December 29, 2002

Twice the Fun: Boa Hoists SBS Dae Sang


Boa who previously won the Seoul Gayo Dae Sang on December 6 will add the SBS Dae Sang to her trophy case after being announced the winner at the 2002 SBS Gayo Dae Jun on the night of December 29 (Korea Time) at Seoul's Olympic Stadium. She was picked out of 15 Bon Sang recipients. The three hour showcase was televised live on prime time on SBS. She was selected by a formula combining album sales, fan voting and committee input. Boa who is also receiving her share of awards in the Japanese circuit is the youngest gasoo to ever win a Dae Sang. Cool won the Dae Sang at the Golden Disc Awards on December 13. There are two more Dae Sangs to be handed out before the end of the year: the KBS Dae Sang to be handed out on December 30 and the MBC Gasoo Sang to be handed out on December 31.

Here are the complete results of the 2002 SBS Awards:

Dae Sang: Boa
Bon Sang: Kang Ta, Kim Hyun Jung, Park Hyo Shin, Baby VOX, Sung Shi Kyung, Shin Seung Hoon, Shinhwa, Lee Soo Young, Lee Jung Hyun, Lim Chang Jung, Jang Nara, Koyote, Cool, Boa, WAX
Netizen Popularity Award: Jang Nara, Shinhwa
Special Award: Sugar
SBS Producers Choice Award: Rich, Jewelry
Best Popularity: J-Walk, Kang Sung Hoon
Best Producer: Park Jin Young
Best Dance: Chakra
Best Ballad: Lee Gi Chan, UN
Best R&B: Wheesung, T, Fly to the Sky
Best Hip-Hop: Psy, YG Family
Best Rock: Moon Hee Jun, Cherry Filter
Best Drama OST: CAN
Best Trot: Tae Jin Ah, Song Dae Kwan, Hyun Sook
Best New Artists: Bi, Byul, SWI.T

Follow up news: Both MBC and KBS already announced the candidates for their Dae Sangs. MBC will pick their winner out of 10 gasoos. They are Kang Ta, Boa, Bi, Sung Shi Kyung, Shinhwa, Yoon Do Hyun Band, Lee Soo Young, GOD, Jang Nara and Tae Jin Ah.

KBS will pick their Dae Sang winner out of 30 gasoos. Out of the 30 the 20 "younger generation" candidates are Lim Chang Jung, Lee Jung Hyun, Sung Shi Kyung, Kim Hyun Jung, Cool, Shinhwa, Baby VOX, Park Hyo Shin, Lee Soo Young, UN, WAX, Psy, Kang Ta, CAN, Jadu, Koyote, Bi, Park Ji Yoon, Jang Nara, Yoon Do Hyun Band.

New Album Release: 6 member male group Shinhwa released their long awaited 6th album on December 27 after a month delay. Title track is "Wedding" which well represents their signature power dance songs. For the first time members took a big role in the making of the album. Member Lee Minwoo wrote and composed track #2 "Lost In Love" and track #7 "Later" while lead singer Shin Hye Sung wrote and composed track #13 "You."

December 25, 2002

Bada Goes, Shoo Stays, Breakup Official


Today December 25, 2002 SM Entertainment announced that former SES member Shoo signed a contract extension with them and confirmed the disbandment of the popular female group. As a condition for the contract renewal SM promised Shoo a chance to do activities overseas. SM announced that Shoo would head their heavily invested and long planned “International Project” an ambitious venture to conquer the international world. “This International Project is our ‘grand’ project which will utilize our marketing plans not only into Japan and China but all of Asia and into America as well,” said SM Entertainment. Shoo had already released a single album with one of Japan’s most popular male groups in V6 and had already come out on a Korea-Japan collaborated play. She is expected to continue to go in that direction while still appearing in SM collaboration albums. “The key thing was SM being able to recognize and develop my abilities. Also SM’s excellenct production expertise and the International Project played into the decision. Even though it’s heartbreaking to see each of the members go their own way I’m sure that wherever each one of us are we will work hard to return our fans’ love.” Terms of the contract were not disclosed but sources close to the situation said it was a three year contract.

