.

Sound familiar? It sounds like a similar situation to when B2st temporarily stops concert due to fan stampede or Kara's concert in Tokyo.

I know I only used Bieber as an example, and I have some friends who passionately dislike/like him, but I don't think that he is an exception. If I researched further, I could probably go back into Nsync or even more recent artists where this has happened. I am just focusing on Bieber because I didn't know and I saw parallels.

Here is one more parallel:

Threats of females romantically linked to Bieber v. Backlash of revealing a couple actually dating (Shinee's Jonghyun and actress Shin Se Kyung).

The screen quota on Korea

Screen quota. protectionist policy? Limiting the number of international movies? This was used as a way to build up the screen film industry in South Korea. Should it be used in other forms as well? Even though Kpop has a solid fan base, should there be limitations on other kinds of music? What about television? Too much American television in Korea?

Is this unfair protectionist policy from the government? If it is unfair, what would you have suggested that South Korean government should have done to help develop the Korean film industry? I definitely think that it is developing more and more, and the limit on the number of wait days that an international movie has decreased. Is it stable enough that it should be removed completely?

Protectionist policy was actually much more common when Korea implemented this policy, keep in mind. There were other countries that were using protectionist policy, as did the United States. It is rooted in two major political economist theorists: Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Both believed that the domestic industry should be protected by restricting imports. Smith, if you guys aren't up-to-date on the political philosophy is the writer of Theory of the Moral Sentiment, considered to be the foundation of laissez-faire. If that still doesn't ring a bell, Smith is considered foundation of later thought of "deregulation", and the thought that the market should rule and the state should actually have less role in the market. What are theorists saying about protectionist policy today? They suggest (for e.g. developmental state theory) that the state can play a role in limiting foreign direct investment and investing in domestic industry. This protectionist policy is not as strong in the developed countries, but what about developing countries that might need this kind of policy? In today's globalized world, is it possible to actually limit the role of globalization and foreign countries. Others say no, theory of hyperglobalists are saying that we are living in a Global Age, that the state's role has largely gone down, and it is now the age of global governance. The role of interest groups are more important than state influence. OR do you think more like transformationalists, who think that globalization is significant and new, but the state can and still does play a role in development, it just needed to restructure.
As I alluded to, can developing countries today implement protectionist policy like the screen quota?
And it is also applicable in other industries. Even today, there is an import tax on non-Korean cars that make Korean-made cars cheaper and more affordable.

Government role on the development of the film industry. This is also applicable to the Kpop industry as well, with censorship and also using the Hallyu wave to promote Korean culture. Where do these areas intertwine? Too much government role? Or just enough? Maybe not enough? Keep your own lense in mind when answering this question. What country are you from, and how do you feel about government role in your own country?

Artists or commercializing?

In the age of free media: pandora and youtube, hulu, ect. I wonder how many people are still all for "art for the sake of art". While I think that commercializing is not always the way to go, what options do artists have? The whole new youtube "anyone can be a star" phenom is interesting to me, because there is an expectation of getting things for free through the internet. It is also the age of instant gratification, where if I want to buy that song or that album, I no longer need to drive all the way to the store - I can download it in seconds.

The reason why I bring this up again is because of the b-boy scene and other areas of Kpop. Is b-boying too commercialized in Korea now? Or even in the United States? What about "Americas Best Dance Crew"? And what expectation do we have for this form of street art? Do people expect it to be free because it is a "lower" art form?
Would you pay to see a b-boy performance or would it be just cool to see it for free on the streets? If the b-boyers actually want to do this as a living, to support themselves, what are their options? Major yearly competitions or other smaller dance competitions require practice, which means not having another job or having another job and then as a side-job b-boying. Is that realistic? We saw the b-boys who were not from Seoul, not from rich families, who needed to provide for their families. Can they provide just as performers?

Perhaps it isn't the right venue to try and earn money. You aren't in it for the money. True. It's art, you love it, ect. However, when does it become detrimental to be a performer? An artist? But how about not to help financially support your family, but just even to support yourself financially? One of the b-boyers in Planet B-boy mentioned that he 'works to dance, not the other way around'.

There are a couple of shows featuring b-boys in Korea, including Ballerina who loves b-boy which features "Extreme Crew". Some randomly appear on television shows, variety shows, even some in Kpop (though this is more rare). For example, I had a clip up last time of the variety show Heroes where b-boys appeared on the show to teach female celebrities how to b-boy. Is this selling out? Or is it spreading b-boy? If it is becoming more "acceptable" in mainstream culture, is that bad or good? Would you rather have b-boy stay more underground or float to mainstream so more people know about it?

You can use this for other areas of art as well. The sudden influx of people interested in musicals and certain musical actors after the show GLEE. The rise of youtube stars - would you pay for their music and their songs? 

Politics and ... b-boy?

38th Parallel. DMZ. and b-boy? When do politics and popular culture collide? Think about it in the American context. Look at Angela Jolie. Brad Pitt. Bono. Though they might have made the switch to actually being more ambassadors (especially in the case of Bono), Pitt and Jolie are still a part of the Hollywood industry. And though they are figures to raise awareness, politics plays a role.

