JYJ’s Jaejoong beating Justin Bieber for “Best Celebrity on Twitter” at Shorty Awards

The Shorty Awards, the Twitter equivalent to television’s Golden Globes or Hollywood’s Oscars, is an annual competition to recognize “the best people and organizations on Twitter and social media.”  But when the Shorty Awards organizers put together this year’s 3rd annual competition, they probably weren’t expecting such outright dominance by Korean celebrities.

As further evidence (as if we needed any) of K-pop’s global reach, K-pop celebrities are dominating the leaderboard for “Best Celebrity on Twitter“, with JYJ’s Jaejoong (@mjjeje) and Super Junior’sHeechul (@heedictator) taking 1st and 3rd place, respectively.  Tween sensation Justin Bieber is ranked 2nd, Jay Park 5th (just beating Selena Gomez, who’s currently 6th), and fellow JYJ membersYoochun and Junsu bringing up the rear at 13th and 14th.

Credits: allkpop

SHINee’s Jonghyun answers the question, “When did you get so handsome?”

Talks between SHINee’s Jonghyun and his fans have been heating up the internet.

On a recent online community site, a post titled, “Jonghyun stop using the internet“, appeared. This captured the conversations that were carried out between the idol and his fans on a site where stars and fans can chat over text.

One fan used SBS’s popular TV drama Secret Garden’s line, “When did Kim Jong Hyun get so handsome? Was it since last year?”, to ask the singer a question. Jonghyun answered, “No. I’ve always been handsome”, making him a self-praising star.

Another fan texted, “Since always? I admit it’s true. This is why I fell in love with you”, and Jonghyun replied coolly, “I never told you to fall in love with me“, causing much laughter.

Others commented, “This is so funny. Jonghyun is cute”, “What a friendly idol! Keep talking more to us”, and “Get well soon so that I can see your face! I miss you”.

Witty and fan loving?  Is there anything more to love about this already-perfect idol?

Credits: allkpop

SS501’s Park Jung Min almost debuted as a Super Junior member

On January 27th, SS501’s Park Jung Min made a guest appearance on Mnet’s “Beatles Code“, through which he not only revealed some pre-debut photos, but he also shared a shocking pre-debut story as well.

He began, “I was scouted by an agency in the middle of the street when I was 13 years old. At the time, I was casted into both DSP Media and SM Entertainment.“

He continued, “I had to choose between one or the other. At the time, SM told me that they were preparing a new group, but that the group consisted of many members. Thinking about it now, it was probably Super Junior. I saw them rehearsing, too.”

When asked why he chose DSP Media over SM Entertainment, Park Jung Min answered, “I thought about wanting to see myself on TV and believed that I’d be able to debut faster through DSP Media, which was what influenced my decision.”

He then revealed various pictures from his pre-debut days. MC Yoon Jong Shin quickly spotted a CF Park Jung Min had done for condoms. He asked, ”Are you not embarrassed seeing it now?”

Park Jung Min confidently replied, “Not at all. It was an advertisement advocating a message of safe sex. I’m actually satisfied.”

Credits: allkpop

Why aren’t YG artists performing on Music Bank?

It seems fans have been unable to see YG Entertainment artists performing on KBS’s Music Bank for some time now due to the label declaring a non-attendance to the public broadcast network’s 2010 KBS Music Festival.

A representative of the music industry spoke with Star News on January 27th and revealed, “DespiteGD&TOP and Seungri being well into their promotion cycles, YG Entertainment artists have not once made an appearance on KBS’s Music Bank since restarting their activities.”

He continued, “GD&TOP and Seungri make weekly appearances on MBC’s Music Core and SBS’sInkigayo, and for a longer period, it seems that YG representatives won’t be sending their artists to appear on Music Bank, which goes the same for Big Bang’s comeback next month.”

Some are speculating that YG’s inability to appear on Music Bank is due to the artists refusing to attend the year-end “2010 KBS Music Festival” last year. At the time, representatives of YG expressed, “We are not able to understand why the ‘Gayo Festival’ is giving a ‘best popularity award’ when they declared that they wouldn’t.” YG artists instead attended MBC and SBS’s year-end ceremonies, both of which did not contain award components.

KBS had clarified that the festival overall focused on music and not the awards, and retorted that they too failed to understand YG’s decision.

Since then, YG artists have not been making appearances on Music Bank. Despite the controversy, representatives of the label explained, “We do not have a bad relationship with Music Bank.”

After missing out on Music Bank last week despite appearing on all other music shows, Seungri will continue to be absent on the January 28th episode.

