141006 T-ara News : The Bad, The Good, and The Odd

It seems that no matter what happens, T-ara is unable to retain stable footing. The ground just keeps shifting from underneath them, in both positive and negative ways. Right now, their world is tilting in ways that are horrible, inspiring, and odd.

The misfortune that most recently besieged T-ara is the accusation that Core Contents Media CEO Kim Kwang-soo embezzled money from the company. Kim Kwang-soo is already a notorious figure in K-pop. He has famously (mis)managed idols such as Speed, Davichi, and F-ve Dolls, who rarely promote while T-ara is pimped out twenty-four/seven. He did himself no favors with the extraordinarily bad handling of T-ara’s original bullying scandal and the departure of Ahreum.

In late June, reports from the prosecutor’s office emerged. Those reports indicated that Kim Kwang-soo is suspected of stealing 4 billion won from Core Contents Media. And while the initial investigation was revealed almost three months ago, he’s still under investigation. This is the point where I have to ask: how the hell is Kim Kwang-soo still CEO? Does CCM not have a managing board that can fire him? Or did he simply finagle his way into a position that had no real way to remove him from power? Because thief or not, he sucks at his job, and that investigation would be a great way to get rid of him.

While that mess cannot be pleasant to put up with, T-ara does have a bright spot on their horizon. They recently signed a five billion won contract with Longzhen Cultural Development, a major Chinese entertainment company. While many K-pop groups, including T-ara, have achieved fame in countries outside Korea, those countries were Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines — for the most part, smaller countries whose entertainment scenes are not as large as Korea’s. Japan is much harder to crack, with success coming from either a) complete assimilation, or b) providing music that’s a bit outside the mainstream sound.

China, on the other hand, has remained unconquered by everybody. Only SM Entertainment can even claim to have made inroads, and those inroads are debatable. Thus, T-ara’s contract with Longzhen is nothing short of groundbreaking. Longzhen Cultural Development is one of the biggest entertainment companies in China, with artists such as Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, and A-mei under its belt. This won’t open doors for T-ara in China, it’ll knock whole walls down. After a second public contract signing and press conference on October 13, T-ara will be pursuing opportunities is Chinese TV, shooting Chinese commercials, and possibly holding Chinese concerts. This is a stroke of luck and genius for T-ara, as unlike Korea and Japan, they never made much of a splash there pre-2012 Bullying Scandal and are free of the baggage there that has made their careers unpleasant for the last two years. However, there is something odd about the contract: it wasn’t signed between Longzhen Culteral Development and Core Contents Media. Instead, Longzhen’s new business partner is MBK Entertainment.

On October 1, it was announced that Core Contents Media would be legally renamed to MBK Entertainment. All the employees and idols are to be carried over to MBK, with little change in practice. The sudden change might seem a bit odd, but considering that “Core Contents Media” doesn’t exactly inspire warm, fuzzy feelings in people, it’s not exactly shocking. With T-ara’s great leap forward, it’s possible that the higher-ups at Core Contents Media thought a new name might help their fresh start along in the eyes of the press. However, that fresh start is in the eyes of the media only: changing the name has no effect on legal investigations. So if Kim Kwang-soo thought this might aid in that pesky embezzlement charge, he’s wrong. Still, there’s nothing wrong with gaining a new name for a new market.

T-ara is perpetually in the headlines, whether from promotions or news or more scandals, and this is likely a factor in their failure to reclaim their earlier status. Right now, though, it looks like life is bringing up roses for them, and I wish them the best in their new ventures.

140925 T-ara sing trot, make funny facial expressions, do sexy dances, and more on “Weekly Idol”

T-ara made their appearance on the September 24 installment of MBC Everyone“s “Weekly Idol” and had a fun time, providing lots of fun and laughs for viewing fans.

During one corner, the girls had to engage in competition for the coveted prize of Hanwoo beef! The first round was to discover the Queen of Trot, and the girls engaged with diligence and fervor. However, in the end, Hyomin won, earning herself some delicious beef.

The other members said, “She ate kalbi this morning, too…” After a taste of the hanwoo, Hyomin said, “It”s really delicious. From now on, I will continue working hard, so I can eat all the meat.”

The girls also competed to see who did the best “stupid” facial expression and did sexy dances. You can check out the full cut above!

