(Nuclear Summit) First lady to host cultural performances

SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- First lady Kim Yoon-ok will host a music concert and other cultural events for the spouses of foreign leaders attending next week's Nuclear Security Summit, the organizing committee said Friday.

Seventeen spouses are scheduled to travel to Seoul with heads of state and leaders of international organizations for the global conference slated for Monday and Tuesday, according to the committee.

The summit will be one of the largest international events South Korea has ever hosted. Representatives from 58 nations and four international organizations, including 45 heads of state, are expected to attend.

The spouse program will begin Monday with a visit to the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul to view some of the most cherished Korean historic treasures. Later in the day, the spouses will watch a classical music concert performed by some of the country's young musical prodigies.

On Tuesday, Kim will invite the spouses to the presidential office for a performance, titled "Queen's Morning," which will feature "hanbok," a traditional Korean costume. A pop music concert by boy band "JYJ" and Korean ballad singer Seong Si-kyung is also scheduled for the same day.

"The program (for the spouses) features an array of traditional Korean culture, classical music and Korean pop culture," an official at the committee said. "Kim has asked the organizers to focus on introducing K-pop stars and young Korean talents."
khj@yna.co.kr

Source: english.yonhapnews.co.kr

Korean band, CNBLUE’s unusual morning showcase will mark their comeback to the music scene.

CNBLUE will hold a comeback showcase called “Early Lunch PARTY for EAR FUN” on March 26 at 11am. The showcase will be held at Yangjae-dong iL Tower in Seoul.

Comeback showcase that is held in the morning is rather very peculiar for singers. Under normal circumstances, singers will usually hold their comeback showcases in late afternoon or evening, but CNBLUE‘s comeback showcase that will be held in the bright morning would surely be a unique event.

Fans attending the event will be entertained by CNBLUE performing 3 of their new songs and they are also expected to announce their activities to the media.

Their agency on March 23 stated, “It was not our intention to make this event in the morning, our main target is so that they can showcase their new songs calmly,” said them. This is due to the members’ packed schedules. Kang Minhyuk is currently starring in “My Husband Got a Family” on KBS and Lee Jonghyun is also busy preparing for his role in SBS’ new weekend drama “A Gentleman’s Dignity.” The agency added, “The members are very busy and their schedule is packed even ahead of the comeback.”

CNBLUE‘s new song “Still in Love” is getting a good response on online music charts, and their new mini album entitled “EAR FUN” will be released on March 26 with “Hey You” as the title song.

On the other hand, March 26 is definitely a day for popular rock bands showcases. Once CNBLUE ends their morning showcase, at 2pm on the same day, new band Busker Busker will perform their debut showcase at M-Pop, Times Square in Yongdeungpo.

Source: Daum
Translated by: fizzy @ cnbluestorm

The four male member Korean band, CNBLUE ranked 2nd place in overall DVD ranking dated March 26 with the initial sales of 16,000 copies of “Winter Tour 2011 ~ Here, In My Head ~ @ Yoyogi National Stadium First Gymnasium”.

They set a personal best record by exceeding their highest record in 5th place “CNBLUE 2nd Single Release Live Tour ~ Listen to the CNBLUE ~” released in Feb 2011.

This DVD is recorded at the final performance of their first tour held in December 2011 after their Japan major debut which mobilized 13,000 audiences, where the tickets were sold out in 1 minute after the launch.

Source: oricon.co.jp/news
Translated by BLUELOVE@cnbluestorm

More than 23,000 Japanese fans flocked to see boy band Beast perform on Thursday and Friday at Yokohama Arena in Japan.

The boy band kicked off the Japanese leg of its “Beautiful Show” world tour there, with each concert lasting two hours.

The band performed an assortment of its hit songs including “Shock,” “Fiction” and “Beautiful” to a crowd that chose to stay standing and sing along during the entire show.

Member Son Dong-woon sang his rendition of the song “Hitomio Tojite” by the popular Japanese singer Ken Hirai, much to the delight of the audience.

Beast’s agency said that the band’s popularity and the Japanese fans’ reception at concerts have changed over the years - in a good way.

