Arirang Showbiz Extra - 5th Cloud Fanmeeting (English subbed)

thanks pau for the clip

Rain Refreshes Harvard High-Flyers After Chosun Ilbo Visit

Some 60 students of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government stomp and whistle, while several shout in Korean, "I love you!" and "You are gorgeous!" They are responding to the image of their hero, the workaholic Korean superstar, on the screen. A shot of the singer’s six-pack prompts some female students to sigh, "Oh, my god." All of them laugh. Twenty minutes later Rain, in a beige jacket and jeans, appears on the podium and the room erupts in a blizzard of flashlights.

"Nice to meet you all from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government," Rain says in English before answering questions from students for 20 minutes. Asked, "What's the difference between before and after becoming a star?" Rain answers, "When I was a trainee, I practiced dancing and singing over and over without eating, sleeping and washing for six days. At that time, I danced and sang songs to make a living, but now I sing songs for my fans." Rain plans to give concerts in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in June. “I'd like to invite you all,” he adds.

K-pop superstar Rain shows a Harvard school mug given to him by students from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government at the office of JYP Entertainment in Cheong-dam dong, Seoul on Tuesday.

Before meeting the star, the students, who are on a visit to Seoul, took a look around the headquarter of the Chosun Ilbo. They toured the newspaper’s Ubiquitous Media Lab and watched a video about the daily. Chosun Ilbo president Bang Sang-hoon told them, "Now Korean newspapers face two challenges ? new media including Internet media and friction with the government. But we’re trying to overcome challenges by producing premium content." Students also listened to a lecture about the Chosun Ilbo's cross-media project, which provides features at the same time through the newspaper, TV, the Internet and video.

Students from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government take pictures together in the Chosun Ilbo building in Seoul on Tuesday.

The visiting group met Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in the afternoon and head for Japan on Wednesday.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

Hollywood movies invite Rain

Movie producers from Hollywood show great interest to invite Rain for filming~

Will Rain spend his efforts in movies?

Rain is damn HOT now! According to Rain's agency, JYPE, they received a lot of invitations from Hollywood film producers. The actual invitations and details will not be disclosed at this moment. However, the JYPE spokesman revealed that the invitations for movie filming come from everywhere including Hollywood, and some of them approached JYPE through Korean film agencies.

Rain feels honoured to be invited by Hollywood film makers, yet it's getting harder for him to make the decision. According to the plan, his new album should be launched in USA in this autumn to enter musical market, which he has spent lots of efforts into it. Meanwhile, his world tour is still on-going that he may not have the time for Hollywood movies now.



Source: Wen Hui Bao
Posted by natlau@rainhk
Translation by jjbug@rain-malaysia

Harvard students meet singer RAIN~

Korean singer RAIN had a wonderful meet-up with Harvard students recently~

62 students from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University visited JYPE on March 27. Singer Rain became the tour guide and brought the students around. He introduced JYPE company administration and working environment; of course, he wouldn't miss the chance to invite them to come to his USA concerts~

The atmosphere during Q&A session was excellent. Regarding the question "How's the working relationship with reknown American artists?", Rain mentioned about his duet with Christina Aguilera in CF and duet with Omarion in the song . Unfortunately, the song was released to the public before they officially launched it. Rain also talked about his intention to meet his fans there through the release of albums or movies.

In addition, "I participated in the charity projects such as primary school construction in Vietnam and building well in Cambodia. In my current world tour, I work with World Vision to help AIDS children."

"Harvard students showed great concern about the in-house system of JYPE, as well as our future plans to expand in USA and China. 'In-house' here refers to dance choreography, music production, training, costume design, recording and marketing strategies," JYPE spokesman said. "When they saw Rain, they're busy taking photos and cheer! It seems like a small fanmeeting."