140918 T-ara To Hold A 'Sugar Free' Promotional Fan Signing Session On September 20

T-ara will hold a fan signing session this month.
T-ara is going to hold a fan signing session in Seoul this month.
T-ara are back with a new club single titled, “Sugar Free.” Boram, Qri, Soyeon, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon are wrapping up the first week of promotions on various music performance shows and the single has been gaining popularity among fans and on YouTube, the group has had well over one million views..
The members will hold a fan signing session in Seoul on September 20th. The event will take place at the IFC Mall”s North Atrium in Yeouido, Seoul at 7:00 PM KST.
Core Contents Media stated, “As much as it will be a time for all 6 members to be together with their fans after doing solo activities, it will be a meaningful meeting.”

140911 T-ara discuss Soyeon”s boyfriend Oh Jong Hyuk, ideal types, and more

During a recent interview session with Ilgan Sports, T-ara”s Soyeon, Eunjung, and Jiyeon addressed the topic of dating and ideal types.

The interviewer asked, “Soyeon and Oh Jong Hyuk are an official couple. Is Oh Jong Hyuk close to the members, as well?”

Soyeon said, “We don”t even have time to meet each other,” and laughed. She continued, “The both of us are so busy with work and we respect each other”s work because we can”t cause a disturbance. We try to split our time as best as possible to see each other sensibly. There are even cases where we see each other for just ten minutes.”

The interview addressed the other two: “I feel like you two would also want to date when you see Soyeon dating. What kind of man would you like to meet?”

Eunjung stated, “I don”t have anything specific in mind. I”m okay with people in the business, but I also think I”d be able to date an ordinary person if we were to have a connection. I don”t really have a criteria for a type of person I dislike.”

Jiyeon replied, “To tell the truth, for a long time, I wanted to date, but these days, I don”t. [That feeling] disappeared as we started working on the album.”

Soyeon put in, “Jiyeon has an ideal type that is not idol-like, so I think it”s harder for her to meet a man. To tell the truth, the idols eye one another, so there are many cases in which they connect through dating. There are many male idols around Jiyeon, but she does not really like pretty boys or delicate men, so they don”t connect. She likes the warm type like Yang Dong Geun, but there aren”t many idols like that around us.”

Eunjung added, “But that doesn”t mean Jiyeon likes the manly man style with big muscles. What we mean is she likes the warm and kind type.”

140907 T-Ara Is Back with a Sweet Teaser for “Sugar Free”

On September 7, girl group T-ARA released a teaser video for their new track ahead of their upcoming comeback on September 11.

In the teaser video (released in two versions of 15 and 50 seconds), the members of T-ARA can be seen on stage wearing snapbacks and trendy outfits. Through the portion of the new track revealed, it is clear that the song has been heavily influenced by electronic dance music (EDM). There are no clues as to whether“Sugar Free” represents something from the lyrics or is the title of the track.

According to a representative from T-ARA’s label Core Contents Media, this will be the group’s first foray into “big room” music (a sub-genre of house music).

Meanwhile, T-ARA has also been receiving a lot of love for their various dances, such as the cat dance, shuffle dance, and robot dance.

Check out the teaser video and a “making of” sketch below.

140912 T-Ara’s Latest Single “Sugar Free” Accused of Plagiarism

Girl group T-Ara‘s latest single “Sugar Free” has been accused of plagiarism.

“Sugar Free” is an electronic dance music (EDM) house track. Some house music fans, however, has found similarities between “Sugar Free” and Dvbbs‘ “Tsunami“, and also with the intro to DJ Felix da Housecat‘s track “Give Me Body.” One house fan pointed out that “House music does sound similar in multiple instances, but ‘Sugar Free’ has too many similarities.”

Some are also accusing the album art for “Sugar Free” to be plagiarizing the album artwork of Justice, a famous electronic music duo.

On these issues, T-Ara’s agency Core Contents Media commented that they have “not heard of these issues.”

“Sugar Free” is composed by Shinsadong Tiger and Bumee & Nangee.

140819 T-ara teases with another photo for their September comeback

On August 18th, T-ara uploaded an image of members Hyomin, Eunjung, and Soyeon hard at work in the recording studio, with the caption

Hyomin, Eunjung, and Soyeon are recording for the new song~~ Show your support and excitement for the next album!!

Earlier this month, T-ara had announced plans for a September comeback, along with a mysterious photo of two of their members making progress on the new album. Now they have shared a clear picture of Hyomin, Eunjung, and Soyeon posing for the camera in the midst of a recording session.

T-ara is returning as a group after a busy year of Japanese promotions, dramas, and solo activities, most notably the solo debuts of Jiyeon with “1 Minute 1 Second” and Hyomin with “Nice Body”.

Make sure to watch out for the release of their album in September!

