Jase Pop

Wonder Girls New Single.

2011-11-08T17:55:00.005+11:00

Well folks, its time again for yet another new track by the Wonder Girls, but in fairness it has been some time since they have brought us an English track. Following on from the ever popular 'Nobody' and last years English treat '2 Different Tears' Wonder Girls return with 'Be My Baby'.
Is this one going to be a success like Nobody, or will it have lesser popularity like 2 Different Tears? I think its got what it takes.
The track is funky, has a catchy tune similar to a Christmas Carol, and the MV was arranged by the people who worked on Beyonce's 'Single Ladies'.
However already this very familiar sounding track is getting less than helpful postings on fan sites and Youtube, with some comparing it to other similar sounding hits including a track from Sara Bareilles titled 'Gonna Get Over You'.
Take a look at the new music video below, but be sure to scroll further down and view the link to the English version.
I think the girls will do well out of this one, the question is, will they be able to climb the USA Billboard chart the same way they did with 'Nobody'..
If the 2.5 million views of the Korean version of the track in 2 days is any indication, it just might.

Listen to the English version here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8WXlchosLs

K Pop Music Festival 2011

2011-11-08T06:07:00.000+11:00

Only 5 more sleeps until the K Pop Music Festival in Sydney this Saturday night. Can you believe it is nearly here? Announced way back around August we though this day would never come and now its only days away. Aussie will finally get to see some of their favorite Korean pop groups, in fact 12 top performers all sharing the stage together at ANZ Stadium. TVXQ, SNSD, SHINee, Sistar, secret, Miss A, MBlaq, Kara, CNBlue, Beast, 4Minute and 2am will all be there and he fan groups will all be lined up waiting for them to shout it out and give us some of their biggest hits.
From my side I have to say i struggle to say who I am most looking forward to seeing at the festival. Overall I am probably most excited about seeing Beast performing some of their tracks like 'Breathe' and 'Beautiful'. On the other hand I am going to explode for sure when Miss A step on stage to sing their version of 'Breathe' and 'Bad Girl Good Girl'.
Of course the place is going to erupt when SNSD get on stage to bring us Gee, one of the biggest tracks to come from Korea in the last decade, and I'm pretty sure all the little fan boys and girls are just going to collapse when TVXQ make it to the stage.
No wait, I lied. When SHINee make their way in front of 30,000 screaming fans and start 'Replay', or 'Ring Ding Dong', I think there is a good chance i will loose my voice. Plus there is 4Minute and who is going to be able to 2am.
To conclude, I really don't know what I'm most looking forward to. There is so much on offer including a free event at the stadium from noon on the day of the concert. You don't even have to have concert tickets to be part of this gathering, but you CAN grab tickets for the show that night if you do change your mind.
If you have not gotten your tickets yet, what are you waiting for? It's this Saturday. Jump on to kpopmusicfest.com.au and do it now! Don't miss out on the biggest Asian pop music event to come to Australia ever!

JoyPop Live Webcam Now :D

2011-11-03T01:00:00.001+11:00

Tonight on JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment radio show, we are hosting a K Pop Music Festival special ahead of next weeks huge concert in Sydney. We will be playing 8 tracks from 8 of the different artists who will appear at the concert next week in the festivl at Sydney. Your dont want to miss this so tune in, and remember you can text in and say hello or have your say, 61427569949 or email onair@joy.org.au. Ohh and tune in using the JOY 94.9 smart phone APP!

JoyPop- Broadcast your self LIVE

JoyPop live now at www.joy.org.au/listenlive or on radio 94.9 fm in Melbourne or via the Joy app on iPhone