“Japanese fans are a lot more enthusiastic at concerts than they used to be,” a representative from the agency said. The concert marks the band’s first national tour since its debut in Japan early last year.

Source: koreajoongangdaily

Boy group SHINee has returned to Music Bank with their new title track “Sherlock”. Newsen's reporter met SHINee’s leader Onew. Onew shared what he feels on their comeback by saying “It’s been a long time (1year and 6months) since we’ve performed on this stage, it’s kind of burdensome and nerve wracking,” Onew continued “We prepared really hard for this comeback but unfortunately, our promotion time is short so it’s sad.”

Onew noticed that he lost some weight and explained about it “I didn’t diet on purpose but since we were getting ready with a powerful performance, I unintentionally got a V-line” and laughed. Onew returned with a new image for their comeback and garnering attentions from female fans.

Onew wasn't able to join other member on their performance overseas due to his ankle injury. Onew expressed his sadness by stating“I was sad that it was inevitably not possible for me to stand on stage. More than disappointed, I am very sorry and regretful.” “I want to shake off that sadness through this performance.” He concluded.

SHINee will promote Sherlock for 4 weeks and their Japanese Arena Tour will start after the promotion of their comeback song. 

Source: Newsen 

Written by: angelclowie18@dkpopnews.net

Super Junior member Yesung went to Music Bank on March 23rd to visit SHINee and congratulate them. He even brought some snacks for the members. Yesung is indeed a good senior.

Yesung dropped by SHINee’s dressing room in Music Bank and brought drinks and snacks. He congratulated the boys for their comeback and brought a simple present which made SHINee thankful. They took a photo while in the dressing room and Yesung uploaded the picture on his personal Twitter account and wrote "SHINee dongsaengs are having a comeback today so I went to support them^^ In terms of visuals... we practically look like friends, right? ha"

SHINee greeted their senior and junior artists backstage and gave them an autographed album.

Source: DongA, shiningtweets, Yesung's Twitter

Written by: angelclowie18@dkpopnews.net

Senior singer Patty Kim praised the rookie singer Ailee.

On the evening of March 24, Patty Kim appeared on KBS 2TV's broadcast of "Free Declaration Saturday - Immortal Song 2', touching rookie Ailee with her praise.

In the recently conducted recording, 13 junior singers sing Patty Kim's gem-like hit tracks in the showdown.

At that day, Aliee went up on stage to perform Patty Kim's hit track in 1967 titled "Light and Shadow (빛과 그림자" after greeting the audience cutely.

She appeared shyly but in contrast as the song began, her expression changed and her powerful voice got all the audience surprised. 

After Ailee's stage has ended, the first word Patty Kim said was "Wow". She also added "in such a slender body, there's such a strong voice. it's very impressive. In the future you'll be big."

Ailee couldn't hide her joy of being praised by such a big senior of the entertainment and showed a big smile in the back.

Meanwhile, Ailee's performance will be broadcasted today (24/3) at 6:15 pm KST at Immortal Song 2 - Patty Kim Special" 

Make-up brand Etude House, which aims to spread fun and play through make-up, recently released their new campaign through their YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/etudeblog) and cable TV. A romantic, fantasy web drama, “Kiss Note,” starring 2NE1′s Sandara Park and SHINee, was released two weeks ago, and have already garnered more than 150,000 views in YouTube, and has succesfully caught the eye of consumers and netizens alike, based on the hot reactions it has gotten.

Sandara Park and SHINee‘s four different kinds of kisses that was shown in the video teaser prior to the official start of the campaign, was even able to get a lot of views in YouTube; and when the five-part CF series (released throughout March 5 to March 12), were revealed one by one, all of the videos proudly rose up to the “Most Viewed” and “Featured Videos” lists.

SHINee’s Minho, Key, Jonghyun, and Taemin, with the main character, Sandara Park, showed four different feelings of love and different kinds of kisses in the “Kiss Note” web drama. The different kinds of kisses and the creative way in which romantic attraction develops, drew a warm response. Especially being popular idol stars, not only in the local scene but also internationally, the loving kissing scenes between 2NE1′s Sandara Park, and SHINee’s Minho, Key, Jonghyun, and Taemin, really shook up both fans and netizens alike.

