New mini-album "Grown-Up"

SEOUL: Korean boy band FT Island's management agency FNC Music had on Friday taken legal action against Korean cosmetics brand Baviphat for alleged breach of contract, reported Korean media. "The company infringed on the rights of the band by using their likenesses for their marketing efforts in Japan, Malaysia and other countries in Asia without permission," said a spokesperson for FNC Music. FNC Music explained that even though Baviphat had earlier signed an agreement with FT Island to endorse its products, the agreement only allowed Baviphat to use the band in its marketing campaigns within Korea. The company further claimed that Baviphat had continued to feature FT Island in their promotional materials even after their product endorsement deal had expired. FNC Music said it is seeking 200 million won (S$222,000) in compensation – 40 million (S$44,500) for each of FT Island's five members - from Baviphat for its alleged breach of contract. FT Island, who made their debut in 2007, is currently in the midst of promoting their new mini-album "Grown-Up".

“Detective Conan” broadcast on April 12

The live-action “Detective Conan” television series is returning with a special episode this spring. Mizobata Junpei (22) will reprise his role as the protagonist Kudo Shinichi, and Kutsuna Shiori (19) will also return as Mori Ran. The new special is titled “Kudo Shinichi: Kyoto Shinsengumi Satsujin Jiken.” The story revolves around two locked room mysteries, one taking place in an airplane and the other on the set of a movie. Matsuzaka Tori, Okamoto Rei, Usuda Asami, Sato Aiko, Nakamura Shunsuke, Kojima Kazuya, Itoda Jun, and Dante Carver will also appear in the drama. NTV will broadcast the special on April 12.

News : Running Man Drama

Actress Song Ji Hyo (31), who is gaining huge popularity for her appearance on the entertainment program "Running Man," is one of the most popular stars these days. Her straightforward appearance is one of the most important reasons why the SBS TV variety program "Running Man" is gaining popularity, recording over 20 percent viewer ratings. She is an actress, but she never emphasizes her appearance and presents genuine and friendly behavior every time on the program, which definitely contributes to her popularity. There is another reason she is popular. She recently appeared on a TV commercial with her popular comment, "No doubt," and this TV commercial helped her to gain more popularity. Her appearance on the commercial does not look like that of a typical actress, but she presents a cute and friendly appearance, which makes her approach the public closer. Does she want to be in the spotlight only because of her appearance, as she is one of the actresses who usually wants to attract attention with her beauty? Song answered, "I do not think so. Any drama and entertainment program are all the same to me because I am in it. I become very competitive regardless of the genre no matter whether it is acting as an actress, hosting as the MC, or appearing on a variety program. If I had ever wanted to look beautiful, I should not have appeared on 'Running Man' from the beginning." Song Ji Hyo recently came to Uljiro to give an interview that the interviewer had originally planned a long time ago when Song Ji Hyo appeared in the MBC drama "Gyebaek." At that time, Song Ji Hyo was often hospitalized due to fatigue and a breathing disorder from her tight schedule while filming "Gyebaek" and "Running Man" at the same time and she could not attend the interview. She finally came to give an interview three months later after she finished filming "Gyebaek," and she said, "I feel very good now as I have taken enough rest after finishing the drama. I consumed herbal medicine and healthy food which are reportedly good for my health, so now I can film any other additional work at this moment even while filming 'Running Man' at the same time. I failed to take care of my health before because I had just thought that I could do anything only with my strong will, but it was physically very hard while filming two works without taking care of my health." Song Ji Hyo garnered great popularity for her appearance in the very popular drama "Jumong" from 2006 to 2007 by playing the character named "Yesoya," and she has been rated an actress well suited for historical works with her appearances in the movies "Ssanghwajeom" and "Gyebaek" after "Jumong." But she did not receive a favorable response in the beginning. Song said, "At first, people criticized me, saying that I was not an appropriate actress for 'Jumong' (laugh), but usually acting is something that an actor has to try to perfectly fit to the character even though the actor does not seem to be well matched to the character. It was a natural process." Yesoya has an image of a representative female character who is obedient, but the character Eungo whom she played in "Gyebaek" is an ambitious woman who is waiting for the right time for revenge, and Song Ji Hyo perfectly presented those two opposite characters. Song said, "I was attracted to Eungo's ambition from the beginning. Usually a female character in a historical drama is very supportive of a male character, but she is a very active character. I heard that the real Eungo in history was a wicked woman. As she was a very active character in the drama, I was very busy while playing her. I had to move from here to there and underwent diverse experiences such as torture and imprisonment. She was such a dynamic character and I had to film more scenes compared to Yesoya before." "Gyebaek" could not become a remarkable achievement until the last episode, but Song Ji Hyo was still very busy while filming "Running Man" and still gained more popularity. Song Ji Hyo said, "I really enjoy filming 'Running Man' as it was like playing games. I became completely immersed in the filming while enjoying the filming (laugh). In addition, the cast members formed an excellent harmony." People referred to her and singer Gary as a couple in "Running Man," who is another actor on the variety program. Song explained, "Gary and I are both the rookies who first appeared on the variety program, so we depended on each other. The other cast members are all quick-witted experts in filming variety programs except me and Gary, so the two of us seem to feel sympathy for each other (laugh)." Song Ji Hyo debuted nine years ago with her appearance in the movie "Wishing Stairs" in 2003, but she has not appeared in many works up to now. She said, "I have not appeared in many works because things did not go well as I had planned. While going through many difficulties, I cried and I felt agony. My feelings were hurt during that process, but I did not give up and continued to work after overcoming those difficult situations until today. I thought that the entertainment industry was still very attractive to me despite any difficult moment. As I mentioned, I have not appeared in many works up to now, but I wondered whether I could be very good if I had appeared in more works at that time because I basically think that I became more mature after going though all those difficulties in the past. I still have more things to learn, and I was not a good actress in the past. I reached my current state because I have entered my thirties and I have nine years of experience. I will continue my acting career because my acting has not yet been perfected. I will keep trying until I can satisfy myself. I am a person with a strong will." She smiled while making her last comment, saying, "I want to live while doing what I want to do, and this is my dream."