Source: Yonhapnews
Posted by azafighting@rainhk
Translation by jjbug@rain-malaysia

Rain's plane reaches Taipei on Mar 29

Rain's special plan that is sponsored by Korean Air will arrive at Taipei on March 29~

The most expected Taiwan will be held at Taoyuan Stadium this weekend! Rain himself will reach Taipei around noon on March 29, taking the special plane painted with his portrait~ Soon Rain shall storm over Taiwan~

Nominated as one of the 100 most influential people by TIME magazine, Korean star Rain started his world tour from last December. And so far this is the largest tour concert by Korean singers! Therefore, looking at Rain's strong influence and potential, Korean Air decided to invest 1.8 billion Won to paint Rain's portrait on a new aeroplance A330-300. The cooperation of two parties is meant to promote Korean cultures to the world as well as gaining huge economical returns. Rain will take this special plane to fly to different cities within these 6 months.

According to the CEO of Korean Air, their purpose is to promote the concept "Live Korea!". As the first Korean singer to hold such grand world tour, Korean Air is honoured to participate in Rain's events. Within these 6 months, Korean Air will sponsor air tickets for 70 world tour staffs, including travelling to 11 countries for 35 shows, as well as waiving off the freight cost of 30 tonnes equipment. In the meantime, this special plane will operate based on normal flight schedules. Korean Air shall leverage on their existing flight network to support the preparation and publicity of Rain's world tour.

The manager of Korean Air Taipei branch office mentioned that Rain's special plane will arrive Taipei on March 29. During this period, there are flights between Seoul and Taipei on March 29, 30 and Apr 1 that involved this special plane. Other than painted portrait, all the cups, cushions, paper towels are printed with Rain's portrait which are worth for collection. In the concert, about 200 aeroplane models will be sold, each costs USD50.

The manager also expressed that it is possible to 'invite' this special plane come to Taipei again in the future. For example, this plane went to Hong Kong 4 times after his HK concerts due to fans request On the other hand, this plane will remain its design after Rain's world tour. So as long as you take Korean Air, you may have the chance to get on this unique aeroplane~

Source: Sun Network
Posted by cutie@rainhk
Translation by jjbug@rain-malaysia

Stars gather in Hong Kong for inaugural pan-Asia film awards

Hong Kong (ANTARA) - Celebrities across Asia will bring glitz and glamour, as well as some healthy competition, to Hong Kong Tuesday for the first ever pan-Asian film awards ceremony.

The Asian Film Awards are launched this year by the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF).

Among the stars to attend the glitzy event are renowned French director Luc Besson and South Korean director Park Chan-wook, whose film "Old Boy" was a Grand Prix winner at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Korean actor and singer Jung Ji-hoon, better known as Rain, Japanese idol Hirosue Ryoko, and actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai will tread the red carpet, along with local director Andrew Lau, whose "Infernal Affairs" was remade into the Oscar-winning gangster flick "The Departed".

"With more than four billion people in Asia -- 60 percent of the global population -- a celebration of Asian cinema is long overdue," HKIFF chairman Wilfred Wong told AFP.

More than 30 films across the region will be competing for 10 prizes in the Asian Film Awards: best film, director, actress, actor, screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer, composer, editor and visual effects.

South Korea's huge box office hit and monster flick, "The Host", received five nominations, including best film, actor, cinematographer, editor and visual effects.

Veteran Chinese director Zhang Yimou's "Curse of Golden Flower" -- the most expensive Chinese film to date with a budget of 45 million US dollars -- won three nods including best film, visual effects and best actress for Gong Li.

Hong Kong director Johnnie To's gang war epic, "Exiled", earned nominations for best director and best film.

Chinese movie "Still Life", winner of a top prize at the Venice Film Festival last year, garnered three nominations: best film, composer and director for Jia Zhangke.

Japanese smash drama, "Love and Honor" and Indonesia's "Opera Jawa" got the best film nods.


Entertainment Expo

The award show and the film festival will be held in conjunction with the third Entertainment Expo, which combines eight events in film, digital
entertainment and music.

The Expo, which runs from March 20 through April 15, includes a film and TV market, local film awards, a digital entertainment forum as well as a music fair and awards.

"We certainly welcome and support events like this because they bring the Hong Kong film industry more exposure in the region," said Woody Tsung, chief executive of Motion Picture Industry Association.

