Poparazzi

Miss A in town

Christopher Toh — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:41:51 +0000

Even as the SDP announced that they would not be contesting in the by-election, word came round that the foursome known as Miss A, best known for songs such as Breathe, Good Bye Baby, I Don’t Need A Man and Touch, would be in town for their ‘Independent Showcase’ tour.
They’ll be here on Feb 16, at The Star Performing Arts Centre at 8pm.
Tickets are priced at S$148 (includes Meet & Greet), S$118, S$88 and S$58 and are available at all authorised SISTIC outlets.

Back in Black

Christopher Toh — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:48:10 +0000

Sabbath, that is. Yes, Black Sabbath announced today that their new album will be coming out in June. Titled 13, the album will feature original Black Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, according to Rolling Stone.
Apparently, it’s the first studio album together since 1978′s Never Say Die!, although it’s not quite a full-on reunion: Bill Ward dropped out of Black Sabbath projects last May, and drummer Brad Wilk from Rage Against The Machine will step in.
The album was mostly recorded in Los Angeles, with renowned producer Rick Rubin. And the band is slated to go to New Zealand, Australia and Japan to tour in advance of the album.

Dancing queens

Christopher Toh — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:58:07 +0000

The nonet known as Girls Generation released their album, I Got A Boy. In the album, there’s a track called Dancing Queen. Is it their bright and perky cover of that old Abba hit?

No!

It’s their remake of Duffy’s hit, Mercy. The video for the album’s title track has now breached the 22 million mark, in just over a week. While the Dancing Queen video, which also employs a similar opening to the I Got A Boy video has just passed the 5 million mark, in under a month.

In the latter video, the Girls find a device that transports them back in time to a very ’50s looking milk bar (or as a colleague put it, Pop Tate’s Chock’lit Shoppe). The thing is, the date on the device states: “2008″.

Strange? Can’t they tell time? Or was 1950s furnishing a big thing in 2008 in South Korea?

No, it’s not like that at all. The Girls recorded the tune in 2008, intending to release it as a single to their mini-album then, but due to copyright issues, they couldn’t, and replaced it with Gee instead. In a couple of shots, the girls are decked out in the same white T/jeans combination as used in the Gee video.

So now you know.

SKarf for Samsung

Christopher Toh — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:03:08 +0000

In case you don’t know yet, the Singapore-Korean girl group SKarf, who were in town last week for the New Year’s Eve concert, have been chosen to be part of the line-up as ambassadors for Samsung’s Galaxy camera.

As part of the Samsung “I Was There” campaign, one lucky fan was chosen as a “Samsung reporter”, to enjoy a shopping spree with SKarf in Gangnam style. Okay, it was in Gangnam bit of Seoul last year.
Until Jan 28, Samsung fans can log onto Samsung Mobile Singapore Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileSingapore) to like, share and comment on photo highlights posted, to win two Samsung GALAXY Cameras.

Don’t say we didn’t tell you.

(photo: Samsung)

Happy Birthday David Bowie

Christopher Toh — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:36:37 +0000

It’s David Bowie’s birthday today.
For those who still don’t know who he is, ask Yahoo! or Google for help.
The man turns 66 and what does he do? Instead of just receiving pressies, he’s given out one: In the form of a new single, Where Are We Now?
It’s done in Bowie’s inimitable style, produced by Tony Visconti, accompanied by an equally inimitable music video by Tony Oursler, and it’s the precursor to his album, The Next Day, which will drop in March.

Considering that he’s nary had a peep music-wise, this is surely a boon for fans everywhere.

“The moment you know, you know you know” he sings in the song. Well, we definitely know now. And we’re counting down the days.

(photo: Jimmy King)