Seven First Kisses Lotte web drama- Episode 1

The much awaited and anticipated web drama "7 First Kisses" produced by Lotte Group has been released. It features a number of Hallyu stars and one of them is the famous actress Choi Ji Woo. She stars as the pretty fairy godmother who happens to visit the Myeongdong Lotte Duty Free store and left her most valuable ID book at the counter. In order to repay back the naive and innocent looking concierge desk officer Soo Jin (played by Lee Cho Hee), she reads her mind.


Soo Jin is a simpleton whereby she has never dated a single man in her lifetime. Every year she celebrates her birthday alone and hopes to find a man soon...but the chances are always zero. Even her colleagues bully her around and she is one outcast at the counter.

We get a treat cameo appearance by actor Kim Ji Hoon whom Soo Jin thought would be her dream guy but turns out he's just a customer looking for a trash bin at the department store. Awww.... "heart break"....sighs....

In this very first episode, Choi Ji Woo found out her wish and tells her she will be meet a man in 10 seconds. Soo Jin rejected her kind offer only to be shocked she was shown a pair of various cards on the counter desk like magic!

Soo Jin didn't expect anything to come true however she noticed everything including the clock tends to repeat and freezes after 10 seconds. We don't get to see why but the fairy godmother disappears after holding Soo Jin's hand. She looked around and suddenly she saw a male figure walking towards the concierge counter. To her shock, it's none other than actor/model Lee Jun Ki. He sounded rather friendly and asked her casually when will she be getting off from work. The two evil colleagues go green in envy wondering why is a handsome looking guy asking Soo Jin out! 

Everything just happened too quickly within 10 seconds...Soo Jin is just baffled when Jun Ki says he will wait for her to have dinner together. *Faints* 

A sneak preview shows us her colleagues squealing in delight advising her Jun Ki is one of the chaebol IT industry and he even drives a flashy red sports car to pick her up from work. She thinks it's just all a dream. 

OK... I have to admit if I was Soo Jin I'd be dying inside with happiness. I might be

someone who have saved the country in the past life. I don't care if it's a dream or not, it's one hell of a 'Raining Men' in this web drama. Lotte had lined up Lee Jun Ki, Park Hae Jin, Ji Chang Wook, Lee Jong Suk, EXO's Kai, 2PM's Tacyeon and Lee Min Ho for this series.

While fans might be going ga-ga over Lee Min Ho or Lee Jong Suk...I think I'd be perfectly happy if there's Jun Ki and Park Hae Jin in my list... *he-he!*- smirks!

1 Night 2 Days Kim Jong Min's special episode (Part 1)

It's all about Kim Jong Min for the recent 1 Night 2 Days episode. He has been with the show for nearly 9 years. It's been 17 years since he debut in the entertainment industry as he started off with the singing group Koyote. He specially thanked his fellow female vocalist Shinji who supported him and for what he is right now. The rest laughed when Jong Min drew a life graph of himself since he started. He suffered slump periods as well since he started singing.

He remembered clearly the best 3 episodes of 1 Night 2 Days were - season 1 where he ate the udon mission and the train left without him and crew member! He still recalls back how season 3 kicks off as everyone was feeling rather awkward and reckons it might be a failure since the original members are no longer with the program. But again it was Cha Tae Hyun who brought the show together and everyone went berserk and crazier as ever! Tae Hyun even named him the 'new fool' for the show.

The casts were brought to Gacheon where a spot called Darangyi village. Darangyi village

is situated at Namhae- around 6 hours drive out from Seoul. Darangyi Village most famous attraction are the friendly people and terraced rice paddies on the steep hills. The place is very picturesque and great for avid photographer fans. PD Yu informs them Jong Min has been to nearly 180 variety programs since in the late 1990's. He was in Love Letter, X-Men, Six Heroines, Ya Shim Shim Man, Happy Together...etc. However there is one program he was never in it which is the program aired simultaneous time as 1N2D on Sunday nights.That happens to be Running Man! The casts were excited after been told they are playing the name tag elimination game. Each member has 2 name tags and they are to pick 2 different kinds of drinks. Whoever rips off another person's name tag and drinks the penalty shot earns a point. The winner with most name tag wins the game and at least 3 winners will get to feast themselves to lovely big lunch.