"I hope this will create more business opportunities for us," he said.

Alongside To and Jia, Iran's Jafar Panahi will be competing for the best director gong for his black comedy "Offload" with Korea's Hong Sang-soo ("Woman on the Beach"), Taiwan's Tsai Ming-liang ("I Don't Want to Sleep Alone") and Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul ("Syndromes and a Century").

Apart from Gong Li, Chinese starlet Zhang Ziyi was nominated as best actress for "The Banquet", along with Korean actresses Kim Hye-soo ("Tazza: The High Rollers") and Lim Soo-jung ("I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK") as well as Japan's Miyazawa Rie ("Hana") and Nakatani Miki ("Memories of Matsuka").

Korean idol Rain will be vying for the best actor prize for his role in romantic comedy "I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK", alongside Hong Kong heart-throb Andy Lau of historical action drama "A Battle of Wits" and acclaimed Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan of "Don".

Their rivals are Taiwan's Chang Chen ("The Go Master"), South Korea's Song Kang-ho ("The Host") and Japan's Watanabe Ken ("Memories of Tomorrow").

Special honours will be given to movie theorist David Bordwell and Josephine Siao Fong-fong, legendary Hong Kong actress and winner of of 1995 Berlin Film festival for her role in "Summer Snow", for their contribution in Asian cinema.

The movies were selected by a jury of 17 experts from across the world from more than 700 eligible films produced in the region in 2006, organisers said. (*)

sitelink: ANTARA NEWS

Korean pop idol brings 'Rain fever' to Vietnam

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AFP) - Some 15,000 screaming fans cheered on Korean pop star Rain at the first of two shows in Vietnam Saturday, billed as the most extravagant pop concert ever staged in the communist country.

More than 1,000 bodyguards and security staff were on duty at Ho Chi Minh City’s Military Zone 7 stadium Saturday night to shield Rain from the delirious fans who have mobbed the Asian superstar since he arrived her on Wednesday.

Amid the "Rain fever" in the former Saigon, many teenage admirers were left outside the venue as tickets selling for as much as 160 dollars were snapped up, with fans arriving from across Asia.

The concert, featuring pyrotechnics and spectacular sound and light effects, required more than 50 tons of equipment, local media reported.

The pop singer and hip-hop dancer, whose real name is Chung Ji-hoon, is on a six-month tour of 11 countries and territories. Part of the proceeds will be donated to World Vision's project to help Asian children suffering from AIDS.

source: Yahoo7 e-news

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070311/ennew_afp/afpentertainmentmusicvietnamskorea_070311084305

Rain Pours Out to Fans

K-pop star Rain met with 3,000 fans from 20 countries during a special fan meeting event held at the Weight Lifting Stadium in the Olympic Park, southern Seoul on Sunday.

The meeting titled "Rain's Friend _ '07 Meeting of Rain's Fans" gave the pop star an opportunity to become closer with members from his fan club.

During the meeting hosted by popular MC Kim Je-dong, Rain spoke candidly about his life and career, much to the delight of his fans. Fans were allowed to ask Rain some questions.

One fan asked how he felt about the negative comments and rumors about him circulating on the Internet. Rain said anyone can be hurt by bad comments, but he sees this as a strong motivation to work harder and prove his detractors wrong.

Rain also talked about the five reasons for his existence _ first, the hope of having a daughter that resembles his future wife, not him; second, to give happiness to his family, who went through tough times; third, for his mentor Park Jin-young, staff and close friends who support him; fourth, his fans and fifth, food.

When asked about his ideal type of woman, Rain said he is attracted to a pretty face, knockout figure and a good personality. He said that if he has a chance, he wants to get married as soon as possible and have three children.

Around 3,000 fans from Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom attended the event.

Source : www.koreatimes.co.kr... ( English Korean ) + HanCinema e-news

link: http://www.hancinema.net/korean-movie-news_8843.php

Rain in Vietnam for World Tour (2007/03/08)

Singer Rain has visited Vietnam to give a performance in the country's economic center of Ho Chi Minh as part of his world tour. The top Korean singer will hold concerts at the city's QK Stadium with 25,000 seats on March 10 and 11. Earlier on Thursday, he held a press conference where some 100 newspapers and broadcasters attended.

