Angela Zhang basking in romance using her illness as an excuse?

According to the Taiwanese media, Angela Zhang has been in Canada since applying for leave in February 2008 and was diagnosed with heart mitral valve prolapse after a body check-up in March. This has been her longest break since debuting 8 years ago and is resulting in a staggering amount of revenue lost.

It has been revealed lately that some have seen her with someone in the streets of Vancouver, Canada. This has thus lead to speculation that love has gotten to her head and she is simply trying to earn time to fall in love.

It is also said that Angela’s heart condition is a delaying tactic because her contract with Linfair Records is expiring soon. But Linfair Records Music Producer, Wu Yifen rebuked that rumour, “Her contract has 4 more years to run.” Another saying is that she is delaying her return to Taiwan because of love and her boyfriend is a overseas Chinese working in London and known as Tommy. She once described to friends about Tommy that he is tall, athletic and was introduced to him through friends last summer vacation. He went back to London for work after that but both remained in contact; Tommy once sent a bouquet of flowers for Angela’s autograph session through a friend and he addressed Angela as, “Love-ly” on the card.

Although Angela hasn’t confirmed her romance through official channels, but since last year, whenever there is a break in between filming, she would be on the phone non-stop and even scheduled a long vacation for February this year, with her destination kept a secret. Rumours abound that she was going to London to meet Tommy although she went for body checkup in Canada and found herself being diagnosed with heart mitral valve prolapse instead.

Even Linfair Records has been unable to determine her exact location now and with regards to rumours, Wu Yifen said, “I did see her feeling uncomfortable after performances, she has already sought a second opinion from doctors last Wednesday but we haven’t got a reply yet. We hope that she will return to Taiwan for work at the end of March or early April.

Source: Sina China

Ivy comeback is hotly debated by fans and critics

Since Ivy’s ex-boyfriend threatened to release an “intimate” video of them in November last year, she suspended all activities and was rarely seen in public. Four months later though, there are signs that she is preparing for a comeback which has become a hotly debated topic right now between fans and critics.

Since early last month, there were signs that Ivy was preparing herself for a comeback. There were rumours in the song industry that Ivy was going to record her 3rd album and starting to source for composers and collect songs. And according to someone close to Ivy, they even released an approximate comeback time, around June-July for the release of her 3rd album.

Problem is critics are questioning whether it’s too early for Ivy to make her return considering that she had an “inappropriate” lifestyle and lying about it in the beginning which caused her to disappear from the public eye initially.

Before the storm, Ivy was regarded as a high-class elite sexy singer and her wholesome singer image was highly revered by fans and advertisers alike.

Since then, advertisers have since started lawsuits against her for “violating” their contract terms and asking for 5 million KRW in compensation. The general public was also affected by this whole saga which dragged for a while.

There were also speculation that Ivy’s comeback was meticulously planned in advance. After suspending all actitivies following the incident, Ivy suddenly appeared at a music awards ceremony towards the end of the year and apologized with teary eyes for lying and disappointing her fans. This followed last month when Ivy attended her graduation ceremony at Dongduk University and looking extremely happy, smiling for the cameras at every occasion.

This had led to the public thinking that, “She will probably be appearing on stage the next time she appears”.

Some fans are also anticipating a possible battle between Ivy and Lee Hyo Ri where the latter is scheduled for a comeback in the middle of 2008.

Fans have also been flooding Ivy’s official website, “Poison Ivy” welcoming her decision to comeback. They felt that it would be too much of a rush in the earlier part of this year and shouldn’t be too anxious. They hope that Ivy has sufficient time to prepare for her comeback with a perfect album.

Lee Jung Hyun to concentrate on acting career in future

Korean female entertainer, Lee Jung Hyun has re-appeared in front of her Korean fans through KBS drama, “The Great King Sejong” and her acting ability has gotten good reviews. She plays Lady Shin Bi who is revered for her beauty , intelligence and loved by King Sejong. Many fans had taken note when it was made known earlier that Lee Jung Hyun was in the drama.

Lee Jung Hyun had debuted as an actress early in her career in movie, “Petal” and won many awards for her excellent acting. Her other works include “Route 7″, “Beautiful Days”, etc. In 2006, she even had a role in the Japanese-Korean drama collaboration, “Rondo” together with Choi Ji Woo.

Lee Jung Hyun expressed that she hopes to use this opportunity in “The Great King Sejong” to signify her acting career comeback and hopes to be known in Korea as an actress in future while she will continue her singing career overseas. She said, “Although people’s expectations of me have made me feel burdened but the decision to pursue this opportunity was taken after some consideration. I will give my best effort in order to give a good showing.”