Viewers grew exceptionally interested with the CF’s web drama format, as it is unusual for a beauty industry selling cosmetic products, but recent evaluations prove that the lovely and interesting storytelling was loved by the consumers.

As it is, because of the popularity of the “Kiss Note” web drama, love and patronage for the new product “Dear My Lips-Talk” grew exponentially, with record sales of more than 100,000 in a mere two weeks after its launching, and is expected to continue to rise in popularity well into March.

In the web drama, the kiss scenes started to come out with the application of the lipstick products from Etude House’s “Dear My Lips-Talk” campaign, putting into emphasis the various colors of coral, red, orange, and pink in the CF. All of the four colors are favorite buys from the consumers also.

Credits:

Source: Bokuen News
Translated by: BlackjackBelle@OhDara/ SlaveTranslator@WeLoveDara

Interview: YG’s Comprehensive Interview – 2NE1 Cuts

- It seems that more and more young people are becoming fans.

People nowadays barely know me as Yang Hyun Suk of Seo Taeji&Boys, they know me as the president of Big Bang and 2NE1. I used to be able to go to Hongdae restaurants peacefully, without anything bother my mind, but now when I go out there, I see a lot of young people looking at me, and it’s really a but uncomfortable.

- When 2NE1 is going to advance into the United States.

They would be focusing on the United States and Europe first, since three out of the four members have experienced living in English-speaking countries, this is very favorable for them. After Big Bang’s world tour, 2NE1 would concentrate in advancing into Europe and the US, and I’d really want them to start promotions by the end of the year.

- Plans for YG’s “pretty girl group” was revealed and has attracted a lot of atttention.

Some people even go so far as to call them “YG version of SNSD.” Some even say that “YG never used to put much in store about people’s looks, I wonder how this would be seeing as they would be about appearances.” But people should understand that it’s not about attempting to make a second 2NE1 or a second Big Mama. Of course, this girl group is certainly not something I am familiar with, or is similar with my existing groups. These are not only pretty kids doing well in dancing, but I imagine them to be pretty kids who are going to do well in hip-hop too.

- The reason for appearing in SBS compared to other broadcasting companies.

We and SBS have a common understanding and mutual respect for each other. Actually, we don’t look at the broadcasting company, but rather on the directors. For example, PD Park Seong Hun is highly acclaimed, so we worked with Park PD during 2NE1′s comeback stage last year. We want to have a good stage; it was never about wanting to work with one broadcasting station only.

- Watching out for the singers’ private lives.

Most people think that Big Bang and 2NE1 are the types to always want to go out and party a lot. But it’s not like that. I’d be the first person who’d know that the best. They don’t even know a lot of other people and other entertainers. With the recent events, they themselves felt the responsibility of being stars who are constantly being paid attention to. Rather than watch them, I trust them with what they do.

Credits:

Sources: Nate 1, 2, 3
Translated by: BlackjackBelle@OhDara/ SlaveTranslator@WeLoveDara

JYJ’s Junsu has been enjoying much popularity even in musicals.

According to (Junsu’s) management agency, C-Jes Entertainment, on 21 March, the 12 performances of “Elisabeth” which Junsu has participated in so far have a cumulative total audience of more than 200,000. “Elisabeth” has ranked number 1 with record high sales due to Junsu’s involvement. It can be said that all the musicals that Junsu has participated in have become topics of discussion.

With his 12th “Elisabeth” performance on the afternoon of 21 March, Junsu has attracted more than 200,000 audiences so far, proving his popularity.

In response to his own popularity, Junsu said, “The feeling of working with really outstanding actors and actresses day after day is very fun. I am touched each time during the curtain call, thanks to the audience who applaud us, it gives me strength.”

In addition, he also said, “I hope that with the remaining performances of “Elisabeth”, the audience will be able to find their own happiness after watching the performances.”

Source : [K Star News]

Translated & Shared by : dongbangdata.net

Rookie group NU'EST has done a photoshoot for the magazine April edition of 'Elle Girl' A.

