Good evening world,
I've decided to try and start blogging again about Korean popular culture. As you will note, in the past I did it as a discussion blog for an undergraduate course I was peer teaching. But now, just as an observer/researcher/follower...
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Friday, June 10, 2011
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...
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
"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:
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?
Saturday, April 2, 2011
"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.”
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.”
Friday, April 1, 2011
MNet Kpop in the U.S.: hitting the TV near you?
Sacramento Bee (California)
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
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