Source: T-ara Facebook Page

140820 T-ara to Make a Comeback on September 11 with a New Image

The group’s agency, Core Contents Media, revealed a new photo of T-ara that showed an innocent atmosphere through the use of black and white tone. Before, the girls had a sexy or a youthful image and since this is a totally different image, it’s safe to assume that the girls will be making a comeback with a different atmosphere.

For this comeback, they reported that they would be excluding the sexy concept. Before this, members Jiyeon and Hyomin performed as solo artists and grabbed much attention through their intense, sexy concept. However, they informed that they would be showing a totally different side of themselves for this comeback.

The girls will also be doing a genre they’ve never done before. T-ara will be doing an EDM genre called Big Room and will be doing club music.

T-ara is known for becoming a hot issue through their dances, like the Roly-Poly dance, Shuffle dance, and the Robot dance. Through this title track, they are planning on showing a new dance.

140812 T-ara to complete solo activities and prepare group comeback in September

After busily following solo schedules the past year, T-ara will finally be returning as a group with a new album in September!

On August 11, T-ara shared a not-so-mysterious image that read, “? T-ara Comeback. This September new album release,” via their official Facebook page account. Further more, the statement read:

Hello~! We’d like to update you with T-ARA’s recent activities! T-ARA members will finish their solo activities and come back to you as a whole in September.
Please support T-ARA with sweet comments, while they’re working hard to prepare for the new album^^!!

It has been 9 months since T-ara’s last album, releasing “Again 1977” in December. Since then, the members have been busy with Japanese promotions, dramas, and solo debuts, most notably Jiyeon and Hyomin. With that said, Hyomin will begin wrapping up her promotions of “Nice Body,” and begin recording for T-ara’s upcoming album.

Source: T-ara Facebook Page, Segye Ilbo

140808 T-ara to release new album next month

Girl group T-ara is making a comeback early next month, according to its agency Core Contents Media yesterday.

The group originally had planned on releasing a new album this month, but it has been delayed due to recording schedules.

The new album will be shorter than the full-length one and will include many cheerful dance songs, like the ones the group had previously released including “Roly Poly”.

Many fans may welcome the news, as it”s been about eight months since the group released the latest album “T-ara Winter” in December of last year. Since then, individual members have focused on developing their talents on their own. Among them, Ji-yeon and Hyo-min released their solo albums. Ji-yeon did so in May and Hyo-min showed her album in June.

140705 T-ARA to hold first fanmeeting in Vietnam

T-ARA are meeting their fans for the first time in Vietnam through a scheduled fanmeeting.

T-ara’s Vietnamese fans are going to be overwhelmed to see the girls on August 2 at Lan Ahn, Ho Chi Minh. Don’t be late and be there at 7:30PM so purchase your tickets immediately.

It would surely be a great time to interact with your favorite girl group! Don’t miss the chance to meet the girls! Be there!

140311 T-ara greeting fans on their own Facebook

T-ara posted on their official Facebook on the 11th, “Greetings to our fans! We present to you the official Facebook page for T-ARA. We will be posting pictures and news of T-ARA, so please stay tuned! Love you all,” and confirmed their account with a group snapshot.

If you haven”t seen so already, like their Facebook page right now!

131023 T-ara Explains Why They Chose to Come Back

Girl group T-ara recently met with the press to talk about their 8th mini-album, “Again,” and how the controversial departure of ex-member Hwayoung had changed everything.

On deciding to make their comeback in spite of all the hate and controversy, the girls said, “It pains our hearts the most when we know that we won’t be able to receive applause from the audience when we’re standing on stage. But we want to stand on stage anyway. What can we do so that we can show a better side of ourselves again? It would be great if we knew the answer to that question, but we feel like we don’t know where to start. Even our ‘tiger’ CEO (Kim Kwang Soo) lost all of his confidence. He told us that we have to bring merit back to our group and to work hard while not pushing ourselves too hard. He told us we should continue this together…”

T-ara also talked about how their relationship with their fans had also changed.Hyomin said, “We were wrong to let our fans, who have always loved us, to bear such disappointment in us. There’s nothing we can do now to change that fact. No matter what we do, it’s not like we can undo the past. We continue to reflect on how our behavior back then was immature and childish. Our first priority right now is to keep working hard.”

Eunjung added, “Back then, we weren’t able to, but we wanted to tell everyone what was in our hearts as soon as possible. We often wonder if that’s why the public reacted more strongly to the issue. We should have shown the public a better image of ourselves through our actions, not just with words.”

