Author: Denise Coley
On Friday, April 21, 2023, Infinite Prospects Entertainment launched its inaugural event, WeBRIDGE: Now. New. Next., at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The exhibition and music festival focuses on the growing interest and influence of Asian culture across various scopes of the arts and entertainment and centering the culture through celebration. The views and opinions expressed are those of our individual attendees and not necessarily shared by Kcrush America Magazine. Choosing to host this experience at Mandalay Bay is a statement of intention on its own. As one of the largest resorts in Las Vegas,…
Curating the programs for film festivals isn’t as easy as you might think. It requires a discerning eye, the ability to be impartial, critical, discerning and most of the absolute love of film. During the Busan International Short Film Festival, I spoke with festival programmers Sébastien Simon about what it took for him to create the Hub of Asia Program, which was comprised of the Asian Americana program, The Death of Cinema(s), and the Rendez-vous AFiS, a special screening showcasing the work of young filmmakers from across the Asian diaspora who are learning the methods necessary to navigate the business side of the film industry at the Busan Asian Film
The next-generation global K-Pop group ‘ChoCo’ ushering in the start of the “K-Pop 5.0” era, is gearing up to greet fans for the first time through the upcoming reality show “ChoCo In Hollywood”. On 28th April, ChoCo Entertainment announced: “The Korean version of ‘ChoCo”s reality show “ChoCo In Hollywood” will be released for the first time on CJ E&M’s music channel Mnet’s subsidiary digital channel M2 on May 12th at 7 PM KST”. The reality project “ChoCo In Hollywood”, is set to be produced in 2 versions: Korean and US. The Korean version is helmed by Sole9 Media, which…
TWO-MIX is a musical duo formed on April 29, 1995 featuring Minami Takayama, who performs main vocals as well as composing, and Shiina Nagano, who writes lyrics, composes music and arrangement. The duo has been responsible for the theme songs of a great number of anime and TV dramas, such as ‘NEW MOBILE REPORT GUNDAM WING’ and ‘Detective Conan’, to name but a few. Coinciding with the 28th anniversary of their debut, on Saturday, the April 29th, 2023, 17 of their singles and 9 albums are now available worldwide. While listeners around the world can enjoy ‘Just Communication’, the…
We’re back with the sixth edition of our popular series! Thanks to your response, we have discovered many more celebrities to include in our database. Back in 2018, 2019, and earlier in 2022 , Kcrush published articles about biracial celebrities with Asian backgrounds. We’re revisiting those articles and including more celebrities that have Asian backgrounds. Of course, we encourage our readers to share others we may have missed! Anna Shay Bling Empire (which was recently canceled) star and heiress Anna Shay is of Japanese, Russian, and American descent. Shay’s mother, Ai Oizumi, is Japanese-Russian, while her father is from Chicago. Shay is the daughter…
On April 28, 2023, Bomi, Chorong, Hayoung, and Namjoo opted to depart IST Entertainment after 12 years following the expiration of their exclusive contracts. Eunji, however, re-signed with the agency. The group still plans to be active despite the departures. IST Entertainment released a statement confirming the departures of Bomi, Chorong, Hayoung, and Namjoo while reiterating APINK will still be a group. Hello. This is IST Entertainment. We sincerely thank all the fans who care for and support APINK. We are making an official announcement regarding APINK’s future activities. Ahead of the end of APINK’s exclusive contracts with our…
Day two of We Bridge turned out to be the most emotional of the three-day expo. The muralists have nearly completed their creations; the food vendors unsurprisingly run out of their wares early. (If there’s one thing people are going to do it’s gravitate toward free food.) The fan engagements were also wrought with emotion. The world’s bestselling K-pop group, ENHYPEN, has a fanbase that could choke the oxygen out of a room with the level of their screams. ENGENE is a force to be reckoned with. Their screams when their heroes come on stage are deafening. The members…
In this interview for the Busan International Short film Festival , I spoke with award-winning and Oscar nominated filmmaker and documentarian Jay Rosenblatt about his films How to Measure a Year, an intimate and surreal examination of the growth of his daughter Ella. We discussed the changes in Ella’s emotional psychological intelligence over the course of 16 years of filming, and Jay’s own perspective as a filmmaker and father.
