FT Island’s Song Seung Hyun debuts as a musical actor in Japan

FT Island’s Song Seung Hyun will debut as a musical actor in Japan.

On September 19, Song will make his musical acting debut in the musical Jack The Ripper, playing the role of Daniel. He will also perform in the musical on October 1 and 2.

Born in 1992, Song attracted a lot of attention by being cast in the role of Daniel as the youngest actor. He has already proved his talent as a musical actor with his good acting and singing skills in the musical Jack The Ripper, which was performed in Korea from August 8 through 23.

Song says, “I’m nervous to meet my Japanese fans as a musical actor because I’ve always met them as a member of FT Island. I’ll try my utmost to give the best performance for them.”

Song is a guitarist, rapper, and vocalist in the popular band FT Island. While he was recording songs for FT Island’s fourth album, Five Treasure Box, which was released on September 10, he has prepared a lot for the musical, spending about twelve hours everyday for practice.

The musical Jack The Ripper has been one of the most popular musicals in Korea for three consecutive years. Since its premiere in 2009, it has been staged twice as an encore performance.

Source: Starnews

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FT Island sell over 30,000 copies of their fourth album, Five Treasure Box

FT Island have sold 30,000 copies of their fourth album, Five Treasure Box, in a week.

Since they released their fourth album on September 10, they have topped the charts for a week, even on the weekend. They also topped the weekly charts of sales.

The new album of FT Island contains a total of ten songs, including the lead track, “I Wish.” Seven of them are written or composed by FT Island members. The group has released many songs written and composed by themselves in Japan, but the portion they participated in is the largest this time.

FT Island received many favorable reviews from September 13 to 16 with the lead track and other songs of their new album.

They also attracted a lot of attention by performing different songs on different TV shows.

In the episode of Mnet’s M Countdown, which aired on September 13, the group performed “I Wish” and “Let It Go,” a song composed by Choi Jong Hoon, and in the episode of KBS 2TV’s Music Bank, which aired on September 14, they performed “Paper Plane,” a song written and composed by Lee Jae Jin.

In the episode of MBC TV’s Show! Music Core, which aired on September 15, they performed “Compass,” a song composed by Choi Min Hwan and Song Seung Hyun and written by Lee Hong Ki, and in the episode of SBS TV’sInkigayo, which aired on September 16, they performed “Life,” a song composed by Choi Jong Hoon and written by Lee Hong Ki.

FT Island say, “It’s our new album released in three years. We really appreciate your love and interest. We’ve just finished our performances in the first week, and we were really happy and excited while performing. We’ll try to show you better performances, so please look forward to it.”

FT Island will continue promoting the lead track, “I Wish.”

Source: Xportsnews

FTISLAND releases an MV teaser for ‘I Wish’

Boy band FTISLAND has just dropped an MV teaser for their upcoming album Five Treasure Box.

Five Treasure Box is their 4th studio album and they will be promoting title track I Wish, starting September 10th. A teaser from the MV was released through Naver Music and subsequently uploaded by fans.

I Wish appears to have some inspiration from Latin/Spanish music and though it’s not much, the beats seem to hint at a mood-lifting, energetic song, though the MV teaser itself hints otherwise.

In addition, the members are said to have participated in the writing of the songs on the album, showing their growth as artists.

Source: YouTube

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FT Island will return to performing in six days

FT Island will return to performing in six days.

The band will release their fourth EP Five Treasure Box on September 10 and start performing the title song “I Wish.”

FT Island says, “The new EP includes music that we like and what we pursue and that made the EP more meaningful to us.”

All of the members participated in writing the melodies and lyrics for the songs. The band has been performing in the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong. Thanks to Lee Hong Gi’s talented vocals and the other members’ refined stage manners they have become a popular performance-based group.

FT Island recently finished holding their exclusive concert and are currently preparing for their new EP.

Source: TV Report

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FT Island’s Lee Hong Ki complains, “I have uneven nostrils!”

On August 29, FT Island’s Lee Hong Ki tweeted, “Why do I have uneven nostrils?” and attached a picture.

His cute charm stands out the most in the picture. He blew up his cheeks and stares into the camera, showing off his cute charm as much as possible.

His fancy outfit also attracts attention. The polka-dot shirt sports a casual look, and he put an emphasis on his black fedora.

Netizens who saw the posting commented: “He looks cute.” “As I look at it closely, he does have uneven nostrils.” “He seems to be getting younger.” “When are you coming back?”

Lee was recently selected as a new emcee for M.net’s M Count Down.