"AMeiZing" concert tour at Taipei Arena

Taiwanese singer A-Mei is slated to stage seven nights of her "AMeiZing" concert tour at the Taipei Arena come end of this month. In order to be in top-notch condition for the concerts, A-Mei had taken three weeks break from work to prepare her mind prior to the big day. However, rumours have recently surfaced that the pop diva had in fact, taken time off to go on a "love vacation" with rumoured bartender boyfriend, Sam. According to the Taiwanese tabloids, Sam had invited the singer to watch him play basketball after finding out that A-Mei has a liking for sporty guys. It was said that A-Mei rooted for Sam generously when she saw the latter played the game enthusiastically. Sam had also reportedly quit smoking for the singer, who did not like the habit. When contacted for response yesterday, A-Mei's manager dismissed the allegations, stating that he does not know the whereabouts of the singer. "I have not heard about it! She is currently on holiday and wants to relax, so she has requested that I do not disturb her."

News : William Chan Wai Ting

William Chan Wai Ting might not have started as an actor, but due to his looks and potential his past film characters like EX (CHIN DOH)'s unfaithful boyfriend who was stuck between Gillian Chung Yun Tung and Michelle Wai (Si Nga) and HI, FIDELITY (CHOOK GWAI DIK NUI YUN)'s twin brothers left deep impressions. In order to William to go even further in the film industry, Emperor Motion Pictures decided to make a Wise Guy story TRIAD (JAT JIK) and even tailored a character to him. It hoped to make him a Dior Cheng Yi Kin successor and a new generation of Wise Guy. JAT JIK's story reportedly will be very different from past Wise Guy movies. The story will mainly revolve around how a group of ambitious Wise Guys fight for promotions, the subject is extremely controversial; in order to make William's character stand out, director Daniel Chan Yik Hung deliberately made him a Harvard University student who moved up the ranks in the mob with his brain. The mob "family punishment" scene would even challenge film standards as William would not only be take a brutal beat on his upper body but also severe injury on his lower body. William said, "The story hasn't been confirmed yet, so I won't talk about it yet. We are still talking in meetings." He admitted that he did not a lot of homework for his new film. "As a Wise Guy, I have to be big. The last few months I have been in training and on a diet in order to achieve eight pack abs." The lead actress will be Emperor artist Si Nga who will play William's girlfriend.