As for Bada she signed the richest contract for a female gasoo when she reached terms with MP Entertainment on December 23 for 2,000,000,000 won which roughly translates to 1.7 million in US dollars. Bada’s new contract calls for 3 regular albums and 1 best album. Bada’s contract dwarfs the next two richest contracts for female singers: Baek Ji Young’s $800,000 contract and Lee Sora’s $600,000 contract. The richest contract for a solo singer male or female is Jo Sung Mo’s 3 million dollar contract which was signed last year. Bada’s first solo album is scheduled to come out early next year with world wide recognized composers to be invited to work on her songs. MP Entertainment is mostly an entertainment company boasting top acting stars such as Jang Dong Gun and Go So Young. MP supposedly has ambitions of making Bada a star not only in Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong but all of Asia. “I want to experiment with new types of music. Even though I’ll have to sing alone from now on I have confidence in myself and will try my best,” said Bada after signing the monumental contract. Eugene the third member of the group had broken all ties with SM Entertainment on December 19 to pursue a solo singing and acting career.

SES will leave the scene after 5 years and 7 albums. They debuted on November 28, 1997 with “I’m Your Girl” which some still call their signature song. Being from the same label as the hot boy group of the time they were hyped as the “female HOT” when they first debuted. Their image was mostly of a cheerful and cute one for their first couple of years. After releasing several albums in Japan they shattered their cute image with a very mature look and sound for their 4th album. Some long time fans however didn’t like the new image. SES managed to sustain their popularity with their 4.5, 5th and recently released 5.5 album but rumors of a breakup started to heat up after it became known they would not perform “S II S” the 5.5 album’s title song and that Bada and Eugene would hardly participate in the 4th SM Town Winter album. Their innocent image might also have taken a hit after rumors recently broke out that the members decided to break up as early as 2 years ago. “We would like to thank the fans for all the love you gave to SES. We would also like to ask for your continued interest and affection for them in the future,” said SM Entertainment soon after officially announcing the breakup.

Follow up news: Jo Sung Mo owner of the richest contract in gayo history will be sued by the company that signed him to the contract for 7,000,000,000 won or 5.8 million in US dollars for breaching terms of his contract. His 2 album contract called for his 1st album being released winthin a year’s time after signing. Jo Sung Mo’s 5th album was supposed to be released in October but a best album release by his previous company delayed the release. Hyesung Media not happy with the resulting damages it supposedly suffered from the delay announced on Christmas Eve its decision to press charges for compensation in public court on December 27. Jo Sung Mo representatives argued that Hyesung Media agreed to postpone the 5th album release date after they expressed dissatisfaction with the title song. Jo Sung Mo’s 5th album is scheduled to be released in either January or February.

December 22, 2002

Breaking Apart


The aftermath of SM’s annoucement on December 19 don’t look pretty with reports coming out that SES lead singer Bada is also looking to sign with another record label. Indications are that only Shoo will remain with SM Entertainment. On December 20 Shoo revealed in a telephone interview that she would like to mainly work in Japan and that she’s ready to gain recognition as Shoo and not SES in both Korea and Japan. Shoo expressed interest in working as a gasoo and musical actress in both countries. With both Bada and Eugene gone SM is expected to officially announce the breakup of the group on December 24 a day after the contracts of the SES members end. SES fans have made clear they would rather see the group break up rather than have a new member introduced.

