Big News of the Week

Nicole Leaving DSP Media

Boy was I wrong about this one...

Boy was I wrong about this one. I was certain that all five members of KARA would choose to renew their contracts because of their tremendous success in Korea and Japan but it looks like Nicole has decided that future opportunities outweigh her continued involvement with DSP Media and has decided it's time to move on. I've read many of the fan comments blasting DSP Media and also questioning why Nicole would make such a move. I was as surprised as all K-pop fans were but here's my opinion based on what I've read so far.

I don't think this is completely DSP Media's fault. I'm not completely lifting the blame from their shoulders but ultimately, during the course of re-signing the four members whose contracts were expiring, they made an offer that was apparently good enough for Seungyeon, Gyuri, and Hara but not for Nicole. If three of the members were willing to sign, you have to at least assume that it was a fair offer. No one outside really knows what went into Nicole's decision but it doesn't seem like she was low-balled or presented an unfair deal. She may have simply wanted to move on. Don't forget that back in 2011 during the initial contract dispute, Nicole was the one rumored to most want to leave DSP. Now that her contract is over, Nicole is finally free to depart the company she's wanted to cut ties with for the past two years. To me, if DSP deserves blame, it's for their inaction over the past two years to rebuild their relationship with Nicole and her family.

Nicole confused matters a little with her tweet this weekend which stated that she wanted to remain a member of KARA regardless of her affiliation with DSP media. While fans have compared this to Brown Eyed Girls' member Ga In's recent contract situation with Loen Entertainment and Nega Network, it's not entirely the same because Loen and Nega have a prior business relationship with each other so they are much more likely to be open to doing business. If Nicole were to sign with a totally different company with no affiliation with DSP but still performs as KARA, how would that arrangement work? DSP owns the rights to KARA so would Nicole's new company pay some sort of rights fee to allow their artist to perform under the KARA name? Why would DSP even want a person from a totally different company to work under their name? Maybe something can be worked out but all I'm saying is, it's really complicated and can't be compared to Ga In or anyone else for that matter (by the way, Shinhwa is a whole other story because they created a company specifically to perform as a group and also were able to retain the Shinhwa name after going to court. Again, it's really complicated).

A question many fans are asking is, what will Nicole do next? The more apt question is what won't she do? She'll be one of the most sought after free agent idol entertainers with numerous offers from companies looking to make her into a solo star. She's got a fan base, she has the talent, and she's young. The sky's the limit. By the way, the real pressure now falls onto Jiyoung when she has to decide whether or not to renew her contract. The entire K-pop industry will be watching what her decision will be.

SM Entertainment Not Returning for 'K-pop Star 3'

SM Entertainment is officially out as one of the participating companies on popular show 'K-pop Star'. To me that's fine because it never much mattered to me which companies were involved but more of who the judges were. That's where the real tragedy occurs because losing SM means that we're also losing BoA. Aside from my infatuation with her ear art, she was an important voice on the show and gave a female, idol perspective which the other judges couldn't provide. Her replacement was announced as Yoo Hee Yeol of Antenna Entertainment and while I certainly respect his musical knowledge and skills, I think that the loss of BoA will be a big one. 

A Sneak Peak at T-ara's New Song

T-ara's newest single "Number 9" is set for release October 10th but the group performed it early at the Hallyu Dream Concert. The quality is horrible but you can hear the song and get a feel for it. I personally like it and can't wait to see a better, more cleaned up version later this week.

Girl Group Variety Show Round-Up

A list of all the girl appearances on variety shows (that I saw) this week.

• 'Star King' -  Sojin, Hyeri, SPICA
• 'Running Man' - Park Shin Hye, Girl's Day cameo
• 'Barefoot Friends' - Bora (only at the tail end)
• '1000 Song Challenge' Yoo Sung Eun (from 'Voice Korea'. Never heard her before but she's good)
• '1 Night 2 Days' - A Pink
• 'Hello' - SECRET Sunhwa, Ji Eun

The Taeyeon Experiment

Each week I will post a picture from Taeyeon's Instagram feed in the hopes that one day she'll post a picture of herself reading this column.

Lucky dog.

Pic/.Gif/Video of the Week

I totally forgot about Kahi's new mini album 'Who Are You' coming out on October 10. Here's the latest teaser for the single "It's Me". A completely different sound from what I would have expected but in a good way. I'll be looking forward to this.

Send the Uncle Fan pics or videos of your favorite girl groupers via Twitter @KpopUncleFan or email them to KpopUncleFan@gmail.com. 

Uncle Fan Mailbag

Paranoid much? "Why the quotation marks [when referring to Hyoyeon as the] "Master"? Are you being ironic? What about [the statement], "That girl can move"? It feels like you are underrating her."

-gatibom

Wow, there's some serious trust issues here. Another commenter yoonjiepark was spot on about the quotes; I used them when referring to her as a "master" because that's her title on the show so wanted to make that distinction. Also, where I'm from, when you say "a girl can move", it means she's good at dancing.

Tough questions. "I have two questions for you: 1) Who are your top 3 vocal idols? Obviously one will be Taeyeon but the other two? 2) What are your top 5 TV shows that you're watching right now? I hope you answer both questions but if you had to choose one, then the latter is more important."

-kkangji

Naming my top 3 idol vocals was darn near impossible so I just selected the three who are on my playlist that I'm enjoying at the moment. 

• Ga In
• Hyorin
• Park Bom

Top 5 TV Shows Right Now (in no particular order)

• 'Parks and Recreation'
• 'Once Upon a Time'
• 'Suits' (catching up on missed episodes)
• 'Eastbound and Down'
• 'Elementary'

I got 99 problems but language ain't one. "The Taeyeon Experiment would work a lot better if it was in Korean".

-taewoo-ss

The real problem is her even knowing about its existence. If she did, I don't think language is the issue since she frequently posts in English herself. Plus, she can figure out what I'm writing, it's not like I'm Shakespeare over here.

A Few Non-K-pop Related Things

Ryu Hyun Jin Gets Rocked

The Korean pitcher finished a great rookie regular season campaign with the LA Dodgers but his much anticipated start in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Braves was cut short because he basically was throwing grapefruits out there.

Great Prank commercial from LG

Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now

1. IU - She's back! (see Song of the Week)
2. Taeyeon - New haircut, same awesomeness
3. Nicole - She's doing what's best for her so, you go girl.
4. Yubin - Happy birthday!
5. Ailee - Just head her new song "Higher" with pianist Yiruma. I like.

Song of the Week

With IU's new album 'Modern Times' out and after the weeks of discussing it, what better song to end the week than her title single "Red Shoes". I haven't listened to all of the songs yet but will take some time this week to give it a whirl.

It was a really big week and I'm sure we'll hear more from both DSP and Nicole on her contract so it should be interesting for sure. Have a good one and see you next week.