And the reason why they got known for doing work in other countries is because they were already well-known. People who do great work in other countries are often nameless or faceless because they are not well-known. Not to say that what Jolie or Pitt or Bono did was not great work, I respect them for taking their celebrity status and doing something meaningful with it, but I am getting off topic.
Let's look at another example in American culture. Look at the Obama campaign. If you haven't seen it already, check out the clip below. Is that not a merge of politics and popular culture?

So what place does this have in popular culture and b-boy? If you look at the video, you can see b-boys dressed up as North Korean and South Korean soldiers. What are they trying to say in this video? Are they trying to say anything at all?

This isn't the only example in Kpop culture. There are Kpop stars who are cultural ambassadors, ambassadors of food, culture, airports, political things (there was a claim that a Kpop song was used for border propaganda). Obviously, even on a non-political level (some I mentioned) celebrities are used for things like CFs and company promotions. So is it surprising or unreasonable for politics to dive into this sector as well? And what happens, like in the b-boy video, where the popular culture adds elements of politics. Was it just a satire and a parody and that's it? No more further analysis necessary? What about when an idol group requests not to wear a certain article of clothing or a celebrity talks about a political issue and netizens react? There is a current variety show going on with a idol group T-ara where they work for a Korean government official (I don't know all the details because I've only seen one episode). What about outside of Korea? Korean celebrities are representatives of Korea? Or are they not? Like in Rain's case, is he a representative of "Asian-ness"? What about Kim Yuna? Does politics and popular culture converge?

Colbert Report

Just a little throwback, Stephen Colbert and his "arch-nemesis" Rain. If you watch the link, perhaps you will think it is funny, perhaps you will think it is offensive, perhaps you won't think anything of it. This is the thing about Stephen Colbert (and his counter-part John Stewart), the show uses offensive humor, sometimes intentionally political incorrect humor. it is important to recognize for both the Colbert Report and John Stewart Show, the type of people they cater to, in other words, who is their audience? Those who watch John Stewart are more politically aware than people who watch CNN. Why? Because to understand the comedy and satire you have to know what is going on in the news. Also, Stephen Colbert does not only "attack" (pending how you look at it) Rain just once; he amusingly continues to bring up his arch-nemesis  as Rain continues to earn awards, accolades, ect. If you actually go to the posted link, you can see other clips where Colbert brings up Rain randomly when it comes to Speed Racer, MTV Movie Awards, ect. The second clip is a reaction from a Korean news source, though there is no subtitles, hopefully you can get the main jist as Colbert speaks (obviously in English). Was this offensive? Or did it bring more awareness to Rain (and perhaps Kpop)? Is all exposure good exposure? Do you think that Colbert was making fun of Rain in an offensive way?

Is myspace private? Social networking woes....

How much do you personalize your own facebook or (if you have one still) myspace settings? Do you add anyone to be your friend, or let people see your wall or comments?

I'm sure you can see where this is leading. More and more, as time goes on, people tell us to protect our information on the web. The Internet is a public sphere, whether right or wrong. This means, YOU need to change the settings to make your profile private.

What's the worst that could happen? An invasion of privacy? This officer had to provide his password for his job. Students risk college admission  . These are huge things. Employment, educational opportunity, even issues of relationship status and what about age discrimination, race discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, religion discrimination. All because of a social networking site?

How about a group of netizens finding a comment to a friend, made in a different transition of your life, and causing a kpop national uproar? You are just blowing off some steam, and you thought it was just an innocent comment to a friend about how you are doing in another country. at the age of 18, roughly a senior in high school. When I was a senior in high school, myspace was increasingly popular, xanga was a dying medium but still existed, ect. These are personal thoughts and comments, that you assume that your friends will only read, but ... other people can surely access them.

Is it wrong? Should social networking be automatically private? There were issues in the past about Myspace and child predators. Obviously, Jay Park's example is one of a larger scale. There was issues of nationalism (Korean pride, and also keeping in mind that Jay was a Kpop idol in Korea, where he shot to stardom), cultural differences, interpretation errors/potential exaggerations (translation from English to Korean; potential sarcasm), identity issues (for Jay being a Korean American adjusting to life in Korea, his own dealing with being neither a Korean nor an American, the hard life of a trainee, ect). Stardom -> just like you can shoot to stardom, you can also be dropped.

Also, what role did 2pm play in all of this? Should they have supported Jaebeom and all left JYP together? What would have been a practical solution? Netizens were angry at 2pm (or 1:59pm, depending on your stance). No one thought that 2pm could last after a controversy like this. Is it fair for the members to take the hit for a fellow group member (their leader, for that matter) when they themselves also trained for years to debut in the music industry? They were grouped together by JYP Entertainment, keep that in mind. Of course, they are friends and now "brothers" and one group, ect, but their years of training... done by one controversy, and one that didn't involve them?

There were other hidden elements involved in this issue that are also not discussed, that I obviously don't know about. Even now his role in 2pm is largely taboo for the members, JYP, ect.

Anyway, I digressed from the whole myspace and privacy, but just bringing it back to 2pm. Was it just a huge misunderstanding? An overreaction? They should have just let it go? Had he not gone back to Seattle, would the tension died down enough that he would still be okay to be a part of 2pm?

