Manila, Philippines - It seems anything Korean or commonly known as the hallyu wave is in these days.
From soap operas, restaurants to beauty products, Korean culture has won the Filipinos’ hearts. Who could forget Koreanovelas like the Endless Loveseries, Lovers in Paris, Full House and Stairway to Heaven?
Not to be outdone is the Korean music, better known as Kpop. Thanks to YouTube, Korean cable TV and music download, Filipinos are exposed to Korea’s finest singers and groups. As a Kpop follower, I came up with a list of eight Kpop singers and groups many Filipinos are familiar with and will hear from in the future.
BoA — One of South Korea’s top female singers. She has topped the charts in Korea, Japan and released an album in the US. She collaborated with western artists such as Westlife and Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys and was cited as an Influential Artist in the 2004 MTV Asia Awards.
2NE1 — With Sandara Park (known as the Pambansang Krung-Krung) as one of its members, the group is fast becoming popular in the country thanks to songs such as Lollipop, Fire and I Don’t Care. Sandara, now known as Dara, released the song Kis featuring Lee Min Ho (Gu Jun Pyo of Boys Over Flowers) to promote Korean beer brand Cass.
Rain — Known to Filipino audience as Justin of the hit romantic-comedy Full House, Rain is Korea’s latest export in the international entertainment industry. He was cited by Time Magazine as one of the 100 “Most Influential People Who Shape the World Award” andPeople Magazine named him one of the Most Beautiful People in its “First-Time Beauties 2007” section. Aside from being a singer-actor, Rain heads his own company J. Tune Entertainment and dabbles in fashion with his clothing line Six to Five. He broke into Hollywood viaSpeed Racer and will be seen in the movie Ninja Assassin, produced by the Wachowski brothers, the duo behind The Matrix trilogy.
Girls Generation —Composed of nine female members, fans often refer them as SNSD which is short for the group’s Korean name So Nyeo Shi Dae or So Nyuh Shi Dae. Like other groups, the members of Girls Generation are trained in various aspects of the performing arts. Their second mini-album Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) was recently released with the song of the same name as its carrier single. The group also has its own TV series and endorses various products in Korea.
With the continued craving for anything Korean, Filipinos will continue to hear and see more Kpop artists in the coming years.
The Korean pop invasion
By Alexa Villano (The Philippine Star)
source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=523503&publicationSubCategoryId=70
NOTE:
Originally published by Nel Estuya on December 21, 2009 in the Lifestyle Section of the e-zine.
http://dancepinoy.com/news/k-pop-invasion-in-the-philippines
Post a Comment