JOY POP DANCE PARTY TONIGHT 8PM TIL LATE

2011-10-20T09:10:00.000+11:00

Tonight, join myself and my JOY Pop co hosts Kayne Lee and Mitch Todd as we bring our radio show to the stage. Following on from our regular program time on JOY 94.9 bang on 8pm, the fun and festivities kick off at DNM Bar Nightclub 119, Commercial Road, South Yarra. JOY Pop Live is a JOY 94.9 fundraiser, in support of Australia's GLBTIQ community radio station.
JOY Pop Live is open to all Asians, Caucasians, Black, White, Orange, Purple, Donkey, Chimp, Elephant.. ok, maybe not Elephant. Its a night to celebrate diversity and share a little Asian Pop fun with one another.
Join Kayne Mitch and Myself as we bring you a great mix of pop and dance from across Asia, starting off with a mix of mostly English tracks by Asian artists from 8pm, then we bring you the best of Asian pop from all corners throughout the night. At 9:30pm catch Vietnamese Pop star Hoai Anh Kiet performing tracks from his new album Play. At 10:30pm catch Malaysian recording artist Iz ( who supported Wonder Girls in 2010 in KL) singing his heart out as he brings us some of his finest work. Plus your chance to win prizes! We will have raffle tickets 3 for $5.00 or $2.00 each. There are four prizes in the raffle. The prizes up for grabs include 2x Rituelle Skin Care packs with thanks to Australian Produce Stores (Find them at Airports around the country including Melbourne Airport), a delicious chocolate hamper from 'World of Chocolate' (again at Melbourne Airport and selected Airports across Australia), plus an Asian themed DVD collection of 9 titles with thanks to Madman Entertainment.
Plus everyone that comes along to JOY Pop live on October 20th will be in the running to win 2 x VIP Standing tickets to K Pop Music Festival in Sydney this November. The concert tickets are worth over $570.00 alone AND YOUR CHANCE TO WIN THEM is included in you entry on the night. Entry to JOY Pop Live is just $10.00 with all proceeds going to community radio station JOY 94.9
Please support JOY Pop Live. It is the first event I have ever staged and would love to share an amazing night of fun with you and support community radio station JOY 94.9.
Tickets are available at the door, DNM Bar Nightclub, 119 Commercial Road, South Yarra. For more info see the Facebook event page http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122019907902825&ref=ts

Thanks to JK Entertainment for the amazing prize donation of 2 VIP Standing tickets to K Pop Music Fest 2011. Need to buy your tickets and find out more?www.kpopmusicfest.com.au

JOY Popcast 4 - Sept 16, 2011

2011-09-22T12:20:00.004+10:00

Hi all. Join us tonight on JOY Pop The Asian Pop Experiment for a great mix of Asian Pop music from all corners of the continent. We will kick off the show with a mad new song by Somedaydream from the Phillippines, a track named 'Delivery Boys' (See previous blog entry for more info) plus we will be joined on the line by Ameilia who is telling Kayne and I how both those in Melbourne and Seoul can dance off with each other in a few weeks time via Skype. Plus Mitch brings us the number 1 songs form around Asia. You don't want to miss tonights episode of JOY Pop The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, online at joy.org.au/listenlive and via the JOY 94.9 iPhone APP.
If you missed last weeks show for Septmember 16th, here it is in Podcast form. Enjoy!

Day Dreaming of Delivery Boys?

2011-09-20T09:06:00.004+10:00

It may be closer to the truth that you think! For me there is nothing better than stumbling across an awesome Asian track like this one, 'Delivery Boys' by Somedaydream. People, I say it time and time again. Don't just listen to your iPod or the music that the radio stations of your own city tell you to listen to, get online and find your own hits!
Yesterday I spend most of the day listening to radio station JAM 88.8 Pasig City, and I got to hear so many tracks that I don't usually hear here in Melbourne. So this morning craving more Pinoy hits I found this hot track by Somedaydream (Rez Toledo). This is the second single that the solo artist has released and once I started listening to it I simply couldn't press the pause button. A little more research shows that his first single Hey Daydreamer released in late 2010 got massive airplay in his country of the Philippines, and really got heads turning. He was picked up by well know artist Champ Lui Pio, former front man of a group named Hale. Now Champ has developed a record label Mecca Music and Rez is his star recruit.
The Philippine Star reported in February this year that the artist 'doesn't seem to be from a famous family of musicians', he's not on breakfast cereal commercials selling out and you wont see an album any time soon as he is still working on it. In fact during the day, this guy is still at university.
I have already written to his management people to see if we can get an interview with him on our Asian pop show from Melbourne 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' so here's hoping. In the meanwhile I have this clip to watch over and over and over again... not just for the tunes! Ha!