Chinese SM entertainment

I think I mentioned this before commenting back to someone in the past, but I wanted to expand.
As we learned today, there is intentional expansion into different countries to expand the market. Kpop industry is a money-making market industry. So where does language play in all of this? Lee Soo Man (SM) is aiming to expand into China, then having a group to focus on the Chinese market is a strategy to tap that market. For example, Super Junior is a 13 member group that is broken into sub groups. Super Junior M (M is short for Mandarin) is a specifically focused on the Chinese market. SM intentionally put members with Mandarin-speaking (actual Chinese members) to make sure language was not a barrier. Even more, the group sings in Mandarin, and they release albums in Mandarin. In other words, this subgroup focuses solely on the Chinese market. Choi Siwon, one of the group members, has been in Chinese movies. Both Choi Siwon and Donghae were in Taiwanese drama Glamorous Challenge.

Here is a clip of their most recent MV.

Is this furthering the Hallyu wave? The majority of the idol stars in this group are Korean, yes. But is it furthering the Hallyu wave? The idol stars are appearing in Chinese movies, Taiwanese dramas, singing in Chinese, appealing to the Chinese audience intentionally. How much Koreanness is there? Interestingly, some of the members of this Super Junior subgroup are some of the popular group members in South Korea as well. 

Even more, Chinese member Han Geng was the group leader... until he decided to leave SM entertainment because of "slave contracts". This was a marketing ploy of SM, as mentioned the group focused on Chin. I am interested to see how successful Super Junior M is without Han Geng there, though now it will be different because their Mandarin-speaking ability is, I assume, greatly improved (and they are also promoting Henry a lot more, who also speaks Mandarin). Below is a clip of them on a Chinese variety show, the main speaker for the group is Han Geng. Now, Han Geng is back in China trying to make it as a solo artist. 

How do you see this marketing ploy also in the group f(x)? Interestingly, from what I can see, the group does a lot of CF commercials, even though they haven't come out with any new songs for a while. Although it is difficult to know their popularity (musically they are not as popular, but they are on CF commercials and advertisements consistently, more recently without Amber). Like Super Junior M (when they had a leader), Victoria is the leader of f(x). Victoria, like Han Geng is Chinese. (If you look at the post before, with the CF commercial of the backpack, that is Victoria.) Though they are still focusing on Korea, I assume that SM is going to take them into Chinese promotions again, seeing that they have two members who have Mandarin-speaking ability (the other being Amber). 

(more after the page break)

CF example of language

I know we talked about language in variety shows in the past, and I actually saw this CF commercial a long time ago, but it struck me again and so I decided to post on it this time. Hopefully the link works. The person in the video is Victoria, leader of SM entertainment Kpop group f(x). Victoria is Chinese.  Note as she starts the commercial saying "umma", which means mom in Korean before speaking in (sorry if this is wrong) Mandarin. Do you think this is how she really talks to her mom on the phone? Also, even at the end she says "bye bye" adding an English language factor. You can even note the way that she acts really cutesy while she is on the phone, despite the fact that she is trying to be upset. 

Why do you think the advertisement had her speak in her native language? And even look at some of the comments, noting that it was nice to hear her "speak Chinese for once". Even though Victoria is Chinese, she rarely speaks Mandarin on television or CFs. I am actually unaware if this advertisement was used in China or not, but if it didn't, what does this mean? 

Preview: B-boy dancing in South Korea

Planet B-boy:

Fever Seoul B-boy battle: I actually heard about this through one of the competitors Victor Kim (Quest Crew). An online competition, you post youtube videos of your b-boy moves to go compete against some of the best b-boys in South Korea. This was used as a way to promote Korean culture, Seoul the city, through b-boy dance. This is also related to K-pop, as Jay Park (former member of Kpop group 2pm) was one of the competitors. Jay Park was well-known for his interest in b-boying, and though there was some criticism for using Jay Park instead of a more talented / actual b-boy (note that he was also the face representative of this competition). Additionally, this was broadcasted through facebook, (as previously mentioned) it was an online competition through youtube; they also brought in two youtube artists (David Choi and Dumbfoundeaded). 

Also, they talked about b-boying on a variety show called "Heroes", a couple of Kpop artists are a part of this show (Jiyeon from Tara, Nicole from Kara, Narsha from Brown Eyed Girls, IU, Kahi from After School, ect). Hopefully I can get a subbed clip of it, and also, they have a part about a b-girl, which I thought was really interesting as well.
*here is a small clip from the episode, not subbed. They are learning from b-boys in Korea, and Jiyeon from T-ara is learning some dance moves and they are shocked at how good she is.

SM v. YG v. JYP

Our guest lecturer today spoke about the differences between SM, YG, and JYP today. Not only the differences in the idol groups, but also the strategies and visions of the businesses themselves. This relates to what we talked about in class about the music entertainment companies (and I called them businesses intentionally) are businesses trying to make money so they can produce more stars and earn profit (which is, in part, where CFs and variety shows, exposure, ect all come in). A star-making/money-making business, not necessarily musicians or even singers. Also, we learned that the first interest of the beginnings of the Kpop Hallyu Wave was actually unintentional, but later became intentional in the way marketing and business strategies led.