On the weekend of April 21, Infinite Prospects Entertainment presented their inaugural We Bridge convention, a three-day expo held at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay and MGM’s Michelob Ultra Arena. Molded in the same spirit of KCON, the We Bridge experience gave attendees much to consider on its first go-’round. Despite having a corner on the market for a decade, KCON isn’t the only festival to offer fans an opportunity to interact with South Korean culture. Where We Bridge differentiates itself from the Hallyu juggernaut is in the breadth of cultural interaction: live mural paintings from gifted painters, an array…
The 2023 F/W Seoul Fashion Week took place at Dongdaemun Design Plaza from March 15 to 19. This year marked the event’s 22nd anniversary, with 31 brands, including 23 Seoul-based designer brands, seven up-and-coming designer brands, and one domestic company brand, showcasing their work. Compared to the previous year, there was a 60% increase in order consultations, with the largest number of overseas buyers ever. The show’s highlights included the emergence of next-generation brands, which diversified the portfolio of K-fashion. There were many differentiating points from the designs of existing Korean brands that focused on ‘colorful printing.’ The show’s composition…
Stream [Down to Earth] HERE Shoong! (feat. LISA of BLACKPINK) Official M/V: https://youtu.be/NFnAuiklEug Seed Official M/V: https://youtu.be/-8jAmDvO64E Today, global superstar TAEYANG (of BIGBANG fame) releases his long-awaited second EP album [Down to Earth]. Listen HERE via THEBLACKLABEL/Interscope Records. The 6-song set includes “VIBE (feat. Jimin of BTS)” a smash hit collaboration that reached #1 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart, and the just-released “Shoong! (feat. LISA of BLACKPINK)”. Stream HERE. His first project since 2017’s WHITE NIGHT, TAEYANG’s latest solo offering is truly worth the wait as TAEYANG partook in the entire process of creating the EP and has songwriting credits on every track on the album. [Down to Earth] opens with the sultry, ’80s-90s R&B-inspired “VIBE (feat. Jimin of BTS)”. A…
Photo Credit: ChoCo Entertainment As the upcoming K-Pop group ‘ChoCo’ nears its debut, ChoCo Entertainment has revealed a brief look into the company’s groundbreaking production system. ChoPD, known as the “pioneer of digital music”, is gearing up to welcome a brand new paradigm of “K-Pop 5.0” through a unique system that includes song camps, world-class collaborations, and ‘ChoCo In Hollywood’ – a reality project that introduces the sincere humanity, dreams, and aspirations of ‘ChoCo’. By focusing on values like harmony, collaboration, and growth that are integrated into the company’s original artist incubation system, ChoPD will open the door to…
(Credit: One Cool Jacso) WATCH “THROW A DICE” MUSIC VIDEO HERE LISTEN TO “THROW A DICE” HERE Hong Kong-based entertainment agency, One Cool Jacso announced nine members from OCJ NEWBIES, their 17 member trainee group, as the new K-pop boy band, XODIAC. Members LEX, HYUNSIK, ZAYYAN, BEOMSOO, WAIN, GYUMIN, SING, DAVIN and LEO stand out in XODIAC’s official debut single “Throw A Dice”, now available on all streaming platforms. The first K-Pop band to land four major magazine shoots including Cosmopolitan, ELLE MEN, Harper’s Bazaar, and Men’s Uno – from Hong Kong – before their official debut and…
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim is a story about a competent secretary on the journey of ending her 9-year career in pursuit of achieving a lifelong goal of searching for a lost friend. The meticulous and self-centered boss cannot fathom losing such a diligent worker and goes beyond his norms to understand her secretary’s decision while trying to persuade her. The boss confides in his divorced psychiatrist friend and ends up being the psychiatrist’s genie pig on love matters. The boss’s unstable relationships, especially with his brother whom he rivals on every matter, trap the secretary in a roller…
We’ve got the good groove! Check the latest tour schedule below from Kpop Club Night and DJ Yuka K coming through your city along with a few shows featuring Vancouver’s DJ Aero, let’s go! WINNIPEG 04/21 The Rec Room discount code: VIBE valid until 4/20 OTTAWA 4/27 Hyde & Seek discount code: CUPID valid until 4/22 MINNEAPOLIS 4/28 Varsity Theater WASHINGTON 4/29 Union Stage TORONTO 5/5 The Rec Room discount code: CUPID valid until 4/22 NEW YORK 5/6 Gramercy Theatre SEATTLE 5/12 Hard Rock Cafe discount code: CUPID valid until 4/29 VANCOUVER 05/13 The Rec Room discount code: CUPID valid until 4/29 MAUI 5/18 da Playground HONOLULU 5/19 HB Social Club DETROIT…
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Busan International Short Film Festival is one of the premiere film festivals in the world. The festival which runs for one week from April 25th to May 1st, will be featuring the work of emerging and veteran filmmakers from South Korea and around the world, BISFF is the perfect place for cinephiles with a love of short films in every genre, both past and present. As part of its annual program BISFF highlights the work of creatives from a selected country, and for 2023 the United States has this honor. World renowned filmmakers…
On Friday, April 21, 2023, Infinite Prospects Entertainment launched day 1 of its inaugural event, WeBRIDGE: Now. New. Next. at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The exhibition and music festival focuses on the growing interest and influence of Asian culture across various scopes of the arts and entertainment and centering the culture through celebration. —-a3daypodcast #WEBRIDGEEXPO #InfiniteProspectsEntertainment #MandalayBayConventionCenter #LasVegas #kpop #kcrushnews #kpopfestival #GrammyMuseum #kpopevent #a3daypodcast #kcrushsupport #kcrushamericamagazine #musicfestival #jessie #BamBam #Asianculture
Photo Credit: ChoCo Entertainment The era of “K-POP 5.0” is upon us, and it is being led by 1st generation’s legendary K-Hip Hop artist and producer, ChoPD – the genius behind artists like PSY, ZICO & more. Known as the “pioneer of digital music”, ChoPD is once again revolutionizing the industry by shifting the paradigms of K-Pop as we know it, this time with ChoCo Entertainment. Towards this end, ChoCo Entertainment announced on the 18th of April: “ChoPD has long planned and prepared to bring the next generation global K-Pop group ‘ChoCo’ in front of fans worldwide this year.”…
On April 19, the K-Pop world is in shock yet again as ASTRO’s Moonbin was found dead in his home in Seoul. The idol singer was 25. Prior to his 2016 ASTRO debut, Moonbin was a child model and actor. He appeared in the TVXQ MV for “Balloons” in 2006. Moonbin, who was signed under Fantagio, failed to appear at rehearsals. His manager went to his Gangnam-area apartment and found the idol deceased. The manager contacted the police upon the discovery. Yonhap News initially reported Moonbin may have “taken his own life.” While other media outlets reported the same, the…
Following the announcement he would embark on his Colors of Bang Yong Guk Tour, Bang Yong Guk dropped his latest single “Green.” Featuring Soovi, “Green” shows a softer side to Yong Guk compared to his tracks “Up,” “Off” and “Racing” last year. The bright, nostalgia-laden song features more vocals than rap and reflects a side of Yong Guk that his fans love, one that connects to his charm and sweetness. The beauty behind “Green” is that it’s an uplifting track that focuses on not only the concept of love but on the concept of being a supportive person in…