Cable music channel Mnet will host the “Special M Countdown in China” at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China on May 28, production company CJ E&M announced Tuesday.　The concert will bring together top Korean and Chinese artistes. Poster for “M Countdown in China” (Mnet)　Korean artistes who are performing include seven-member boy band BTOB, five-member rock band FT Island, six-member girl groups G-Friend and T-ara, Jun Jin of idol band Shinhwa, K-pop quartet Sistar, six-member boy band VIX

Singer-songwriter Baek A-yeon swept domestic music charts Tuesday with her new single “So-so.”　“So-so,” which was released at midnight on Monday, has emerged top on eight music charts -- MelOn, Genie, Mnet, Naver Music, Olleh Music, Bugs, Soribada and Monkey3.　The new song, written and composed by Baek, is a neo-urban tune speaking for singles who don’t expect dramatic romance, but hope to fall in love with somebody. The music video for Baek A-yeon’s digital single “So-So” (JYP Entertainment)　Th

Madonna is dismissing critics of her tribute to Prince at the Billboard Music Awards with style.　A day after her performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” and duet with Stevie Wonder on “Purple Rain,” the pop singer took to social media Monday and posted a picture of herself in a purple boa with a flower in her teeth.　She wrote that anyone who wants to do a tribute to Prince is welcome to, “whatever your age gender or skin color. If you loved him and he inspired you then show it!!! I love Prince 4 e

Madonna closed Sunday's Billboard Music Awards paying tribute to Prince with the help of Stevie Wonder, ending the night with “Purple Rain.”　Wearing a shiny purple suit, Madonna kicked off the tribute with a version of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which Prince wrote and Sinead O’Connor recorded. She sat in a large purple chair and was teary-eyed as she sang the song, as videos and photos of Prince were projected behind her.　Wonder, who wore a purple scarf, later joined her for “Purple Rain” as the au

Seolhyun’s image promoting 2016-2018 Visit Korea Year was taken down from Visit Korea Committee’s website and Facebook account.　Seolhyun, a member of K-pop girl group AOA, has promoted the Visit Korea Year along with actor Lee Min-ho as honorary ambassadors since last November.　The committee’s website and Facebook account previously displayed both Lee and Seolhyun’s images, but only Lee’s image is now shown. Seolhyun of K-pop girl group AOA (Visit Korea Committee)　Seolhyun and fellow bandmate Ji

Jessica　“With Love, J”　(Coridel Entertainment)　Jessica’s album is warm and upbeat, singing of love and hope. It also takes less risks and plays it safe with familiar melodies and generic lyrics.　The former Girls’ Generation member, who left the group in 2014 to pursue her fashion business Blanc & Eclare, has returned to the K-pop scene with her first album, “With Love, J.” 　Title track “Fly” is a bright, moderately catchy pop track about aiming high and achieving your dreams. It adds a global vo

Tiffany　“I Just Wanna Dance”　(S.M. Entertainment)　In her first solo EP “I Just Wanna Dance,” Tiffany of famed girl group Girls’ Generation is stripped of her usual glitziness. The cover features her in a loose-fitting slip, while the album’s title is sprawled in minimal font against a pink background -- perhaps in a nod to the singer‘s famous fondness for the color. 　The sounds match the visuals, conveying that hazy old-school feeling trending these days.　The album comprises six soft, retro-pop

Darrell Scott　“Couchville Sessions” 　(Full Light Records)　Darrell Scott is one of those Nashville-based singer-songwriters who out-of-towners hear in some of the city’s smaller venues and wonder: “Why isn’t he more famous?”　He answers emphatically on the stellar “Couchville Sessions,” a new release of material recorded 15 years ago in his living room in rural Tennessee. In a spirited indictment of the music industry’s over-reliance on labels called “Down to the River,” Scott spells it out in the

MILAN (AP) -- La Scala’s 2016-17 season is a lot about healing old wounds.　It opens with a once-contested version of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and continues with the long-awaited return of its former musical director who left abruptly in 2005 amid open hostility from opera house employees.　The program for the storied opera house announced Wednesday emphasizes the Italian repertoire to match the vision of principal conductor Riccardo Chailly, who will become musical director in January.　Nine o

Korean boy band Big Bang will restart its tour of China next month followings its concerts there that drew tens of thousands of people earlier this year, the group’s agency said Wednesday.　In March, Big Bang met about 182,000 fans in “The 2016 BigBang MADE [V.I.P.] Tour” of eight Chinese cities. After China, the band started on a tour of four Japanese cities, which runs from April 22 to May 29.　The boys will resume the China tour in June in view of the enthusiastic support of their Chinese fans,

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- World-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman said he canceled his Wednesday performance with the North Carolina Symphony after he was told he would not be able to include a personal statement opposing the state’s new law limiting antidiscrimination policies for LGBT people in the event program.　In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Perlman said he will not perform in North Carolina until the law is reversed.　“If I’m invited, I will come once the law’s r

K-pop girl group EXID is making a comeback with its first full-length studio album on June 1, the group’s agency Banana Culture announced Wednesday.　“EXID has completed shooting promotional pictures and filming the music video,” local media reported Wednesday, quoting an agency insider.　The lead song of the upcoming album will present a completely different concept from the group’s past hit songs “Up & Down” and “Hot Pink,” added the source. K-pop girl group EXID (Official Facebook)　The five-mem

Korean classical music artists continue to dominate elite international music competitions, with three budding Kumho Art Hall pianists snagging the top three spots at this year’s 68th annual Prague Spring International Music Competition held in the Czech Republic capital last week. 　Local piano prodigy Park Jin-hyung, 20, took home the crown in the competition's piano category Saturday, while his fellow Kumho artists Kim Jun-ho and Han Kyu-ho won the second and third place prizes, respectively.