Arriving at the Ho Chi Minh International Airport by private jet and dressed casually, Rain gave a brief interview with local broadcasting company HTV, where he said, "My condition is very good and I am really looking forward to giving a performance here".

He also waved and smiled at his fans waiting for him there. Some 1,000 fans shouted Rain, holding pickets in the shape of the letter "R", and took pictures of him. A high school girl said, "I first became his fan because of his good-looking appearance. But I also got to like his sweet voice and powerful dancing. Many of my friends are also his fans and even my mom is his fan, so she let me come here".

Source : english.kbs.co.kr... ( English ) + HanCinema e-news

link: http://www.hancinema.net/korean-movie-news_8881.php

Pop idol Rain arrives in HCMC Wednesday; shows not to be telecast

Asian pop superstar Rain will arrive in Ho Chi Minh City late Wednesday but his shows in the city will not be broadcast, an organizer revealed.

Nguyen Trong Ngoc, director of the local D&D Entertainment Company, one of the two organizers of the shows along with the Republic of Korea’s EnterOne Corp., said Rain would not go straight to his hotel upon arrival like in 2006, but instead meet his fans in the airport’s VIP area.

The R&B and pop singer and hip-hop dancer, also known as Bi, would hold a press conference and start rehearsals for the show Thursday. The two shows are at the next weekend.

Not only would they not be broadcast because their copyright had been sold, but also photographs of the star would only be allowed during his first three songs.

Ngoc also revealed that for the sake of the huge number of Rain’s fans, mostly students, the cheapest tickets would be sold at a discount of 30 percent minutes before the shows.

The stage is all set for the shows with the 50 tons of equipment in place.

Rain’s Vietnam performances are among 35 shows in the RAIN WORLD TOUR 06-07 in 11 countries and territories. The six-month world tour is expected to rake in over US$100 million.

Reported by Da Ly – Compiled by Luu Thi Hong

Source: Thanh Nien Daily + poop-shoop-a-loo@soompi.com/forums
link: http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=28&st=36840

Live Report! The Cloud International Fan Meeting

4 March 07
Credit: amanda@cloudchina.com Jinlees@soompi
Ch to Eng: rayndrop

Dear Clouds:

The first fan meeting since the establishment of The Cloud will kick off at 4pm (Korean Time) this afternoon. This is the first international activity of Jihoon's Fan Club. Clouds from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, US, UK and Canada etc have gathered today in celebration. This is a day for the Clouds, a day which Rain and Cloud have looked forward to!

Our Clouds from China will be furnishing us with Live reports throughout this event. Please look forward to hearing about the event!

(Report below in accordance to Beijing timing, which is one hour behind Korea's time)

10:40am
Clouds have arrived at the stadium, and are queuing up to purchase limited editions of merchandises. (Details of merchandises to be furnished later)

At the same time, Clouds outside the stadium have called back to share the voice of Jihoon from within the stadium as he did his sound test. Jihoon's voice sounded so friendly. It a regret we cannot be there ourselves....

According to Clouds at the site, seating commence at 2.30pm, and the fan meeting begins a 3:00pm officially.

15:00pm
Report from site, the fan meeting has began! Jihoon wears a white t-shirt, beige coat and persimmon-red pants today. He looks really good.

Fan meeting starts off with "I'm Coming". From the performance, Jihoon's arm has recovered fully, and it does not bother him during the performance anymore. Everybody can relax now.

The opening performance was really good. After that, Jihoon greeted fans from all over the world. Jihoon saw the China Clouds; he saw the lightboards and fans. Our Clouds cheered as loudly as we can. As he greeted fans from all over the world, he imitated the way fans from different countries addressed him. Japan Clouds called him "Jihoon-ni", Korean Clouds called him "Jihoon Oppa", Hong Kong clouds called him "Ah Rain". He also mentioned the way Clouds of different ages greeted him. For example, those who are younger than him, those who are in their 20s, 30s, 40s,....those who are 50 and above greeted him with a smack on their butt ().