So, I am curious to know (after what you learned, knowing their target audience/vision/goal for the group) Who is your favorite group/entertainment company and why? Or what strikes you as interesting in vision statements? You don't necessarily have to like the idol groups that are in the entertainment company. How do these music businesses view the market differently? Which (in your opinion) will lead to "success" or accomplishing their vision statement?

Just to give some more examples, below are groups from specific companies and youtube clips of music videos or performances.
What are the differences (I know we briefly talked about this in class, but go more in depth)? I will post one boy group and one girl group and one solo singer that you can compare, but try to put a variety of types of performances. How are their approaches difference? Or are they similar? Do they market to different audiences?
If you already know which singer is associated with which company, this will make it harder for you to overcome your bias, but take a look and look for similarities and differences in accordance to what we talked about. Also, what about the smaller companies? I added some other groups as well, where do they add into the mix of these major companies? How much English language is included? There are some groups who are not associated with SM, YG, or JYP who are very popular in Kpop and expanding to Japan due to their popularity. (Hopefully these clips work & don't freeze up your computers)

Boy groups: 

 

Girl groups: 

   

Solo artists: (I chose only from SM, YG, JYP specifically the people who came to America and after their return to Korea)

 

Again, I want you to analyze it within the context of what we learned today in class. Even, contextualize why you might like a specific group using a position (which would include your opinion, rationale and an example). Why do you like or dislike certain companies? Is it because of marketing strategy or loyalty to a specific company? Is it marketed that way... nowadays with SMTown, YGFamily, and JYPNation?

Cultural hybridization

The topic of cultural hybridization is coming up and I think relevant both to the readings and also to what is going on in the Kpop industry.

How does this relate to K-pop? There are clear examples of people advancing into other Asian markets, and you saw it first in Winter Sonata and "Yonsama". More recently, you can see cultural hybridization in K-pop music. Not only through K-pop advancing into markets, but also the bringing of people into the K-pop market. Take, for example, the more recent advancement of several K-pop groups into the Japanese market: in the past you had TVXQ, Super Junior, SS501 and nowadays, SNSD, KARA, 4minute, Big Bang, soon to be 2ne1, T-ara, Beast, 2pm, ect. following the trend particularly of the advancement of Korean dramas to other markets. With these market advancements, more and more idol stars are learning Japanese. Why? To promote their songs, go on variety shows, ect. They need the language factor to communicate with not only fans, but also other people in the business. Some of these idol stars have been learning Japanese from an early age, for example Taeyang from Big Bang or Sooyoung from SNSD. 

Additionally, as previously mentioned, there is an influx of Asians entering the entertainment industry (we will talk about ____ Americans at another post). Look at Amber and Victoria from f(x), Fei and Jia from miss A, Lim from Wonder Girls, Hankyung and now Zhou Mi from Super Junior, Alexander from U-Kiss (though he is half-Korean & most of the members are Korean have a whole slew of language abilities), ect. 

What does this all mean? How "K" aka Korean is K-pop? And even further, how important is the learning of other languages is necessary for idols? Super Junior has a subgroup called Super Junior M, focusing on China and intentionally having Chinese members. JYP was going to branch into China with an all-Chinese girl group. Interestingly, there are (as to my knowledge) no current Japanese people in the K-pop industry. I could easily be wrong. But then again, Japan has a well-established J-Pop industry, though some argue that it is fading in popularity. 

Regardless, do you think the members of idol groups should focus their energy on learning other languages? Note how the languages focused on are Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese... all languages of the "East Asian tigers". How much does economics have to play in which languages are focuses? You could argue that Nichkhun goes into the Thai market and Dara into the Philippines, but how much of that was intentional marketing to advance into those countries? Or just coincidence? While K-pop idols are intentionally learning certain languages and not others. How does this maybe play into the global hierarchy? And again, is it necessary? Do other singers learn languages of other countries when they want to advance into the market? Maybe it isn't intentional advancement. For example, do you think Taylor Swift will learn Korean before coming to perform in Korea? Or did Lady Gaga or Beyonce before they came? Again, is this global hierarchy? Is it in part because of the "cultural closeness" factor? What exactly does this "cultural closeness" factor mean, if the idols are learning languages intentionally? If they did not learn the languages and tried to advance, how do you think that would pan out?

I just thought this topic and concept was interesting because idol stars learn languages specifically for advancing and there is typically at least one person learning Japanese and another focusing on (or already knowing) English. Japan was considered (back in history) the first East Asian country to modernize and be "associated with the West". Does this play a role, or is it all just marketing? 

Global hierarchy in Kpop?

In the article by Shin, the author mentions a quote by JYP (Park Jin Young).
The quote: "An interview with a local newspaper will show what is really in their minds, because Park said that ‘although it sounds paradoxical, that is because we want to maintain the Asian market’ and added that ‘only after achieving success in the best [biggest] stage, that is, the American market, can Rain consolidate his position as Asia’s number one. It is essential to enter into the American market to conquer the Asian market with its huge population’ (Choi 2006)." 


