Popular Korean girl group Girls’ Generation appeared at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo for the first ever collaborative fashion event between Korea and Japan, called “KISS (Korean International Style Show)” on January 25th.

Girls’ Generation received the biggest cheer at the event when they appeared on stage to perform five of their popular songs, including “The Boys”, “Genie”, and “MR.TAXI”. Sooyoung later greeted the crowd in fluent Japanese, saying, “Everyone from Tokyo, it’s been a while, how has everyone been? We’re really happy to appear alongside so many other artists today.”

The girls wore Houndstooth-checkered monotone suit pants with long black leggings, giving off a cool, coordinated feel. Tiffany explained, “The member’s of Girls’ Generation also have a lot of interest in fashion, and we worried about what we should wear. But in the end, we decided to wear suits because it gives off a cool feel.” Afterward, Tiffany called out to the crowd in a cute voice, “How is it, does it look good?~”

The “KISS” event goes from January 25th through the 27th, and the main theme is “Greatest collaboration between Korea and Japan. From Shibuya to Asia, then on to the world”. Around 11000 people attended the event that featured other Korean artists such as CNBLUE, SISTAR, and Beast, who were also working alongside top models from both Korea and Japan.

Girls’ Generation’s Jessica was unable to attend the event because she was filming her drama “Wild Romance”.

Source: mdpr.jp, daily.co.jp
Written by: SeraphKY@soshified
Edited by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified

After performing at SMTown New York in late October, Girls’ Generation will be making a return trip to New York next week to promote their music and meet with fans. (Note: All times are EST.)

The following is the girls’ schedule in New York:

Monday, January 30th
10:00 AM Arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport

Tuesday, January 31st:
1:00 PM Arrive at the Ed Sullivan Theater (219 West 53rd, New York, NY 10019) to tape “The Late Show with David Letterman”
5:15 PM Begin taping of “The Late Show with David Letterman”

Wednesday, February 1st:
7:45 AM Arrive at ABC Studios (7 Lincoln Square, New York, NY 10023) to tape “LIVE! with Kelly”
9:00 AM Begin taping of “LIVE! with Kelly”

Thursday, February 2nd:
Time TBA Fan-signing at Best Buy Union Square (52 East 14th St., New York, NY 10003)

Soshified will be sponsoring a “Super Fan Contest” for all SONEs who come to New York to see Girls’ Generation. Fans that come to all four aforementioned events will have a chance to meet Girls’ Generation, take a group photo with them, and receive other Girls’ Generation merchandise. Flyers with contest rules and event and prize details will be distributed at each event, and every fan who attends each event at the designated time will receive a different-colored stamp at each event on one’s flyer.

Seven fans who attend all three events prior to the fan-signing and who come the Union Square Best Buy on February 2nd will be randomly selected by Girls’ Generation as winners of this contest.

In addition to this “Super Fan Contest”, Soshified is also sponsoring a “Facebook Contest”. Fans who attend any of the aforementioned events must take a photograph at the event and post it on their Facebook pages. Fans can then send their pictures of the event and a screenshot of the picture posted on their Facebook pages via e-mail to [email protected]. Two fans with the best pictures will be chosen, have their pictures posted on Soshified, and win autographed Girls’ Generation merchandise.

Stay tuned to Soshified for more details on Girls’ Generation’s visit to New York as well as Soshified’s fan contests.

cr: soshified.com

Having released their debut US EP ‘The Boys’ on December 20th and ‘The Boys: Special Album’ on January 17th, Girls’ Generation will be making appearances in New York City next week!

According to the schedules on TVGuide.com and Interbridge.com, the girls will guest on ‘Live! With Kelly’ on February 1st at 9am, along with Jennifer Lopez and guest co-host, Howie Mandel. On the show, Girls’ Generation are also expected to perform their latest hit ‘The Boys’.  ‘Live! With Kelly’ is an American television morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa, previously known as The Morning Show, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Live with Regis and Live! with Regis and Kelly and it has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide.

The girls will also appear on ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ on January 31st at 11.35pm. However, the program’s official website has yet to update the guest list and line-up for the following week.

With their appearance on ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ and ‘Live! with Kelly’ next week, Girls’ Generation will be the first Korean singers to appear on these famous American talk shows.

For more information on obtaining tickets for the two talk shows, check out the information on the official websites here and here.