Eugene is currently making “love” calls to several entertainment companies but reports are that she’s most interested in YounYoung Entertainment which boasts top actors like Bae Yong Jun, Song Hye Gyo, Park Jin Hee and Park Yong Ha. According to sources familiar with the situation, during the new SM contract negotiations that eventually broke down Eugene supposedly looked more for a short term deal and acting management than dollar figures. SM and Eugene had only nice things to say after the divorce with SM saying that they parted in good terms after a mutual agreement and Eugene thanking SM for helping her get to where she was today. It’s now being said that even when debuting as part of SES Eugene’s ultimate goal was to become a successful actress. She had her first taste of what that would be like when she landed a leading role in the KBS drama “Loving You” last summer. As for Bada she’s expected to start a solo career at another company. She went as far as saying that she wanted to try out a whole different style that she couldn’t experiment while in SES. Also on December 20 a day after the shocking announcement and news broke out that SES might break up SM’s stock price dropped 6.25%. SM experienced a similar drop immediately after HOT broke up last year.

Follow up news: Lena Park who has been busy with activities in Korea and around Asia since releasing her 4th album back in June will return to the United States right after her Christmas Concert on December 25. The LA native and R&B queen enrolled at Columbia University back in September 2001 as a literature major and will fly to New York to start studying for final exams which start in January.

December 19, 2002

S.O.S: Eugene to Leave SM Entertainment


Fans of female group SES are in panic mode right now after news broke out that new contract negotiations between member Eugene and SM have broken down and that she has decided to leave the company. Today on December 19 SM Entertainment released a public statement which stated that Eugene would be leaving for a solo career or whatever other path she chooses and that they would not pursue her anymore for a contract extension. According to SM the current contracts signed by the SES members back in 1997 ends on December 23, 2002. SM representatives have also said that they are currently working on long term deals for Bada and Shoo but that no agreement has been reached yet. A lot of industry insiders have expressed that without long time member Eugene SES should only break up but SM added in their statement, “We have not decided on anything regarding the situation.” There is a chance that if and when Bada and Shoo sign contract extensions that a new member might be introduced to replace Eugene in order to continue the group. But that might not bode well with both Bada and Shoo who instead might look to go at other directions. Bada has been rumored to wanting to go solo while Shoo has been doing TV activities and might also be looking at an acting career. Eugene was the only SES or SM member not to lend her voice for the recently released SM Town Winter album.

The question of couse in everyone’s mind is why? Why is Eugene leaving Kpop’s top girl group and Korea’s “glamour” company in SM Entertainment? Incidentally the same things are being said when JTL left SM a year ago that she wants more freedom and the like. According to rumors she’s supposedly leaving SM to join Park Yong Ha’s entertainment company. Park Yong Ha is the actor she met while shooting the KBS drama “Loving You” back in the summer and whom Eugene had a well publicized romantic relationship ever since. Word is that she has dreams of continuing singing and acting and under the guidance of Park Yong Ha become a top actress in Korea just not under SM which is mostly a music record company.

Follow up news: 3 member male group JTL released on December 18 a special 1.5 album called “Love Story.” It contains 5 new songs and 6 remixed songs from their 1st album which including “A Better Day” and “Enter the Dragon.”

December 17, 2002

SES: End of the Road?


SES fans are fearing the worst these days mainly due to the absence of SES members Bada and Eugene in the recently released SM Town winter album and the decision not to perform for their 5.5 album. Many in the industry fear that the reason for the no shows is because their contracts already ran out. According to a law required report submitted by SM Entertainment a couple of years ago the contracts for all 3 SES members runs until November 27, 2002. Their 5.5 album was released on November 21. The reasoning is that Shoo is the only member who signed a contract extension so far. A look at the schedule posted at SES’ official site reveals that Shoo is the only member actively doing any TV activities. According to the schedule Shoo will also be the only member to appear at SM Town’s SMILE Concert on December 22 which is supposed to feature all the SM artists. SM Town’s 4th Winter album is also very telling. Bada and Eugene are nowhere to be found in the album’s photo jacket or music video and while Shoo is featured in 3 of the songs traces of SES as a group are loudly missing. Bada does have a solo song called “The Lord’s Prayer” included but it’s suspected that it’s only there because it was recorded before November 27. With SM Entertainment being suspiciously quiet about the SES situation fans are being highly skeptical especially after last year’s fiasco when group HOT broke up less than 3 months after declaring to the world “Together Forever.”