New drama series “Papa wa Idol”

Kanjani8 member Nishikido Ryo (27) is confirmed to star in a new drama series on TBS this spring. Tentatively titled “Papa wa Idol,” the show will have Nishikido playing himself. “Papa wa Idol” is a remake of the 1987 drama series “Mama wa Idol,” which starred singer and actress Nakayama Miho (41) as herself. In this version, Nishikido naturally plays the part of Nishikido Ryo, a member of Kanjani8. One day, he meets a single mother of three children, and he suddenly falls in love and gets married. Yuka (31) will play the part of the mother. The series will also have various other members of Kanjani8 appearing as themselves. 9nine member Kawashima Umika (17) will play the part of the oldest daughter. There are plans to have the show tied in with TBS news shows, magazines, and other media. “Papa wa Idol” will air on Thursdays at 9:00pm, beginning this April.

New night drama series “Kagi no Kakatta Heya”

Actress Toda Erika (23) has been cast as the heroine in Fuji TV’s next Monday night drama series, “Kagi no Kakatta Heya.” The mystery drama was just announced last week, with Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi (31) in the starring role. Toda will play a pure, straightforward, and beautiful lawyer named Junko. The drama’s story unfolds after she requests the cooperation of Ohno’s character Kei, a security company employee who has an obsession with studying locks and security, which he uses to solve seemingly impossible crimes that happened within locked rooms. This will be Toda’s first time playing a lawyer, as well as her first time acting with Ohno. However, this is not her first time in Fuji TV’s “Getsu 9″ time slot, as she previously appeared in “Code Blue” (2008 and 2010) and in last year’s “Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta.” “Kagi no Kakatta Heya” begins in April. The broadcast date of the first episode has not yet been announced.

New album "Forbidden Love"

Star group U-Kiss will simultaneously release their second single album entitled "Forbidden Love" and first official album entitled "A Shared Dream" on February 29. The group members have been holding activities to commemorate the concurrent release of their two albums since February 18. They will also hold the special events at Tokyo Dome City on February 29 when their two albums will be released and at Tower Record Shibuya branch on March 15. In addition, they are planning to hold a premium event to celebrate their album release with their fans in three major cities in Japan -- Nagoya on April 2, Osaka on April 3, and Tokyo on April 4. U-Kiss debuted in Japan last year in December with their debut single entitled "Tick Tack," and the song ranked at third place on the day of the album's release. U-Kiss will hold the "U-Kiss First Japan Live Tour 2012" beginning with their concert in Sapporo on March 2, which is a tour concert to be held in Jepp concert halls all over Japan.

Tablo's album "Fever's End"

Tablo has yet another trophy to prove that his solo comeback in 2011 was one of the hottest that year. According to the results of the 2011 Hiphopplaya Awards, Tablo's album "Fever's End" was chosen as the Album of the Year, with 23.1% of the votes. The artist spoke out through his YG Entertainment reps, "I'm thankful to the hip hop fans that took the time to listen to my music during a year where other such great albums were released." The website honored five other categories: Rookie of the Year, Single of the Year, Producer of the Year, Featured Artist of the Year, and Music Video of the year. Rookie of the Year went to JTong for his Busan EP album, garnering 20.9% of the votes. Beenzino was chosen as the Featured Artist of the Year with 29.2%. 20.7% of the votes established Dok2 as the Producer of the Year. Verbal Jint had a very successful 2011, evident form his two Hiphopplaya awards. 12.84% of the votes gave him the Single of the Year award, and 26.3% of the votes also won him the Music Video of the Year award for his song "You Look Good" featuring Black Skirt. Launched in 2000, the Hiphopplaya website is one of the most representative online communities for avid hip hop music fans. The Hiphopplaya Awards was started in 2001, honoring some of the most popular hip hop artists.