More updates on Girls’ Generation’s trip to NYC to be updated soon!

Credit: www.girlsgenerationusa.com, wikipedia.org, tvguide.com, interbridge.com, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]/tvdaily.co.kr

Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon will make a cameo appearance on SBS’s new sitcom, “Salamander Guru and the Gang”.

On January 25, a SBS official expressed, “There will be cameo appearances on every episode of ‘Salamander Guru and the Gang’.  Taeyeon has finished her recording for the sitcom yesterday, and will appear in 3-4 episodes instead of one.”

Taeyeon’s involvement in the drama adds on to Girls’ Generation’s acting plans in early 2012.  Even though she will only appear briefly, fans are already having high expectations for her cameo in “Salamander Guru and the Gang”, having witnessed Taeyeon’s acting skills in the musical “Midnight Sun”.

“Salamander Guru and the Gang” has caused a stir amongst K-pop fans when labelmate SHINee’s Minho was announced to play the lead role.  This drama will have a total of 10 episodes, and its first broadcast is scheduled to be on January 25 at 11:05 PM.

Sources: My Daily
Written by: spiceshoe@soshified
Edited by: LetsGo@soshified

As her first appearance in “Wild Romance” draws closer, several photos and a teaser video featuring Jessica have recently been released.  Pictured above is the first official still photo of Jessica from the drama.

The official Facebook for SMTown also posted another image of Jessica on the set of “Wild Romance”. She is seen posing next to Lee Dongwook, who plays Park Moo Yul in the drama. Jessica plays the role of Kang Jonghee, the unforgettable first love of Park Moo Yul.

Finally, a preview for the next episode of “Wild Romance” briefly features Jessica in the opening moments, leaping into the arms of Park Moo Yul and breaking hearts. 

Jessica’s first appearance on “Wild Romance” will be tonight, January 25th, at 9:55 PM KST.

Sources: AsiaToday, [email protected], [email protected]
Written by: bhost909@soshified
Edited by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified

Girls’ Generation proved that it is possible to look sexy without having to wear revealing costumes.

On SBS ’2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Concert’ aired on January 22nd, Girls’ Generation performed ‘The Boys’.

At the concert, instead of wearing mini skirts that reveal their beautiful legs, the girls went for skinny pants that emphasize their slender body lines. In addition to that, the girls received huge cheers from the audience for their gestures, expressions and other stage manners.

Meanwhile, besides Girls’ Generation, other artists who participated in the concert were 2NE1, Kara, IU, CN Blue, Miss A,Brown Eyed Girls, Secret, Sistar,Teen Top, Rainbow Pixie, B1A4, etc. To make way for the broadcast, this week’s SBS ‘Inkigayo’ was canceled.

For those who missed the broadcast earlier, catch the girls’ performance below. Enjoy!

Girls’ Generation participated in the “2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Concert” broadcast on SBS on January 22nd, 2012. The girls performed their most recent single “The Boys” at the concert, which was held at the gymnasium at the Alpensia Ski Resort. The concert was organized to celebrate South Korea’s success in bringing the 2018 Winter Olympics to Pyeongchang, a ski resort town that previously bid for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics which eventually went to Vancouver, Canada and Sochi, Russia, respectively.

The concert was broadcast in lieu of “Inkigayo”, and 4,000 people attended, including South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Other artists who appeared at the concert include KARA, Miss A, Brown Eyed Girls, Secret, Rainbow Pixie, CN Blue, B1A4, IU, and Teen Top, among others.

The girls previously performed on May 14th and October 8th in honor of Pyeongchang’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Girls’ Generation’s performance is available for download here on Soshified.

Source: Eto.ko.kr, [email protected]
Written by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified
Contributor: bhost909@soshified

On January 21st, the official YouTube pages for SM Entertainment and W Korea uploaded videos of Girls’ Generation’s Yoona and Seohyun attending the SM Fashionistas’ photoshoot.

As reported earlier, Yoona, Seohyun, SHINee’s Jonghyun and Taemin, f(x)’s Krystal and Sulli, and EXO’s Kai, Lu Han and Se Hun participated in a photoshoot with the fashion magazine “W” for the French fashion brand “CARVEN”.  The members of SHINee and f(x) took part in the photoshoot on January 19th, while Yoona and Seohyun were featured on January 21st.  The members of EXO attended both days of the photoshoot.

