Taiwan’s ’58 News’ recently dubbed a woman in Taiwan named Jing Jing as Jessica’s doppelganger.

On the news broadcast, Jing Jing greeted in Korean, “Hello, I’m Jessica. I’m here in Taiwan again”. She elaborated, “Many people said that I look like Jessica. At first, I did not believe what I was told and I had no idea how my resemblance to Jessica could affect my daily life”.

She added, “I have been practicing to look like Jessica in terms of her poses and expressions. To have the pretty legs, I massage my legs everyday”.

’58 News’ staff praised her saying, “Jing Jing does have the look that resembles Jessica. In addition to that, she is taller than Jessica”.

Credit: sportschosun.com

SM Entertainment is dominating Taiwan’s music industry.

According to a Taiwanese music site’s album sales ranking revealed through its Week 29′s ‘Korean-Japanese Music Chart’, Super Junior’s ‘Bonamana’ took the no.1 spot with 57,000 copies. Wonder Girls’ ‘Taiwan Special Edition’ came in 2nd with sales of 50,000 copies, SBS drama ‘You’re Beautiful’ OST secured the 3rd spot with 40,000 copies, while SNSD’s ‘Oh!’ which recorded sales of 37,000 copies grabbed the no.4 spot, followed by SHINee’s ‘Lucifer’ with 30,000 copies.

The fact that SNSD, Super Junior, SHINee and TVXQ, who are artists under SM Entertainment, managed to conquer the top 5 spots in terms of album sales in Taiwan has proven that SM artists are enjoying massive popularity in the island republic.

Credit: sports.chosun.com

Unfortunately, whatever happened in a Taekwando bout in Asian Games did not stay within Guangzhou. Ever since a Taiwanese exponent was disqualified for trying to wear extra scoring sensors in her socks, the anti-Korean wave seems to be carried over to other areas as well.

On November 22nd, Taiwan’s newspaper China Times reported, “The spread of the anti-Korean feeling stems from the Taekwando issue in the Asian Games. Originally, there were plans to invite Korean singers, including SNSD and Wonder Girls to perform at the 54th Asia Pacific Film Festival which will be held at National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, December 2nd to 4th. However, the idea was later dropped due to the anti-Korean sentiments. Also, there have been boycotts of albums produced by Korean singers as well”.

Credit: sportsseoul.com/nz.news.yahoo.com

Following a strong response from SM Entertainment on last week’s broadcast of Super Lucky’s talk show “Fate is Fun”, the MCs of the show said that they were shocked with the news that SM Entertainment may file a lawsuit against them. Furthermore, the MCs sarcastically joked that the show has become a Korean variety show and that Chen Ling Ling had rose to stardom with that broadcast.

During this week’s show, the MCs explained that they did not mentioned about any girl group being forced to provide sexual favors and that they only mentioned that such phenomena exists. The MCs further added that such phenomena could happen anywhere. In reply to SM Entertainment’s statement that the program presented false and distorted facts, Chen Ling Ling explained that the show discussed the matter based on true facts published on a news article.(*1)

On the statement that their actions could tarnish SNSD’s image, the MCs said that the article bearing SNSD’s picture was taken from a source and they did not mention any girl group being involved in such activities.(*2) The MCs further explained that in the previous show, they expressed their admiration towards a Korean girl group’s (indirectly referring to SNSD) synchronized dance moves and their performances are far more impressive than Taiwanese groups.

The male MC then added that they have ‘read’ their own luck/fortune and were convinced that they will not be facing any problem with it.

Here’s a vid of this week’s program:

My comments:

*1. Being published on a news article does not mean it is true. Besides, there are MANY unreliable news source these days. Also, 1 case cannot represent everything that happens in an entire entertainment industry.

*2. The fact that the picture was shown on TV is already an act that could hurt the girls’ image. Even though, no name was mentioned, it gave people the wrong impression of the girls. Although the news article came from other sources, the broadcaster allowed it to be aired on TV. Thus, an invalid argument, in my opinion.

Credits: cc1960524@YouTube/donnyOMO@Twitter (thanks for tipping)

Following the broadcast of a Taiwanese talk show which highlights the picture of SNSD in topics related to “sexual service and plastic surgery by Korean artists”, SM Entertainment has responded strongly as such defamatory acts could damage the image of the girls who are innocent and often being used by the media to fish for publicity.