1/2 Century World Tour Concert

Jacky Cheung completed the Guangzhou [China] leg of his “1/2 Century World Tour Concert” and in the coming days, he will travel to Putian [in Fujian province] and Shenzhen, ultimately arriving here in Hangzhou on March 10th. Each show that Jacky performs brings him one step closer to breaking the Guinness World Record for number of concert shows performed by an Asian singer. Actually, the original record is currently held by Jacky himself for his 2007 ‘The Year of Jacky Cheung World Tour Concert’, which at that time, had established an unprecedented record of 105 shows on one concert tour. Looking at it right now, the original ‘number’ has already been exceeded, as the Guangzhou leg of the tour was already Jacky’s 116th show.

News Movie : Bad Girls

S.H.E member Ella Chen is nothing like her innocent girl role that first experienced romance in her new movie Bad Girls. She confessed, in an interview with the Taiwanese media two days ago, that she was the one who made the first move in her past relationships, saying, ""I am very impatient." "When it comes to love, I am always the one who made the first move, like a man. Of course, I will only confess my love when I am confident, so it was always successful," she added. Ella also revealed her tricks, stating that she would first show her care and concern for the person and use the phone to keep in touch before asking if they want to be together. When it comes to ending a relationship, the singer is equally direct, and she would use the line, "I have already taken a liking for someone else." When asked if she was the one who made the first move on her fiancé Alvin Lai, Ella laughed, "Not really. We already had feelings for each other but it was he who made the first move." The couple will tie the knot on May 5. The bride-to-be added sweetly, "He likes how I am always able to make everyone around me happy and I don't have to change for him. I feel very secure when I am with him, so I have given him the recognition a long time ago... I heard he also felt the same way!" Co-star Mike He could not resist sharing his own love tales on hearing Ella's gushing about love. He revealed that he lost his first kiss when he was in kindergarten to his teacher in the same interview. The statement caused Ella to exclaim in shock, "Bad boy!" She then shared that her first kiss was in middle school with a guy who had chapped lips, and she accidentally ate the dried skin. The singer joked, "I was probably hungry... so I ate it!" Mike later joked in the interview, saying that he wanted to snatch Alvin from Ella during her wedding, The singer immediately shouted in reply, "No way! He's mine!"

Upcoming movie “Bad Girl”

S.H.E’s Ella and Mike He have been filming the upcoming movie, “Bad Girl” since April of last year. Although Ella came out with the movie, “New Perfect Two”, during Chinese New Year, her first movie project and big-screen kiss was actually with Mike in “Bad Girl”. The soon-to-be married actress and pop singer told the media that she thoroughly enjoyed filming the kissing scene, “I greatly enjoyed those (Mike’s) soft pair of lips!”

Ella revealed that she was very stress a while ago and dreamed of herself showing up at the wedding in t-shirt and jeans, while her guests complained about the food. As a result, she decided to leave everything up to her management company to handle and she’ll just focus on being the prettiest bride on that day.

In the movie, Ella, Da Yuan, and Fang Zhi-You form the “bad girls” trio. They revealed that they had experienced in the past of being bullied by guys in school such as having their skirts ripped, being called names or made fun of. Their costar Mike quickly responded, “Actually, I hated the guys too when I was little!” However, he later admitted that he had done some bad things before when he was little.

Ella Chen planning for marriage

This May, S.H.E member Ella Chen will marry her Malaysian boyfriend Alvin Lai.
Yesterday, at the promotional event for her latest movie Nv Hai Huai Huai, Ella l
et on that there was a kissing scene with co-star Mike He.

The latter quickly explained that it was a required scene, and even revealed that Alvin would often visit his girlfriend on set.
According to the Taiwanese media, Ella admitted that her boyfriend did not like her getting too intimate with another guy. However, he respected her job and reminded her to let him know which part of the movie he should turn away from.

A couple of days ago, Ella's future father-in-law accepted an interview in Malaysia.
Mr Lai praised his future daughter-in-law for being affable and polite, adding that it is his son's "greatest achievement" to be able to marry the singer.

He recalled the first time he met Ella. The singer was in Singapore to attend an awards ceremony last May, and Alvin had arranged for them to meet up. Mr Lai felt that Ella was someone down-to-earth.

