KARA REVEALS AUDIO TEASERS FOR JAPANESE ALBUM, “GIRL’S TALK”

Via tokyohive:

KARA debuted in the Japanese music industry only earlier this year, but they’ve already established themselves as a popular girl group. Ranking in the top 5 on the charts with ”Mister” and “Jumping“, anticipation for their first original album has been steadily increasing as the release date edges nearer.

Titled, “Girl’s Talk“, the tracklist and jacket covers were already unveiled in the first week of November. Yet previews for each individual track have just been revealed, and it’s sounding like the album could be a big hit!

Check out the preview for “Girl’s Talk”, as well as a translated message from the girls below:



KARA: “Hello to everyone watching ‘Countdown TV‘, we are KARA! It’s nice to meet you!”

Park Gyuri: “On November 24th, we will be releasing our first original album, “Girl’s Talk”.”

Han Seungyeon: “The contents of this album make it seem as if we are enjoying some fun girl talk.”

Goo Hara: “Please enjoy all the tracks from the album, even though it’s only a short preview!”

Tracklist:

1. Jumping
2. Mister
3. Baby I Need You
4. Sweet Days
5. SOS
6. Love Is
7. Binks
8. Umbrella
9. Burn
10. Lupin

AGENCIES USE CAUTION TOWARDS SNSD, KARA, AND BIG BANG’S PARTICIPATION IN KOHAKU

In contrast to news articles in Japan hyping SNSD, KARA, and Big Bang’s participation in the Japanese annual music show, “Kohaku Uta Gassen (Kohaku)“, the groups’ agencies are instead showing a more cautious response.

Speculation that Korean idol groups will be attending the music show has been a hot topic in the Japanese press lately. The media has been writing articles of their possible attendance even before Kohaku’s announcement of the official list of performers, showing a new phase in which K-pop is becoming of increasing significance in the Japanese music industry.

But despite this, the three idol groups are still weary on whether to participate in the show. “It’s difficult for us say anything when an official announcement hasn’t been made yet,” was the general statement made by all three agencies.

It can be said that the Korean agencies are being cautious due to the possibility of unexpected conditions. For example, if, for some reason, the agencies choose to exclude their groups from the event at the last minute, they would need to protect themselves from the respective consequences, so being cautious at the outset helps avoid any trouble. Additionally, showing interest in an event when the official announcement hasn’t even been made yet won’t always result in a beneficial outcome.

There is also the problem of keeping loyal to the Korean broadcasting companies. If the groups attend Kohaku, which is to be held on New Year’s Eve, it would be impossible for them to participate in the Korean year end public TV music show broadcasts.

The official announcement for the performers of Kohaku will be posted between late November to early December.

Source: Newsen

BIG BANG, KARA, SNSD GRANTED DISTINCTIONS FROM “JAPAN RECORD AWARDS”

Girl group SNSD can celebrate their successful debut into the Japanese market, as it was recently revealed that they were granted the ‘New Artist’ award from the ‘Japan Record Awards‘.

According to the judging committee of the ‘52nd Japan Record Awards‘, SNSD won the rookie award alongside ICONIQ, Kikuchi Madoka, and S/mileage. The rookie award automatically nominates them for the ‘Best New Artist Award,’ which will select the top debuting artist from the four winners.

The winner of the “Best New Artist Award” is scheduled to be revealed during the actual awards ceremony on December 30th.



Heartthrob group Big Bang also won a notable distinction this year, as their Japanese track “Tell Me Goodbye” received the award for being one of the “Best Songs” this year. Big Bang is now in the running to grab the highest honor of the night, the “Japan Record Award“, for which they’ll compete against the other artists who were also acknowledged for having a “Best Song”. Again, the winner of the “Japan Record Award” will also be announced on December 30th.


KARA also made fared well for themselves this year, as they were granted the “Best Project” award for their special packaged release, “KARA SPECIAL PREMIUM BOX FOR JAPAN“.

Stay tuned to allkpop for further updates on this exciting event!

Source + Photos: Star News via Nate, Oricon Style

KARA turns down FNS Music Festival due to scheduling conflicts

With news surfacing a few days ago that SNSD would be performing in Japan’s FNS Music Festival on December 4th, netizens wondered whether KARA would be doing the same.

Well it was recently revealed by DSP Media that KARA would be unable to attend Fuji Television’s end of the year festival because of scheduling reasons.

DSP revealed, “We were invited to the FNS Music Festival, but due to conflicting schedules in Korea, we had to turn it down.”

KARA will begin promotions in Korea this week, and are expected to stay in the country through December. They will begin their comeback performances on November 20th through Music Core.