On November 4th, through a telephone conversation with Asian Economic Sports Today, a representative from SM Entertainment said, “The Taiwanese program has presented false, exaggerated and distorted facts to its viewers. This is a defamation and could cause serious damage to SNSD’s image. As for the broadcasting company, We shall respond on this serious matter strongly through formal procedures”.

The show entitled “Fate Is Fun” was aired by Super Lucky (超 视)TV and during the broadcast, a picture of SNSD was shown, with a large defamatory caption “sexual favor”. On to the show, Chen Ling Ling said, “Korean artists are forced to provide sexual favors under immense pressure by the agency and in some cases, these artists were pushed to the brink of committing suicide”.

The use of SNSD’s picture in the program gave an impression to the viewers that SNSD are involved in such acts and this would definitely hurt the girls’ reputation.

Following the distorted and false facts presented by the Taiwanese show, netizens expressed their concerns by commenting, “I’m concerned that SNSD would get hurt from these malicious reports”.

Credit:asiae.co.kr/newsen.com

On November 1st, SM Entertainment representative Kim Youngmin and SNSD attended the Foreign Press Conference at Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Seoul Press Center to talk about matters pertaining to their overseas activities and future plans.

Kim Youngmin attributes SNSD’s success to three main factors – abilities, planning and adaptability to media changes. SNSD, whose success becomes the envy of many singers in United States and Europe, are committed to conquer the Asian market.

In matters related to the Chinese market, Kim Youngmin said that the girls who had a concert in Shanghai and recently in Taiwan have been learning Chinese since their debut. For their performances in Asia, they have learned many different things as well. He hopes that in the future, there will be opportunites for the girls to perform in China again.

Here are the video clip (up to 2:56 only) and photos of the press conference today:

Credits: korean.cri.cn/hirobmwm52811@YouTube

News Coverage

[myvideogall:itnwtw]

Fancams

[myvideogall:itnwfc]

Credits: Photos as tagged, various uploaders on YouTube

I named this fan account as “The Pink Ocean Story” because it was my first time seeing such a beautiful pink ocean and it will definitely stay in my mind forever. It was really a dream come true for me.

Part 1 – The Wait

I went to Taipei on October 14th with 3 of my friends whom I met on the Internet. We flew to Taipei from Kuala Lumpur on a 5-hour flight and we touched down at Taoyuan International Airport at about 10.35pm on the same day. We had a meal in the plane but our stomachs were making a big fuss when we reached the airport. Thus, we settled for some light meals (not really..lol) at 7-Eleven in the airport. I was told that in Taipei, there are 7-Eleven shops everywhere.

Knowing the girls will be reaching Taiwan on 2.15pm on October 15th, we decided to witness their arrival and give them a warm welcome. So, we spent 16 hours at the airport. However, we were not alone. After we had our meals, we went straight to the arrival hall and we were surprised to see some Taiwanese SONEs were already there to ‘reserve’ their ‘territories’ near the planter box at the arrival hall. The Taiwanese SONEs were very friendly and gave us tips regarding Soshi’s ‘route’ out of the arrival hall to the exit.

We marked our ‘territory’ nonetheless after dropping our luggages at a luggage storage station (not free, of course). It was a sleepless night. There were plenty of place to sleep but we just couldn’t sleep at all. We were filled with excitement to see Soshi in person for the first time.

The time seemed to be moving slower than normal. That’s because when you’re expecting Soshi, you want to see them there and then. We were having fun chatting among one another and with Taiwanese SONEs, discussing about Jessica’s twitter updates.

Time passed and a new day arrived. At about 10am, more SONEs were flocking into the arrival hall. Some brought their banners, cards with LEDs, giving out name cards, etc. There were so many activities going on. Taiwanese SONEs coordinated and practiced fan chants to welcome the Soshi.

Part 2: The Arrival

At around 1.30pm, everyone started to stand on their marked ‘territories’ as more people arrived to welcome Soshi. There were about 300-400 fans standing along the planter box but we were all very well-behaved. No pushing, fights whatsoever. All eyes were on the Terminal 2′s arrival announcement board. Everyone had their cameras, DSLRs, handphones ready to capture the moment.

Reporters and media took their place at the end of the corridor. Security and airport officials were there to ensure that no one stands on the planter box or climb over it. As the clock hit 2.15pm, everyone had their eyes fixed on Terminal 2. In the midst of the excitement and frustrations due to the long wait, there were some light moments. Every time a person (other than Soshi) walked through the Terminal 2 exit, he/she would be cheered. Having 300-400 people cheering for you does make you feel like a superstar, right? Haha….

