Are you fat? Are you American? Are you a long-time crazy Cassiopean? Have you always wished to be within 100 ft. of three dreamy Korean idols? Have you mounted their The… CD and have five extra copies in case other jealous Cass steal it? Do you daydream of marrying one of the guys from Tohoshinki and shattering other fan’s dreams forever?
Well, you’re in luck!
Joining their efforts with the greatest rapper of all time Kanye West, and some other person we don’t care enough about to remember, JYJ will be doing a world tour and making several stops in the U.S! For all you lucky people living in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York City, three former members of the sensational group Tohoshinki will be in your area come November!
We have shamelessly stolen the following dates from their official website:
Bangkok Impact Challenger 15th October
Kuala Lumpur Stadium Negara 17th October
Hong Kong Asia World 24th October
Taipei Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center 30th October
Shanghai Grand Stage 7th November
New York Hammerstein 12th November
Seattle WAMU THEATER 13th November
San Francisco Bill Graham Auditorium 14th November
L.A Shrine Auditorium 19th November
Korean Beef will take live footage of the concert and perhaps try to land an interview (if we’re really lucky and do several blowjobs along the way) during the New York and Los Angeles performances. Keep tuned!
Jaejoong, The Most Popular Idol Star Abroad
http://aspop.info on 08.01.2011, 20:57 (UTC)
In an industry saturated with young, beautiful, and charming talents, is it even possible to name the “best” one?
Pop, a Taiwanese entertainment magazine, attempted it by ranking the most popular entertainers in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and America today. Jaejoong of JYJ was the highest ranked Korean star.
Jaejoong has definitely been keeping busy since first debuting as a part of the popular group TVXQ. He’s now part of the trio JYJ, which saw much success with their first album “The Beginnings”. There were 520,000 copies out in pre-orders alone! JYJ also were featured in a Billboard article and ranked as number five for this year’s album. Jaejoong’s non-musical activities thrived as well. He earned much attention for his role in the Japanese drama , “Can’t Be Honest”. He even signed a deal with an entertainment agency in Hong Kong to start his activities there.
On a related note, ex-Super Junior member, Hankyung, also made it on the list due to his popularity in China.
JYJ brings down the house in New York City!
http://aspop.info on 08.01.2011, 20:54 (UTC)
They’ve become musical gods in Korea, broken records in Japan, vacationed in Paris, and toured China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan. Their foray into the global market was launched last month with the debut album “The Beginning“, which surpassed the half million mark in pre-orders with the luxury edition easily selling out in less than a week. So it should come as no surprise that the ever-grandeur Hammerstein Ballroom was bursting at the seams tonight as JYJ took the stage in the heart of New York City, launching the JYJ World Tour, their first American showcase tour in front of 3,400 ecstatic fans.
Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu are no strangers when it comes to pleasing a crowd; after all, they’ve been on the music scene for over seven years and have been part of seven tours. And it’s definitely paid off – the turnout for JYJ’s first flesh-and-blood appearance in New York City was overwhelming. It would be an understatement to label the wait outside of the venue to simply be a “line around the block.” Imagine a crowd of human sardines that takes up ten feet of sidewalk in width, barricaded by metal fences on the verge of tipping over in certain places. Extend that image by a few avenue blocks and you get the idea. Some hardcore Cassiopeians reportedly camped out the night before (they were eventually turned away… then eventually returned around 6AM); others traveled from all over the East Coast just to see these three stars in person. And hello, after the hack job by Tinsel PR and Entitled Entertainment, the concert became free and “first come first serve” – who could pass up an opportunity like that?