Currently, JYP can be seen as a media mogul in South Korea: first as a singer, then as a producer of some of the most popular idol groups today, and now even as a drama producer & actor. Most recently, as a producer he is trying to advance into the US market through a girl group called the Wonder Girls. In any case, the major reason why this quote stuck out to me, among other things, is because of how it characterizes the global hierarchy. In JYP's opinion, it is only when you achieve success in America can you consider yourself the best in Asia. When I read this, I thought to myself "says who?". I think this is a strong assertion to make. JYP is saying, or is alluding, that you need to be successful in the American market, read: Western market or Western world, to be successful in the Asian market. Why is this the case? This thought is based on the thought of global hierarchy, that to achieve anything you must achieve in the West. To achieve success as the #1 EVEN in Asia, you need success in the U.S. first. I just want to let that soak in, and see your thoughts. Do you think this is true? Must you make it in America to make it big anywhere else? Where can we see that this is the case? Where is this not the case? 


Also, this struck me for several other reasons. Rain is not the only case to try to break into the US market. Around the same time as Rain, other idols like Se7en and Boa (who were extremely popular in South Korea and throughout Asia) left their popularity to try out success in the US. Rain was from JYP, Se7en from YG, and Boa from SM. They were different companies, same marketing strategy. Why is the West so important?


This has not just stopped here. More recently popular group Big Bang went to shoot their latest music video in the United States to get a "foreign influence" (read: Western or American) influence on their video. Additionally in GD & TOP's music video, you see a majority of foreigners in their music video (with the exception of some YG people, including their dancers). They specifically sought out foreigners (the club was in Itaewon, considered a Western heavy area of Seoul) to be in this music video. Also, I had a friend who went and took part. In any case, why is it necessary (or is it not) to add foreign faces into a music video? Why is it important to get foreign influence. Does it make the music more authentic? To logic of the global hierarchy, yes, because to include foreigners of higher status, then it looks more sophisticated. Now, I'm not saying "keep all foreigners out of m/v" or even that foreign influence is all bad. What I'm suggesting is ... is it necessary? Why is so much weight put on the foreigners? And what implications does it have? 

The Hallyu wave implies that it is around the world. And it is difficult to measure, as mentioned in the article, because of copyright violations, aka downloading. Arists don't make profits from record sales, and variety shows and CFs are not the norm nor are the language skills there. American Celebrities do not endorse (with the exception of perhaps athletes and maybe on the red carpet) materials or cellphones or ect. But since when was Hallyu only important to America and also Japan (we won't talk about Japan too much, but keep in mind that Japan was the symbol of modernization and developed with West first in the Sinocentric world order). What does America signify? Why is bigger news if American acknowledges popular culture, not when a country like Thailand does? Does the focus need to be in America? . 


Citation for Shin's article:

Shin, H. (2009). Have you ever seen the Rain? And who‘ll stop the Rain?: the globalizing project of Korean pop (K-pop). Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 10(4), 507-523.


EDIT: here are two articles regarding this. I don't know if they speak the truth or if it is an exaggeration but just some things to keep on your radar. Teddy & Lady Gaga U-Kiss plus US?

Charice v. Arnel

I apologize, I thought I had posted this already, so here it is.

We talked about Charice and her rise of stardom through the mediums of the Korean variety TV show and youtube. Jose sent clips of another Filipino who got his rise to fame in a similar but different way. Arnel Pineda is currently the lead vocalist of Journey. He was, like Charice, invited to the U.S. to appear on Ellen Degeneres and then on Oprah. His medium was also Internet video clips. So, why is this significant and related?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89_2UivtEhs

I'm guessing that most of your exposure to Korean popular culture has been through the Internet. Nowadays, Internet is a huge medium for expatriates and also non-Korean fans trying to keep up. Here is an example of  Taiwanese male who sings Whitney Houston and through the Internet, gets known throughout the world. Susan Boyle might be another example. Even artists who upload covers on youtube and get thousands of hits.  Also, there are websites that host dramas that you can watch, with subtitles, and websites that put videos up almost instantly so that you can watch alongside people in Korea. It allows you to stay connected, up-to-date, ect. Entertainment companies post news on the Internet, upload brand new music videos online and announce what time so you can watch it as soon as it comes out, (GD & TOP first released clips of their album using the Internet as a medium). Whereas in the past TV was used more as a medium, for example "MTV's Making of:".

In any case, back to Charice and Arnel. There are a couple things I want you to watch out for. What is the racial imagery, particularly when they appear on Oprah? How are they portrayed? Also, what role does the ability of English play for these singers? Both note that they always sang covers of American pop songs when they were younger. Are they able to be even found in the first place because of the fact that they can speak English? Do you think there are race issues when he became a part of Journey?

A couple of notes on Charice:
1. What is the difference between the way she acted on Star King, Ellen, and then Oprah? I will probably refer to global hierarchy a lot in this class. Is this something to do with global hierarchy, where she feels that she "achieved that dream" of appearing on Oprah?  in other words, it is more significant that she appeared on Oprah just because it was Oprah or because of what Oprah represents?

2. Critique Charice's role on GLEE. Note the way she is portrayed as a foreign exchange student. The pigtails. The "fobby" glasses. The watch. ect. Also, she is sent to a crack house. Does this mean something? What about the way the other Asian characters are portrayed, if you watch GLEE?