Without wasting time, each member hiked up highest of the village to hide from each other. Everyone is afraid of Shi Yoon as he is a fast runner. Jun Ho tries to team up with Jong Min however he failed the mission terribly. His name tag was first ripped off by Defconn. It was a hide and seek game to test the fastest and ruthless of all. Defconn drank the cider vinegar drink and despite that he still lost out. Tae Hyun was 2nd best and it came down to Shi Yoon and Jong Min. Unfortunately Jong Min was too slow in ripping tags and he joined Jun Ho as the losing team. They get neither lunch nor dinner. Awww....He pouted with disappointment since it's a special episode on him yet he needs to starve. The staffs gave the two losers a chance- they pick a cup/glass and the get to eat 'cup rice'. However first the two need to peel off the head and guts of the dried anchovies filling up the cup/glass they picked. Jun Ho being greedy picked a medium size popcorn bucket struggles to fill it up while Jong Min easily filled up the beer mug. He gets a nice portion of rice, soup, fish and side dishes in the mug.

 After dinner, PD Yu advises Jong Min to get dressed up neatly and freshen up as he is having a 'blind date' with a mysterious woman. OOooo! The rest of the members were more excited than him. They are to sit in the Operations tent while communicating with Jong Min via ear piece instructing him how to flirt and court his blind date. First of all he was shocked when he saw a male staff dressed in a pigtail wig and dress as his partner. It was a mere test to see how well he reacts. The rest were laughing away in the room wondering how Jong Min will react when he sees the real woman. Indeed they introduced him to an English instructor Kim So Yeon who has two dimples and perfect smile. She was sleek and tall like any other ordinary idol girl group member. Jun Ho continues to crack Jong Min up by teaching him ridiculous ways of flirting with the girl. However the 'romance teacher' Shi Yoon softens up the atmosphere and instructed Jong Min to ask better and nicer questions.

Defconn's coaching certainly didn't help further- asking a green tea latte without green tea!

So Yeon continuously laughed seeing the weird antics by Jong Min only to realize later that he has been following instructions from the ear piece. He apologized for his rudeness and he wished to see her again. She just smiled and said she will reconsider. The staffs inform So Yeon that if she wishes to see Jong Min again, she can wait for him at the pavilion. There were two pavilions at the corner of the hill. The rest of members were feeling anxious for Jong Min as this might be his destiny or perhaps NOT. Hahah! They waited while Jong Min yells So Yeon's name. There was no answer and pitch black from the other pavilion. Tae Hyun felt bad for Jong Min thinking this was the end.

Stay tune for the 2nd part of Jong Min's special episode.

Jo Jung Suk and EXO's D.O guests in Running Man.

Musical actor Jo Jung Suk and EXO's D.O (Do Kyung Soo) were invited as special guests for Running Man Episode 327. The two were here to promote their new movie 'Hyung' (Brother). 

First of all, the two were seated at the market area whereby they were filling their hungry stomachs with variety of food and even treated the staffs with 20 cups of iced Americano.

However who is footing the bill? The answer is simple- Jung Suk and Kyung Soo's so-called brothers are Jae Suk and Kwang Soo! They were kind of horrified hearing they have to pay the bill. To be fair, Jae Suk and Kwang Soo played a game whereby loser has to pay the food and drinks. The two mentioned they don't have their wallet with them. However PD in advance taken their credit cards from their managers! Jae Suk tries to avoid to pay by stating his limit is only $80! Kwang Soo being unlucky as usual had his credit card swiped! 

