[NEWS] Kim Junsu Says, “I Had A Hard Time Breathing Because Of The High Altitude In South America”

Singer Kim Junsu (26) has had quite the year in 2012. His first solo album ‘Tarantallegra’ sold over 120,000 copies, and he dominated overseas charts such as the Billboard World Charts, the Japanese iTunes Charts and the German Asian Music Charts. What makes his achievements so special is that he was able to do this without a single TV appearance.

“Because I knew that I would be releasing an album without a single TV appearance on music programs, I wanted to make a music video that was a work of art. I received full support from the company. To be honest, the amount of money that went into the music video was a bit too much (300 million Won). But I firmly believe that if you truly love music, you can’t lie to yourself; you have to do what you feel is right and what you want to do. And they must have agreed to that.”

His voice was flushed with excitement as he spoke. We recently met with him and he seemed proud of his ‘report card’ last year. What he was most proud of was his world tour that took him through Asia and the Americas. Starting in Seoul, he travelled all over the world from Thailand to Taiwan, USA, Mexico, Brazil and Chile to perform for over 50,000 people.

“In the US, the fans get in the groove of the songs and cheer as if they’re having fun at a club. In South America, they’re very passionate and the response you get from the crowd is explosive. They keep jumping and running with you, and there were a lot of people who cried. In the past, there were some fans in Chile who threw undergarments on stage.”

He said that each performance felt new and refreshing because each country’s fandom had a different reaction at concert. There were also some aspects that tired him out. During his Mexico performance, his stage was placed at an altitude that was higher than that of Mt. Halla, making it difficult for him to control his breathing during the concert.

“A base hasn’t properly been expanded yet in Europe or South America, and because we’re only in the beginning stages, there are some hardware things that are lacking. But the supportive passion of the fans is as amazing as anywhere else. I will never forget the look in the fans’ eyes. I could see the emotions behind the fact that they were seeing me for the first time, and that they might never see me again, and I found myself feeling more energetic than before.”

It’s quite rare for someone to have such a strong fandom base in South America, as opposed to in Asia where many Korean singers have entered the market.

“The people of South America have a lot of passion, so they like singers with intense performances and I think that’s why they loved my title song and dance tracks. Incidentally, they say that a person with round eyes and a cute face is considered handsome there, but since that’s a subjective topic, I can’t say with confidence that I fit under those standards.” (laughter)

He plans to continue his string of activities this year. Last year marked the end of JYJ’s three-year-long lawsuit with SM Entertainment. The two sides came to an agreement to terminate their contract.

“It’s not that we were oppressed or persecuted from the moment our legal battle with SM began. Though there was a lawsuit, the Courts sided with us when they stated that our independent activities were not to be hindered and that our contract was unlawful, so we’ve been free since three years ago. But there were some in the concerned parties that brought up the lawsuits when talking about external pressures, so I’m glad that was cleared up. I believe that justice has won in this case.”

A JYJ album will be released this year. He is also in the process of screening potential musicals and concerts. Does he have any plans to date this year? “To be honest, I’ve been dating now and then. Because I don’t have that much time, girls break up with me since I end up being a bad boy. (laughter) Right now, I enjoy my work. If I do find someone I’m interested in, I’ll be sure to tell you about her.”

Source: [mk]
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[NEWS] Kim Junsu and his fans’ donation work is just as amazing as him becoming the double award winner of the Golden Ticket Awards

Kim JunSu of JYJ has become a double award winner of the Eighth Golden Ticket Awards. Even though idol singers trying out musicals have become some sort of a trend, Junsu is unique in a sense that no one else has been as active and successful as him. An important fact here is that his receiving two awards is not a mere act of fan service to please his idol fandom.

What is interesting about the Golden Ticket Awards is that this award is to celebrate ticket power. It is an award that shows true worthiness of successful musicals in a sense that the awards are given to so-called money-generating musicals. It is interesting to see that Kim Junsu received two awards for the Male Musical Actor and the Concert Musician in very specialized awards as this one.  

JYJ Kim JunSu’s worth that dominates the musical market is simply amazing

The Golden Ticket Awards is rather interesting because it celebrates the persons with the most ticket power on the stage. [Getting this award] is a great accomplishment because it chooses the persons that are truly vouched for and recognized by producers.