In this photoshoot, the five members: leader JR, Aron, Minhyun, Ren and Baekho have shown a lot of their characteristics and charms.

There are no need for words with NU'EST, they seem to know each other very well and had shown off their perfect teamwork which had received praise from the staff.

In the interview which was followed by the photoshoot, JR chose Kahi as his favorite senior from the same agency and said "She is an amazing leader and I think that she is a great dancer. I want to receive private dance lessons from her.".

Minhyun chose After School's Uee as his favorite senior and added "I would like to be acknowledged in a variety of areas so I want to challenge myself as an actor, MC as well as a singer".

NU'EST also added "We can be a group that promotes around the world and not only in Korea".

Source: TV Daily
Translation Credits: Bunnhye @ Elite-Rebels

2NE1's Bom stirring attention in one of her recent pictorial wherein her toes are about to sneak out from her high heels.

Bom from fashion magazine pictorial flaunts her long and slim legs. She wears a tube and partnered it with a jacket.

However, with netizens sharp eyes, her toes are getting more attention. It look like about to get off her high heels.

Netizens show their concern, "It hurts, i feel bad.","Her long legs are so slim.,"She must feeling uncomfortable," and so on.

Source: TV Report
Written by KYUriShana@dkpopnews.net



On March 28, 2NE1 will release their first official album in Japan, Collection.

It takes a lot to support a female idol group. Especially when traveling.


Reps of the popular group T-ara shared how much the girls were insured for to prepare for a trip around the world. Apparently, the company invested about 100 million won (about $88,400) in travel insurance. The girls will be traveling through Italy, Austria, and Switzerland for a 9 day trip.


Along with the group, will be another 7-membered newbie idol group, director Cha Eun-taek, photographer Jo Sae-hyun, and about 20 other staff members. They will be creating a on-the-road movie throughout the experience.

The newbie group, which also includes actresses Hwang Ji-hyeon, Lee Hae-in, Choi Soo-eun, and supermodel Kim Hye-ji as members, will be debuting in May.

Source: KBS Global

4minute has sent their juniors, BTOB, a cake to congratulate them on their recent debut!

On March 23rd on KBS Music Bank, BTOB performed their debut performance with "Insane." In addition, the group received the cake from their seniors and took a photograph backstage.

The photo was revealed through Cube Entertainment's Twitter, which said, "BTOB is really happy that their sunbaes, 4minute, sent a cake to them from Jeju Island in order to celebrate their debut! There was also a card from 4minute that said, 'We love you lots!'"

Along with the tweet came the group photo with the cake. What especially drew attention was BTOB not holding the typical peace sign pose, but holding up 4 fingers to represent 4minute.
Source: Nate & Koreaboo
Translating + Editing + Reporting: JjangPie @4-minute.com
Tip: kaori. @ 4-minute.com

Hello,
This is Cube Entertainment.

We've receiving a lot of inquiries on 4minute's new album. Cube Entertainment is fully aware that 4Nias are eagerly waiting for 4minute's new material. The entire company is putting all of our efforts to create the best material for 4minute and the production process is almost completed. We expect that you could hear their new songs within this spring. Sorry for keep you waiting~

Moreover, thank you for all the fan sites who have submitted pre-order survey. On this matter, we will notify you when any update is made.

Have a great day,

Source: E-mail from Cube
Reporting: kaori. @ 4-minute.com

Rookie group NU’EST has done a photoshoot for the magazine April edition of ‘Elle Girl’ A.

In this photoshoot, the five members: leader JR, Aron, Minhyun, Ren and Baekho have shown a lot of their characteristics and charms.

There are no need for words with NU’EST, they seem to know each other very well and had shown off their perfect teamwork which had received praise from the staff.

In the interview which was followed by the photoshoot, JR chose Kahi as his favorite senior from the same agency and said “She is an amazing leader and I think that she is a great dancer. I want to receive private dance lessons from her.”.

Minhyun chose After School’s U-ie as his favorite senior and added “I would like to be acknowledged in a variety of areas so I want to challenge myself as an actor, MC as well as a singer”.