The comment about "why are Filipinos good singers?" I will contest this argument, as a sign of another form of racial imagery. Why? Because who says that Filipinos are good singers? And what happens if you are a Filipino(a) and NOT a good singer? The reason why racial stereotypes (and even "good" racial stereotypes) are bad is because they generalize and marginalize an entire group of people. For example, there was issues of marginalizing Filipinos in the boating industry, where Filipinos were racialized to be "good sea workers". Sounds great, right? But though they were racialized in what seems to be good (even the Filipino government promoted this racial imagery because it brought back revenue for the state, promoted fishing schools, ect) Filipinos were racialized to be good workers and never were able to advance up to be in a higher position because they were always just seen as workers. I will write on this more in depth later, but I just wanted to put that out there.  

Why Korean popular culture?

We talked about globalization and the spread of Korean popular culture today in class. I know that we briefly discussed it on the first day, but to be more specific. So just as a personal curiosity, where does your interest in Korean popular culture lie? Are you fans of certain groups? Where does your personal interest intersect with your academic interests, if any? In other words, why are you taking a class on Korean popular culture and maybe not in some of your other interests?

Again, if you don't feel comfortable revealing who you are, write anonymously and email me to let me know it was you.

Thanks

also, PLEASE feel free and I strongly encourage interactions by looking at the other comments. You don't always need to comment on what I post, but look at what others post as well and comment on their statements.

Importance of variety shows

We briefly discussed variety shows in class today, and if you didn't know already, recently Lunar New Year passed (새해 복 많이 받으세요~!) and if you didn't notice, there was a huge influx of idols on variety shows. So what exactly are variety shows? The closest comparison I can think to in relation to American TV would be reality TV shows. But even this is not the same in many standards. From what I know and watch about American reality TV shows, it is more non-famous people trying to win some type of money or prize.  This often leads to the "15 minutes of fame".
Korean variety shows, on the other hand, tend to bring famous people (be it comedians, idols, actors) together and make a show out of it. There is a huge variety of types of shows, some involving an overnight stay. Also the MC (main host) of the show is considered pivotal to the show. And though there is sometimes a monetary prize, it is not the norm for variety shows. It is more from entertainment purposes, and to increase knowledge about the people appearing on the show.

Some points for discussion:

1. Variety shows are necessary for today's idols. Idols nowadays not only need to be good singers and dancers, they also need to have personality. How much is personality necessary in a singer? Why is this necessary in an idol (and even more and more, actors and other entertainers)? Why is it just not enough to be good singers and/or dancers? It makes them more personable, closer to the fans, yes, but is it necessary? What are expectations for idols?

2. How much of it is actually real vs. scripted? There were controversies in the past regarding this matter, with Family Outing, for example. (You could say the same with American shows, like survivor). How much of the "character" you see in the variety show is actually the star's real personality? You can't always have "good sweet kind" characters (e.g. Lee Seungi), so what are the benefits/detriments to being the not so good sweet kind (e.g. Seo Inyoung)? Does this increase your popularity?

3. Variety shows can make instant stars. Case in point: Kwanghee from ZEA (to be honest, I had to look up what group he was from, because I know him more from variety shows than the group he is in). He is known for being the plastic surgery idol. And he is more well-known for his roles in variety shows than for his music. And he himself admits that he is not that great of a singer or dancer, and he is a visual. What role does variety shows do in making the visual stars more visual? And when those idols stop appearing on variety shows? Or stop getting asked and their popularity shoots down?

4. Variety shows lead to group popularity? Does it? Some people mentioned that from the visual aspect --> more interest in the group. The better-looking stars (or the personalities that catch on in variety shows) might garner interest. But is this the only way? Is anyone except from this variety show system?

• When I thought of this exception, I first thought of YG family. They are known more for not appearing on variety shows. But they are certainly not completely exempt either (though they definitely appear less frequently than other idols). Daesung was a part of Family Outing and now on Night after Night. Seungri is also on a variety show. Even 2ne1, who rarely appear on variety shows, had their own variety show focused solely on their journey. Se7en was variety king back before he left for America. Perhaps the Wonder Girls? 

5. Think of the variety of variety shows. 1 Night 2 Days focuses on 6 (now 5) guys going to different areas of Korea to showcase the different areas and play fun games. We Got Married takes celebrities and makes them into fake married couples. Heroes focuses on girl celebrities doing a variety of things (making videos, being waitresses, ect) while ranking the girls on "Popular" and "Not popular" teams and making it into a competition. Star King (which we watched in class through the Charice clips) with a group of celebrities watching "regular" people showcase their different talents in front of and with the celebrities. Night after night takes two celebrities and comedically analyzes and talks about their lives in a courtroom-like style to try and get rid of misconceptions. Infinity Challenge is a group of comedians trying their hand at different things (wrestling, playing games, singing songs, auditioning). Strong Heart gathers a panel of stars to talk about their lives and whoever tells the best life story is the "strong heart". Win Win is a more interview style with typically 4 MCs and 1 guest, with special surprise guests.  Some of them are more interview-style, others have no interview component and it is fixed members that do a variety of activities. What works? What doesn't? Ultimately, what is the purpose? 

