The Korea Herald

Culture Ministry acts against music chart manipulation

MusicAug 8, 2013

A day after major record labels YG Entertainment, S.M. Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Star Empire Entertainment filed a complaint with Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office claiming local digital music charts were being illegally manipulated, the Culture Ministry announced related countermeasures on Thursday.According to the complainants, the number of cases where firms were paid to illegally manipulate music chart rankings has been on the rise. The manipulators boost song rankings by playing
S.M. Entertainment to open hallyu museum in L.A.

MusicAug 8, 2013

Entertainment agency S.M. Entertainment, home to Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ, SHINee, f(x) and others, announced on Thursday that it would establish a museum-entertainment complex tentatively named SMTOWN Museum. In collaboration with S.M. Entertainment USA, the SMTOWN Museum, which will be located on Oxford Avenue in L.A.’s Koreatown, will feature an entertainment space, a Korean restaurant as well as other content related to K-pop stars including hologram displays. “Through the remod
Long-lost Orson Welles film turns up in Italy

FilmAug 8, 2013

NEW YORK (AFP) ― A long-lost silent film directed by Orson Welles in 1938 has been recovered from a warehouse in northeastern Italy, where it will be screened in public for the first time in October.“Too Much Johnson” was originally intended to be shown as a prologue to a slapstick comedy at the Mercury repertory theatre in New York, but it was never finished.Until staff at the Cinemazero art house cinema in Pordenone, Italy found the work print in a warehouse earlier this year, it was thought t
‘The Terror Live’ to get North American release

FilmAug 8, 2013

After marking 2 million viewers within just six days of release, “The Terror Live” will be released in seven cities in North America starting on Aug. 9, the movie’s investment distribution company Lotte Entertainment announced Thursday. The North American premiere will take place at CGV theater in Los Angeles on Friday, followed by New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Toronto. More screens may be added depending on the film’s performance. Meanwhile, nearly 3 million people have s
Richie Havens tribute set at Woodstock 1969 site

MusicAug 8, 2013

BETHEL, New York (AP) ― The ashes of Richie Havens will be scattered across the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival on the anniversary of the final day of the concert he opened with a nearly three-hour performance.Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the music venue built on the Woodstock site in New York state, announced Tuesday that a musical tribute to the folk singer and guitarist will be held Aug. 18. That’s the 44th anniversary of the final day of the landmark three-day concert that drew more
Crayon Pop's comic code captivates fans

MusicAug 8, 2013

A motorcycle helmet, a polo shirt buttoned up to the neck and loose jogging pants under a skirt: These are the costumes that members of girl group Crayon Pop decided to wear while hitting the stage with their latest single “Bar Bar Bar.”When South Korea’s music industry is flocked by girl groups competing with each other to show who can be sexier or sweeter, Crayon Pop’s tactics to distinguish itself from others with a comic concept seems to be working well. Hwang Hyun-chang, the chief executive
Former Deux member denies quarrel with bandmate

MusicAug 8, 2013

Lee Hyun-do, a former member of iconic hip-hop duo Deux, denied on Monday rumors that he and his former bandmate, the late Kim Sung Jae, were involved in a violent quarrel over a woman. The supposed dispute has been rumored to be the main reason for the premature break-up of Deux.“The break-up was strictly ‘strategic,’” Lee said on “Golden Fishery-Radio Star,” a popular talk show on broadcasting network MBC. “I wanted to be a music producer and Kim wanted to become a solo artist.”Lee said that i
Cellist-conductor Chang continues sharing music through orchestra

MusicAug 7, 2013

Now dedicating the majority of her time to conducting, cellist and conductor Chang Han-na is one of the brightest conducting talents of her generation as she takes up the roles of music director of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Both appointments immediately followed her debut appearances with the orchestras. QPO is one of only two professional orchestras in the Gulf region and TSO is a Norwegian professional orchestra that per
Chicago only U.S. stop for David Bowie exhibit

TheaterAug 7, 2013

CHICAGO (AP) ― An exhibition on the career of David Bowie will make its only U.S. stop at Chicago‘s Museum of Contemporary Art next year.“David Bowie is” is at London’s V&A Museum until Sunday. The V&A Museum curated the exhibit and says it has been staying open until 10 p.m. to meet demand. Attendance has been about 300,000.The exhibition next goes to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Museum of Image and Sound in Sao Paulo before coming to Chicago from September 2014 to January 2015
Discovery hammered for shark special

TelevisionAug 7, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― A Discovery network special that speculated about whether a giant prehistoric shark could still exist has drawn a passionate response from viewers and starkly raised the question about the worth of big ratings.The program, “Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives,” opened Discovery’s annual “Shark Week” during the weekend. With an estimated 4.8 million viewers, it had the largest audience of any show in the 26 years that Discovery has made “Shark Week” a part of its summer programming
Wind band festival to gather Korean, foreign ensembles

MusicAug 7, 2013

The 4th Korea International Wind Band Festival kicks off Aug. 25 with a grand opening ceremony at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul. Under the slogan “Dynamic Korea,” the festival will feature bands and ensembles from Korea as well as abroad, with a select number of special invitees including world-renowned conductor Philippe Langlet and president of World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Bert Alders. The opening ceremony for the festival will feature performances by Jeju Provincial Seogwi
Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep to reunite for ‘The Good House’

FilmAug 7, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― More than a dozen years after their last film together, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep will reunite on screen for an adaption of Ann Leary’s darkly comic small town New England tale, “The Good House.”De Niro and Streep memorably starred together in 1978’s “The Deer Hunter,” as well as 1984’s “Falling in Love” and 1996’s “Marvin’s Room.”FilmNation Entertainment announced Tuesday that it acquired the rights for “The Good House” from Jane Rosenthal, De Niro’s producing partner. She
Ku Hye-sun to hold art exhibition in Shanghai

Aug 7, 2013

Popular actress, filmmaker, singer and artist Ku Hye-sun is to hold a solo art exhibition in Shanghai, according to her local agency YG Entertainment.The upcoming exhibition, scheduled to be held at the Korean Cultural Service Shanghai from Aug. 17 to 31, will feature some 20 artworks by Ku. The 28-year-old’s works are said to explore the themes of nostalgia and memories.On the opening day of the exhibition, Aug. 17, Ku will attend a special event where she will meet underprivileged children in
Media Rating Board OKs screening of Kim Ki-duk’s controversial ‘Moebius’

FilmAug 7, 2013

The Korea Media Rating Board has lifted its ban on the screening of filmmaker Kim Ki-duk’s “Moebius” in Korea, after the director re-submitted the film twice and cut two minutes and 30 seconds from the original version. “Moebius” received an R rating, which prohibits teenagers under 18 from seeing the movie.The film initially received a “restricted screening” rating from the state-run rating agency in June, for its controversial subject matter ― especially for scenes that depict incestuous encou
Super Junior to release travel book

Aug 7, 2013

K-pop group Super Junior members are becoming tour guides with their new travel book, “Super Junior’s Experience Korea NEWS+Seoul.” The two-volume guide, which will include four separate sections titled “Tasting,” “Feeling,” “Making” and “Enjoying,” is set to hit the shelves Aug. 16.For the making of the book, 10 of the group’s members traveled in pairs around Korea during different seasons. Siwon and Donghae traveled to the northern part of the country, Kyuhyun and Yesung to the east, Shindong