A curious elderly woman asked the crowd, “Who are you waiting for?”. Together, the crowd answered, “Shao Nu Shi Dai (SNSD)”. It was a really cute reply. The woman then teased, “You’re not welcoming me?”. Everyone laughed. That took us off the tense moment a bit.

At around 2.40pm, we heard “Tiffany…Tiffany” from the crowd standing near the Terminal 2 exit door. So, we joined in and cheered “Tiffany…Tiffany” as well. The funny thing was that the first to come out was actually Taeyeon. She was wearing a mouth mask and she looked pale. I caught a glimpse of her and she didn’t look well.

The situation was chaotic. Media reporters, bodyguards, airport security were all over the place. They blocked our view. Everything happened in just 55 seconds. Within that short frame of time, I saw Taeyeon, Tiffany, Sooyoung, Jessica and Yuri. I was sad because I could not see all nine of them. I managed to snap 3 photos. The photo with Taeyeon in it was the clearest among the three photos but a reporter’s hand got into the way and spoiled everything for me.

SONEs who practiced the fan chants had totally forgotten about it and they focused on chasing Soshi all the way to the exit and to Sherwood Hotel, the place where the girls stayed. I did not participate in the chase though as we had to check into our hotel as well.

We claimed our luggages and checked into our hotel. On the way to our hotel, we expressed our disappointment for not being able to take good shots of the girls. My friends told me that Fany, Sunny and Hyoyeon had gone blonde. Fany’s blonde hair was first spotted at the KIKO Public Awareness Festival on October 13th in Seoul. So, I wasn’t all that surprised that she had dyed her hair blonde.

News reported that the fans were pushing but in actual fact, it was the reporters who were being aggressive and went overboard. The fans behaved well behind the planter box. It was also reported that the Korean bodyguards were being too strict but well, their main responsibility is to protect the girls and preventing people from going too near to them.

Part 3: The Goodies

After welcoming the girls, we went straight to our hotel, washed up and went out for a walk. We stayed opposite Taipei Arena, for convenience purpose.

We spent the evening at Xi Men Walker for some window shopping and try out the delicacies there. We did not queue up for the concert goods at night as Superdome stated that the late night queues will not be recognized. My friends went to check out the venue at around 11.00 pm and found out that people have already started to queue up. We were also being informed that the girls have finished their rehearsal at around 9.00 pm.

The next day, October 16th, we woke up early and headed straight to Taipei Arena’s Southern Entrance. Thousands have already lined up for the goodies, especially those limited ones – blankets and flasks. There were at least 1500-2000 people at that time. The queue went around the arena in 2 loops and extended all the way to the walkway (next to main road) near the Northern Entrance.

Superdome staff told us that they had to recognize the long queue which started the night before to prevent chaos and fights. In other words, they were doing the exact opposite of what they announced on their website. Fans who only arrived in the morning had a long talk with the staff and in the end, there was nothing we could do but to proceed to the very end of the queue.

Thanks to our Taiwanese friends, we were able to get our hands on the concert goodies. Since they were very much ahead of us in the queue, they received the order forms first. They gave us some of their order forms to us and from there, we were able to fill our orders and purchased our goodies. Too bad the blankets were sold out before our turn. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our Taiwanese friends from Yoonazzang.com, Pretty and PTT for helping us along the way. They were always there to help us and made our experience a pleasant one. Hopefully, we will be able to return their favor one day.

While my friends were helping me filling out the orders and lining up to purchase them, I proceeded to the express counter at the Northern Entrance as I have already got my ticket for the October 16th concert. Those who have tickets with them could purchase 2 light sticks (max). However, one could only have present a ticket at the counter, which means that you’re not allowed to help your friends to purchase the light sticks. While queuing up for my light sticks, I noticed that there were some activities happening outside. Fans put up a life size self-standing banner of YoonA and Yuri outside Starbucks and many took the chance to take pictures with the YoonYul banners.

I waited patiently for my turn and as I moved closer to the counter, I noticed that SNSD’s albums were also put on sale at the adjacent counter. Every album came with a poster and that was the main attraction. For most people, it was more like purchasing the poster rather than the album.

After lining up for almost 1.5 hours, I finally got my light sticks. I went straight back to hotel and waited for my friends who helped me with the other goodies. Thank God, I got everything I wanted except the blanket. For your info, each person could only purchase 1 blanket (using 1 order form). The goods that I bought – T-Shirt, Mobile phone straps (all 3 types), light sticks, support towels, mini posters.