Super Junior Release Repackaged Album

2011-09-19T08:34:00.006+10:00

A very quick repackage of an album indeed! The original album 'Mr Simple' the 5th for the Korean group was released only in August this year, now the boys have added four new tracks to the 2011 album and it has been re branded as 'A-Cha'.
The news of a repackaging of the current Super Junior album was leaked some time ago and songs have been circulating online but dedicated fans have waited until the release date today to hear what the new instalment offers.
The four new tracks added include, the title song 'A-Cha' a very upbeat track, fast paced and reminiscent of Bonomana complete with a funky electro dance bed. The second new track includes a little help from popular girl group f(x) for the track Oops!!, that actually starts off with a nice English intro. This song has a lot of attitude and it's one not to miss! 'A Day' is a much needed ballard following on from two party songs, this one is the greatest come down, very warm and relaxing. THE ballad from Super Junior, which reminds us of some of there earlier work.
Finally 'Andante' lives up to its name by providing the listener with a much needed session of 'chillaxation'.
The new repackaged album now comes complete with 17 tracks and is available for purchase from today.

JOY Popcast 3 - Sept 8, 2011

2011-09-14T13:09:00.002+10:00

Hey guys if you missed our radio show last wek on Septmeber 8th, you are in luck, here it is in full (well with the music removed because it's a Podcast). Sorry it's delayed, such a busy week of preparing the next big show with my co host Kayne Lee.
Here is our podcast of the best bits from our September 8th episode of JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9. It was a preview of Festival Indonesia and KOFFIA Melbourne, more details on both events in previous blog entries on Jasepop.com
Listen to it here!

Asian Festivals This Weekend.

2011-09-10T19:38:00.006+10:00

This weekend Melbourne is filled with Asian Festivals that you don't want to miss.
Let's begin with the Inaugural Korean Film Festival Australia taking place in Melbourne for the first time at Federatuion Square and ACMI Cinemas. Last years first Korean Festival in Sydney was amazing and it brought about the staging of the event again in 2011. After yet another successful festival that wrapped up in Sydney only two weeks ago, the festival now comes to Melbourne for a limited period begining today September 10 until September 13. The festival is organised by the Korean Cultural Office, with support from the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea in Sydney and aims to promote Korean cinema here in Melbourne.
It is a window into the lives of Koreans and the carefully selected films at the Melbourne festival will showcase some of Korea's finest films. The four day event also supports local aspiring Korean film makers and showcases a total of 8 films over the festival. It is hoped that this years inaugural event will be well received and in turn will bring about a bigger film festival in 2012 so you must go along and support it.
In addition to a good selection of films, Melbournians have the opportunity to catch a range of free cultural events on stage at Federation Square. You may have missed the Traditional Music and dance on Saturday but do not fear, as you still have a chance to check out a display of Traditional Music (Gayageum)2pm Sunday, Have Your Name Written in Korean following the prior performance and also catch a performance by Hany Lee on Monday at 7pm. An Australian born Korean rising star, Hany Lee will perform at KOFFIA following on from an earlier performance at Sydneys 2010 festival. Enjoy music and movie at the same time on Monday evening at ACMI in celebration of the Korean Holiday Chuseok!For more info visit koffia.com.au

Next on the list of things to do in Melbourne this weekend is 'Festival Indonesia'. Now in it's eight year in Melbourne the festival returns to Queensbridge Square adjacent to Crown Casino over two days from September 10 to 11. leading up to the event there has already been a fashion design competition, The sixth Indonesian Film Festival, a culinary workshop, visits to schools by Indonesian Artists, a Travel Expo, Indonesian Night hosted by Garuda Indonesia and more. But there's still plenty to do on the closing day this Sunday Septmeber 11.
A free celebration of Indonesian culture, closing day includes mouth-watering cuisine and flavours of a nation, the expresion and history of its people through the cultural performances, a fashion show, Indonesian craft workshops, cooking demos with indonesian Masterchefs, information about the beautiful and mystical world of Indonesia, for the lovers of travel.
For more visit festivalindonesia.com.au

