To celebrate the occasion, my parents gave my dog a bone and I... let my dog sleep in my bed--a really awesome birthday gift coming from me, mind you. I never share my bed. Unfortunately he didn't appear to appreciate the gift that much. As soon as I tried to coddle and smother him with my birthday love and affection, he promptly hopped off my bed and ran off, after which I yelled, "LET ME LOVE YOU." Yeah. My life, ladies and gentlemen.
The latest update in K-Pop? Well. That's a different story. Much more eventful, much more dramatic, the K-Pop world has so much going on that sometimes, it's just hard to keep up. But don't worry, I gotcha covered.
Welcome back to the 'Weekly Recap' feature, where we highlight the biggest news of the week, featuring some commentary from me, a fellow K-Pop fan. Leggo!
Lee Tae Im vs. Yewon: video leak aftermath
The industry was in a tizzy after the footage of Lee Tae Im and Yewon's dispute was leaked. What followed was an apology spree: Dispatch was the first to step forward and apologize for its initial misreport that relied heavily on a witness's statements. Star Empire was next to apologize, saying that they should've checked with Yewon first before reporting that she never spoke informally to Lee Tae Im. Next was Lee Tae Im's agency, saying that Lee Tae Im was sorry this all happened. Finally, the show 'Tutoring Across the Generations' apologized for the leaked footage that sparked all these other apologies.
But in the entertainment industry, "Sorry," just doesn't cut it. Just like Lee Tae Im was booted off 'Tutoring Across the Generations' for originally swearing at Yewon, Yewon is being edited out of JTBC's 'Our Home' and will possibly be leaving the show.
I think this is turning out to be a bit ridiculous, considering how short that footage was. Yes, Yewon was at fault for speaking informally, yes, Lee Tae Im was at fault for overreacting, but if things were left between these two women, they could've just kept secretly disliking each other by themselves. People fight and misunderstand each other over nothing all the time. If anything, it seems like this is all Dispatch/Korea media's fault for hyping up the fight, as well as Star Empire's fault for falsely assuming Yewon didn't speak informally to Lee Tae Im.
Y'know how in the ordinary-people world, it's never a good idea for a third party to get involved in two people's fight? Welp. Same rule applies in the entertainment industry, except that the consequences are even suckier than imaginable. Poor girls.
YG's messin' with all of us as usual
Why does YG got to be so complicated?! YG unleashed its "Who's Next?" bomb earlier this week to count down to April 1 for its big announcement, and once it set off, the K-Pop world was drowning in the resounding echoes of, "YAAAAAASSSSSSS." "Who's Next?" Uh, BIG BANG THAT'S WHO.
The poster YG dropped still raises a bunch of questions though. Instead of clarifying if there's actually going to be a comeback or not, it just lists a number of dates. Kinda leaves me feelin' duped. I mean, is it just me or did YG hype up April 1 only to tell us that we have to wait another month for something to actually happen? That's like telling us, "I made you wait to let you know that YOU HAVE TO WAIT EVEN MORE!!!" The trollage is so real. At least Korean fans will get to see the group on stage though later this month, when Big Bang has its 'World Tour in Seoul' (weird name, I know) on April 25 and 26.
Meanwhile, Jinusean will actually be making their comeback before Big Bang after all. Before you ask, "How come they didn't get a fancy countdown time bomb thing, huh?" YG explained that Jinusean was originally supposed to make their comeback after Big Bang, but instead opted to just jump back onto the K-music scene ASAP.
In other news, CL was rocking it in English and Korean at the 'Ultra Music Festival' in Miami. Plan "Asian Invasion" is on the go.
miss A vs. EXO
While Big Bang is preparing its gears, JYP's miss A and SM's EXO officially faced off earlier this week!
miss A
miss A is back with their signature, smooth vocals and awesome brass sound. Still can't stand that peeping Tom guy in the MV though. Doesn't matter how good-looking the guy is, he shouldn't be doing it, and this MV shouldn't be encouraging it.
Peeping Tom creepiness aside, miss A is doing amazingly well. In terms of exposure, Suzy is making all the variety headlines talking about her boyfriend Lee Min Ho and also revealing shocking things about herself--like how she's insecure about her body. (What is this crazy talk?!) In terms of the music charts, the girls achieved a perfect all-kill. Now that's a hard feat to accomplish. Even EXO hasn't gotten there yet, and I expected them to dominate with their comeback.
EXO
My God. I'm not usually into boy groups, but as soon as Baekhyun sings his, "HAAAAY girl," with his little hand wizardry, I swear I was like, "Ohaaaaay yourself!"
With this comeback, EXO has definitely been in the news too. Although they didn't dominate digitally like miss A, their album 'EXODUS' has topped several iTunes charts across the world and has already sold over 500,000 copies, setting a new record for pre-sales.
Can't say everything's been a positive experience for EXO this week though. Former KBS announcer got a lot of flack for asking Lay if he was coming back from China and saying, "I hope you return for sure rather than stay in China. Safely," probably making a reference to Kris and Luhan. A pretty rude... and possibly racist thing to say to Lay just because he's Chinese. Dayum.