When Alvin's younger sister wedded during the New Year, Ella attended the banquet and was introduced as her future sister-in-law.
"I am very happy to see my son start his own family. I believe he made the right choice. Both of them are very independent, so I don't have to worry about them," Mr Lai said.
Although Ella is happy to hear her future father-in-law is singing her praises, she added, "I hope the media will give my in-laws some privacy. I don't want to scare them. Thank you for your concern."
In other related news, Ella spoke about her boyfriend at a variety show recording a few days ago.

"I can feel that I'm very important to him. I never knew that someone would be able to make me feel so secure," she said.

" Liar Game " opens in theaters

The second “LIAR GAME” movie will get a spinoff television drama on Fuji TV. Titled “Alice in Liar Game,” the spinoff will focus on the past of the character Alice, who is being played by child actress Ashida Mana (7).

As previously announced, the new “LIAR GAME” movie stars Matsuda Shota as the brilliant swindler Akiyama Shinichi and Tabe Mikako as a new heroine named Shinomiya Yu. Yu gets involved in a high-stakes game of deception (known as the Liar Game), and Akiyama must help her. Esumi Makiko plays Omega, a member of the Liar Game organization, which has revived the game with the goal of getting revenge against Akiyama for the previous game.

Ashida’s character Alice, another member of the organization, is close to Omega, and she is in charge of everything regarding the new game, including the game’s structure, the player selection, and the traps used against the players.

The spinoff drama will shed light on the relationship between Omega and Alice, as well as how Alice’s life came to be.

Fuji TV will broadcast the spinoff on four consecutive nights, March 5-8. The movie opens in theaters on March 3.

Jay Chou planning to buy yacht

Asian superstar Jay Chou, who owns more than 10 sports cars, has set his heart on buying a yacht.
On Valentine's Day (Feb 14), Jay and at least 10 assistants, used four cars to chauffeur girlfriend Hannah, his mother and his good friend Will Liu and family. The group went to a boat factory at New Taipei City to test drive a yacht.

The owner initially drove the yacht, but Jay took over for an "illegal" spin not long later. During the test drive, Jay chatted with Will and his family, and took a lot of photos together. His mother and Hannah remained in the cabin throughout the journey.
An hour later, the yacht returned to the dock. Jay's mother was the first to alight, taking photos of the pier. Hannah followed behind her.
Jay only appeared long after Hannah left.

According to an insider, Jay had always wanted a yacht and the one he tested that day is worth more than NT$60 million (S$2.52 million).

However, the singer would need his mother's approval before he buys it. If his mother disagrees, Jay plans to collaborate with the yacht's manufacturer and turn it into a themed yacht, using it to earn extra income.

Jay's record label responded to the report, denying the rumour and questioning, "If someone watches a movie, does it mean he's going to buy the cinema?"

Christine Ng and Fala Chen celebrating together

Christine Ng and Fala Chen are both celebrating their birthdays today (2/24th). Last night, a group of their friends from the entertainment circle threw a bowtie themed birthday party for them. It was a very lively atmosphere! Chilam Cheung and his wife Anita Yuen appeared at the party in tuxedos. Niki Chow and her sister Kathy Chow both played different roles with suits on. No wonder Anita referred the four of them as 'The Four Crazy Dragons'! Christine had always been a playful one, she revealed on Weibo that they had a birthday party for four people: "Fala, Nathan Lin (her husband's brother) and I all have the same birthday. My beloved older brother's birthday is the following day, so we celebrated together. So fortunate!"

New Hong Kong television station " City Telecom "

New Hong Kong television station, City Telecom (CTI) will be breaking ground on the construction of its production facilities today. Former TVB artist, Felix Wong (黃日華), even appeared in a lion dance with Ricky Wong (王維基) to commemorate the groundbreaking event! Facing a mass exodus of production staff and artists to CTI, TVB management have been separately talking to artists, even using the “friendship card” to persuade them to renew their contracts early! It was known that Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Ben Wong (黃智賢), and Angela Tong (湯盈盈) have demonstrated their loyalty by signing renewal contracts with TVB for several years!