Tonight On JOY Pop Radio Show

2011-09-08T11:43:00.004+10:00

Tonight on our radio show 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' we wrap up the SM Town Fan Meeting on Sunday and discuss how amazing the turn out was, we meet with Nghi of KOFFIA The Korean Film Festival Australia (Melbourne Addition) to see how preparations are travelling two days out from the event and the free attractions that are running from the City of Melbourne during the Festival.
Plus we are joined by Festival Indonesia who are bringing Melbourne a big lineup of free attractions also this weekend. Mitch Todd gives us the full run down.
Plus doing what we do best, we will bring you a great range of tracks from Asia wide. Including the newy from Ukiss 'Neverland' and Kara's 'Step' plus a treat from Yoga Lin, and an awesome English hit thats ripping up dance floors in Malaysia. All this and more on JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment tonight, Australian Eastern Standard time 7-8pm, in Melbourne at JOY 94.9 FM, online worldwide at joy.org.au/listenlive and via the JOY 94.9 iPhone App and you iTunes stream.

JasePop Podcasts

2011-09-08T10:29:00.004+10:00

I'd like to remind readers of Jasepop that it is very easy to listen to a range of Podcasts that I have uploaded to podomatic.com. Each week now with the help of my mate Lyn, I bring to you the 'best bits' of my radio show from Melbourne, 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' and you can be expecting another 'best bits' podcast by tomorrow evening bringing you what goes to air on our program this afternoon.
Also on offer from my podcast directory is interviews wih Malaysian recording artists Iz and Ze! and Mizz Nina, Japanese Canadian artist Sophia Mock, Vietnamese singer Hoai Anh Kiet and more. There has been a total of 1,341 downloads thus far so take a look at the link now, www.podomatic.com/jasepop
And once you're done there, feel free to take a look at my Youtube page www.youtube.com/jasonjohn82 where you'll find a heap of videos on the SM Town Sydney Fan Gathering earlier this year and some of my travel videos :)

Aus2One Radio Special for SM Town Melbourne

2011-09-07T12:47:00.006+10:00

Last Saturday a day out from the SM Town Melbourne Fan Meeting at Melbourne Docklands we were able to serve up a JOY Pop radio treat with the help of Aus2One Entertainment, organisers of the event.
Naureen and the Aus2One crew, most of whom made the long road trip from Sydney for the big day on September 4th agreed to come in to the JOY Pop Studio to share with us everything that was going to take place at the fan meet the following day. Not only was it insightful but very entertaining to hear some of the performers sing a track or two. Plus we got to meet the DJ on the day, Dark Jyn. Fun all round!
JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment thanks Aus2One Entertainment for their effort and insight into this awesome event. Both my co host Kayne Lee and myself are so glad we have formed so many new friendships with some really great people both here in Melbourne and from Sydney. Your effort leading up to the fan meet at Melbourne Docklands really paid off, well done! Here's the full radio special, minus the tracks.

JOY Popcast 2 - Sept 1, 2011

2011-09-05T08:40:00.004+10:00

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. Due to catching the cold late last week it put our podcasting out a bit. Here is our podcast of the best bits from our September 1st episode of JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9. It was a preview of the SM Town Fan Meeting which took place on Sunday September 4 at Docklands here in Melbourne (More details on that event are to follow). Plus, last week Kayne and I came across a good looking young fellow by the name of Scott Lee who uploaded such an amazing Lionel Richie cover to his Facebook wall that we made him come in to the JOY Pop studio to perform an Asia song for us. Scott prepared a Korean track for us, event though he doesn't speak the language. Bravo Scott. Listen to it here, ohh and Catch Mitch's second segment, this week was his SM Entertainment showcase!

