Soompi Insider: This Week in K-Pop, Issue 1

HOT TOPICS: Kim Hyun Joong, HyunA, SNSD, Jung Yong Hwa/Heartstrings, City Hunter

Welcome to Soompi Insider, a look at what happened in the K-Pop world this past week, as well as all the goodies you may have missed along the way. We have something for everyone (eye-candy, gossip, romance, contests, mental stimulation), so don’t be shy, and enjoy the ride!

The hot issue around the interwebs was of course 4minute‘s HyunA, and her music video for Bubble Pop, which blew up on YouTube. Our favorite topic here at Soompi was celebrity siblings, both faux and real, though sometimes, it’s hard to tell which is which. How about something to make you blush, like which most-popular-guy-on-the-planet enjoys skinny dipping, or KhunToria’s dramatic kiss straight out of The Greatest Love‘s playbook? SNSD lovers will rejoice at some seriously gorgeous photos from their promotions in Japan where we have to wonder if it’s time to upgrade their name to Women’s Generation. Some favorites gaining attention from abroad are Lee Min Ho, Big Bang’s Taeyang, and 2NE1 whose international appeal gives us high hopes for the Korean Wave to start making a bigger dent in the American market. On the forum-front, We Got Married couple threads are all the rage.

Enough of that, here’s a bunch of other stuff you may have missed:

Soompi Exclusives:

• Big Bang CD Writing Contest Finalists [VOTE NOW]

• [Exclusive] MBC “Star Audition” David Oh’s Journey to K-Pop Stardom

• [Exclusive] Written Studio Preview: miss A “Good Bye Baby” Album Breakdown

K-Pop love around the world:

• All-Star K-Pop Line Up to Visit Australia

• 300 Gather in London to “Bring YG to the UK”

• SM TOWN IN PERU Gathers Almost 4000 People

• DBSK, BoA, and After School to Perform at Avex Concert Tour in Japan

• JYP Nation in Japan 2011 Promo Poster Revealed

Fashion & Style:

• Who Wore It Best: Stylish & Unique Hats Edition

• Celeb Style File: Goo Hye Sun

• Fashion Closet: Cho Yoon Hee’s Lovely Dresses from “Lie to Me” Part 2

• Fashion Closet: Lee Da Hae’s Chic Handbags from “Miss Ripley”

Things that make me happy:

• Songs Impossible to Listen to With a Straight Face Anymore Because of K-Pop: Batch #3

• Male Idol Stars Who Look Sexier Than Females?!

Things that make me sad:

• YG Struggles to Find Compromise with Motorcyclist’s Family
• Park Jin Young Sued for over $100K for “Someday” Plagiarism Controversy

Popular dramas:

• Heartstrings – news | fan club | forum

• City Hunter – news | fan club | forum

• Spy Myung Wol – Soompi Drama of the Week

Popular forum threads (do I see a trend here?):

• 1. SNSD

• 2. SHINee

• 3. YongSeo Couple

• 4. Heartstrings

• 5. City Hunter

• 6. JoongBo Couple

• 7. KhunToria Couple

• 8. 2NE1

• 9. WooJung Couple

• 10. W H A T . D I D . Y O U . B U Y . T O D A Y ?

Weekly Features:

• Weekly K-Pop Music Chart 2011 – July Week 2

• Under The Radar – z.hee

• Soompi Fanfix Spotlight: Week 4

• Eat Your Kimchi Reviews HyunA’s “Bubble Pop”

   

That’s it for this week. Soompi Insider is a work in progress, so please feel free to give me comments and suggestions on how to improve this weekly look inside the collective obsession we call K-Pop.

Your co-pilot,

soomp!

Funny pic of the week, from the Korean celeb look-alike app CelebMatch:

Apparently my 13-week old daughter vaguely looks like Mason Moon, since he’s like the only baby Korean celeb 😛