[Today’s K-pop] BTS cancels US trip as Grammy Awards postponed

BTS will not be travelling to the US as the Grammy Awards were officially postponed, said label Big Hit Music Thursday.

The awards ceremony was originally to be held on Jan. 31 in the US in Los Angeles, but the Recording Academy and CBS decided to postpone the event out of concern for the omicron variant, said a joint statement released on Wednesday in the US. A future date will be announced soon, it added.

The seven-member band was to fly to participate in the show as one of the candidates for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.

Its plans for a March concert in Seoul remains unchanged, said the label. It will be almost 2 1/2 years since their last on-site concert in Seoul.

Meanwhile, the band announced that they were taking a long break for the second time in their seven-plus year career on Dec. 6 after their US tour.

AleXa goes for soft, sophisticated with English single

AleXa discussed her new single “Tattoo” which came out Thursday.

It has been about six months since her previous single “ReviveR” and she is happy to be back on stage.

The new song likens a broken heart and scars from a breakup to tattoos, and highlights her sentiments over the energy and charisma she has been known for.

“I just loved it the moment I heard it. A style I’ve really wanted to try. You will see a softer side of me,” said the songstress.

Softer, however, doesn’t mean that she went light on performances.

“I thought details mattered both for vocal and performance,” said AleXa, explaining that she paid attention to every facial expression and small details in each move.

The words are in English, as she found translating them into Korean made it hard to convey the feelings that original lyrics had. Singing in her native language -- she hails from the US -- allowed her to better express the sensibilities, she acknowledged.

Mamamoo’s Moonbyul uploads image for 3rd EP

Moonbyul of Mamamoo floated the jacket image for the main track from her upcoming third solo EP “6equence” on Thursday.

She went for a tomboy look sporting red hair and freckles and announced the title of the main track: “Lunatic.”

The EP is due out on Jan. 19 but she has already dropped two tracks -- “G999” and “Shutdown” -- in advance of her collaboration with rapper Mirani and singer-songwriter Seori. The pre-release of “Shutdown” topped the iTunes top songs chart in 10 regions, reflecting how many fans had been awaiting her return as a solo musician.

It has been almost two years since her second solo EP “Dark Side of the Moon,” which ranked among the top five on the iTunes top albums chart in 10 regions.

Momoland drops teaser for collab

Momoland unveiled teaser images for “Yummy Yummy Love” on Thursday. 

The six members took a sharp turn from their cute and charming image and showed a powerful and bold side for their new album. Posing alongside the band is the collaborating artist Natti Natasha. The Dominican singer-songwriter is a Latin pop superstar and her 2017 hit song “Criminal” generated over 2.3 billion views on YouTube.

The girl group is releasing its new album on Jan. 14, almost a year after its collaboration work “Wrap Me In Plastic.”

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)