NU’EST also added “We can be a group that promotes around the world and not only in Korea”.

Source: TV Daily
Translation Credits: Bunnhye @ Elite-Rebels
Take Out With Full Credits

4minute has sent their juniors, BTOB, a cake to congratulate them on their recent debut!

On March 23rd on KBS Music Bank, BTOB performed their debut performance with "Insane." In addition, the group received the cake from their seniors and took a photograph backstage.

The photo was revealed through Cube Entertainment's Twitter, which said, "BTOB is really happy that their sunbaes, 4minute, sent a cake to them from Jeju Island in order to celebrate their debut! There was also a card from 4minute that said, 'We love you lots!'"

Along with the tweet came the group photo with the cake. What especially drew attention was BTOB not holding the typical peace sign pose, but holding up 4 fingers to represent 4minute.
Source: Nate & Koreaboo
Translating + Editing + Reporting: JjangPie @4-minute.com
Tip: kaori. @ 4-minute.com

Today, Super Junior Sungmin updated his blog and shares that he attended a friend's wedding and also performed a song.

He wrote,

Title: Sang congratulatory song~!

A close noona’s wedding ceremony!
She asked me to sing her a congratulatory song since last year, so I kept my promise and came~

There are two songs, RaD’s im in love and Lee Juk’s I’m so fortunate so I couldn’t decide.

I played the piano and sang I’m so fortunate.

“Congratulations on your wedding and I’m so envious~Please be happy~”ㅎㅎㅎ

I should sing i’m in love on radio or somewhere else next time^^

Source:Sungmin’s Naver Blog
Translated By:@heequeenTing
Shared at sup3rjunior.wordpress.com by SoulAngel701

Translator's Note: This is a piece of writing, or more like a series of memos, that I found in Myoungseok Kang’s blog (Kang is the editor of 10asia Magazine). I thought it was interesting so I wanted to share with other overseas fans too.

---

1. Blue doesn’t seem very appropriate for the streets. It is neither fast nor striking enough to overcome the noise on the street. ‘Bad Boy’ is a similar case. Nevertheless, ‘Fantastic Baby’, which has a fast tempo, will probably be the most suitable for the streets out of the tracks. In other words, the tracks are not catchy enough for everyone to sing along like IU’s ‘Good Day’. Was this risk necessary for Big Bang?

2. Artists’ profits do not only come from album/music sales. For example, Girl’s Generation’s success comes more from concerts and advertisements, rather from album and music sales. While concert sales are dependent on fans, advertisements are offered to artists who are popular and have a representative value within the field. Hence, trendy artists appear in advertisements for clothing brands targeted at people in their twenties; whereas older trot artists appear in arthritis medicine commercials. Girls Generation gained popularity in all age ranges and therefore appeared in a wide variety of advertisements. Moreover, G-Market hired Big Bang as their model and emphasized their slogan “G-Market for the Twenties’.

3. People can have varying opinions on whether Big Bang is an icon of the twenties. However, it is true that Big Bang has followed the styles and trends of the twenties the most closely out of the existing male idol groups. G-Dragon is a fashion icon and Big Bang has released music, such as ‘Tonight’, that is very mainstream and trendy. Although GD&TOP’s ‘High High’ and ‘Knock Out’ did not sweep all the music charts, those tracks made Big Bang an idol group that can freely perform at clubs. Furthermore, Taeyang is almost like a black musician. Being a popular group, Big Bang suggests music and fashion that people in their twenties would think are ‘cool’. Therefore when companies are targeting people in their twenties as their market group, Big Bang is probably the most likely male idol group that companies will pick.