Footage from the photoshoot was uploaded live to the SMTOWN and W Korea YouTube channels, allowing fans to watch the event as it happened.  The official Twitter account for W Korea also released the above photo of Yoona and Seohyun from the shoot.  Twitter users showed their excitement as the videos from the second day of the photoshoot were uploaded, and “W Live 2 S” quickly trended worldwide.

Check out all the pictures of Yoona and Seohyun at the SM Fashionistas’ photoshoot here, and watch the videos below. 

Sources: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Written by: bhost909@soshified
Edited by: SeraphKY@soshified
Contributor: spiceshoe@soshified 

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Girls’ Generation’s Sunny was named the best mentor on “Girls Generation and Dangerous Boys”.

In an upcoming episode of “Girls’ Generation and Dangerous Boys”, Girls’ Generation had a quiz battle.  The quiz looked to see which member of Girls’ Generation, after having served as a mentor for nine weeks, knew the boy she was mentoring best.  The members participated enthusiastically, with their pride on the line as mentors.

Sunny, surprisingly, got the most questions right in the intense, close match, winning the title as “best mentor”.

The episode will be broadcast on January 22nd.

Source: TVDaily
Translated by: ch0sshi@soshified
Edited by: bhost909@soshified, residentbenchwarmer@soshified

Girls’ Generation released their third Korean studio album, “The Boys”, on October 19th after almost a year long wait from their last Korean album.  Fans were eagerly anticipating what the girls would come out with after the new sound of the first Japan album (reviewed here).  Almost instantly the album and lead single became a hit.  Many digital charts had their top ten songs all as tracks from “The Boys”, and the title track would go on to win triple crowns on Inkigayo and M Countdown, and six straight Music Bank K-Charts, the most by any artist since Girls’ Generation themselves pulled off nine in a row with “Gee” back in 2009.  In just two months, “The Boys” became the highest selling album of 2011 on the Gaon chart in Korea.  Clearly SONEs, and the general public, were in love with the album, showing just how popular Girls’ Generation had become.  Let’s take a look at “The Boys” and see what all the fuss is about.

“The Boys” CD and tin case

“The Boys” is a pretty unique album.  It comes in a tin case showing all nine girls with a design reminiscent of the “Into The New World” single.  Perhaps it’s fitting that the album is in a case like this, because when you open it, it feels like a little treasure chest of goodies.  There are ten postcards, one for each member and also a group picture, and on each of the post cards are the girls’ fairy tale concept images as well as their unique “thanks to” messages, the translations of which can be seen in Soshified’s Translated Goodies section.  There is also a random member’s photocard in the case.  When I bought the album it also came with posters, one group poster of the girls looking elegant in flowing white dresses, and the other a poster of a random member’s teaser picture.  The posters are on thick non-glossy paper, which looks nice because the theme of the photos has somewhat of a vintage motif.  Amazingly I got Sunny for both the photocard and the poster.  The CD itself is laid in a black felt holder inside the case, and all around, the album just feels classy.  Lastly, a wallet sized photo of the group poster was included.  “The Boys” comes with so much stuff that it felt like an early Christmas when I opened the package.

Packaging: 9/9

The members’ individual cards come in a thick sleeve with the album design

Now on to the meat of the album, the music (the translated lyrics for all the songs can be found in the Soshified’s Lyrics Center).  “The Boys” isn’t so much an “album” per se as it is a collection of Girls’ Generation songs.  Whereas the first Japan album had a distinct sound and production that was consistent throughout the album, “The Boys” feels more like the producers sat down and said, “Hey this song is good, let’s throw that in there, too.”  This is not necessarily a bad thing, however.  With “The Boys” you get to hear all sides of Girls’ Generation, from cute and bubbly to dark and powerful, and the album itself starts out with some ferocity in the title track, “The Boys”.

Teddy Riley, an American producer who composed the song and has worked with legends like Michael Jackson, gave the girls a strong title track.  The beat is vicious and demands your attention as soon as it comes in after the intro that includes Jessica’s fan-chant inducing “G. G.”.  The song is different from a typical pop track.  It doesn’t have the normal kind of hook that we’ve come to expect from a Girls’ Generation song, and in that sense it was a huge risk for this to be the lead single.  From the chanting chorus to the rapping in the dance break, “The Boys” shows a new side to Girls’ Generation.  But it works.  The second half of the song leading into Taeyeon’s soaring “My heart~” and Jessica’s slowly ascending “Girls bring the boys out” takes the listener to new heights before immediately dropping them back into the beat.  “The Boys” is one of my favorite tracks, and it starts the album off with a bang.