Kim Junsu received the Popularity Award and the Best Male Lead award in 2012’s Korean Musical Awards.  He really is a musical star that possesses both popularity and capabilities. A fandom may be able to work hard so that a musical actor can receive the Popularity Award. However, the Best Male Lead Award cannot be influenced by fans in that fashion. Receiving the Best Male Lead Award means that the actor has truly exhibited excellent talent as a musical actor.

 Interpark, a ticket selling and distribution company, recently announced winners for the Golden Ticket Awards after they processed relevant information such as the number of tickets sold, additional points based on ranking, and on-line polls. Kim JunSu took the first place in both Musical (Male Actor) and Concert.

Kim Junsu who played the lead role of Tod in Musical ‘Elisabeth’ showed strong ticket power through his solo concerts as well as ‘Xia Ballad & Musical Concert’ that was held for 3 days at the end of December. It is only natural that he took two awards in a sense that he boasted unmatched presence in terms of ticket power.  

“Kim JunSu receiving Musical Award in the Golden Ticket Award after he received the Best Male Lead Award [in the Korean Musical Awards] is evidence that he is sincere about musicals as well as possesses high box-office values.”

“It’s surprising that an idol singer took the first place in Musical. Kim JunSu proved that he is much loved by audiences of all ages.”

It was natural that compliments poured in when he received an award for ticket power on top of the Best Male Lead award. There is a saying that goes “grasshoppers only last for a season” [T/N: popularity or something/something’s dominance in one area is fleeting]. There are people who only consider musicals a quick business to generate income. There are idol singers that plunge into musicals using their popularity.     

The Idol singers’ advance into musicals seems to be a win-win business strategy between idols [and the musical industry]. Idols’ appearances in musicals have always been the target of criticisms because idols singers in musicals, rather than securing their place as sincere musical actors, were more about boosting ticket sales [using their popularity]. 

 Unlike idols who considered musicals as dabbling into musicals and leaving their marks in the industry, Kim JunSu secured his place as a true star actor in the musical market. The fact that Kim JunSu proved his value as a true musical star, not just a mean to sell more tickets, confirms once again that he should not be called a mere idol singer. 

 “I really received so much love this past year. I thank my fans that cheered for me every time I stood on the stage.”

“I hope the audience that was with me while I was on the stage felt happy and gained happy memories. I think the best way to repay their love for my performances and music is doing my best and performing well on the stage.” The Eighth Golden Ticket Awards double awards winner Kim JunSu did not forget to thank his fans who always supported him.

Some criticized that it was unfair for people who did musicals their whole lives. Their logic is that it does not make sense that all kinds of awards, almost impossible to receive even after doing musicals the whole life, were given to Kim JunSu who debuted only a couple of years ago.

If [an actor] has no talent and skills and still receives an award, he deserves criticism. The fact that these awards that even musical actors with long careers cannot receive were awarded to Kim JunSu means that he has that much of talent and he does his best. 

What is even more interesting and meaningful than Kim JunSu receiving awards is this “donation culture”. His fans are also part of it. By donating all the gifts that poured in from all over the world for his solo concerts and musicals, he showed his quality as a star that act together with his fans.

Rice wreaths that his fans sent Kim JunSu were sent to the underprivileged such as children who cannot afford to bring lunch to school. 2,000 briquettes that 20 families can use for one month were sent to underprivileged senior citizens who live by themselves that use briquettes but cannot afford to buy them. 6,000 egg wreaths were donated to food banks nationwide to relieve malnutrition problems among the underprivileged such as children who live by themselves without parents and senior citizens who live by themselves. 

It is a beautiful thing that a star and fans come together to share what they have with their neighbors in need of help. Kim JunSu who was recognized as a talented musical actor. Kim JunSu who proved his top worth through awards that celebrate ticket power. Kim JunSu is a true star with both talent and skills.

And his fans that makes their star even more special by actively participating in charity work makes everyone around them happy. Kim JunSu and his fans’ charity work feels even more amazing than Kim JunSu becoming a double award winner. And maybe it is because Kim JunSu and his fans seem to have beautiful souls that help the less fortunate neighbors around them. 