SDN48 Farewell concert in Japan

After two years, it's time for us to say sayonara to Japanese girl group SDN48 at their farewell concert in Japan on Mar 31.
Formed in 2009, SDN48, an acronym for 'Saturday Night 48', is the sister group of immensely popular Japanese girl group AKB48. Both groups were formed by Mr Yasushi Akimoto, a Japanese television writer and record producer.
While AKB4 portrays a cute image, SDN48 is created based on an 'adult idol' concept', which is characterised by their sexier outfits and more suggestive dance choreography.
This is seen in their music video for Yaritagariya-san, in which the girls stripped down to lacy underwear and took self-portraits with a camera.
While members of SDN48 unanimously described their group's concept as 'sexy', reporters were not allowed to questions regarding the risqué video or the girls showing sexuality overtly during a recent interview in Singapore.
Unlike previous "graduations" -- which involved a small number of members -- all 39 members from SDN48 will graduate together this time, thus concluding the group's first chapter.
Prior to their Mar 31 Japanese concert, 12 SDN48 girls arrived in Singapore last week to say their final goodbyes to their local fans.
"It's been eight years since I went to Japan," said Chen Qu who is from China, before adding, "I would like to thank the fans for their support all these while. I hope that they will continue to support me and my members even after our graduation."

New drama "Love Chocolate"

SETTV's Chinese drama "Inborn Pairs" has been setting record high ratings and taking over it will be new drama "Love Chocolate" with male lead being Vanness Wu. He arrived at the press event held yesterday driving a cruise and shared his views on taking on a 8pm chinese drama for the first time. It will be a fresh experience for him and he has a love-hate relationship with co-star Joanne Zeng Zhi Qiao. Vanness laughed and said "In the drama, she's always pranking me!"

Yesterday, under SETTV management's arrangement, Vanness got to drive a luxury cruise along the river and meet the media at the harbor. Vanness shared that "I've been on speed-boats in USA and Hong Kong but here in Taiwan, its the first time I got to actually drive a cruise. I felt very relax and free!"

In the drama "Love Chocolate", Vanness acts as the successor of a big enterprise. He dreamed of a life revolving around chocolates though, owning a chocolate-made house and thus left the family enterprise to start his own life journey. He met female lead Joanne Zeng through a coincidence and the two of them have lots of interesting and humorous interactions. SETTV's manager expressed that "In the drama, the male lead has great charisma and is very sweet and generous to the girl. He has his own beliefs and is determined to pursue things that he believes in. Vanness suited all these characteristics."

Vanness was attracted by the script and its character. Before accepting the drama, he had been praying daily and he felt that it was God's intentions for him to act in this drama. He thus rejected a Hollywood movie directed by Keanu Reeves for it. He expressed that "I'm sure it will be worth it!

This will be Vanness's first time acting in a 8pm prime time slot drama and he felt that "I get to meet the fans everyday and reward them for their support then!" When talking about his co-star whom he have a love-hate relationship with, he laughed and said "Joanne's drama character's personality really attracted me. Thanks to all her pranking though, I'm suffering alot."
This is the first time Vanness has done 4-camera filming too and he has managed to overcome the nervousness. To ensure that the best performance is given, he has also been on a diet and he shared that "I'm mostly eating salad now!"

With the "Linsanity" craze in Taiwan now, Vanness also shared that he got to know Jeremy Lin through a friend's introduction years ago and the two of them contacted through email. They only met-up in Taipei last year though and Vanness felt that Jeremy's success is a great life lesson, as they have a common friend - God.

New TVB show : Battle of the Senses

In the new TVB game show Battle of the Senses produced by Chin Kwok Wai, Chin Kar Lok goes out for a drifting with 34.5 cup former Miss HK contestant, Gemma Choi. They were drifting so much, Gemma's breasts appeared on screen too. Netizens exposed that the show copied off of a clip found on a Russian website. In the clip, a foreign female was sitting in a drifting car and the force burst the buttons on her shirt and her breasts were exposed. Producer Chin has history of copying ideas, and this time it goes all the way to Russia. Recently TVB productions, variety shows and series have lost creativity and often times, the clever Netizens catch them plagiarizing.

This variety show is in fact a hot topic on the internet, Netizens already posted the foreign female's drifting clip on Youtube in November. Because the car was going at a high-speed, the buttons on the girl's shirt burst open and her breasts were exposed. The clip came from a Russian website that exclusively sells automobile products and there are often big breast girls seen on the site. Producer Chin may have saw that clip on the website last year and decided to follow their idea.