So for pairing 'Bromance'- Tiger Kook with Big nose brother Suk Jin, Ji Hyo paired with Haha, Kwang Soo-D.O and Jae Suk with Jung Suk. First game instead of rock paper scissors, Jae Suk decided to pull each others side burns. Whoever screams will be out. Surprisingly D.O was one of the last three standing one with Ji Hyo and Kookie. Next was singing karaoke. They have to choose a song, sing and watch the score. Jae Suk brags on Jung Suk's singing skills since he is a musical actor. However the silly karaoke machine doesn't acknowledge his singing with score of 86 only. Next up was Kwang Soo trying to belt out his emotions in Kim Bum Soo's I Miss You. Even the start first verse, the two missed out and everyone cracked up. They scored 88 points. Followed by Suk Jin with Kook singing some oldie tune as if they were in some 70's event. Jae Suk noted D.O's mouth was gaping away stunned to see the most shocking performances and tuneless music from Ji Hyo & Haha. As for Jung Suk, he practically laughed away having great time. For final score, PD tells them there are additional bonus marks whereby if audience stand up and clapped, they earned extra points which means Jae Suk's team wins. Ji Hyo's team scored 91 points in karaoke however nobody was clapping for them- shows how lousy... LOL!

Jung Suk gets into a dark room to pick their cards. He was unlucky picking a Faulty card and another one. Jae Suk had his poker face where he knows when to swap them around.

Next mission is testing their knowledge based on drawings. Their "brothers" will get slapped on the head with a hanging tray if they answer the question incorrectly. But first of all they either have to show their 'aegyo (charm)' or dance to a song. Kookie and Ji Hyo proved to be hopeless in showing their charms. Meanwhile Jung Suk scored first point for his team.

The funniest was Kwang Soo had to dance to EXO's Growl song making it a comical state. He was practically like a robot or someone in possessed. Jae Suk and Suk Jin tried hard to dance to get the question. Next they are to select the game they are at best. Kwang Soo and D.O suggests skipping rope and challenged Kook's team. However Kwang Soo turns out to be the black hole losing everything. D.O looked disappointed. 

Final mission is eating at the streets lined up with street food. The loser will have to pay the bill of staffs eating the street food. Nobody wants to lose. They have to eat at a stall and play a game in order to move on- it's like a chess board game. Each team worked out hard by eating and playing the game well. To their surprise, each team start swapping around their cards. For each team has a duplicate of the same card succeeds. Kwang Soo and D.O succeeded first followed by Jae Suk and Jung Suk. The loser of the game are Haha and Ji Hyo. They snarled at Haha being rich and owning BBQ restaurants so he shouldn't have a problem footing the bill of $400 worth of food! Ouch! He felt the pain when he saw his credit card been swiped for $400 over.  

Gong Yoo's star power for tVN drama 'Goblin' rises ratings.

Actor Gong Yoo with scriptwriter Kim Eun Sook famed for her hit dramas Descendants of the Sun (2016), The Heirs (2013) along with the new drama Goblin (2016) has certainly brought up the level of dramas. For first two episodes screened via tVN, it has already gathered 10% ratings from viewers. 

 According to Nielsen Korea on 4th December, the average viewers ratings for tVN drama Goblin has recorded 8.3% (based on paid platforms) and the highest audience rating was marked at 9.7%! The average audience rating was at least 6.9%. 

The ratings of Goblin exceeded twice the number of the popular tVN series Reply 1988 which was aired last year the same   time. Reply 1988 series recorded 6.1% and 6.8% for first two episodes. Since then the ratings rose up steadily to 18.8% marking the highest rating of all time for cable channel drama. 

Goblin is a romantic comedy drama where the seniors drama Descendants of the Sun marked 38.8%, The Heirs 25.6%, Gentlemen of Dignity recorded 24.4%, On Air took 26.2%, Lovers in Paris 57.6%  and last but not least Secret Garden scored 35.2% ratings from viewers.