Credit: Dshower (http://dshower.tistory.com/m/1989)
Translated by Xiahpress.com
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[NEWS] Kim Junsu Sings At The First Birthday Party of Min Young Ki’s Son, “I’ll Never Forget Your Loyalty, Junsu”

A photo of JYJ’s Kim Junsu attending the first birthday party of musical actor Min Young Ki’s son has been revealed.

Min Young Ki posted the photo on his Twitter account on the 22nd with the caption, “Thank you Junsu, and thank you for your well-wishing remarks. I’ll never forget your loyalty!”

The photo in question was taken on the 20th at the first birthday party of Kim Young Ki’s son Haram, and shows Kim Junsu performing a congratulatory song.

Netizens who saw the photo left comments such as, “To have Kim Junsu singing for your birthday, I’m so jealous”, “Junsu’s loyalty is great,” and “If all the musical actors sang a song each, it would be like watching a musical.”

Source: [TVdaily]
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[NEWS] Chinese Fans Choose Kim Junsu As The Most Popular Overseas Artiste

Kim Junsu has become a hot topic for being chosen as the most popular overseas artiste by China.

Kim Junsu received a total of 63.7% of the votes on Beijing TV (BTV)’s popular entertainment program ‘Top Chinese Music’ as the ‘most popular overseas artiste’, proving just how popular he is in China. He has proved himself to be Korea’s top singer as he beat out Justin Bieber in second place and Madonna in eighth place.

The program, which aired on the 8th of January, stated that Kim Junsu’s surprise Christmas season single ‘Thank U For’ helped him reach first place, but they also explained that it wasn’t surprising considering his popularity till now. They also talked about 200,000 people logging in at the same time for Kim Junsu’s Ballad&Musical concert and all 21,000 tickets selling out instantly, as well as the fact that Kim Junsu won the Best Male Lead Award at the 2012 Korea Musical Awards. Kim Junsu found success with his solo album, single, world tour and musical, and the program attributed this success to Kim Junsu’s hard work and diligence.

Kim Junsu’s popularity in China outdid itself in 2012. The music videos of his first solo album’s title song ‘Tarantallegra’ and his single ‘Uncommitted’ topped the monthly charts of China’s biggest music video site ‘Song Tai chart’. Not only this, but when Kim Junsu flew to Shanghai for his concert in July, 2012, thousands of fans and over 20 media news outlets filled the airport, with over 30 cars following his every move. Over 500 fans who couldn’t get tickets stood in front of the concert venue and cheered for the star, proving just how popular Kim Junsu is in China.

Meanwhile, Kim Junsu successfully completed his ’2012 XIA Ballad&Musical Concert with Orchestra’ amidst a flood of praise.

Source: [asiae]
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[REVIEW] Proves why his tickets are always sold out: Junsu Kim burst out his singing ability at Ballad & Musical Concert

[Review] Older or little brother who’s great at singing and acting – Proves why his tickets are always sold out : Junsu Kim burst out his singing ability at Ballad & Musical Concert

JAN 02, 2013

http://media.daum.net/culture/art/newsview?newsid=20130102031504041

The expression ‘Sold Out in a couple of minutes’ is just meaningless when you talk about this singer. About 20,000 tickets had been ready, but more than 200,000 fans wanted to get the tickets. 21,000 tickets of ‘XIA Ballad & Musical Concert with Orchestra’, held by the 27-year-old star Junsu Kim (XIA Junsu), were all sold out right after the sales begun on the Interpark Website at 20:00 on Nov 04, leaving a record of 200,000 marks of simultaneous log-ins at the same time.

After his debut on the musical <Mozart!> which made 45,000 seats sold out at Grand Theatre of Sejong Centre for Performing Arts, many idol singers stepped into musical industry, but no one has ever been able to shake the industry like him so far. The concert on DEC 31 showed why Junsu Kim is not just an ordinary idol, but the superstar.

The venue was Hall D at COEX, Gangnam in Seoul which holds about 7,000 seats (per a day). The concert continued for about 3 hours, started at 22:00 on DEC 31 and finished around 01:00 on JAN 01. There were various Korean dialects, Chinese and Japanese at every part of COEX building before 3~4 hours of the concert and mid-aged women with a suitcase were every corridor of COEX too.