Jihoon looks a little plumper, and his hair is slightly shorter. Overall, he looked great, and you could tell he was in a great mood.

15:50pm
A five-tier cake was sent to the stadium. The host asked why was it a five-tier cake. Jihoon answered "Maybe it's because it's been five years since I made my debut" (It could also symbolise Cloud 5). The host continued saying, since it has been 5 years since his debut, you could also say Jihoon's like a 5 year old child. With this, he requested Jihoon to make a 5-yr-old expression. Jihoon said, "Ne", and did a kid's expression. It must be very adorable. I could hear the cheers and screams from the audiences. Later, Jihoon emerged in a red woman's apron, saying he wants to make sandwiches for his fans (haha....fans there are lucky). The Clouds there revealed that Jihoon kept pinching the jam while making sandwiches, just like a kid. After the sandwiches were done, he kept licking his fingers because there was jam all over his hands...guess this kid hardly does any cooking...not very experienced...

As he was making the sandwiches, the host asked Jihoon his opinion of when a girl looked the sexiest. Jihoon answered, there are two sides. One is when a girl appeared to be very virtuous when outdoors, and the other is when the girl becomes very stern at home, enough to run the family. That kind of a girl is the best.

In addition, the host ask Jihoon, what are the five reasons for you living on, Jihoon replied:

1. Beautiful girls (was he referring to gf or wife?)
2. Family and members of his family
3. JYP as well as staff members and friends who helped him in the past
4. Fans, that's the Cloud
5. Food. He said his greatest wish is to try all the delicacies in the world. He also said although he's always eating and eating, he'll still feel hungry.

The host requested for Jihoon to make a cute expression, and he opened his eyes wide.

When the sandwiches were ready, Jihoon distributed the sandwiches to 10 Clouds. The first to get selected was a Japan Cloud. This Cloud brought her two daughters on stage. Jihoon talked to them and carried the two girls. He said he liked daughters, and wanted to have a daughter in future too.


16:10pm
Fan's performance commenced. There were 9 altogther, all of which were by Korean Clouds. (Previously, the initial plan was to have fans from all over the world perform for Jihoon onstage, but due to constrains in time, as well as other factors, the responsibility of this segment was passed on to the Korean clouds). The first performing group imitated Jihoon in his "I'm Coming" performance.

16:35pm
A Korean Cloud did a standup comedy act. We couldn't quite understand it since it was in Korean, but Jihoon and the Korean Clouds seemed to be very entertained, laughing very frequently. After her performance, Jihoon walked up to the Cloud and gave her his thanks and encouragement.

Taiwan fans went up and did their performance. It was a performance with several songs and dances linked up. One wore a mask with Jihoon's face and danced Jihoon's dance steps. The performance was really good and won the best performance prize.

While watching the performace, Jihoon was hugely amused. He even ran to the stage stairs to hide and laugh. This kid had some major fun today.

Jihoon's MV came on next, and our star went backstage to change.

16:40pm
Jihoon emerged, and the audience went crazy.

16:55pm
Interview time. The interview was conducted by JYP dancers. It's really revealing of some tidbits. The questions were all pre-recorded, and the dancers sat behind a screen. and the voices were adjusted so Jihoon couldn't recognise them. This is to prevent future revenge by Jihoon.

Someone said that Jihoon looked very bored during his interview and said very little in response to questions. Jihoon replied that he is already doing better than before and that he has more topics to talk about nowadays. He will try to talk more in response to journalists.
Another revealed that Jihoon's very adorable; he frequently tell jokes to cheer them up and make them laugh.
Another exposed that Jihoon loved arguing with friends in the dancer team. Jihoon replied that his friends in the dancer team were great at arguing. He's always losing when he argues with them.
A dancer also revealed that Jihoon's like a kid. Whenever he wins something, he'll become proud and goes around teasing his friends who lost.

In the process, Jihoon said, although you are all sitting behind the screen and have changed your voice, I can tell exactly who you are...

credit: rayndrop@soompi.com/forums