These dramas are all guaranteed with A-list actors in rom-com genre. The spotlight is now on writer Kim Eun Sook whether Goblin will exceed the audience ratings from Reply 1988 drama.

Goblin is about a man who bears the curse where he had lived an immortal live from the Goryeo dynasty to 2016. He meets a high school kid Eun Tak who is bound to be the goblin's bride. Will she be the one to break his curse and release him from the suffering he has endured for past 900 years? Co-starring are Lee Dong Wook, Kim Go Eun, Yoo In Na and Yook Sung Jae. 

Ha Hyun Woo's remake of Shin Hae Chul's song for drama OST.

The outstanding vocalist Ha Hyun Woo from the band Guckkasten has remake the single song 'Like a boy' from the late singer Shin Hae Chul. 

According to OST producer Jellyfish Entertainment, Ha Hyun Woo unveiled through SBS TV drama 'The Legend of Blue Sea' OST on 1st December for the new song. 

Shin Hae Chul wrote and comosed the song in 1993. This remake of 23 years is a medium-tempo synth pop under Cho Yong Ho's arrangement. 

It is impressive that the melody that makes use of the tone of the vocals and the magnificent development of the guitar solo in the middle are starting to develop.Ha Hyun Woo has always admired late Shin Hae Chul. 

He appeared in the MBC The Mask King Singer program and emerged as 9 times winners. He made his debut in 2008 in the band along with guitarist Jeon Kyu Ho, bassist Kim Ki Bum and drummer Lee Jong Gil.
Ha Hyun Woo is known for his monstrous vocal with a unique tone. 

He has contributed to some of the dramas OST such as Blood and Six Flying Dragons. 

This time he lends his voice to the OST drama Legend of the Blue Sea starring Lee Min Ho and Jeon Ji Hyun. 

New album from Sechskies after 16 years.

The first-generation idol group 'Sechskies' returned to the music industry introducing their new album in 16 years. After releasing on 1st December the 2016 "Re-ALBUM" topped the music charts on the day.

Lyricist Jang Dae Sung and composer Ma Hyung Sik together composed the hit song 'Couple' for their 3.5 'Special Album' in 1998. At that time, it swept and remained the top of music charts. Sechskies is now reborn in 18 years being signed in with YG Entertainment.

'Re-Album' is a remake album that arranges the original hit songs of the Sechskies's 'Comeback', 'Road Fighter', 'Reckless Love', School Byeolgok', Hunch'...The songs have re-edited to Sechskies 2016 version. These sound sources were also ranked in the top of the charts.

The new song 'Three Words' were included part of the album and released in September. It's considered a bonus track. Their representative song The Way This Guy Lives - Pomsaengpomsa was excluded from the album due to difficulty in re-arranging the melody.

The tVN drama Reply series were having some of the remake of old songs. However, it is rare for the original artists to get the favor of the album they released to remake the song.
Sechskies leader Eun Ji Won mentioned that he wanted to create and share contacts with more people, including existing fans, through this album. The most accomplished point along with the musical part is that he looked at his appearance again in 16 years". 

Eun Ji-won said, "I still want to play the role of being in twenties, so I told the members to decorate a little more." However, he said, "When I digest the song, it has matured so much." At the same time, he said he wanted to bring more of the melody emotions in it. The present generation K-pop songs are considered 'hook songs' where it's repetitive in certain parts and many songs do not have more than four chords, and Sechskies have eight chords varied in melody. 

YG's CEO Yang Hyun Suk is a good planner and producer. With a strong identity, he knows the members with 20 years of music experience, they do know how to harmonize well with the key. Eun Ji Won said Yang Hyun Suk acknowledges and respect their experience. Member Kang Sung Hoon also mentioned YG knows the members pros and cons, so everyone is able to communicate well. Even fellow members Kim Jae Duk, Lee Jae Jin and Jang Su Won agreed that the system in YG Ent is easy to follow and work with.