The bang kind of fizzles, though, because “Telepathy” is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from “The Boys”, so it’s a bit jarring to go right into it.  It’s a nice song, but it’s not a strong one. There are some great moments like Taeyeon’s high note towards the end of the song that creates an interesting harmony, but I was left wanting more after the attention grabbing first song. The third track, “Say Yes”, is a decent song, but it’s so sweet I think I got a few cavities just from listening to it.  I love this side of Girls’ Generation, but the overly cute intro from Jessica and Tiffany left me cringing a little bit.

“TRICK” is another one of my favorites.  The modification of Tiffany’s “L-L-Ladies gentlemen” at the start draws me in right away, and the chorus is just plain good with a combination of singing and rapping.  The production on this song stands out because of the smart usage of auto-tune to fit the electro-dance sound and interesting choices made with the stutter of the girls’ voices.  Next, “How Great Is Your Love” is a really nice and uplifting song with lyrics written by Girls’ Generation’s own Sooyoung.  The lyrics flow smoothly and create a nice feeling with the movement of the seasons, and in general the song just gives off a happy vibe.  The girls get to show off some of their vocal prowess as well, which is always good to hear.  Following this is “My J”, another cute track with a happy beat. There’s nothing really outstanding about it, but I can’t help singing along.

Sunny’s poster

After those bright and happy songs we plunge into the dark with “OSCAR”, the best track on the album.  This beat just comes out of nowhere and punches you in the gut like a heavyweight fighter. The vocals are dark and mysterious with crazy intervals and harmonies, and by the time Jessica says “Come on boy”, I’m at their mercy.  The song doesn’t give you a chance to recover until after the funky bass-slapping second verse and Tiffany and Hyoyeon’s unique sounding rap.  The song fades out before slamming you back into the bridge and last chorus.  “OSCAR” is an all-out assault on your aural senses.

“Top Secret” follows up right after, and the “Hoot” style song is addictive, especially the chanting of “check” halfway through.  The song is quite interesting lyrically, showcasing some of the difficulties with being a celebrity and the need to be “Top Secret”.  Lyrical fun continues in “Lazy Girl”.  I can only assume the choice of having Jessica start the song by singing “I’m a lazy girl” is done on purpose, but it is endearing to hear her sing it.  “Sunflower” feels lifted right out of the 80s but with a modern spin.  It’s a soothing ballad-style song, and the way the girls sing the chorus gives the song an ethereal feel.

Out of all the cute sounding songs, the energy pill “VITAMIN” stands out.  The beat and melody instantly put me in a good mood, and it’s incredibly catchy.  It was originally used for the Vita500 ad campaign, and the girls showed off a fun dance to go along with the song, so I was really happy to hear that the full song would be included on “The Boys”.  The album wraps up with the Korean version of “MR. TAXI”.  At first, the lyrics just sounded strange since I’ve been listening to the original Japanese version for so long, but it does sound pretty good in Korean.  The breakdown in the middle sounded worse to me compared to the Japanese version, but the strangeness eventually faded to where I think I prefer the Korean version, mostly because I can actually understand some of it.  We’ve all heard “MR. TAXI” a million times, but even after all this time it remains a killer pop song.

Girls’ Generation members in the group poster

Girls’ Generation had a lot of pressure leading up to the release of “The Boys”.  A less than stellar effort could be seen as a disappointment after their incredible first Japan album.  The verdict?  It’s not stellar, but it’s also not a disappointment.  The songs are quite good for the most part, but there is no pace to the album.  Going from fierce to cute to fierce interrupts the feeling and flow to a point where I don’t feel like I’m having a listening experience so much as I have iTunes on shuffle.  “The Boys” is a must buy though, not only for having some absolutely amazing songs like “OSCAR” and “The Boys”, but also for the sheer amount of goodies you get.

Songs: 6/9
Overall: 7/9

Written by: MoonSoshi9@soshified
Edited by: michaelroni@soshified