After getting my October 17th Encore Concert ticket, I lined up once again to purchase another light stick. Due to shortage of stock, every ticket could only purchase 1 light stick on October 17th. So, in total, I have 3 light sticks with me now…kekeke.

Part 4: The Concerts

I arrived early for the concert on the 16th and went straight to the Southern Entrance to queue up.

My seat was on the 3rd floor, Section 3A (Yellow) No.8, which was just adjacent to the stairs. Great view but definitely not a place to take photos or videos. I got the ticket from a Taiwanese SONE, so I could not pick the seat. It was a last minute thing by the way. Anyway, before I got warned, I managed to snap a few photos inside Taipei Arena.

To prevent my phone being confiscated or myself being asked to leave the concert venue, I had to obey the rules…sigh. The concert started at 7.00pm. The concert staff was standing next to me or above me throughout the concert. I felt rather uncomfortable.

As soon as the girls came out, the crowd were ecstatic. I was cheering on top of my voice but those sitting in my section seemed to be quite shy and quiet. I was really loud when Sunny made her self-introduction and performed her solo song “Sunny”. Soongyu really cracked me up when she said “Hello Thailand” instead of “Hello Taiwan”…lol..my girl’s mistake is always so cute.

Fans threw towels on stage and the girls tried their best to pick up as many as possible. Tiffany got a Totoro toy and pat on its head. It was a really cute sight. It was even cuter when Sunny punched and tried to snatch Totoro from her..lol (Soongyu…I’ll send you one, don’t take Fany’s…hahaha)

The girls, especially Taeyeon tried her best to communicate with fans in Chinese. She said repeatedly, “ni men gao xing ma? Wo ye hen gao xin. Gan xie ni men” which means “Are you guys happy? I’m happy too. Thank you guys so much”.

Super Junior’s Leeteuk and Donghae appeared during YoonA and Jessica’s solo performances. During YoonA’s performance, Leeteuk carried a mask with Zhu Ge Liang’s (Taiwan’s famous comedian/MC) face while Donghae carried the mask with Zhang Fei’s (Taiwan’s famous singer/MC) face. Jessica had a duet with Donghae during her “Barbie Girl” performance. The crowd went crazy when Donghae appeared.

There were 2 encores on the evening. After “Touch The Sky”, the crowd called for an encore and they were granted with “Naengmyun” and “Complete”. The crowd wanted “Oh!” so they chanted “Oh!…Oh!…Oh!…”. The girls appeared. Still no Oh! but instead they performed “Baby Baby”. The girls teased the fans…and finally, the crowd got what they wanted. The girls wrapped the concert with “Oh!”.

Fans wanted more and they started chanting “Run Devil Run” but it was not granted…lol. So, the October 16th concert came to a close. Although Taeyeon looked pale during her arrival, she was full of energy during the concert. In fact all of them looked very energetic, running around the stage to greet their beloved SONEs.

Here’s a video of the girls at Sherwood Hotel after their concert on the 16th:

The encore concert on the 17th was filled with fond memories. Before the concert, Taiwanese SONEs distributed handouts containing a message to SONEs and instructions of what SONEs should do when the girls performed “Complete”. The intention was to create an atmosphere whereby the girls would be touched.

The show started at 3.00pm. My seat for the 17th concert was even further away from the stage compared to my seat on the 16th. It was on the 3rd floor, 24th row, seat no.17. It was somewhere in the middle, facing the main stage. I found a roll of pink ribbon on my seat and I knew exactly what it was for. The ribbon played an important part at the end of the concert. Read more and you’ll find out why.

I managed to record some videos but the on-stage lighting was too bright. So, the videos were not even close to good. Thus, I chose not to upload them. Also, from where I sat, the girls were only about 5 cm tall. However, I managed to snap one great pink ocean photo. Here it is:

During one of the performances, maknae Seohyun lost her footing and fell while coming down from a platform. I heard a loud noise on my right and when I turned to look, I saw maknae on the floor. A fan in the rock zone told me that he saw plasters on Seohyun’s leg. She was okay though.

The girls looked as energetic as the day before. There were no sign of tiredness in them. As always, the girls showed their best for SONEs. Many fans asked about Hyoyeon’s solo performance which was excluded from the list of performances. Well, I guess they have their reasons. I wouldn’t want to speculate. In fact, Jessica’s “One Year Later” was taken out too.

All the girls made their introduction in Chinese. Taeyeon tried to mention her name in Chinese but she forgot how to mention “Yeon” in Chinese, so she ended up saying, “wo shi…Tai…Taeyeon” and laughed at herself. That was really cute. I love that moment.