Recently Yang Hyun Suk won the 2016 Melon Music Awards Hall of Fame trophy. Yang sends a message across to all his idol groups that their stage performance was always the best. On the other hand with the popularity of EXO is no joke. EXO dreams of staying together as long as Sechskies. Ji Won advised EXO could do so if they have strong minds. When Sechskies was strong as an idol, their popularity didn't last long. Nowadays idol groups have a longer life span. Big Bang has been around for 10 years now, the same goes with Super Junior. These days groups move to sub-units and personal activities to survive.

Sechskies came to the international spotlight later when 2016 Re-album topped the iTunes global album charts in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. They did not expect any popularity in overseas but thanks to the power of YG. The names of Sechskies and H.O.T surfaced so well from the drama Reply 1997. MBC Infinite Challenge program reunited the members in this April. They practised hard, came out with a concert for their fans and reached the consensus to come back again as a group. 

Kang Sung Hoon recalled watching Reply 1997 series where two fan clubs members were fighting among each other. The fans compete with each other in good faith and he promises he will lived well. In fact it's good opportunity to be rivals. Both Eun Ji Won and H.O.T's leader Moon Hee Jun clicked very well. Now that Hee Jun is getting married, they are happy with the good news. Original 6th member of Sechskies Go Ji Yong is living out as a businessman...he's staying out of entertainment business. However recently he has agreed to star in Return of Superman variety program. Ji Won noted they have to respect Ji Yong's decision since he has a family and life. The filming will be done during the weekend.

1 Night 2 Days casts visit Everland Theme Park.

Guest actress Kim Yoo Jung joins the cast of 1 Night 2 Days to visit Everland Theme Park located at Yongin in Gyeongi-do. The casts and guest have to play bok-bul-bok game to decide who will be sleeping indoor or outdoor in this cold weather.

PD Yu informs them the shocking news that the 2 losers will be sleeping together with the 'lions' in the safari park! The utterly shocked look on their faces. First game was riding the Let's Twist where it looks like a 5 hairbrush with the seats turning at 360° in any direction.
They are to gulp a cup of orange juice during the ride, do not drink it or spill it out. For those who drink or gulp down the drink will be the loser. Sure enough the twisting ride drove everyone mad as they couldn't laugh or scream with the orange juice inside their mouth.
Defconn's grunting sounded as if he was giving birth on the twist ride! LOL! At the end, Yoo Jung turns out to be the loser as she drank the orange juice. Jong Min turns out to be the winner.

2nd mission was to ride the T-Express roller coaster ride while counting 14 pieces of KRW$1000 bill. Tae Hyun managed to bluff his way to Jun Ho encouraging him to sit at the last row which turns out to be the scariest of all. Yoo Jung sat in the front with a VJ and two PD's were in front of her as well. T-Express is considered one of the steepest wooden roller coasters in South Korea with 77 degrees angle of height. 

Defconn and Shi Yoon were seated together crunching their faces as the roller coaster drops down at a split second. They were busy counting their dollar notes and freaking out as well. In fact Defconn's face expression was uglier than ever. Shi Yoon was looking happy while Yoo Jung remain calm and pretty counting the bills.

Jun Ho's mouth was gaping away while Tae Hyun was merely enjoying the thrilling ride screaming away happily! Hah! In fact Jun Ho's dollar note flew away a few times which means he lost his money in the ride. Due to safety reasons, the production crew manages to collect back the dollar bill. 

After the ride, Jun Ho looked 10 years older and said he rather be sleeping with the lions than taking the ride again. He was the only one who didn't manage to count all the 14 dollar notes. Third and final mission was boarding the water ride called Thunder Falls. It is one of the latest attraction featuring a signature turntable and backwards drop. The rafting has reversing room, where riders enter backwards and shoot out facing forwards. This ride features a single tower where all of the ride’s lifts and drops converge, smartly using the hilly terrain. 