Source: TV Report

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FT Island will come out with a new release and a concert

FT Island will hold a concert, titled Take FT Island.

On August 28, FNC Entertainment, FT Island’s agency, reported, “FT Island will release their fourth album in the second week of September right after they finish their concert.”

On August 21, FT Island’s Choi Jong Hoon implied about the upcoming concert on his Twitter account. Uploading a picture of himself showing off his nice abs, he tweeted, “I’m ready. Are you? Please wait a little bit more  ”

Choi built up his abs in order to keep the promise with his fans that he made on a radio show a year ago.

FT Island will release their new songs at the concert.

Because FT Island have become popular with such songs as “Severely,” “Love Sick,” “I Hope,” “Hello Hello,” and “Love Love Love,” many music fans are looking forward to their new album.

After they released an EP, “Grown Up,” in February in Korea, FT Island have been active in promoting the EP in the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong. Because of the vocalist Lee Hong Ki’s powerful voice and other members’ refined stage manners, they’re popular not only in Korea but also in many other countries.

Take FT Island, FT Island’s new concert, will be held on September 1 and 2 at the Olympic Hall at the Olympic Park.

Source: TV Report

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FT Island’s Choi Jong Hoon shows off his abs

FT Island’s Choi Jong Hoon recently showed off his nice abs.

On August 21, Choi uploaded a picture of himself, baring his upper body, on his Twitter account with the comment, “I’m ready. Are you? Please wait a little bit more.”

Choi has built up his body for a new month for FT Island’s concert, which will be held on September 1 and 2. His fans are guessing it is to keep the promise with his fans that he made on a radio show last year.

In one of the episodes of SBS Radio’s Choi Hwa Jung’s Power Time, which aired last year, Choi said, “People think idol group members are the only ones who have nice bodies, but I want to show you that a band member also has a nice body, so I’m now working out hard with Lee Hong Ki.” At this, Lee Hong Ki said, “We’ll build up our bodies and show you our abs throughout the concert next year.”

FT Island will hold a concert, titled Take FT Island, on September 1 and 2 at the Olympic Hall in Olympic Park.

Source: TV Report

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FT Island releases a poster for Take FT Island

Band FT Island recently released a poster for their sixth exclusive concert Take FT Island, which will be held at Olympic Park in Seoul, Korea on September 1 and 2.

Like the concept ‘As you see, as you hear. Let’s listen to FT Island’s music! FT Island reach out their hands’ for the concert, in the poster, Lee Hong Ki is reaching out his hand towards the fans.

Since they released their EP Grown Up in February, they have been keeping busy overseas, including, the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong. They will return to performing in Korea with their fourth EP in September.

Since the band is well known as an artist with very powerful ticket sales, as soon as they started selling tickets for the concert Take FT Island on August 10, every seat was booked, proving that they are very popular among the public.

Source: Xportsnews

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Tickets sell out for FT Island’s September concert

Every seat is sold out for FT Island’s exclusive concert.

FT Island will hold the ‘Take FT Island’ on September 1 and 2 at Olympic Park in Seoul.

Tickets sold out as soon as they went on sale on August 10 at 8 o’clock in the evening.

CJ E & M, who is in charge of directing the group’s concert, says, “FT Island is very powerful in tickets sales not only in Korea but also in foreign countries. It has been almost a year since they held an exclusive concert in Korea and that made their fans even more excited about the concert.”

After the concert, the group will release their new EP in mid-September.

FT Island released their eighth Japanese single “Top Secret” on August 8 and drew a lot of attention by ranking fifth on the Oricon daily chart.

Source: TV Report

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FT Island’s L.O.V.E for one another ^^

Meanwhile, it’s Hongki’s turn to show love with his member. He uploaded a photo together with Jaejin saying, “with Jaejin on a date!!! Weather’s great!!!”

SOURCE: FT Island Hongki and Minhwan‘s Twitter
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FT Island’s Lee Hong Ki supports AOA

AOA (Ace of Angels), the first girl group from FNC Entertainment, which represents FT Island, CNBLUE, and Juniel, released their second teaser for group member Choa.

On July 17, FNC Entertainment released a teaser for group member Choa on their official website and official group site.

Choa, who was born in 1990, is the main vocalist for the group. She has the angel name Choaya, and has a heavenly voice.

On July 16, member Seol Hyun, who has appeared in a music video for FT Island’s song “Severely,” was unveiled and drew a lot of attention.

Girl group AOA, who are composed of eight members, will unveil a new member everyday starting July 16 through 23 on their official website. The third member will be unveiled on July 18.