Hee Chul and Hyun Joong gets injured simultaneously

One member each from two Korean idol groups have been injured simultaneously in separate incidents.

SS501 member, Kim Hyun Joong participated in the 23rd March recording of SBS Inkigayo program when he fell from the steps leading up to the stage during rehearsals resulting in his left ankle getting bruised. After some simple ice treatment, he continued performing but because he was in pain after that and couldn’t walk, he was sent to the hospital for further treatment instead.

Earlier on on 19th March, Super Junior member, Kim Hee Chul also got injured after tripping in his dorm and injuring his nose. Hee Chul had went for corrective eye surgery recently resulting in him unable to see things that clearly and causing him to trip accidentally. His MC duties on SBS “8vs1″ and “Inkigayo” will be temporarily taken over by Shin Dong and Kangin in his absence.

Tiffany’s Confession “I was Kim Hyun Joong’s Fan”

“I was Kim Hyun Joong’s Big Fan”

Tiffany of SNSD shy confession became a big issue on the 22nd March episode of Star Golden Bell where she said, “I was SS501 Hyun Joong’s big fan.”

With regards to this, the MCs asked how was Kim Hyun Joong like in reality to which Tiffany answered “On TV and in reality, he’s really cool.” Her confession created a big reaction throughout the recording and among fans.

Kim Hyun Joong was voted on this day also as the most popular member in SS501 by SNSD members, and likewise, SS501 voted SNSD’s Tiffany as the most popular. Nicely setup by their own group mates.

Tiffany’s shocking confession created suspicion among netizens with regards to Tiffany and Hyun Joong’s relationship off-screen.

Lee Junki sheds 7 kilos for Iljimae drama

Lee Junki will challenge his first period drama, SBS “Iljimae” who can lay claim to be the Chosun version of Robin Hood and Spiderman meshed together.

Set during the former Joseon Dynasty, Lee Jun Ki plays Iljimae who acts as a useless gangster in the marketplace by day but becomes a chivalrous robber at night who robs corrupt government officials to give to the poor.

For his new role, he spent 8 hours daily to practise the fighting scenes and also set a goal of slimming down. Yesterday at the ceremony to signify the start for the filming of “Iljimae”, Lee Junki looked energized and his face was noticeably slimmer compared to previous times as he revealed that he had shed 7 kilos.

10 million KRW has been poured into the production for “Iljimae” and grand scenes like horse riding and sword fighting scenes are definitely one of the highlights in this drama. Besides Lee Junki, other cast members include Han Hyo Joo, Lee Young Ah, Park Shi Hoo, Ahn Gil Kang, Kim Rae Ha, Lee Moon Shik, etc.

It will start airing in May on SBS television.

On Air going strong in storyline and ratings

The drama just gets better and better with each episode.

Finally managed to finished both episodes over the weekend and we still haven’t got to filming the drama yet. But at least four episodes of the drama inside the drama is done and some critical elements have been set in stone.

Loved the scene in Episode 6 where Oh Seung Ah and manager Ki Joon met producer Lee Kyung Min and writer Seo Young Eun at a karaoke room to thrash out an agreement to work together. It was cool to see Seung Ah and Young Eun going to and fro trying to out talk each other while downing glass after glass of several alcoholic beverages mixed together by the earlier.

Just like the two men, Ki Joon and Kyung Min sitting beside them, it was interesting for me to see them going at it without stopping as they just stared at them speechless. They even helped to fill their glasses which was hilarious.

That was the lead-in to the scene where the two of them who normally “can’t stand each other” had their arms draped around each other’s shoulder and sang karaoke together in a heartwarming scene. They probably still hate each other but realise that they have to work together for the greater good.

The next scene sees both men carrying them home with both of them obviously dead drunk. But as Ki Joon is driving Seung Ah back home, she springs up suddenly and obviously just acting drunk. That was a nice twist and surprise.

The viewers must be liking what they see thus far as the rating for Episode 6 was 18.1% with KBS “Hong Gil Dong” in second place with just 14.2% while last place belonged to MBC ”Who are you?” with a paltry 7.6%.

They have started some character development for the four main characters but it’s still difficult to tell who will end up with who. The way I see it, Kyung Min seems to be falling in love with Young Eun, Seung Ah has a crush on Kyung Min, Ki Joon like Young Eun in the past and that’s only for now.

The ending of both Episode 5 and 6 sees Seung Ah’s former manager, Jin Sang Woo resorting to dirty tricks to stop her from turning into a success and is likely to be like this in future. ”On Air” certainly offers an interesting look behind the scenes about the entertainment industry and worth turning in if you haven’t.