Unfortunately, the venue reached its maximum capacity before the entire line was let in, so many disappointed fans were left in the cold and turned away at the entrance. Those that were lucky enough to get in began to flood the floor and balcony levels as fans scrambled to get a good view of the stage. With a vibrant pink pattern titillating on the LCD screen onstage, excited chatter mixed with a chorus of Cassiopeians singing along to the background hum of “Ayyy Girl” as the stage crew played with light and sound tests. Finally, the lights clicked on and MC Shane Yoon dramatically introduced the show, only to be humorously interrupted by fellow MC Julie Chang who got the show officially started. allkpop had previously reported that Arden Cho would be the female MC for the show, but the earlier disorganization and mess caused her to miss the New York stop, though she will apparently be at the Las Vegas and Los Angeles shows. Anyway, with no opening acts to prolong the wait, fans were immediately quenched with the live spectacle of three drippingly sexy Korean men slowly rising out of the stage floor onto elevated platforms. Cue the deafening screams of fangirls in blissful vertigo.
With the extreme levels of energy pulsating within the ballroom, “Empty” was the perfect song to kick-start the show: the boys casually walked down the steps from the platform to the slow beginning and suddenly came to life with fast-paced choreography as the percussion beat thrummed from the speakers into the crowd. A few arm pumps and mesmerizing pelvic thrusts later, the music transitioned into the fun, electro-dance beat of “Be The One“, with fanchants ringing loud and clear from beginning to end. I absolutely love the heavy, robotic dance moves that come in after the first chorus, and getting to see it live unquestionably amplified the sex factor tenfold. As the song came to an end, the fog machines at the base of the stage began to pump their goods toward the crowd, casting a complete veil over our vision. While the haze might’ve produced a cool effect for the audience, I couldn’t see anyone around me or even the stage which was less than a foot away from my eyes for the next few minutes. From what I could tell though, the young men had taken their positions on stools near the front of the stage. Their voices pierced the fog, so to speak, with the third song of the night, “Be My Girl“, a slow-paced track composed by Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. It was nice to see both JYJ’s sexy and sensitive sides in the span of ten minutes!
With half the show already over, the MCs returned to the stage for a special Q&A session with the trio based on questions drawn from the audience before the show. Shane and Julie first began by talking about the sheer volume and power of Cassiopeians around the world. “On Twitter, you guys have been crazy. Who reads allkpop?” Shane asked and, amidst cheers, continued, “allkpop put my Twitter account on their site, and I started getting JYJ-Twitter-bombed, and it was crazy. You guys are crazy!“ After each member adorably introduced himself in a few sparse English words, the MCs got straight to the questions. JYJ has spent the past few days in the Big Apple, and it seems like they’re loving it; when asked what their favorite aspects of NYC were, Junsu admired the endless skyline of buildings, Jaejoong said he favored being on stage performing for their fans, and Yoochun was in awe of the number of taxis in the city. At one point, Yoochun recited a few lines of traditional Korean from his latest drama, “SungKyunKwan Scandal.” Another fan asked whether the members read all the tweets posted to them on Twitter. Yoochun estimated that he read around 50% of his Twitter replies, and Junsu said, “I won’t lie and say I’ve read all of them, but I really do try.”
After the break, the stools were briskly whisked away and the threesome performed a Korean song from Yoochun’s drama “SungKyunKwan Scandal” titled “Chajatta (Found)”, an optimistic track about someone finally meeting the love of his life. JYJ returned to the pop ambiance afterwards with their big Kanye West collab track “Ayyy Girl”; just as they did earlier that night, the audience sang along to the lyrics, word for word. Finally, JYJ wrapped up the night with a remixed version of “Empty”, which added a layer of electronica pop to the original track. With the members shouting at the audience to jump, it felt like the entire venue was experiencing a mini earthquake. As the song climaxed and neared its end, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu stepped back onto the platform they started on and disappeared for a dramatic close to the night.
White confetti cannons exploded into the air and the ”Ayyy Girl” music video was broadcast on the LCD screen as if to console any members of the audience who were already experiencing JYJ withdrawal symptoms. Dazed fans filtered out of the entrance doors, with little cliques dotting the lobby as friends took final photos together and others reminisced about the highlights of the concert. Many fans also ended up lingering in the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the trio leaving the venue for their hotel which was located just down the block.