SM Town Melbourne Fan Gathering Radio Special 5pm Today

2011-09-03T12:00:00.001+10:00

UPDATED: Only 1 day until the SM Town Melbourne Fan Gathering.. it's tomorrow and boy is the line up of this free event looking good.
Come down to Melbourne Docklands Waterfront from Noon til 3pm this Sunday September 4th for a great free event showcasing the passion that Melbourne's Korean pop fans have for their favorite genre of music.
The idea follows on from a string of fan meetings around the world over the past year. Successful fan gatherings in countries such as France have resulted in Korean record label SM Entertainment staging concerts in the towns where fans staged such meets.
Make sure you catch the SM Town Melbourne Fan Gathering radio special this afternoon on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, online at joy.org.au/listenlive or via the JOY 94.9 iPhone App.. all means are free to use. The show will be hosted myself and my JOY Pop co host Kayne Lee along with Aus2One Entertainment and more. Thats from 5pm Australian Eastern Standard time today!
In July Sydney SM fans voiced their passion resulting in a good 1,000 people showing up to the free event even with poor weather on the day. Now it is Melbourne's turn to show up in large numbers and ask SM Entertainment to bring such artists as Super Junior, f(x), TVXQ and Girls Generation to Victoria to stage a SM Town concert.
Free entertainment on the day will include performances by BOUNCZN Dance Company (Soon to be competing in the Australian Hip Hop Championships), AegyoShinki performing 'Balloon' by TVXQ, Amy and Jane bring us 'One Year Later' by Onew and Jessica, Nation-K Dance Crew move to a K Pop mash up, DIJ plus a heap of other performers on the day sharing the SM love with the crowd. Did I mention DJ Jyn is going to get the party started spinning the hits live on the decks at the crack of 12pm?
You don't want to miss this great free event at Melbourne Docklands, tomorrow Sunday September 4th from Noon til 3pm.
For more on the event check out the Facebook page 'A2O Melbourne SM Town Fan Gathering' as 1,300 other people have clicked attending, and tune in to the SM Town Melbourne Fan Meeting Radio Special hosted by myself and Joy Pop co host Kayne Lee along with organisers of Sundays event Aus2One Entertainment. That's at 5pm Australian Eastern Standard Time live tomorrow (Saturday) on 94.9 FM in Melbourne, and for the world at www.joy.org.au/listenlive and via the JOY 94.9 iPhone App.

Mizz Nina Drops Takeover MV

2011-08-30T10:47:00.004+10:00

Well guys I heard this the first time about two or three months ago playing on Malaysia's Hitz.FM and I was wondering when we would get to see the MV for the single by Malaysia's own Mizz Nina. As you may know this time round she has teamed up with American rapper Flo Rida and the clip was shoot on location in Miami. What do you guys think about the finished product? I bet it took a bit of editing but I think the excitment has worn off now that the single is now three months old.
Still a great effor my Mizz Nina. I bet they didn't get to have all that much time to use Flo Rida for the clip itself. Enjoy!

K Pop Comes To Melbourne

2011-08-28T22:32:00.002+10:00

BREAKING NEWS Lifted from www.soompi.com

The Australian concert for popular MBC variety show "I Am A Singer" has been confirmed. This concert is an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Australia and will be a FREE EVENT.

According to "I Am A Singer"'s Shin Jung Soo PD, the concert will be held on the October 12, 2011 at the Arts Centre's Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. The concert was previously scheduled for October 20 but has been moved forward to the 12th and the venue has also been changed from the Melbourne Town Hall to the Arts Centre. The new venue provides 2100 fixed seats and can seat up to 13200 people.

The line up for the concert has not been confirmed yet but besides the singers who are currently on the show - Insooni, Kim Jo Han, Jang Hye Jin, Jaurim, Jo Kwan Woo, Yoo Min Soo, Bobby Kim; production is also negotiating with singers who have already left the show such as Kim Bum Soo, Park Jung Hyun, Yoo Do Hyun, Baek Ji Young, Kim Gun Mo, Jung Yeob and so on.

JASEPOP.COM Will follow this and bring you the news as it comes to hand.

JOY Pop Podcast 1. August 25th 2011

2011-08-28T21:47:00.003+10:00

Thanks to our new podcast superstar Lyn, here is the first of our JOY Pop radio shows in Podcast form. This week, is the full episode that aired on JOY 94.9 for August 25th, 2011. On the program we discussed the local event 'Manifest' to be held this weekend at the Royal Melbourne Show grounds, we chat a little more about the K Pop Music Festival 2011 to take place in Sydney this November (the biggest line up of Korean artists to grace our shores ever) plus we talk a little more about the SM Town Melbourne Fan Meet kicking off at Melbourne's Docklands this coming Sunday September 4th at noon til 3pm hosted by myself, and Helen Le of Aus2one entertainment, with roving interviews by my radio cohost Kayne.
Ohh yah, plus our new Segment producer Mitch brought us a segment on Mando Pop and his favorite artists.
Don't forget to try and catch our Asian Pop show live each week at 7pm Thursdays Australian Eastern Standard time for an hour of Asian Pop music and news every week and look for the full podcast here at Jasepop.com. Hosted by Jase Gipps and Kayne Lee with our new team member Mitch Todd, and with thanks to our podcaster Lyn.

