Girls’ Generation and Super Junior will take part in the Asia Song Festival to be held in Seoul in October, representing South Korea.
The festival, the sixth of its kind this year, will draw Asian pop groups and singers from nine countries in Asia including South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It will begin at 6 p.m. at Sangam World Cup Stadium in northwestern Seoul.
Hong Kong action hero Jackie Chan is set to star in the remake of the 1980s cult classic, The Karate Kid.
Chan will portray a martial arts teacher, similar to the role made famous by Pat Morita.
The film will also star Jaden Smith, the son of Hollywood couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. The young actor, who appeared with his father in Pursuit of Happyness, will play the character of Dre in the new film titled Kung Fu Kid.
The local pop scene is sizzling with an array of girl groups, both old and new, and the competition is expected to heat up with each band presenting distinctive sounds, fashion and personalities.
Reigning Groups
Girls’ Generation and the Wonder Girls have been the top girl groups for the past two years, but now their thrones are starting to look a bit shaky as new groups loaded with new tricks have appeared.
The nine-member Girls’ Generation, of SM Entertainment, released their new album “Genie” in June, donning a marine and military style for their new look. They have been topping charts on Internet music Web sites and music programs aired on television.
Koo Hye-sun, one of South Korea’s top actresses, is enjoying a surge in popularity in Taiwan as a hallyu (Korean wave) star thanks to her starring role in the KBS-TV drama “Boys Over Flowers,” which closed in March.
YG Entertainment, Koo’s agency, said Friday that Koo is being wooed in Taiwan to appear in dramas and music videos.
Even before “Boys Over Flowers,” Koo won fame in Taiwan as she starred in hit dramas such as “The King and I” and “Pure in Heart.”
The former home of Bruce Lee is now a love motel, renting rooms by the hour. But officials on Monday launched a design competition to turn it into a Hong Kong museum for the kung fu icon.
"I hope I can personally witness and oversee the completion of the Bruce Lee museum in my lifetime," owner Yu Pang-lin, who is in his 80s, said at a press conference marking the 36th anniversary of Lee’s death.
Lee’s fans have been calling for an official monument for their hero in his hometown for years.
David Carradine’s wife and his manager disputed suggestions that the actor’s death was a suicide, while rescue workers and police in Bangkok, Thailand, said the actor’s neck and genitals were found bound with rope.
After Carradine’s body arrives back to the United States this weekend, an autopsy ordered by Carradine’s family will be conducted, according to the actor’s co-manager.
“They’re doing everything possible to get to the bottom of what really happened,” said Carradine’s co-manager Tiffany Smith.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi, 23 December 1967) is an Italian-born, naturalized French songwriter, singer, and former model. She is currently the First Lady of France, after marrying French President Nicolas Sarkozy in February 2008.
BERLIN – A revealing photograph of former model and France’s current first lady Carla Bruni was bought for $19,600 by an anonymous bidder Thursday at a Berlin auction house.
The image is one of 10 prints of a nude Bruni lounging in an unmade bed captured by American fashion photographer Pamela Hanson in 1994.
Natalie Portman (June 9, 1981) is an Israeli American actress. Her first role came in the 1994 independent film Léon. She became very widely known when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Portman, who stated that she would “…rather be smart than be a movie star,” completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Harvard College while she was working on the Star Wars films.
London – Street dancers Diversity were the surprise winners of television contest “Britain’s Got Talent” on Saturday, beating favorite Susan Boyle who became an Internet phenomenon and global celebrity after appearing on the show.
The troupe, which includes three sets of brothers and comes from southeast England, won 100,000 pounds ($160,000) and the right to take the stage at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen.
Of the 10 finalists, Diversity were the bookmakers’ sixth favorite to win going into the show, but their acrobatic performance choreographed by 20-year-old Ashley Banjo was described by judge Simon Cowell as “utter perfection.”