Each of them have a big and cute looking candy floss looking like 'Corny' from Line Friends. They are to avoid the candy floss from being destroyed in the water ride. Sounds ridiculous right? Indeed! Tae Hyun sat in the front hoping to avoid at any damage to his candy floss. Jong Min and Jun Ho stood aside since one is a winner and another is the loser.

The big splash of water nearly destroyed their pretty looking candy floss. However Shi Yoon's one turned out disastrous so he had to sleep outdoor with Jun Ho. The two headed to a tent pitched up nearby the lions den. Jun Ho had to get re-assurance of the 5 lions been kept in the cage...just to be sure... Of course under the safety from the keepers and crew, the two managed to sleep with howling voices from the nearby animals. The next morning Yoo Jung woke all the members up. They laughed at how Jun Ho was startled upon seeing few giraffes looking at them strangely. Even the lions at the opposite site were just lazing away. 

Jeong Woo Sung, Jo In Sung's The King scheduled to be released next January.

Jeong Woo Sung and Jo In Sung's new film 'The King' is scheduled to be released next year January in local cinemas. The film is directed by PD Han Jae Rim.

The King is about a man who struggled hard through childhood to finally become a prosecutor. And he meets another guy hoping to exercise his power.'

Also co-starring in the movie are Ryu Jun Yeol, Kim Ah Joong, Bae Seong Woo, Kim Eui Sung and Jung Eun Chae. 

Sechskies Go Ji Yong joins 'Superman Returns' series.

First generation idol boy band Sechskies ex-member 
Go Ji Yong who made fame in late 1990's will be joining 'Superman Returns' as a new family member in the series. 

Superman Returns will mark the first return of the ex-member Go Ji Yong who have decided to appear in public after a long period of hiatus.

Ji Yong has turned into a businessman after leaving the entertainment industry since the disbandment of Sechskies in May 2000. 16 years later, MBC TV 'Infinite Challenge' reunited the remaining five members for Sechskies, however Ji Yong didn't specifically joined the group for practice sessions. All he did was showing up at the last moment in the 'Infinite Challenge' special stage where he danced 'Couple' hit song with the rest of them in front of thousands of fans.

Ji Yong mentioned he was sorry he didn't put much effort on stage because he was mainly busy with work and being a family man- he needs to spend more time at home with his little baby son. He wanted to be a good father example to his son.

Ji Yong's current spouse Heo Yang Im is a professional with their little son Go Seung Jae are scheduled to start filming in early December 2016.

Kim Kwang Seok's 20th Anniversary remake album released.

The 20th anniversary album of late singer 'Kim Kwang Seok' (1964-1996) will be released on 7th December according to CJ E & M Music Division.

It is the first remake album which puts the voice of Kim Kwang Seok as it is. 
It is a new concept album that uses the voice of Kim Kwang Seok in the original song as it is, but only the arrangement was re-interpreted.

10 songs will be released whereby singers Roy Kim and Jung In are participating in it.
Roy and Jung In are doing a duet with Kim Kwang Seok.

Roy Kim has pointed out the late Kim Kwang Seok is like a role model whom he looked up to. He has been very honored to to be selected as a duet by his album title- "'너에게" (You).

'You' is is Kim Kwang Seok's first title song and hidden masterpiece which also happens to be Roy's favorite.

Top pianist Bob James from the super jazz band "Fourplay" including Han Sang Won, Ha Rim, Go Sang Ji and other top musicians will have the music arrangements for the event.

Prior to the release of the album, female vocalist Jung In participated for the duet actress and "잊어야 한다는 마음으로 - Forget It" is scheduled to open on December 1st.

For the 20th Anniversary, it will be accompanied by presentations of various sound sources and performances in memory for the late singer. Recently the  the jukebox musical "Days of the Day- 그날들", which he composed the songs he sung was performed.