4. Big Bang’s tracks all have different characteristics. ‘Blue’ is a mix of eletronica and folk melody; ‘Bad Boy’ has its roots in hip-hop and ‘Fantastic Baby’ seems like a clubbing song. However, these songs are based on hip-hop and electronica while having western pop sentiments. If one is used to music from the Billboard chart, one will be able to listen to ‘Blue’ using earphones when he or she is alone; walk according to the rhythm in the streets while listening to ‘Bad Boy’ with Dr.Dres; and dance to ‘Fantastic Baby’ at clubs on a Friday night. These songs seem like they are for those who are sensitive to the style and trend. It is hard to say that everything was carefully intended by Big Bang or YG Entertainment. Notwithstanding, YG has most enthusiastically brought in music based on hip-hop and electronica to Korea and Big Bang members have tried to represent the trends of the twenties. These people in their twenties followed Big Bang’s lead, looking for something ‘cool’, and in the process of that the public’s taste also followed Big Bang’s pathway. Through Big Bang’s trendiness, fashion and pop, Big Bang was able to dominate a large portion of the fields relating to trends of the twenties. Big Bang no longer needs to make a big hit like Big Bang did with ‘Lies’. What is more important for Big Bang is to give remind their generation of the group’s ‘sophistication and trendiness’. Besides, ‘Lies’ was a product of trendiness and mass appeal.

5. Big Bang’s performance on SBS’s ‘Inkigayo’ on the 11th shows what Big Bang is. Big Bang is a group that needs to focus on their impact on the trend and style rather than their mass popularity and fandom size. Accordingly, performances with rigid choreography do not really suit this group. A song like ‘Blue’ in which the song calmly flows cannot be fully expressed only through dance moves and a song like ‘Fantastic baby’ in which the members need to ‘play’ like they are clubbing needs appropriate lights and stage setting. It is difficult to express all the small details of each and every song in Big Bang's concert because all songs are performed on the same stage. On the other hand, in ‘Inkigayo’ Big Bang is able to fully express the unique characteristics of each song through different stage settings. The design of the stage for ‘Blue’ and ‘Fantastic Baby’ visualized the feeling of the songs. Now Big Bang sings songs with hooks that are softer and persuades the audience of their songs' sentiments through the overall mood of the stage. Big Bang is becoming better at conveying what the group is doing to the public. Right now, what Big Bang wants to do and is doing is almost identical to what they need to do in order to make profit in the markets.

Source: http://blog.naver.com/lennonej/150133870765
Translated by Beau @ bbvipz

c:Bigbangupdates

Boy group Teen Top proved their popularity in North America. 

On the March 21st, when Teen Top took the stage, with a total of 7 teams representing Korea in ‘2012 Canadian Music Festival’ (CMF 2012), they received hot responses. 

This year’s 30th Anniversary ‘Canadian Music Festival’ is not only held for North American regions but towards a worldwide upscale festival. This year’s ‘KPOP NIGHT’ invited artistes, Teen Top, Brian, GNA, APink and 7 other teams representing Korea, caused for the ticket sales to sell out. 

Someone who attended the event commented “Among this year’s performances/gigs ‘KPOP NIGHT’ received the hottest response” and also said that “Even situations like fans who couldn’t get tickets still form a line to wait outside the venue, arose” 

“A large portion of fans get to know KPop singers through Youtube and after having seen Teen Top’s splendid performance this time, their interest towards them has increased” one of fans said. 

Moreover, Teen Top’s first Canada visit had driven many fans to head towards the airport to greet them proves of their popularity. 

CREDITS: oursupaluv

SOURCE: The Star News

2AM's Jo Kwon praised Miss A's Min.

According to SBS E!, the members of group 2AM recently dropped by TV Cultwo Show

They shoot for the said show and during the shooting, 2AM's Jo Kwon talked about  his good friend Miss A's leader Min. They were both trainee at JYP Entertainment and they were childhood friends.

During the interview, this question was asked to him "Who is the most feminine girl among miss A?" To which he replied without any hesitation, "Min looks gorgeous than ever before. She used to look like a tomboy but the truth is that she's very feminine." 

Because of what he have said, the audience wondered what is the true relationship between the two which Jo Kwon said to make it clear "We used to belong to the same agency."

Source: Starnews

Written by: angelclowie18@dkpopnews.net

After releasing their 4th mini album "Sherlock" and successfully making their comeback with their title track on Korean music shows, SMTOWN revealed a video on their official Youtube for a SHINee cover contest.

The "Sherlock Cover Contest" will enable fans to take part in either a singing cover or a dance cover of SHINee's latest song, where they can win some great prizes from the members of SHINee.

