Aya Ueto wins Best Dresser award

Actress Aya Ueto, 23, won an award at the 37th Best Dresser Awards held by Japan Men’s Fashion Unity at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka.








Ueto wore a Versace cream dress about which she said: “I thought it suited my age and it gave me energy.” When asked when she will be wearing a wedding dress, she emphasized: “Not for a while.”

Actor Hayato Ichihara, 21, also won in the entertainment category. Pro basketballer Yuta Tabuse, 28, won in the sports category and actor-singer Yutaka Mizutani, 56, won a special award

Kim Jong Gook admits to past scandal

How can anyone forget the chemistry and drama that went on between Kim Jong-kook and Yoon Eun Hye during SBS‘ Xman in 2005? Many fans knew that the romance was scripted, but they couldn’t deny that the chemistry between the two was very tangible.

During that time, both denied any allegations that they were dating. However, this just left fans even more curious of about relationship.

On the December 3, 2008 airing of KBS‘ Golden Fishery, Kim Jong-kook coyly admited to MC Kang Ho -dong the truth about their relationship- yes, they did go out.

So does this mean that Chae Yeon has a chance now?

Look forward to his confession next week.

If you missed out on the chemistry beforehand check out one of the historic episodes below.

Rain Jung Ji-Hoon Full House

With Central World Plaza?s main hall decked out in colourful banners and posters and hundreds of fans cheering loudly, passers-by could gave been forgiven for thinking a pop concert was in full swing.

But last week?s event was just the press conference for Rain?s upcoming gig. The Korean superstar doesn?t actually arrive in Thailand for another two weeks.

Rain, aka Jung Ji-Hoon is known to many here as Lee Yong Jae, the hero of the Korean series ?Full House?, which was broadcast on Channel 7 last year. His fame has continued to flourish with Channel 7?s newest import ?Sang-Doo? (?Let?s Go to School?).

The young star?s talent for singing, dancing as well as acting have won him many awards including the Most Popular Korean Artist from MTV Asia and the Most Popular Asian Artist from Channel [V] Thailand 4th Music Video Awards.

His ?Rainy Day in Bangkok? concert at the end of this month is expected to draw thousands of fans, both local and international.

?The concert marks the end of the tour for his latest album ?It?s Raining?, so it?s a very special occasion for Thai fans,? says Vit Suthithavil, Managing Director of I-Works Entertainment Ltd and an ID-Media executive.

The Korean?s gig is being touted as a ?clean? concert to promote alcohol-free behaviour and good health among adolescents, with part of the proceeds to be donated to Stop Drinking Network Organisation.

?Rain drinks no alcohol, does not smoke and exercises a lot to keep up his strength. He is the perfect model for Thai teens, says Charlotte Donavanik, chief executive officer of Media of Medias and an ID-Media executive.

?Though raised in an orphanage, Rain never gave in to obstacles and now he Asia?s leading star. We want our teenagers to see and follow Rain?s example.?

Fans will get to hear Star, who sings ?I Think I?, the hit single from ?Full House?.

With an 18-metre-long LED screen and a 60- strong crew, the two-hour-and-a-half concert promises the ultimate in excitement for Thai fans.
And to avoid disappointment organisers ID Media have scheduled another round of ?Rainy Day in Bangkok? for February 26.

Tickets are now on sale at Thaiticketmaster branches nationwide, online and at all 50 post offices in Bangkok. They cost Bt.6,000 Bt4,500, Bt3,000 Bt2,000 and Bt900.

YUI - Good-bye days

YUI is a Japanese pop artist who writes and plays the guitar to her own songs. She debuted in December of 2004 with the single “It’s happy line”, although it wasnt until her 4th single “LIFE“,which was used for the ending theme for the popular anime Bleach, that she became a household name.

Although she is still fairly new to the J-Pop scene, her popularity seems to be rising and rising with every single she releases and it will only be a matter of time before she can reach the #1 spot on the Oricon charts.









Her new single “Good-bye days” will be used as the theme song for the movie “Taiyou no Uta”, in which YUI plays the role of Kaoru Amane, the protagonist of the movie. Kaoru suffers from a disease called “Xeroderma pigmentosum” which causes her to be easily burned and scarred by sunlight.

The only motivation that she has in her life is the passion to sing. Every night when the sun goes down she ventures outside with a guitar in her hands to share her music at a square in front of a train station.

She returns to her home every night at 4:00am just before the sun rises. One day, while looking out her bedroom window, she spots a high school student surfing and from that point on she decides to watch him and his friends every morning before she goes to sleep. Soon enough she eventually meets with him.

Maki Horikita learning English for role of amnesiac in new film

Actress Maki Horikita, 20, will star in “Lost Memory,” a film directed by Hans Canosa, whose 2005 film “Conversations with Other Women” won the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival in the same year. “Lost Memory” is scheduled for release in Japan next year and in the U.S. in 2010.

When Canosa came to Japan, he was fascinated by Japanese actors and actresses, and expressed his interest in making movies in Japan. He reportedly watches a lot of Japanese films, and expressed his desire to cast Horikita.

Horikita plays a high school girl attending an international school in Japan. She falls down the stairs and loses four years of her memory. About one third of her lines are in English, so she is taking English lessons. This is in between working on “Innocent Love,” a drama in which she plays the lead role and is showing now on Fuji TV on Mondays at 9 p.m.

Filming of “Lost Memory” starts on Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out, with a foreign director filming in Japan. I want to concentrate working on each and every scene,” Horikita said with enthusiasm.

Kenichi Matsuyama, 23, who stars opposite Horikita, said: “I took the part because I wanted to work with a foreign crew. And I wanna have a sword fight with them!”