Chin Kwok Wai directed the game show Super Trio before and it was discovered the show madly copied a Japanese game show. Regarding Battle of the Senses criticized of being a ripoff after just the first episode, and with evidence, yesterday Chin said over the phone: "I'm going through Customs now, can't talk." Then he immediately hung up.

News Drama : The Hippocratic Crush

TVB medical drama The Hippocratic Crush premiered last week, with a peak rating of 31 points. Kenneth Ma (Ma Ming) rises and becomes TVB's first line Siu Sang. Riding on the momentum, Kenneth said he wants the dough and not the love: "I want more endorsements and stage work. I even hope to shoot some series in Mainland to earn some extra money. The faster the better." Well that's true too, he's a famous and single man that many are after. Just as long as you have the chips, there is no fear you won't find a wife.

Its no surprise, the 38 year old middle-aged Kenneth is desperate to break away from 'poverty'. In 2007, Kenneth still used the subway as means of transportation. It wasn't until 2008 when he finally got himself a car valued at HK$300,000 Comparing the fame and fortune, Kenneth still lags behind other TVB Siu Sangs such as Kevin Cheng or Moses Chan. Fortunately, Kenneth's first series The Hippocratic Crush, in which he takes the lead, has been well acclaimed. Today, Kenneth stepped foot on the most crowded areas in Central's Time Square to do a practical research on audience' reactions. As a result, it wasn't even 5 minutes yet and he was already surrounded by a group of See Lai (housewives) and female students. One See Lai couldn't help but shout: "Handsome Kenneth Ma! You did so well in your series!" Then it was Kenneth's turn to feel happy, he said softly: "And I was worried no one would care!"

BIGBANG’s latest single “ Blue "

BIGBANG’s latest single, “Blue,” has been enjoying massive popularity since its release at midnight on February 22. It easily topped all online music charts such as Melon, Mnet, Bugs, Olleh, and Monkey3, as well as real-time key word search rankings as well.

In particular, a graph on Melon Music, one of the largest online music download sites, well-reflect BIGBANG’s explosive popularity as it showed “Blue” receiving the highest-possible points for the chart. It’s 8PM KST now, but according to the graph, “Blue” achieved the highest-possible chart position for nearly 10 hours since its release at midnight today.

Netizens have already dubbed this phenomenon as “kicking through the roof” popularity. John Park’s “Falling” and miss A’s “Touch” are ranked a distant #2 and #3.

The music video for “Blue” has also been remarkable, receiving over 20,000 comments from around the world in less than seven hours since its release.

BIGBANG’s fifth mini album “Alive,” which comes with “Blue,” will be released on February 29. They will hold their “Big Show” concert in Seoul from March 2 to 4, and embark on their first world tour, “BIGBANG ALIVE TOUR 2012,” across 25 cities in 16 countries.

Show Luo first single

Show Luo recently released his first Japanese single EP "Dante" and entered the Japan Entertainment arena. This song clinched 5th place in Japan's Oricon daily charts on its first day of release and managed to hit 10th place for the Oricon weekly charts. He is the first Taiwan male singer that managed to place on this Japan charts and has the second best results for a Taiwan singer, falling behind Teresa Teng's "I Only Care About You" (9th place in 2nd Feb 1987).

When interviewed by the Japan media, he declared his wish of "I want to hold a concert at Japan's most popular venue - The Budokan area within 3 years!" and expressed that he has been very envious of other singers who could promote themselves in Japan in the past. Now that its finally his turn "Although it might be late, but I usually act faster than others so I'm sure I can catch up!"

During the interview with Japan media, he used fluent Japanese to answer them and often added in some on-the-spot humor, showing his "Show Luo style Japan" which won the praise of the Japan reporters. He shared that "Besides speaking some words wrongly such as "jeans" became "underwear", I also used more comical ways to introduce the Taiwan massage and acted as a massage instructor who will give a 3min introduction before his massage." He kept using japanese "very happy" to describe his feelings about officially debuting in Japan. He also proudly expressed that "Unlike other foreign singers, my Japanese single was recorded without having my Japanese corrected by the producer. Instead, my English pronunciation was the one that had to be corrected."