Rumors are already flying that there’s a press conference scheduled for January 2 to announce the breakup of the group. Anxious fans are hoping that the press conference is actually being held to announce contract extensions. Angry demands that SM sign contract extensions for the SES members are already filling SMTown.com’s official message board. Whether or not that actually happens has yet to be seen. At the very least an announcement is expected soon after New Year’s. Comments made by Eugene in a July interview while acting in the KBS drama “Loving You” are very revealing, “Each one of us have been thinking about our future ever since our debut. We can’t go on singing as SES forever nor do we want to drag this on without any thought. We want to show as various skills as possible. Even though our contracts with SM Entertainment ends at the end of the year no decision about SES’ future has been made.” SES debuted in November 1997 with “I’m Your Girl” and instantly became the first largely successful girl group in Kpop in a time when the scene was dominated by boy groups. They are largely credited for paving the road for other female groups like Finkl and Baby VOX.

Follow up news: According to the information submitted by SM Entertainment Shinhwa’s contract runs out on April 30, 2003 which gives them just enough time to do full album activities for their upcoming 6th album which looks like will be their last unless they all sign contract extensions. As a follow up note Fly to the Sky’s contract is scheduled to expire on December 8, 2004 while Boa’s contract runs until 2005.

Award Mania: Tensions are already high for the upcoming SBS Gayo Dae Jun (Dec. 27), KBS Gayo Dae Sang (Dec. 30) and MBC Gasoo Sang (Dec. 31). While Boa won the Dae Sang at the Seoul Gayo Awards coed group Cool came home with the Dae Sang at the Golden Disc Awards. Insiders say that the list of possible winners is not limited to those two. Group GOD won all 3 remaining awards last year.

December 14, 2002

Finally! Cool Nabs Dae Sang at Golden Disc Awards


Veteran coed group Cool was awarded the Dae Sang at the 17th Annual Golden Disc Awards which was televised live in Korea on December 13 by MBC. The Golden Disc Awards out of the major award shows relies most heavily on album sales in selecting their Dae Sang winner. A chunky 60% of the formula used is based on the artist’s album sales with 20% based on fan voting and the last 20% based on judge input. Therefore it wasn’t a big surprise the top award went to Cool who sold the most albums in 2002 with more than 650,000 registered sales of their 7th album. This is the first Dae Sang of any kind for Cool who have in the Kpop scene for 9 years. Cool who are known for the cheerful style of their signature songs released their 7th album in July with the hit single “Truth.” Cool consisting of Kim Sung Soo, Lee Jae Hoon and Yuri debuted in 1994 and subsequently released a total of 11 albums. Incidentally Cool released a 12th album a special winter album on the day of the awards called “Second Whisper”. The 2 hour ceremony took place in front of 4,000 fans and was hosted by Kim Dong Ho and Song Yuna.

Here are the entire results of the 2002 Golden Disc Awards:

Dae Sang: Cool
Bon Sang: WAX, Koyote, Park Hyo Shin, Sung Shi Kyung, Lee Soo Young, Shin Seung Hoon, Jang Nara, Shinhwa, Kang Ta, Cool
Popularity Award: Baby VOX, Lee Jung Hyun
Best New Aritst Award: Wheesung, Bi
Special Award: Park Kyung Lim
Best Trot Award: Tae Jin Ah
Best Rock Award: Jaurim
Best Music Video: JoPD’s “My Style”
Best Director: Kim Nam Kyung (Park Hwa Yo Bi’s “How Is It”)
Most Popular Music Video: Park Ji Yoon’s “I’m a Man,” Lena Park’s “In Dreams”

Follow up news: GOD’s 5th album release date has been delayed even further to December 24. It will be released in conjunctin to their Human Concert series which will start on Christmas Day. GOD who finished recording the 5th album in early December are currently preparing for their concert series.