Source: Xportsnews

FT Island release a teaser video of their new Japanese EP, Top Secret

FT Island recently released a teaser video of their eighth Japanese EP, Top Secret, to be released on August 8 on their official YouTube channel.

The lead song “Top Secret” is currently attracting more attention as it has been selected as an ending theme song of NTV’s music program Happy Music for the month of July.

In the 30-second teaser video, FT Island members are showing off their mature looks. In black and white and check and cube patterns that are harmonized well together, the video gives a punky, stylish feeling.

This EP contains a total of three songs, “Top Secret,” “Beloved,” and “Here.” “Beloved” is especially attracting a lot of attention because it was composed by Lee Jae Jin, a base guitarist and a vocalist of FT Island.

The new EP of FT Island will be released in four different versions, a regular one, a limited version that includes DVD, a Lawson’s version, and a limited version that includes a video of FT Island’s summer concert tour in Japan (including the Mejamashi live concert in 2011).

In the jacket photo of Top Secret, FT Island members are showing off their charismatic, mature looks.

FT Island recently finished concert tour in Japan, attracting over 60,000 people. Starting on June 24 in Fukui, they held concerts in four cities in Japan (Tokyo,  Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukui).

Source: Xportsnews

FT Island impresses over 8,000 Taiwanese fans

FT Island recently held a successful concert in Taiwan.

FT Island held the ‘Play! FT Island’ as a part of their ‘Asia Tour in Taipei’ on May 26 in Taiwan and impressed over 8,000 fans.

The group sang over 20 hit songs, including, “I Hope,” “Love Love Love,” “Neverland,” and “I Confess.” They also received an explosive response by singing “Severely” and “Like the Birds” as encores.

Taiwanese fans surprised the group by holding up red cardboard hearts up, when the group sang the song “I Confess.”

As soon as the group finished giving encores, the fans held flash cards up to congratulate them on their 5th anniversary of the group’s debut.

The group says, “Thank you so much for your passion and for the event. That surprised us a lot during the concert. We were so impressed and happy to be loved by many fans.”

FT Island will keep touring Asia by holding a concert in Thailand in June.

Source: Starnews

FT Island promotes release of ‘20’

To mark the release of its second Japanese album entitled “20,” FT Island held launch events over the weekend, meeting more than 10,000 fans in Tokyo and Osaka.

At the meet-and-greet mini-concerts, the band sang a total of five songs including “Wanna Go,” which was composed by members Song Seung-hyun and Choi Min-hwan. Group leader Choi Jong-hoon’s track “Stay” as well as “Satisfaction” were also performed by the Hallyu group.

When quizzed on the significance of the album’s title, the band said it decided on “20” because it is the average age of the band members.

The group also said it was grateful for the past two years in Japan and that it had been exactly two years since FT Island’s debut across the East Sea.

“20” sold 10,372 copies in Japan on the day of its release and became the third-highest-selling album on Oricon’s weekly chart.

The band is set to tour Japan from June 24 until July 8.

By Carla Sunwoo

Source: Korea Joongang Daily

K-pop photography exhibition in Thailand

A charity photo exhibition featuring K-pop stars is being held in Bangkok from April 26 until May 20. Featured stars include T-ara, Secret, 4Minute, Nine Muses, FT Island and ZE:A.

The event entitled “Korea Big Star Photo Exhibition” is a free showcase for fans and exhibits the works of photographer Kim Hyo-bum and Issue Daily’s reporter Song Jae-won.
At the exhibit, personal items belonging to the stars will also be sold for charity.
Some of the items to be sold include signed CDs and outfits worn by 4Minute, Nine Muses and ZE:A.

“There is a lot of curiosity among foreign fans about K-pop stars. You will be able to catch glimpses of K-pop stars like never before,” said Kim.
By Carla Sunwoo [carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr]

Source: Korea Joongang Daily

Infinite, FT Island, and Lee Seung Gi are in the Top 10 on the Oricon

Infinite, FT Island, and Lee Seung Gi recently entered the Top 10 list on the Oricon chart with their new albums.

On April 19, according to the Oricon, Infinite’s second Japanese single Be Mine, which was released on April 18, ranked second on daily single chart selling over 30,000 copies on the day of its release.

The single is the Japanese version of Korean song “Be Mine,” which has become very popular last year.

FT Island also released their new single Neverland on the same day and showed off their power by ranking eighth.

Lee Seung Gi’s Japanese best album, which was released on April 18, ranked sixth on the Oricon daily chart on the day of its release.