Jasepop Interviews Sophia Mock

2011-08-18T18:47:00.006+10:00

Recently on my radio program I host with my mate Kayne Lee I got the chance to chat to Sophia Mock. Sophia, of a Japanese background grew up in Japan and got her first big break becoming a part of the line up for teen group HappyNs. Only a couple years later Sophia made the move to Canada to live and had to take her performing in a different direction.

In August 2011, Sophia Mock releases a new solo single 'Crazy For You' and she spoke to us for her first ever radio interview direct from Victoria Canada, to JOY Pop in Victoria Australia. What are the odds.
Please take listen to the full interview above and make sure you keep coming back to Jasepop.com for more news on Sophia's activities as she has promise to keep us well informed. Plus, take a trip to Sophia's website www.sophiamock.com
Make sure you become a fan of Jasepop.com and JOY Pop by searching for JOY Pop - 'The Asian Pop Experiment' on Facebook and join our group for the latest in Asian pop news and artists.

REVIEW - Ze! 'I Am Glam'

2011-08-17T23:03:00.005+10:00

Well you guys could only imagine how excited I was late last week to get a lovely package in the mail with some nice little stamps from Malaysia on the front. Either the wonderful Ze had sent me a pressie or the Malaysian government were writing to be because they finally found out about that 'thing' that happened in KL in January this year. Luckily for me it was the first of two scenarios.

Thank you Ze for sending me a copy of your new album 'I Am Glam'. The music department at the radio station I work at JOY 94.9 now has the album added to the specialist music library meaning there is more great Malaysian music for presenters to share with the rest of Melbourne.

Malaysian electro-pop artist Ze! Brings us a hot new album full of treats 'I Am Glam' on her own label Catapult Creative. Influenced by Madonna, with style that some have compared to Lady Gaga. the album release comes on the back of her visit late last year to Perth, Australia for a few shows and teamed up with local artist Tomas Ford for a track titled 'Til Death Do Us Part', the two meet at 'One Movement' and got to working together. The final music was produced in Perth whilst the vocals performed by Ze! were worked on from KL as the two worked via the magic of the internet. Take a listen to Tomas' interview on JOY Pop earlier this year (below).

In June this year it was a track by Goldfish and Blink that Ze featured on that got our attention. 'In The House' went nuts on our radio show and we couldn't get enough of the deep beats and a rhythm that was hard to sit down and listen to, we jumped to our feet every time we played it on our show 'JOY Pop'. Neither tracks are on the new album but never fear, the CD is jam packed full of tracks worth listening to over an over again.

After a cheeky intro that supports the concept of the album well, Ze launches into the title track 'I Am Glam'. It's edgy, in your face and lets you know from the start who she is and what she is about. Track 2 'Hello Disco' is a familiar beat which you may recognize from the beginning of her MV for 'Boys I Like'. It's the perfect track to get ready to on the way out for a night on the town.
Track 4 on I Am Glam would have to be one of my favorite's 'Candy'. The lyrics are so powerful you can really create the pictures in your mind of the story that is unfolding as the song moves along. On a personal note this one reminds me of some of the work by Bodyrox who had a few hits out around 2009.

Track 5 again features some very powerful vocals by Ze and the way she can hold on to a note for so long is beyond me. Again, such attitude and power in it's delivery which nicely leads in to her latest single release 'Haircut' which changes the pace and gives you a little time to calm down. Its lyrics speak of how a woman can often get a haircut to feel more empowered preparing her to take on the world. It is supported by a nice bubble pop bed and the end product is quite camp (or is that just me). On the subject of camp, nothing outdoes 'Boys I Like', the song that became somewhat of a gay anthem for it's lyrics and its very 'macho macho man' music video.