This was my first time seeing JYJ perform live, and the trio ultimately lived up to the hype that they’ve constructed over the past seven years. One of the keys to TVXQ’s international success lay in the members’ exceptional vocal ability, and it was delightful to discover firsthand that they were just as talented live as in studio. Furthermore, the members put on a great show despite the logistical mess that has recently plagued the tour.
Later this week, JYJ’s schedule includes two more tour stops in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. For those of you that are planning to attend, you’re in for a hell of a concert!
Jaejoong and Nicole converse on Twitter
http://aspop.info on 08.01.2011, 20:18 (UTC)
JYJ’s Kim Jaejoong and KARA’s Nicole have been conversing freely on their Twitter accounts lately, stimulating jealousy amongst their fans.
On the night of November 12th, the two exchanged a few messages, expressing their ‘oppa/dongseng’ relationship.
Their exchange was as follows:
Jaejoong: “My body isn’t in good condition. Done with my lower-body bath and sleepy now. ^^”
Nicole: “How about a nice cup of warm milk? keke It’s tastier if you add honey. Oppa, you can eat it!!”
Jaejoong: “You guys can’t eat it because of your diet, right? Such a pity for Nicole, who loves to eat~”
Nicole: “I just binged and am dieting again TT. Oppa, you should change your gluttonous ways with me keke.”
Jaejoong: “Binging is your problem. Conclusively, your mother is too good at cooking~”
Nicole: “If I don’t binge, I don’t gain weight.. I’m suddenly thinking of my mom’s rice cake soup.”
Fans commented, “I knew they were close, but seeing it like this stings my heart,” “Jaejoong, why are you so nice!,” “Nicole is close with Yunho, too. Did she save a country in her previous life?” and “I like Nicole. I must be cool, I don’t feel anything from reading this.”
Jaejoong adds another tattoo to his collection
http://aspop.info on 08.01.2011, 20:15 (UTC)
A picture of JYJ’s Jaejoong has been causing quite the buzz lately. Why? Because he unintentionally revealed his new back tattoo!
Adding to his collection of tattoos, Jaejoong recently showed off his newest one. In this picture, he is bent over while wearing a dark transparent shirt. Naturally, because of the sheerness of the material, eagle-eyed Cassies were able to spot the new tattoo right away.
What’s particularly interesting about his new ink is that it mentions fellow bandmates’ Xiah Junsu and Micky Yoochun, but fails to mention the other members in TVXQ.
>JYJ’s “The Beginning” Luxury Edition sold out
http://aspop.info on 08.01.2011, 20:13 (UTC)
Last week, JYJ (Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu) announced their new global album release titled “The Beginning”.
This upcoming album is produced by Show Shop Entertainment and distributed by Warner Music worldwide. The album will be released on CD & digital formats on October 12th. They also mentioned that they had a special limited ‘Luxury Edition’ of the album which will be numbered and limited to only 99,999 sets. Well it seems the ‘Luxury Edition’ is already sold out according to a press release from JYJ’s camp.
Warner Music has stopped all pre-sales for JYJ’s The Beginning Luxury Edition due to over subscription on demand for the limited collection CD.
The Managing Director of Warner Music Korea, PR Wang stated, “We have received over 300,000 pre-sales orders from suppliers worldwide and are currently trying to allocate the 99,999 CDs in stock to first orders received. The overwhelming response to the CD is a very encouraging start for JYJ and we hope that this album release will also be met with equal enthusiasm.”
Warner Music will not be producing further copies of the Luxury Edition but promises fans that they will do their best to include special features to the upcoming CD scheduled for launch on October 12th.
It’s very impressive for JYJ to receive 300,000 pre order sales for a luxury edition album, it’ll be interesting to see the general album sales a few weeks from now. You can pre order the regular album at Yesasia
Are you fat? Are you American? Are you a long-time crazy Cassiopean? Have you always wished to be within 100 ft. of three dreamy Korean idols? Have you mounted their The… CD and have five extra copies in case other jealous Cass steal it? Do you daydream of marrying one of the guys from Tohoshinki and shattering other fan’s dreams forever?