6. What factor does language play a factor? If you are a star from another country (e.g. some stars are from other countries, like America or China) and you can't speak Korean? When are fans willing to be forgiving of the language issues? When are they not? On quiz shows, how does this become an issue? Does it limit certain stars, or are some stars (Nickhun/Nicole) still able to rise in popularity despite the initial (and still) issues with language? 

7. What do the readings say about this variety show system? Why is it relevant to the "big star based entertainment" companies? Refer to your readings and incorporate them in. Why do entertainment companies choose to focus more on things like variety skills? Does it make a star more approachable, more real? Think about this in terms of the new tech world, where actors, singers, ect, have facebook and twitter and youtube and can use this as a medium to reach fans. Is that enough or are the variety shows necessary too?

Are variety shows beneficial? Definitely get the name out there of specific stars and then it might lead to group popularity. Is it necessary because there are idol groups coming out left and right? How does a variety star become born? Mc Yoo Jaesuk, Mc Kang Hodong are the two major rivals in the variety show industry. What is an MC?

And what about shows like Superstar K? this kind of show follows the format of American Idol.

I like watching variety shows because it has variety and when I think certain stars are funny I keep watching them. I like Yoo Jaesuk and his hilarious character, so I tend to watch the shows he MC's. And there was a huge "bidding war" on MC Yoo to get him to MC the shows. Also, there are the competing networks to try and get a variety of famous people to be in their shows and people to watch their show. Additionally, some are during the weekday, but many are on Sunday afternoon. Why is this important? or is time not a huge factor? What role does "coupling people up" play in variety shows? Is this a reflection of society or just a fun way to keep people interested? Idols and stars get more well-known from variety shows. And even more "nicknames" are created for them. Especially rookies try to get on variety shows to get more popular. But is this the right way of doing this? Should idols be focusing on getting on variety shows and becoming popular that way? What about the music aspect?


Also, as they do the shows together, the stars get closer to each other. Does this play an important role?

Physical appearance vs. singing in idol groups

Today in class, Dr. Noh mentioned that Korea is a very "singing, dancing, and drinking" culture. So, why is this significant to our class? Someone in class mentioned the physical appearance (in Korean wehmoh) is often more important than the singing ability. Or perhaps I'm putting words in their mouths. What does physical appearance in Korean popular culture and media? We are going to go into detail a lot more on this later, so I will briefly talk about this.

But I'm going to focus more on physical appearance vs. singing, because (as I mentioned) we'll talk more about physical appearance later. So, where does popularity play in physical appearance vs. singing? Take a couple of examples of groups. (My bias: I am a singer, so I think singing is more important than physical appearance, though I definitely acknowledge that physical appearance is an important factor. Not only health-wise, but as stamina to be on the stage and also in the entertainment industry, as a means to attract fans).

I will be using examples from Kpop groups, as this is related to popular culture in Korea. If you don't know Kpop groups, feel free to argue for/against with groups from other countries.

2pm:

• most popular members. Taecyeon, Nickhyun (visual) 
• Reason they were recruited: Taec originally came as a model. Nickhyun was recruited at a kpop concert he went to in LA. 
• Main vocalists: Junsu, Junho.

SNSD (Girl's Generation):

• most popular member: Yoona (visual) 
• Part in SNSD: she rarely sings, does many CFs by herself 
• Lead singer: Taeyeon. 

Shinee:

• most popular member: Minho? Taemin? 
• Lead singer: Jonghyun 

Super Junior:

• most popular member(s): Siwon (visual)
• Lead singer: Yesung 

T-ara:

• most popular:Hyomin, Eunjung
• Lead singer: Soyeon

Secret:

• most popular: Sunhwa (visual)
• Lead singer: Jieun, Hyo Sung

After School:

• Most popular: UEE (visual), Gahi
• Lead singer: Raina

Wonder Girls:

• Most popular: So Hee (visual)
• Lead singer: Sun Ye, Ye Eun

Beast:

• Most popular: Gi Kwang (visual), Yoon Do Joon
• Lead singer: Yoseob

2NE1:

• Most popular: Sandara Park (visual)
• Lead singer: Park Bom

f(x):

• Most popular: Sulli, (Victoria?)
• Lead singer: Luna

What is my argument? That physical appearance matters a great deal more than singing ability for idols. This is not the case for all groups, and there are other talents that the other members have... but I'm going to make the argument that the thing that they "have" that makes them popular, is their physical appearance. This is my overall perception when looking at groups nowadays, particular to Kpop culture. There is typically one person in the group who can sing well. The rest, it's your opinion. There are definitely exceptions, but overall, there is almost always one "good singer" and one "attractive idol". I think there is a difference. 

I included a clip of SNSD on a variety show called Happy Together and the reason why I added it is because I'm going to talk about variety shows in my next blog post (hopefully) and the importance of them for idols... and why this plays into the physical appearance aspect. Hopefully. 

So what are your thoughts on physical appearance in Kpop culture? Is it the only facet? some of the above mentioned have talents, like Gahee and dance, for example. Did I make a gross generalization? Why is physical appearance important? What role does physical appearance play in American music culture? What does this mean for those who want to be singers vs. an idol?  Let me challenge you another way: what role does physical appearance and race make a difference? Is this an aspect of physical appearance or purely racial? Does this apply to American music, as there is less "groups" than in Kpop?  