T-ara was at the height of their popularity before the Hwayoung bullying incident drastically affected their image as a group. Eunjung shared, “In the past, I took popularity for granted. I don’t think that anymore. To have been a runner-up for first, even for us was higher than any ranking we imagined was possible. Even if we were in 10th place, we would be happy.”

The girls also shared their feelings about watching their CEO struggle with the aftermath of his sudden and insufficiently supported decision to remove Hwayoung from the group. Soyeon said, “Our CEO has always been overflowing with confidence, and we have always followed his instructions. The results on anything we did was always good. But now, our CEO is more careful than we are on everything, and he seems more nervous. While staying up through the night to work, he didn’t seem so confident anymore. It was the first time we had seen that side of him, and it pained us.”

Eunjung also opened up about how their interactions with other celebrities had also changed saying, “We have always been good friends with groups like Girls’ Generation and KARA, but because of all the bad news we were surrounded by, we find it difficult to approach them for the fear that they might try to avoid us. Instead of being able to act as we normally would and according to how we truly feel, we act more reserved. As human beings, things like that can really hurt.”

Soyeon also shared what it was like for T-ara to watch other girl groups grow their fan bases while the members of T-ara were on their hiatus. “Girls’ Generation,SISTAR, and Girl’s Day were able to make such big strides and frankly, we did feel envious. Other girl groups are always trying out new things. To start all over again, we feel like we should play it safe. We don’t feel it’s the right time for us to try out new things yet. T-ara has always received love in the past for their friendly girl-next-door image. We believe that there are fans out there waiting for the T-ara image they have been familiar with.” 

The girls also addressed the rumors that they were going to disband. “That rumor has always followed us. I think it still floats around because people are interested in us. We know that we obtain the best results when all of us are together as one group,” said Eunjung.

The girls have since posted a handwritten letter to the public apologizing for the controversial issue involving ex-member Hwayoung, who was a victim of their bullying. T-ara’s agency, Core Contents Media has also filed civil and criminal lawsuits against media outlets that published “speculative articles” about T-ara’s controversy. Hwayoung also recently updated her fans with her status and sincerely wished the best for T-ara. She has expressed an interest in acting, despite all the love calls from different agencies and is currently studying at Kyunghee University as a theater major.

Source (1)

131016 T-Ara Turning a New Leaf? Members Explain Negative Comments are Constructive Criticism

After a pretty nasty bullying controversy that shook the Korean media last year, and a few line up changes, the members of girl group T-Ara have tried their best to reach out to fans and make a strong comeback in the past week.

The group made their official comeback on October 10 with the release of their eighth mini-album and its two title tracks, “Number 9″ and “I Know the Feeling.”

Despite a lot of personality critiques from internet users, the two songs instantly charted well on several digital charts within their first 48 hours, with “Number 9″ making it to number one on Bugs, Soribada, and Cyworld.

“I Know the Feeling” was spotted in various other digital charts ranking within the top three and a couple other songs from the EP made it into the top ten including “Hurt” and “Don’t Marry.”

So it seems the six members of T-Ara have been able to move beyond their rocky past and continue to be a top girl group in South Korea – or does it?

Yes, T-Ara are having a fair amount of success with their most recent comeback, but that does not mean they are not still the victims of some rather harsh and hurtful comments from internet users and former fans.

During an October 14 interview, the girls opened up about their past controversies and explained how they are using the negative comments and criticism to grow and change as individuals and as a unit.

Hyomin discussed the constant bombardment of negativity online directed are her group.”I don’t look at it carefully, but I skim through it,” she said.”In the past I would search a lont of negative comments… But not I try to find positive comments.”

“These days I feel better if encouraging posts increase a bit,” she continued.”[Our members] say ‘fighting’ to each other and read the posts to each other sometimes.”

The T-Ara members say they are learning a lot from all the hateful comments.

“The negative posts help us reflect on ourselves and realize new things,” explained Boram.

“I don’t think of it as negative posts, but I think to myself, ‘We did it this way and we should fix it,’ and I try to receive it positively,” she added.

If T-Ara’s current music chart success is any indication, the positive thinking is serving them well so far.

After being labeled as K-Pop’s mean girls, the T-Ara members seem to be taking the negative criticism to heart and really putting effort into turing a new leaf.

“I think [the negative comments] are for our benefit and growth, so rather than getting hurt, I learn from it,” finished Boram.

What do you think?It T-Ara’s recent comeback success reflective of former fans finally forgiving the members for their shortcomings?Share you ideas in the comments section below!

131015 Why Does T-ARA Keep Switching Leaders?

T-ARA explained why they keep changing their leader.