KARA’s second Japanese album Super Girls, which was released in November of last year, ranked third on the latest weekly album chart and drew a lot of attention. The first successful concert, which was held on April 14 and 15 in Yokohama, during their Japanese tour influenced the ranking.

2AM’s Japanese version of “You Wouldn’t Answer My Calls” ranked fifth on the Oricon weekly single chart.

Source: Starnews

FT Island’s Lee Hong Ki visits a plastic surgeon: “The doctor says I have nothing to fix”

The band FT Island has released the fourth mini-album Severely and ranked at the top of various music charts. It also visited MBC’s Weekly Idol lately, spending some fun time shooting an episode.

It was the second time for FT Island to visit Weekly Idol since its song “Like The Birds.” In a recent shooting for the segment called Idols Say So some rumors about the members were brought up, finding out whether they were true or not.

Living up to its reputation as a “pretty boy” band, members ranked one another according to their looks and eventually the leader Choi Jong Hun was selected as the best-looking guy in the team. He said, “All members are quite confident of their looks. We’ve never had a plastic surgery.” His comment showed confidence in their “superior” looks, and Lee Hong Ki added, “I went to a plastic surgeon before the debut, but he said I have nothing to fix on my appearance.” On hearing this, the emcee Jung Hyung Don could not hide his jealousy and seemed to feel the dignity of a pretty boy band.

Besides this, FT Island frankly shared some of the personal stories, such as creating a stir with some complaints they had for one another and accusing a member with a “Severly” body odor. Weekly Idol featuring FT Island will be broadcast on March 14 at 6:00 p.m. on MBC Everyone.

FT Island tops nine charts in Taiwan

FT Island has conquered the Taiwanese music scene, with its new album “Grown Up” topping nine different charts in the country.

The album was released on Jan. 31, and since then the band has topped various charts in Taiwan ranging from MTV Taiwan’s and record retailer G-Music’s top-selling albums charts. “Grown Up” also topped the K-pop album list of the well-known music chart Kuang Nan Record.

In addition, the album reached the top spot on music Web site eZPeer+’s K-pop singles and album charts.

The album is also a popular choice for ringtone downloads on mobile phones, as it rose to No. 1 on the list of three major ringtone Web sites: eMoME Mobile, TAIWAN Mobile and FETNet Telecom.

The band performed its first U.S. show in Los Angeles on Friday alongside fellow FNC Music agency member CN Blue. Upon returning home to Korea, the band will kick off its Asia tour.

By Carla Sunwoo [carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr]

Source: Korea Joongang Daily

The Average Weight of Boy Groups

Following the popular rankings of girl groups by average height, a new chart, recording the average weight of boy groups, has attracted a lot of attention among netizens. The bar graph ranked the boy bands’ average weight from lightest to heaviest. Teen Top was the lightest with 55.1kg (121.5lbs), while 2PM took home the title as the heaviest boy group with 69.1kg (152.3lbs).

In addition, the graph draws particular attention on naming each range of weight that are divided into five big groups. Each group is indicated in colors of red, orange, yellow, green and blue, and titled, “Am I alive,” “Enough said,” “Close to average,” “The average,” and “Desirable weight.”

Many female netizens were shocked to see that some of their favorite male idols weighed approximately the same as they do. In fact, Teen Top, SHINee, Infinite, ZE:A, Twilight, and FT Island weighed under 60kg (132.3 pounds).

Netizens commented, “Teen Top and I weigh about the same...how sad,” “Oh my, they weigh less than I do! Please take some of my weight,” “I want to cry,” and more.

FT Island, CN Blue get ready to take on U.S. crowd in Los Angeles

FT Island and CN Blue touched down in Los Angeles on Thursday in preparation for their Friday concert in Los Angeles and talked with the press about their ambitions for U.S fame.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to perform in the United States,” said Jung Yong-hwa, leader of CN Blue. “We know that the musical taste in the United States is of the highest quality, and we have no doubt that the American fans will have a good time.”

When asked what strategy he uses when performing for foreign audiences, Jung simply said he tries to enjoy himself. “If we are having fun on stage, I know that the fans will have fun, too. I’ve been to many countries, and despite the language barrier, I’ve come to realize that music unites us all.”

Lee Jae-jin, bassist and vocalist from FT Island, said he believes that his group’s biggest appeal is simply about where its members come from. “The emotions in our songs, which stem from our Asian heritage, will set us apart from American bands,” he explained.

By Carla Sunwoo
Source: Korea Joongang Daily