New album release: Members of male group JTL are currently staying up all nighters while trying to finish a special album. The 1.5 album will contain both new songs and remix songs from the 1st album. The goal is to release the new album before the end of the year. JTL’s official 2nd album is scheduled to come out sometime early next year. A 30 second sample clip of one of their new songs can be heard at JTL’s official site at www.yjmusic.co.kr.

December 7, 2002

Teen Power: Boa Wins 2002 Seoul Gayo Dae Sang

In what was thought to be a wide open race Boa was declared the winner of the 2002 Dae Sang at the Seoul Gayo Awards on December 6. Boa who turned 16 in November is the youngest winner (solo or group singer) to claim the much coveted Seoul Gayo Dae Sang. Boa was voted the victor by a board of 13 judges. She received 7 votes while Yoon Do Hyun Band received 4 votes and Shinhwa received 2. The judges voted on the Dae Sang winner out of the 10 Bon Sang recipients who were decided by a combined formula of committee input, album sales and fan voting. The award makes her the definite favorite to win the rest of the end of the year Dae Sangs which will be handed out at the Golden Disc Awards (Dec. 13), SBS Awards (Dec. 29), KBS Awards (Dec. 30) and MBC Awards (Dec. 31). If she does sweep all 5 it will be the first time anybody will have done so since HOT did it in 1997. Boa released her 2nd album in April which contained her hit single “No.1” after nearly a year absence in which she performed in Japan. The album soon sold more than 500,000 copies which was exceptionally good in what what was considered a “down” year in album sales. She released a special 2.5 album in September containing all her Japanese songs translated to Korean which also turned out to be sucessful.

Here are the rest of the results:
Dae Sang: Boa
Bon Sang: Yoon Do Hyun Band, Boa, Shinhwa, Sung Shi Kyung, Cool, Lee Soo Young, Jang Nara, Koyotae, Park Hyo Shin, WAX
Best New Artists: Wheesung, Bi, Rich
Best Writer: Shim Hyun Bo (Sung Shi Kyung's "We Get Along Pretty Well" & Yurisangja's "Can I Love You")
Best Composer: Lim Gi Hoon (Wax's "I Request from You")
Best Producer: Park Geun Tae (Jang Nara, Kim Hyun Jung, Jewelry, T)
Best Record Production: T-Entertainment (Lena Park, Jaurim, Roller Coaster)
Best Music Video: Jang Jae Hyuk (JoPD's "My Style")
Popularity Award: Shinhwa
Special Award: Baby VOX
World Cup Merit Award: Yoon Do Hyun Band
Best Trot: Tae Jin Ah
Best Rock: Cherry Filter
Best R&B: Lena Park
Best Folk: Yurisangja
Best Hip-Hop: YG Family
Best Live Performance: Lee Moon Sae's Solo Concert
Best O.S.T: Ya In Shi Dae (Kang Sung)
Best Stylist: Jung Bo Yoon (Boa)

Follow up news: SM Entertainment who happens to be Boa’s production company released the 4th installation of their winter album series today December 7. SM Town’s 4th Winter Album which features all of SM’s artists has a title track called “My Angel My Light.” Artists featured in the album are Yoo Young Jin, Kang Ta, Hee Jun, SES, Shinhwa, Fly to the Sky, Song Kwang Shik, Choo Ga Yul, Boa, MILK, Dana, Black Beat, Shinvi and Isak N Jiyeon.

Album Release: T just released her 2nd R&B album with title track “To My Love.” T who first debuted in 1997 as a member of the Hip-Hop group Uptown is widely recognized for both her Hip-Hop and R&B skills. On November 27 she released her first Hip-Hop album “Gemini” in Japan. “Gemini” which was released in Korea in May was also released in Taiwan through production company Avex. The album is said to being well received in both countries. Her newest R&B album mostly contains R&B songs but like her first album a few Hip-Hop songs where included like “You” which features Drunken Tiger.