Show Luo shared that besides having 2 autograph session held at Osaka and Tokoyo, his promotion tour will also involve Japan variety shows. As he is a newcomer in the Japan entertainment, he was so nervous during his breaks that he had no appetite and totally forgot to eat and drink the entire day to replenish his energy. His manager was worried that he'll be hungry and prepared a box of dessert for him at the end of the entire day of promotion.

Sandy Lam upcoming new album

HK Pop Queen of the 80s, Sandy Lam released an Mandarin album Love Sandy in 1995, and sold about 4 million copies in Asia. The 45 year old Sandy's popularity hit all of greater China. Back then when she married Taiwanese record producer (Jonathan Lee), she faded out in the music scene. Ever since, her juniors such as Kelly Chen, Miriam Yeung and Joey Yung rose to popularity. After her failed marriage, Sandy steps back into her music career and held a few HK Coliseum concerts, where each show was a full house.

Today's music industry is lacking artists. Since Kelly and Miriam are both pregnant and have to be on hiatus, Pop Queen Joey Yung is the only one supporting the music scene. It's no surprise that Sandy is still a highly paid singer, despite her 6 year absence. Earlier it was rumored she was offered a sky high price of HK$15 million to sign a contract with Universal Music. However, [Oriental Daily] received reliable news that Universal is tossing out HK$8 million to get Sandy to sign a two year contract with them. According to the source, Sandy will be producing a new album in her own company and then allow Universal to help her release it in greater China.

Arashi’s Satoshi Ohno and Masaki Aiba new drama coming soon

Arashi’s Satoshi Ohno and Masaki Aiba will star in dramas starting from April, it was announced on February 21, reports Sponichi Annex and Oricon.

Ohno will play a detective in “鍵のかかった部屋 (Kagi no Kakatta Heya, The Locked Room)”, while Aiba will play a police detective who solves cases with his partner, a cat, in “三毛猫ホームズの推理 (Mike-neko Holmes no Suiri, Calico Cat Holmes’ Mysteries)”.
“Let’s go out for drinks when we’ve finished shooting! If you’re having trouble solving a case then let me know,” Ohno said.
“Let’s go fishing when we finish shooting. I hope we’ll never give up, even when we can’t crack a case,” Aiba said.

“Kagi no Kakatta Heya” is based on Yusuke Kishi’s novel of the same name. Unlike normal detective stories, the novel focusses on cases that happened inside a room with locked doors and windows. It is up to Ohno’s detective character to solve the mystery. The Arashi leader said his new role is a complete change from his Kaibutsu-kun drama.
“It’s my first human role in a long time. It’s also a character I’ve never had experience with playing so I’m hoping to do my best! I’ll see you behind the closed door!”

“Mike-neko Holmes no Suiri” is based on Jiro Akagawa’s novel of the same name. It follows a police detective who manages to solve cases with the help of a calico cat who can understand human language and has a talent for solving mysteries. Aiba said there would be extra things to look out for in the drama other than his scared-of-looking-at-blood-and-scared-of-women police detective character.
“I want my acting to balance out my character’s comical side and serious side. There’ll also be a number of new characters made for the drama that don’t come up in the book.”

Lastly, Aiba had some advice for Ohno.
“Don’t get too sunburnt that the make up department tells you off!”

Big Bang's comeback album

Pre-order sales for Big Bang's comeback album have surpassed the 250,000 mark. On February 21, sources close to YG Entertainment announced the news that the mini album, set to be released on February 29, had taken in over 250,000 pre-order sales. It has been 10 months since Big Bang has put out a new album. Their previous "special album" was released in April of last year. Excluding the album intro, all six songs on this new album are being promoted as title songs.

In an unprecedented move, 13 TV advertisements have been running on Korean TV since February 17, raising the hopes and expectations of fans. The source added that they are taking care to make sure that supply doesn't run out for the album in the early stages. Big Bang will release "Blue" at midnight on February 22 (Korean time). From March 2 to 4, Big Bang plans to hold a commemorative concert at the Seoul Olympic Park. Afterwards, they will host the "BIG BANG ALIVE TOUR 2012" in 16 countries and 25 cities.