2002 World Cup

This will be just a perspective piece, but feel free to make comments if you would like.

I was in middle school in 2002, interested in soccer (watching, not playing) but really NOT interested in watching the soccer games on television. My appa (dad) would tell us to come and watch, but I didn't feel like watching the first game. (Luckily, my appa recorded it.) I liked soccer, a lot of my guy friends played it and so I watched games in person to support them, but I never had gotten into the World Cup before. However, after we (aka South Korean football team) won, my appa told us to watch the game, ect, and during the second game of groups, we started watching the games. During this time period, my family and I sometimes watched sports together, tennis or figure skating.  In any case, we started watching the World Cup together, and it brought our family closer together. Korea was winning game after game and it brought us together at random hours (because of the 13 hour time difference) to make sure we watched the games from start to finish.

Not only did it bring our family together, it brought a sense of pride. I lived in a primarily all-white neighborhood, so (in short version) I spent most of my mid-elementary school childhood till middle school trying to hide the fact that I was Asian (more specifically Korean). This didn't completely remove my feeling of double displacement and feeling of being an outsider in America (but I digress), but it made me think about my connection to Korea and the pride that I felt for the country and the team itself. It brought a sense of pride for the Korean community, of course, if you watch any video on youtube, you can see the insane amounts of people cheering on the streets. But it also brought, I would say, the Korean American community closer to South Korea (in my case, it would be referring to the 1.5 and second generation). Because it was on a international sports stage, and because it was held in South Korea (and Japan) and also because they were the underdogs, and of course the whole rooting-for-the-underdog mentality.

I'll just say a couple things regarding thing before this post gets too long. For me personally, the 2002 World Cup actually got me more interested in Korea again. I remember watching the soccer game with tension and cheering like crazy during the golden goals and penalty shootouts, ect. Also, that summer we happened to go to Korea for the first time since perhaps when I was in kindergarten. The World Cup fever was infectious. Literally all over the streets. If you were in the bathroom and you wanted to see if someone was in the stall, you would knock in the chant rhythm. We bought a lot of newspapers back then (not that my command of Korean was strong but because of the soccer players on the newspapers). My sister loved one player, I loved Lee Young Pyo. He was rarely on covers of newspapers because he wasn't the star, but once I bought a newspaper with him on it and held it so preciously that a Korean ahjumma (middle-aged woman) asked me if I was selling it.
It brought my family together and even now, it still does. For the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, my family and I gathered in our living room wearing our red shirts to support the Korean team. My halmuni (grandmother) had actually visited before the World Cup began in 2006, and we asked her to bring us back shirts so that we could have proper attire to watch the games. Also, my sister took her senior pictures that summer of 2004, and she wore attire from the Korea team as one of her senior portraits.

Now, this is not only a time for me and my family to get together, but also a time for the Korean American community to come together. More specifically, without making generalizations, (like with Kim Yuna) I saw facebook statuses of my Korean American friends change, friends got together with friends, families got together and had parties to watch the games together. There were restaurants and bars and other places holding it so that Korean Americans could gather. There were discussions going on about it with all generations at my church. Though on a more extravagant scale in Korea, it definitely made an effect on the Korean American community as well. For me personally, it brought this weird feeling of Korean national pride when I felt slightly disconnected from Korea. What did this mean for my identity as a Korean American?

So what does this mean? Perhaps nothing. When I went to Korea this past fall (and also 2009 summer) I got the chance to go to several events. Abaseball game, a national football (soccer) game, and finally a tournament against rival schools Korea U and Yonsei U. The cheering culture in Korea, is insanely awesome. To be honest, I've never been to a Phillies game but I was told by my friend that you could go "read a book" there because it's relaxing. Definitely not the case for Korean baseball (or more specifically, the Lotte Giants of Busan). You are cheering, wearing plastic bags on your head, spirit is high to cheer on the team. Same goes for the Korea U-Yonsei U games. It was hours upon hours of cheering (on your feet in the hot humid weather) for (in my case) Korea U. And it is a HUGE festival for those two schools, the biggest event in the fall semester. You are on your feet the whole time cheering. Perhaps this cheering culture was strongly influenced by the 2002 world cup, or perhaps the 2002 world cup was just a way for people to cheer on a national stage the way they had been cheering all along. Maybe for me it just brought out my competitive side, some of my friends didn't like the Korea U-Yonsei U games, they thought it was boring. Others loved it, including myself, I found it invigorating. I enjoyed going to cheering orientation too, ...which was when we weren't cheering for anything just practicing but the atmosphere is definitely still there.

Just a different perspective from a student who was in middle school in America. Also, what were the political implications for the World Cup? What came after...  the Winter Olympics. the 2002 Apollo Ohno incident. If you read about it, perhaps you might think Koreans were too emotional. But it isn't that simple.  Also, the 2002 Army incident. The rise of anti-Americanism. Implications that Apollo Ohno was half-Japanese. perhaps that is a later post, but anti-Americanism was a huge movement on the rise even before the World Cup. The World Cup was not only a soccer game, a tournament for sports fans, but it brought the nation together and even brought the Korean American community together.