The performance started with ‘I am, I am Music’ and ‘I want to get out of my fate’ from the musical <Mozart!>. He continued with ‘The Last Dance’ from <Elisabeth> which made him the winner of the Best Actor for a Leading Role at 18^th Korean Musical Awards, and also sang ‘This Is The Moment’ from <Jekyll and Hyde> saying it is one of the musical he would like to do some time. The emotion and appealing expression based on outstanding natural singing ability were enough to prove that his success in musical (that singing becomes acting itself) was not a just luck.

His manner of controlling the atmosphere was also outstanding by playing on the audience with a lot of requests from them. “I became 27 years old, and it makes me feel like I became grandfather as an idol singer!”, he joked, but also made the venue almost collapsed by cheers of the audience when he said that “I would burn myself no matter how hard the dance may be, if I could be able to be on TV”, after the stage of ‘Tarantallegra’. On that day, for his fans, before the superstar, he was the role model who was standing firm against hardship and external pressure, older brother[‘OPPA’ in Korean] who they must support for his victory and little brother who they should take care of.

The special guest of the concert was his mother. He invited his mother to the stage saying “Today is the day that my dream comes true”. Before he debuted as a singer, he had promised his mother whose dream was becoming a vocalist to make her dream come true when he became a singer. His mother shed tears of gratitude after singing together with her son.

Meanwhile, his next musical is still remaining uncertain. While this year’s almost every big musical is longing to be chosen by him, it was rumored that he would perform for <Elisabeth> again in July, however, his management C-JeS Entertainment announced that his comeback to musical was not decided because the time of JYJ’s group activity is up in the air at the moment.

Translated by: http://dedicatee.wordpress.com
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[NEWS] Kim Junsu Has The Greatest Ticket Power With An All-Kill In Both Musicals And Concerts

JYJ’s Kim Junsu and Ok Joo Hyun have made their mark as the musical actors with the greatest ticket power.

On the 7th, ticket reservation site Interpark released the results of their ‘Golden Ticket Awards’, which names the actors and productions with the greatest ticket power in 2012. In the musical genre, EMK Musical Company’s ‘Elisabeth’ came out on top, with Kim Junsu and Ok Joo Hyun chosen as the actor and actress with the greatest ticket power.

In 2012, Kim Junsu played Tod in the musical ‘Elisabeth’ and reinterpreted the character signifying death in his own way, receiving love from both fans and musical lovers alike. As his third production since ‘Mozart!’ and ‘Tears of Heaven’, ‘Elisabeth’ has helped Kim Junsu lose his image as an idol singer and make his mark as a talented musical actor.

Kim Junsu, who topped the rankings of the musical genre, also came out on top in the concert category as well. This was the result of Kim Junsu’s busy schedule as a solo singer in 2012 as he released an album and held his ‘JYJ Junsu 1st Asia Tour’ and ‘XIA Ballad & Musical Concert’ this year.

(omitted for irrelevance)

The ‘Golden Ticket Awards’ differs from other awards ceremonies as it has no judging panel and choses its nominees and winners based on ticket sales and audience participation (voting poll) in the past year. It is a ‘Award chosen by the audience members’ that is given to the year’s most popular productions and actors. On its eighth year since beginning in 2005, the public-oriented awards ceremony held its voting poll from the 24th of December till the 6th of January on the Interpark website, with a total of 17,708 participants.

Source: [tv daily]
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[NEWS] Kim Junsu Calls His Mother On Stage And Sings ‘Dream Of A Goose’ With Her As A Duet

JYJ’s Kim Junsu prepared a special event during his solo concert.

Kim Junsu held a solo concert from the 29th to the 31st of December in COEX’s Hall D that combined musicals with ballads. He reenacted musical numbers with a vocal chorus and an orchestra, and sang much-loved OSTs and ballads from his album with a pop chorus.

On the last day, Kim Junsu brought his mother on stage and sang ‘Dream of a Goose’ with her. Kim Junsu explained why the performance was so meaningful when he stated, “My mother used to get vocal training but she had to give up her dream of standing on stage because my grandfather was against it. When I was little, I promised her that when I became a singer, I would perform with her on stage. We were able to make that dream come true today and I hope that all of you never lose any of your dreams and I hope 2013 brings more happiness to you all.”