Credits: allkpop

Pre-debut photo of 2NE1’s Minzy divides netizens on issues of body image

2NE1’s maknae Minzy has found herself to be at the heart of a debate between netizens on what would be considered as the ‘ideal’ body image.

Minzy’s audition footage from 2007 was recently posted on an online portal site, and netizens have been commenting on how skinnier she was back then. However, the 14 year old seen in the video has been labelled by some as ‘Bones Minzy’.

In order to provide a better understanding of the contrast between Minzy then and Minzy now, netizens posted a side-by-side comparison of the two selves. There were some who viewed Minzy’s current image as being ‘overweight’, as they commented, “It was only four years ago…It is surprising that you had a time like this” and “You gain more weight as time goes on TT Please lose some weight…”

However, others asserted that Minzy looked healthy and proportional, as they praised, “You still look very good!” and “It is better to have a little weight rather than being stick skinny!”

Credits: allkpop

How are Heechul and Bada similar?

Super Junior’s Kim Heechul recently revealed on MBC’s Radio Star that since his training days before debuting, he often heard that he was similar to singer Bada.

On January 26th, while Heechul talked with guest Shoo regarding her past days, he expressed, “People said that because of our shared blood type AB that I am exactly like Bada in many aspects.” WhenKim Gura commented that Bada’s personality is strong, Shoo replied, “This is because Bada unni likes this kind of work and is the leader.” After Shoo’s attempt to protect Bada’s image, Heechul questioned, “I heard that Bada is a perfectionist,” to which Shoo cringed and answered, “She wants to be a perfectionist, but when she is obsessed with a certain ‘feel’ we have to hide that.”

Shoo then continued, “Bada unni would always dance and sing in front of the bathroom at the television broadcast building. When the clothes stylists asked where Bada is, we would find her covered in sweat absorbed in the music.” Furthermore, Kim Heechul also added, “I heard that Shoo is the kindest. People say to me that my personality is similar to Bada’s.” Shoo agreed to Heechul’s statement, saying, “I heard that too. Were you type AB blood too? Your members must have a hard time,” causing Heechul to be flustered.

Credits: allkpop

Kim Soo Hyun reveals which “Dream High” co-star is his ideal girl

Actor Kim Soo Hyun recently participated in a “Dream High” press conference with his fellow castmates, and he delivered an interview that left reporters feeling like this young star was wiser than his years.

Kim Soo Hyun began with his reflections on how the drama is faring in ratings. “I’m happy the ratings are going up, but the actors and the staff are not quite satisfied yet”. He added, “I would like to see the drama do well. We will show you a youth drama overflowing with passion and fighting spirit“.

Kim continued, “Until now, I’ve only acted, but singers have to act while singing and dancing on stage. I can feel them fill the screen with energy just from their performances alone. It was hard for me to bring myself up to par with my singer co-stars, but I think I will have learned a huge lesson by the end of this project”.

Reporters then turned to the topic of his rivalry with 2PM’s Taecyeon, who plays ‘Jin Gook’. “On screen, Taecyeon and I have an interesting tension through eye contact alone. So even when we’re not shooting, I tend to keep looking at him.” Then he jokingly added, “When I turn around, I want to see him again!”

Kim was then asked who his ideal girl was out of all of his idol co-stars. Replying with much wit, he answered “Suzy in the spring, Eun Jung in the summer, IU in the fall, and Taecyeon in the winter.”

Credits: allkpop

IU reveals her “Dream High” character’s virtual diet

Singer/actress IU revealed the secret diet plan behind her character’s weight loss in KBS’s “Dream High” while walking reporters through the film set during the drama’s press conference on January 25th.

Fans immediately noticed a diet plan scrawled on the school’s blackboard amidst several other lunch menus for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisine.

The special ‘diet menu’ consists of salad, a boiled egg, boiled sweet potatoes, and eight baby tomatoes, all amounting to exactly 346 calories.

Fans speculated this to be the diet plan used by IU’s character in losing weight for her transformation.  Although it’s certainly interesting to look at, they expressed their sorrow in ‘Pil Sook’ having to go through such a strict menu.

Credits: allkpop

Park Min Young chosen as Jinro’s new soju model

Actress Park Min Young was picked up by soju company Jinro to be the image model for their brand,“Favorite (15.5°C).”

The actress delivered a killer combo of sexy and cute for her advertisement photoshoot, and even performed a Hawaiian hula dance for the CF recording.

The marketing director of Jinro, Jung Guha, commented, “Park Min Young’s friendly image fits well the concept of our ‘Favorite’ products, which is why we chose her as our model.  Since she represents the generation of youth, we are sure that she’ll become the next representative figure of soju with her cute and friendly image.”

Her ads will begin running next month.

Credits: allkpop