[Today’s K-pop] Park Jihoon comes out with 5th EP

Park Jihoon held a media showcase to roll out his fifth EP, “Hot & Cold,” in southern Seoul on Thursday.
 
It has been only two months since his previous EP. During that short period he has also hosted an online concert and appeared on TV shows.
 
“I can’t not be busy since there are fans who like me,” he said, thanking them and adding that they are the source of momentum for him. He said he keeps himself healthy by boxing and learning how to play hockey.
 
With the new EP, he wanted to tell a story about love, how one swings between hot and cold. The music video for the lead track, “Serious,” shows different emotions that follow one in love. As a child actor who grew up to become one of the most popular competitors in the second season of K-pop audition show “Produce 101,” and having starred in a handful of TV dramas recently, he had no difficulties acting for the video that captures detailed emotions.
 
“I’m confident,” he said boldly, “confident that I can show many different images even when I return in a short time, and that I can put on a performance that is good enough for you.”

TXT nominated for People’s Choice Awards for 1st time 

Tomorrow X Together earned its first nomination for the People’s Choice Awards, according to an official announcement Wednesday in the US.
 
The band was nominated in the new artist category along with seven other nominees, including Olivia Rodrigo and the Kid Laroi.
 
The boy band is the only K-pop act besides BTS to be listed among the nominees. BTS is competing for the Group of 2021 award against the likes of recent collaborator Coldplay as well as Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5 and the Jonas Brothers. BTS’ megahit “Butter” is also nominated in the category for song of the year.
 
TXT has stayed on the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks in a row, after hitting the chart at No. 5 with its second studio album, “The Chaos Chapter: Freeze” in May, a K-pop band’s longest stay on the chart this year.
 
The awards ceremony will take place Dec. 7 in Santa Monica, California.

Girl group Billlie floats fan song before debut 

Billlie, a girl group set to debut next month, released an early song dedicated to fans.
 
The six-member act uploaded a lyrics video for “Flowerld,” a track from its forthcoming debut album, Thursday. This follows performance videos -- as a trio and as a whole band -- collaborating with the crews from 1Million Dance Studio, which have been raising expectations of those awaiting the arrival of Mystic Story’s first girl group.
 
The bandmates include Moon Sua, sister of Astro’s Moonbin, and Soohyun from web drama “Eighteen,” as well as a teen model from Japan, Tsuki.
 
On Wednesday, local media reports said that Kim Sooyeon, a participant in Mnet’s survival audition program, will join the group. Kim was picked as the best during a dance battle and ranked No. 10 on the show among the 99 candidates who were competing to debut as a nonet on the final episode.

Ateez fights back against privacy invasion

Ateez took a firm stand against fans who have been invading the group’s privacy.
 
Agency KQ Entertainment released a statement Thursday saying that it has decided to take legal action against those who had collected information by placing a tracking device on the company vehicles for the bandmates.
 
The firm has been pleading with fans to respect the private lives of the performers, such as off-duty hours and their private space, but that did not stop some from stepping over the line. These behaviors are inflicting mental havoc on the artists, according to the statement.
 
From now on, the agency will put up a list of repeated offenders and exclude them from any kind of participation or activities for fans, the management company announced, and if necessary, resort to stronger actions.

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