Everysing, the website that is hosting the contest, will give fans until April 13th to submit their video recordings of their performance of SHINee's "Sherlock". There will also be an option for participants to take part in a free style genre where you can include your own improvisations for the song or dance.

Prizes include SHINee's stage accessories, framed signed "Sherlock" mini albums and coupons to spend on SHINee goods. To apply and take part, you can find more information and apply on the official page for the "Sherlock Cover Contest" on Everysing or by downloading the official Everysing application onto your smart phone.

At the same time, SHINee is also set to release another Korean full length album after their Arena tour in Japan. Their previous full length album "Lucifer" was released on July 19th in 2010, where they promoted the title track "Lucifer".

SHINee will continue promoting their 4th mini album on Korean music shows for the next 4 weeks, after which they will return to Japan to start their arena tour on the 25th April starting in Fukuoka.

The promotional video for the "Sherlock Cover Contest" with English subtitles can be viewed below. 

Credit: SMTOWN, Everysing, Star Daily 

Two male fans offered S$800 and S$900 for autographed merchandises from the four-member girl group 

It was a tense and exciting moment for fans of Korean girl group Secret, during an auction held at the group's fan meet last night. The winning bidder would walk away with two T-shirts, worn and autographed by the members, and a lomo camera.

Secret, together with labelmates and juniors B.A.P, were in Singapore yesterday for a fan meet at IMM, where they performed their hit songs including 'Magic', 'Madonna', 'Shy Boy', 'Starlight Moonlight' and 'Love is Move'.

Made up of leader Hyosung, Zinger, Jieun and Sunhwa, the four girls appeared really surprised and touched when four pre-selected fans performed the dance from the song 'Madonna'. Secret later identified a winner, and she walked away with an autographed album and poster, while the other three went home with autographed posters.

However, the segment, which had fans really excited, was an auction, held to raise funds for the Association for Persons with Special Needs (ASPN). The bid started at S$100 and quickly escalated to S$500. Just when everyone thought the auction was ending, another fan raised the bid by S$50. In the end, two male fans made a donation of S$800 and S$900, raising a total of S$1,700.

Prior to the fan meet at night, Secret took time out yesterday morning to meet with the local media. Decked in dresses that showed off their individual personalities, the four girls said that they were bewildered at the large turnout of fans at the airport two days ago.

"The number (of fans) was so much more than what we were expecting," member Jieun said.

With a band name like Secret, it is no wonder that the girls get questions like "what's your biggest secret", "who keeps the most secrets" and "which member cannot keep a secret" all the time.

When these questions were posed again yesterday, Jieun answered, "This is such a difficult question. We've been asked these questions so many times since our debut, because of our group name; so we don't really have any more secrets."

Maknae (youngest member) Sunhwa jokingly quipped, "Should we change our group's name instead?"

During an interview with xinmsn, Secret had no qualms sharing their ideal type of guys and the desire to date. Jieun said, "I don't really consider a person's appearance; what's more important for me, is his character and I would want someone who is really kind and gentle."

"I don't like guys with double eyelids, and he has to be masculine," Zinger quipped.

Sunhwa preferred guys who are manly, and can be "someone I can always lean on", while leader Hyosung's ideal man has to be one, who is responsible for his actions.

"Many people told me that such guys don't exist in this world, but I'm going to try really hard to find one," she added laughingly.

When asked if they would like to date, Hyosung immediately said in English, "Of course! I do!" before explaining in Korean that they cannot do so now because of their career, and so the group would experience dating through singing, acting in music videos, and from the love and support they received from their fans.



cr: xin.msn.com 

Maknaes stick together.

Super Junior Kyuhyun and TVXQ Changmin are seen hanging out together to watch their sunbae Shinhwa's concert.

Aside from going out with their respective co-members, the two maknaes enjoy each others' company.

Fans who saw this photo commented, "Birds with the same feathers stick together!","Both are cheeky and cute maknaes!","I like the BFF relationship they have!"

Photo credits: neverend,dispatch
Written by KYUriShana@dkpopnews.net