Is that an SM storm brewing in the horizon?
Looks like Red Velvet and EXO isn't the only one getting some comeback love from SM. Although we already knew that Girls' Generation is making their comeback, other SM artists are starting to hint that there are more comebacks in the works!
While Super Junior's Leeteuk updated his Instagram with a, "Comeback confirmed! Coming back next month.. #comeback," Krystal attended a 'Lacelle' event saying, "An album [...] is in preparation [...]." Are they speaking for their respective groups? Is SM unleashing them as soloists or in subunits? Who knows! But considering that Sulli has joined us in the entertainment world once again, looks like anything is possible--even an f(x) comeback! Even the legendary, veteran idol BoA has announced that she will be coming back with an album soon.
Not sure what SM is thinking here. Is SM pulling a YG and hinting at comebacks that will only happen, like, 40 million years later? Or is SM going crazy and releasing all its
Clara's coming back too?!
Guess the Clara drama has died down, enough for Clara to decide she's ready to make a move and start preparing her return to the entertainment world. At least, that's what the rumors say. Although Clara's reps insist that she's not jumping into things yet due to her ongoing lawsuit, they did admit that she recently recorded a song and is looking to sign with a new agency. Multiple insiders are saying she's aiming for a May comeback.
So... is Clara actually going to come back? Maybe. Is Clara going to be successful with her comeback? I... don't think it's likely. Does anyone seem to care? Doesn't seem like it.
Soul Shop gives up on everything
Speaking of lawsuits, Soul Shop has completely given up on theirs. Although earlier this week, Soul Shop attempted to prove that singer Gilgun threatened and "verbally assaulted" Kim Tae Woo via a silent CCTV clip, they managed to convince no one. I mean, how do you prove that someone's threatening you with a silent clip? All the clip proves is that Gilgun was upset while speaking with CEO Kim Tae Woo, to the point that she threw her phone and water bottle--clearly with no intention of hurting the guy.
Realizing that they weren't winning against either Gilgun or Megan Lee, Soul Shop decided to withdraw all charges against Megan Lee and officially terminated Gilgun's contract. Meanwhile, Kim Tae Woo held a press conference to apologize and to clear up rumors about his wife as many people blamed her for making things difficult for Megan Lee and Gilgun.
The Soul Shop drama has thus come to an end, but can't say things will be smooth sailing from here on out for Soul Shop or the artists.
FNC vs. Hongki
This ain't no legal feud, but there's definitely some tension going on between the FNC CEO Han Sung Ho and F.T. Island's Hongki. After Han Sung Ho went on 'Radio Star' weeks ago, saying, "All Hongki does is deviate," Hongki came charging right onto the same show to challenge the statement head on.
Hongki was definitely pissed as he stated on air, "Why would he talk about somebody who's not there like that? [...] I've never strayed away in such a way that can be called a deviation. I don't understand why he put it that way. Han Sung Ho said as an excuse that it was edited the wrong way."
Sounds pretty gutsy of an idol to talk back to his CEO on TV, but this is Hongki, and it's definitely not his first time as he's been publicly angry with Han Sung Ho before. Back in the summer of 2014, Hongki has stated that his CEO is harsh on him and even scolds him for not going to church. During his recent appearance on 'Radio Star,' Hongki said he was "tricked" into renewing his contract with FNC. Dang. Would he have renewed it if he hadn't been "tricked" then? My guess is probably not.
April Fool's
April 1 was just earlier this week and everyone was pulling some of the silliest April Fool's pranks. The idol with the best joke would definitely have to be JYJ's Junsu, who made everyone--even us allkpop writers--jump out of our seats when he announced that he was going to get married. All the fangirls out there were like:To see what other April Fool's jokes you may have missed, here's a list below!
- BTS turn into 'Bangtan Girls'
- Siwon's arc reactor lives on
- Amber transforms into Donghae and Jonghyun
- Teen Top turn into babies
The staff here at allkpop also played some jokes on the fateful day as well. Check out our recap to see what we did!
Yunjae is off to the military
What I thought was just a joke actually ended up coming true. JYJ's Jaejoong officially enlisted into the military earlier this week and for an April Fool's prank, the allkpop office listed TVXQ's Yunho as one of the 18 more celebrities to enlist this year. Looks like this Yunjae reunion is happening after all as SM has confirmed that Yunho plans to start his mandatory military service in 2015.
While Yunho prepares himself, Jaejoong has already entered the military and was captured looking nervous at his admission ceremony. With his short, black hair and lack of idol glam, Jaejoong definitely looks different in his new environment. He will be sorely missed by both fans and his fellow JYJ members alike as Junsu recently performed "Love in Ice" in his honor. But hey, in the meantime, maybe he can finally catch up with his long lost TVXQ member of the past?
Well, that was it for this week's 'Weekly Recap'! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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