Dong-bang-shin-ki fools around

Yunho and Micky, 2 members of Dong-bang-shin-ki (DBSK) have resorted to a comic routine to get attention. Calling themselves, “No Key Brothers,” the pair scratch their funny bone by trying to sing Muslim offenders, Jaurim’s song,

“Ha ha ha song.” The posted UCC video is creating waves among fans and netizens.

Kim Tae-hee and Lee Wan do Salvation Army

As the faces for bakery chain, Paris Baguette, Kim Tae-hee and younger brother, Lee Wan will be collecting donations for the Salvation Army at the year end. And just in case their shiny faces were not enough for you to reach into your pockets, cute little kids wearing Teletubby hats were also mixed in.

Also, instead of a Salvation Army rep ringing bells on the street to get your attention, boxes will be placed the 1700 stores throughout Korea for your convenience (and hard earned cash)

The celebrity siblings were spotted at the Paris Baguette stream side at Cheong-gae-cheon in downtown Seoul on November 27th.

Takeshi Kaneshiro, Takako Matsu to star in action movie

Actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, 35, and actress Takako Matsu, 31, were at a special screening this week for “K-20 Kaijin Nijumenso-den” (The Legend of the Fiend with 20 Faces), co-starring Toru Nakamura and directed by Shimako Sato.

“I think we’ve made it entertaining,” said Kaneshiro who plays a circus acrobat. He battles with the fiend in the action movie set in the late 1940s.

There is a scene which was filmed at night in KitaKyushu in January this year, in which Matsu is suspended in the air with Kaneshiro. “I wasn’t alone up there, so it wasn’t that cold. I felt warm,” said Matsu.

The masked stage prop serving as the fiend briefly changed to look like Kaneshiro, which drew loud applause from those in attendance.

“K-20 Kaijin Nijumenso-den” hits cinemas on Dec 20.

Leah Dizon, 4 months pregnant, announces she's married

American singer Leah Dizon, 22, on Wednesday afternoon held a press conference in Aoyama to talk about her marriage and pregnancy which she announced at the last concert of her nationwide tour in Shibuya on Tuesday night.

Dizon dropped a bombshell when she told concertgoers that she was four months pregnant and that she had married a Japanese stylist in his 20s. She told 1,000 fans the wedding had been held last Friday at a hotel in Shinjuku. Insiders say the two had a Japanese-style wedding ceremony at the Hilton hotel.

Tuesday’s concert was the last one of a nationwide tour. Dizon said, “I have important news to tell you. I have actually got married.” Then she added: “I’m pregnant, too. My family and I are very happy.” She said she will take a break from showbiz until after her baby is born, but promised fans she will be back.

Dizon told reporters at Wednesday’s press conference that her husband is a 29-year old “smart guy” whom she met in January. She said they had gone to hot springs and ramen
restaurants together. She also showed a photo of herself in a traditional Japanese wedding dress.

Dizon’s agent didn’t allow reporters to ask her questions because “she is tired of being chased by paparazzi for three hours by car last night after the concert,” he said.

Tokyo Sonata is the latest invention of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's generous artistic soul, and an archetypal product of a powerful cinema prone to investigating the borders between the visible and the invisible. Straying from the trendy J-horror genre, the master of Japanese chills ventures into family drama, territory that carries a different dark suspense.

Loyal salaryman Ryuhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa) loses his job when his company begins outsourcing to China. Incapable of facing the tragedy of his new reality, he hides his failure from his family and, weaving an intricate web of lies, pretends to have kept his job. As it turns out, he is not alone in this deception. At home, he tries to maintain the normal routine, though it soon becomes clear that this family has tragically lost touch with one another. His wife Megumi (Kyoko Koizumi) attends to her chores and keeps up with their two boys, rebellious college-age Takashi (Yu Koyanagi) and quiet, younger Kenji (Kai Inowaki). However, nothing feels or looks the same for Ryuhei, who has lost his honour and his place in society. Kenji's simple request for extra money to take piano lessons however tips the balance of their artificially sustained family stability, pushing it over a ruinous precipice of unforeseeable external events.

Kurosawa's quiet, elegant di2rection guides his actors – especially Koizumi and Kagawa – to outstanding performances. As a wife left starving for affection and contact, Koizumi is devastating, and she never exploits the natural pathos of her character's plight. At the same time, Kurosawa puts his own stamp on the domestic drama genre. The family is ordinary, but the narrative takes unusual turns. The mise-en-scène lends an eerie mood. Overall, the effect is of a poignant reflection on a kind of mass uncertainty sweeping Japan.

[2008 MKMF] Wondergirls win “song of the year’

The dancing gorilla’s cash cows, the Wondergirls picked up the “Song of the Year” Award for their hit, “Nobody” at the 2008 Mnet KM Music Festival (MKMF) on November 15th. Although we predicted that Rain would perform with the

Wondergirls in their tango and disco version of the hit, “Nobody,” he didn’t. Instead, 2PM stepped in as tango partners…and later flashed the audience with some chicken breasts a la Rain

Don’t call me Jun Ji-Hyun, my name is Gianna Jun

We know that Korean names are difficult to pronounce, but is it necessary to change your name when you come to Hollywood? Well, Jun Ji Hyun thinks so, so she changed her name to Gianna Jun. FYI, this is actually the second time she changed her name.

Her real name is Wang Ji Hyun, but she changed it to Jun Ji Hyun because the last name Wang made her sound Chinese and now, she’s changing it to Gianna Jun, but why such an Italian name? Does she want to sound Italian? No clue, but do you like her new name?

She’s currently filming Blood: the Last Vampire in Argentina