by Ra Hwak Jin / Lee Hyo Yoon
◇ BTS take long break until the end of year...members start Instagram
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| ▲ This photo, a captured image from BTS' official Instagram account's list of followings, shows the 7 members' official individual accounts. From the top are V, Jimin, J-Hope, Suga, Jin, RM and Jungkook's accounts. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
BTS members are to take a long break to 'recharge' and spend the holidays with their families.
Three members -- Jimin, Jin, and Jungkook -- returned to Korea on the 6th from Los Angeles, U.S. where they secured a top music honor and had four sold-out live concerts.
Upon their return, the three members has gone into 10-day self-quarantine mandated by the government for all international arrivals in order to stem the spread of the omicron variant of the new coronavirus.
Including those who haven't returned from America yet --RM, Suga, V, and J-hope--, all 7 members will take a break until the end of 2021. This is their first time spending the end-of-year holidays with their families since debut.
But, the band is increasing communication with the fans during this period.
All the members suddenly made individual Instagram accounts on the 6th and have started sharing their days with the fans.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Big Hit Entertainment, shows BTS' music video for "Life Goes On." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
◇ JYP’s rookie boy-group Xdinary Heroes finally debuts
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| ▲ This photo, provided by JYP Entertainment, shows rookie band Xdinary Heroes. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Xdinary Heroes, rookie boy group K-pop agency JYP's artist label Studio J is launching after about six years since releasing Day 6 in 2015, has officially debuted on December 6th Monday.
The group’s name, Xdinary Heroes, is short for "extraordinary heroes," meaning anybody can become a hero.
The six-piece act’s members are drummer Gun-il, bassist Jooyeon, keyboardist O.de and Jungsu, and guitarists Gaon and Jun Han.
The debut track "Happy Death Day," written and composed by members Jungsu and Gaon, satirizes the psychology of people with dual personalities and takes on a new interpretation of life and death.
"Our goal is to show never-before-seen musical tones through Xdinary Heroes," the boy band said during an online showcase held Monday.
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| ▲ These photos, provided by JYP Entertainment, show rookie band Xdinary Heroes. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
They showed off their live skills through MBC FM4U’s “Dreaming Radio” on the 7th .
The band also appeared on KBS 2TV’s “Music Bank” on the 10th and on MBC’s “Show! Music Core” on the 11th to present their powerful performance.
They are steadily more and more approaching the fans. The band is to appear on SBS’ “Inkigayo “ and KBS Cool FM’s “BTOB Kiss The Radio” Sunday afternoon.
◇ Song Min-ho returns with 'TANG!♡'
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| ▲ This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows Song Min-ho. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Song Min-ho of band WINNER returned to the music scene with his 3rd solo regular album "TO INFINITY." on the 7th.
The album consists of 10 song including title track "TANG!♡" and side tracks such as "LOVE IN DA CAR," "PYRAMID" and "KILL." The artist took part in composing, writing lyrics of and producing all the tracks.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows Song Min-ho making music video for his new song. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
He said, "The album's concept is 'city cowboy,'" during an online press conference on the day.
The album's name was inspired from the Buzz Light Year's famous phrase "To Infinity And Beyond" in animation "Toy Story."
On the day of its release, the album swept 1st place on iTunes albums chart in 14 countries, according to this management agency YG Entertainment.
The artist has appeared on MBC “Show! Music Core” on the 11th and will stage the title song and side track “LOVE IN DA CAR” on SBS "Inkigayo” Sunday.
◇ Continuing COVID-19 wave...Kep1er postpones debut and Wanna One changes schedules for MAMA
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Wake One and Swing Entertainment, shows girl group 'Kep1er'. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Due to the recent new wave of COVID-19 infection caused by the Omicron variant, the entertainment scene has gone through several difficulties.
Rookie Girl-group Kep1er produced through Mnet audition program "Girl's Planet 999" has pushed back their debut to January 2022 because of the staff got tested positive for the infection.
The group has also cancelled their schedules for the 2021 MAMA.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Mnet, show group Wanna One in 2018. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
K-pop project boy band Wanna One and all staff members halted rehearsals to conduct preemptive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on Friday after one staff member who received negative results from a self COVID test turned out to test positive after taking the PCR test.
Although Wanna One's test results were all negative, "Wanna One will not attend the red carpet for the 2021 MAMAs and the actual event," Mnet, the music cable channel that annually hosts the MAMAs, said.
In addition, Super Junior's Choi Si-won, who was scheduled to attend the 2021 MAMAs as a presenter, was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus. The singer-actor announced to not attend the award ceremony due to self-quarantine.
Actress Yoon Eun-hye, former member of Baby V.O.X, also tested positive for the virus.
Yoon shared the news through her social media post on the 9th.
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