On the October 14th episode of YTN’s “Ho Joon Seok’s News In” Qri revealed, “There’s still someone who hasn’t been a leader, but I’ve been chosen to be the 5th leader. As each member plays the role of a leader, she learns to be more responsible, and that’s why we keep changing leaders.”

The anchor asked, “Do you change leaders when someone says it’s time to change leaders?” Eunjung answered, “It can’t be that way. Each member has a good influence on the group. Everyone influences each other and is in turn influenced by the other members. The leader has the overall responsibility.”

Boram spoke on the topic of hierarchy in the group and said, “There is no hierarchy. Rather, no matter who is older or younger, we all treat each other like family.”

Photo credit: Ho Joon Seok’s News In screen capture

131015 T-Ara, “We Work On 2~3 Hours of Sleep”

T-Ara revealed that they are suffering from sleep deprivation.

In YTN “Ho Joon Suk’s Newsin” aired today, T-Ara came out as guests and revealed that they are living busy lives.

Member Soyeon talked about the preparation period they had before their comeback. She said, “We receive the song and we go through the process of confirming the song, recording, and choreography. We have to pass through many different professionals for our stage performance before we actually go on the stage.”

Qri said, “Our practice hours aren’t settled but from the day our comeback date is set, we practice with barely any sleep.”

Boram said, “It’s hard to fight sleep, but because we’re at our busiest period right now, we get about 2~3 hours of sleep every night.”

T-Ara recently came back with their mini album AGAIN.

Photo Credit: YTN

131015 T-Ara Thanks Their Fans For Lunch ‘Group V’

T-Ara revealed their special lunch.

On October 12 T-Ara’s agency posted a picture of T-Ara, saying, “T-Ara received lunch from their fans on the day they returned to MBC “Music Core” after a year and a half.” In the picture, T-Ara members made a V at the camera while holding up the lunch boxes that their fans made them.

T-Ara released their 8th mini album “AGAIN” on October 10. Their double title songs are “Number Nine” and “Because I Know.”

Photo Credit: Core Contents Media

131015 T-ara brings gifts to waiting fans

Once upon a time, fans used to bring gifts to the taping of programs that featured their favorite stars, hoping the small bribe would help get them a seat in the audience. Today, however, the situation seems to have reversed, as stars prepare gifts for their fans to thank them for their support and time.

Case in point: girl group T-ara, who brought enough tteokboki, or spicy rice cakes, to serve 300 people lining up for a TV taping at SBS early Sunday morning. According to local reports, the thank-you snack wasn’t even paid for by T-ara‘s management; rather, the group paid for the food themselves.

“We wanted to do something for fans who had to wait for a long time”, the group said.

“We prepared enough so that fans waiting for other celebrities could also eat the food”.

And T-ara wasn’t the only group.

Boy band My Name prepared cushions for fans, to spare them from sitting on the cold ground. “Be comfortable while you wait, we love you”, the group said on its Twitter on Sunday.

SHINee also delivered food to fans last week, after a scheduled performance was delayed.

By Lee Sun-min

131013 T-ara give out snacks for their waiting fans in Inkigayo

On October 13, T-ara make their 300 fans, who are waiting outside of Inkigayo, surprised.

T-ara entertained their fans and thanked them for coming early to watch Inkigayo pre-recording. They gave over 300 of their fans some snacks such as ricecakes and fishcakes.

The snacks were bought from members’ own pockets and personally prepared the surprise. They stayed with their fans and interacted with them from 7-8:30 in the moring.

T-ara expressed, “Since then, we’ve get alot from our fans. Even simple, we wanted to do something in return to show our gratitude. Our fans and others as well, have hard time getting up this early in order to see our short performance, so we’d like to see them eat well today.”

They concluded, “We aren’t singers without the fans, so we never forget to thank them. We will do our best on performance for them.”

T-ara is going to have their comeback stage on SBS Inkigayo at 3:40KST.

Written by KYUriShana@dkpopnews.net
Source: Nate

131010 T-ara releases “Number 9” MV

Making yet another epic comeback, T-ara released their 8th mini album ‘Again’ as well as the full music video for one of the two title tracks, “Number 9”.

“Number Nine” is co-composed by Sinsadong Tiger and composer Choi Gyu Sung. The song starts out balladical and changes into strong electronic in the chorus part.

The second title track “I Know The Feeling” is a sad song with an addicting melody composed by Baek Hyun Jung and Baek Deok Sang. The song is a medium-tempo number that maximizes the emotion. Eunjung reportedly participated in the acoustic arrangement of the song.

Check out the MV