During his concert, Kim Junsu collaborated with an orchestra to sing selections from ‘Mozart!’, ‘Tears of Heaven’ and ‘Elisabeth’, and created an emotional gala performance with Kim Sun Young. Beginning with a musical theme, he sang much-loved ballads such as ‘I Don’t Like Love’, ‘Love is like a Snowflake’, ‘Though I Know’ and ‘Thank U for’. He also performed songs of other much-loved artistes such as ‘Because You’re My Girl’ and ‘Really’.

During his encore performance, Kim Junsu sang an acoustic version of his title song ‘Tarantallegra’ and after a stage change, he gave an impressive performance.

Kim Junsu (XIA) stated, “I believe that the greatest gift I can give to the people who love my music and come to my concerts is to do my best to give great performances. I’ve been so happy for the past three days,” and “I think I was able to go through the world tour and this end-of-the-year concert because I was certain that the people who loved my music would continue to keep an eye on me. I wanted to share that gratitude, and the heart-stopping emotions that I felt during the past year as I stood on stage with the audience, and I believe I accomplished that. The past three days have been so emotional and joyful for me.”

Source: [mk star today]
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[NEWS] Kim Junsu Says, “The Musical I’d Like To Appear In? ‘Jekyll And Hyde’!”

Singer and musical actor Kim Junsu chose ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ as the musical he’d like to appear in.

During his ’2012 XIA Ballad & Musical Concert with Orchestra’ concert on the 30th, Kim Junsu introduced one of his acts as from “A musical I’d like to appear in,” and sang ‘Right now, at this moment’ from ‘Jekyll and Hyde’.

Kim Junsu, who is one of the greatest vocalists of K-pop, captivated fans with explosive vocal talent and an emotional outpour during his rendition of ‘Right now, at this moment’. He was met with thunderous applause as his passionate rendition could be placed on par with that of Jo Seung Woo, the person most people think of when they hear ‘Jekyll and Hyde’.

A representative of C-JeS Entertainment stated in a phone conversation with ‘OhMyStar’ that, “Since Kim Junsu began appearing in musicals, he’s watched countless musicals as well,” and “After watching ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, he said that the male leading role is a character who has a multifaceted personality and great charm.” He also added, “Kim Junsu has expressed his desire to appear in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ after he has grown more as a musical actor.”

Meanwhile, Kim Junsu won the Best Musical Actor Award at the 18th Korea Musical Awards for his role in the musical ‘Elisabeth’.

Source: [OhMyStar]
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[NEWS] JYJ Kim Junsu, Recieves Great Response For Solo Ballad Concert…”The Best Vocalist”

On 29 December, JYJ member Kim Junsu held his Musical & Ballad concert at the COEX D Hall, a solo concert of 120 minutes together with an all-live orchestra.

Kim Junsu, who released his first solo album “Tarantallegra” this year, and successfully completing his world tour this year, worked perfectly with the live orchestra this time. The musical chorus and grandeur of the orchestra helped to recreate his musical stage, and he also performed ballads from his album as well as popular OST songs together with the band and pop chorus.

During this concert, Kim Junsu’s emotional and powerful vocals touched the hearts of the audiences, as they cheered and clapped loudly below the the stage.

Kim Junsu said, “Mozart! is the piece that allowed me to stand on the musical stage, and also gave me my first award in the musical industry, which means a lot to me. Through Mozart!, I was able to gain inspiration.” He also performed numbers from his various musicals in the past 3 years such as “Tears of Heaven” and “Elisabeth.” Also, Junsu performed a “Tears of Heaven” stage with musical actress Kim So Yeon, who was also his co-star in “Elisabeth,” and received much applause.

An orchestra personnel said, “To perform in an all-live concert together with an orchestra is relatively difficult, but Junsu has done an admirable job. His exceptional vocal ability which worked well to lead the band and orchestra, and he can really be considered as the best vocalist. He also performed the acoustic version of “Tarantallegra” together with the orchestra, showing off his charms to the fullest and received an enthusiastic response from the audience. I’m happy that his sincerity can be felt by the audience.”

This concert will be held at COEX until 31 December.

Source : [KStyle.com]
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[PICS-HQ][DAY 2-3] XIA BALLAD & MUSICAL CONCERT WITH ORCHESTRA

credits: as tagged+CJES
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