The touching moment came during the “Complete” performance where SONEs waved their pink light sticks and sang together with Soshi. At the end of the song, SONEs made the love-on-the-head sign. Upon witnessing this, Tiffany broke into tears immediately and maknae comforted her.

There were two encores like the day before and after the “Oh!” performance, SONEs threw the pink ribbons towards the stage. Fans in the rock zone said that it was a beautiful sight. Sunny, Jessica, Tiffany and Seohyun could not hold back their tears. Mission accomplished!

The concert ended with Soshi and the concert staff bowing before the fans. Before they proceeded to back stage, Soshi and SONEs chanted:

Soshi: Jigeumun
SONEs: So Nyeo Shi Dae!
Soshi: Apeurodo
SONEs: So Nyeo Shi Dae!
Soshi: Yongwonhi
SONEs: So Nyeo Shi Dae!
Soshi: Kamsahamnida, wo men ai ni men!

The fans stayed put for a while and chanted “Run Devil Run” and of course, it was not granted.

Here’s the list of performances for the 2-day concert:

1.Tell Me Your Wish
2.Show! Show! Show!
3.Girls’ Generation
4.The Beginning
5.It’s Fantastic
6.Etude
7.Ooh La-La!
8.Kissing you
9.Talk To Me (Coffee Caramel)
10.Hush Hush (Taeyeon)
11.Umbrella (Tiffany)
12.Introduce Me To A Good Man (YoonA feat. Lee teuk & Donghae)
10.Chocolate love
11.Honey
12.Dear Mom
13.Forever
14.Day By Day
15.My child
16.Barbie Girl (Jessica feat. Donghae)
17.Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Seohyun)
18.Singing In The Rain
19.Over The Rainbow
20.Sunny (Sunny)
21.Sooyoung solo dance
22.1,2 Step (Yuri feat. Tiffany)
23.Dance Battle (Sooyoung,Yuri,YoonA,Hyoyeon)
24.Into The New World
25.Be Happy
26.Way To Go (Himnae)
27.Gee
28.Touch The Sky
29.Naengmyun
30.Complete
31.Baby Baby
32.Oh!

It was an awesome experience for every SONE attending the two-day concert. I left the venue with a heavy heart. I missed them so much that I sang “Complete” on my flight back from Taipei. I’m not embarrassed to tell you guys that tears rolled down my cheeks as I recalled the moment where the girls cried after “Complete” and “Oh!”.

The girls are the best and I will love them forever! I’m really looking forward to attending their future concerts! It’s worth every penny in wallet and every second of my time. For those who have not attended Soshi’s concert, you really have to attend it at least once. You’ll regret if you don’t.

The girls left for Japan today and they will be in Singapore soon for the 2010 Korean Pop Night Concert. Here’s the fancam of the girls at Taoyuan Airport, Taipei today:

and here’s their flight information as posted by jessicachina.net:

That’s the end of The Pink Ocean Story for now. Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it.

Credits: chyansie9xx@YouTube/red12345954@YouTube/jessicachina.net/SM Entertainment

For those who are going to the ITNW concert in Taiwan, the list of goodies that will be sold at the concert venue is out! The sales of these goods will be available on both concert days (October 16th and October 17th), starting from 11am till the end of the concert.

A person may only purchase up to 10 nos of each item depending on the availability of those items. However, for goodies with limited stock (blanket/travel flask), each person can only purchase 1 no. of these items.

Here’s the list of the concert goodies:

- Poster set (9 posters with tubes) : NTD980

- Mini poster set (9 A4 size posters) : NTD430

- 3D folder (available in 2 types – cartoon/real-life) : NTD430

- Card type 2GB USB flash drive (credit card size) : NTD1050

- Glow sticks (the same type as the ones at SNSD’s fanmeeting in Korea) : NTD250

- T-Shirts (1 type only, free size) : NTD990

- Support towels : NTD450

- Blankets (very limited, only 600 nos. available, each person limited to 1 purchase) : NTD890

- Mobile phone straps (Available in 3 types, each type contains 3 mobile phone straps : Type A – Taeyeon, Sooyoung, Hyoyeon; Type B – YoonA, Seohyun, Sunny; Type C – Jessica, Tiffany, Yuri) : NTD690

Type A

Type B

Type C

- Travel flasks (very limited, only 300 nos available, each person limited to 1 purchase) : NTD490

- Luggage tags : NTD320

*US$1 is about NTD31

Credit: superdome.com.tw