You must get this album and support this very talented woman. If you need further persuasion take a listen to the live interview I did with Ze not long ago where we discuss the album and her work with Goldfish and Blink. Plus, for additional info on Ze, simply type 'Ze' into the Jasepop search bar and check out her website ze.com.my

Jasepop Explores GLBTIQ Rights In Asia.

2011-08-16T21:09:00.001+10:00

Recently on JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, Australia I interviewed Alison Thorne of Freedom Socialist Party on GLBTI rights in Asia and a documentary about the issues that GLBTIQ people and activists in Asia are faced with on a regular basis. It was great to see that Alison was passionate about GLBTIQ rights both in Australia and overseas and she gave us a little insight as to what the documentary was all about. Want to know more? Take a listen to the full interview here.

For further information on the doco itself I thought I would share the movie trailer and also some additional information written by the documentary maker.

Courage Unfolds is a documentary film that forms a central part of the Courage Unfolds Campaign of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

The film, produced by IGLHRC's Asia program (partnered by Lesbian Advocates Philippines (LeAP)), is part of a call for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to be protected by law, respected by society, and accepted by family. It is a call for the use of the Yogyakarta Principles as a tool to ensure the respect, protection and promotion by governments of the human rights of all people - including LGBT people. This set of international legal principles addresses the application of international law to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The film highlights the issues faced by LGBT people in Asia and how the Yogyakarta Principles are a relevant and effective tool that LGBT activists can use in their advocacy for human rights.

Release Date: 17 May 2011
Tthe full 30 minute film can be ordered by emailing courageunfolds@iglhrc.org.

K Pop Music Fest 2011 -Important Notice

2011-08-09T16:13:00.005+10:00

Going to the K Pop Music Fest in Sydney this November? Great. Planning on getting VIP tickets? Luckily you! Want to be there with the Jasepop.com, JOY 94.9 JOY Pop and WYN FM 'JK Show' team? You betcha! Then make sure you comment below, or write to me via our Facebook fan page 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' by tonight and let me know you want to secure your place in our fan group VIP area.
Naturally being a Korean pop concert, the VIP floor area will consist of all different fan groups, broken up into the fans of the performers on the day. In order to ensure that all fan groups secure their places, Naureen and the team at Aus2One Entertainment need to know you want to be a part of a group BUT NO LATER THAN TODAY.
This does not mean you need to part with your VIP ticket price of $289 right now, it just secures your place when tickets do go on sale at the end of the month. The details I have been given are that you simply ask for a place in your favorite group (ours being the JOY Pop - WYN FM group' - yet to be placed with a band fan group)and when tickets go on sale we will each be allocated a code that we eah will enter on the ticketmaster website to ensure we are all together at the concert.
In summery, if you think you want to be in the VIP section, send me your name and email address to jasepop@y7mail.com, or PM me via our Facebook wall 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' by tonight. AGAIN, there is no need to hand over the cash today, you do this when purchasing the tickets via the ticketmaster website IF YOU DO DECIDE TO GO AHEAD WITH BUYING THEM LATER.
Better to be safe than sorry. Stay up to date on the concert and the performers here at jasepop.com and on our radio show in Melbourne and online, JOY Pop.

Nadhira Drops New MV

2011-08-07T12:12:00.004+10:00

Well guys this happened a few days ago and I was eager to let you know that Nadhira has a new MV for her latest single from her new album then things went from bad to worse on the home front. My brother accidentally cut his wrist on his bedroom window and was taken to hospital via ambulance so it was a very terrifying ordeal for both him and the family. He actually cut through his nerves and the artery in his hand so we are still not all that sure if he will have full use of his hand in the future. Luckily they only kept him in the hospital for one night rather than the three originally intended.
The scariest part was the nurse saying he was lucky to be alive. There are two reasons why I tell you this now, one because it is important for us all to be careful and think things through in moments of frustration and secondly it is important that we are all covered for ambulance fee's, because you may need them at any time.
Josh is currently at home resting and is on the mend.

On a more positive note now, here is the new MV by Malaysian artist Nadhira. Lucky for you guys, you my just have a chance to win a signed copy of her album. I will keep you posted on that one soon when it is confirmed. For the time being, enjoy the clip!

Thanks go to Nadhira for sending me the link and to her Manager Jason.

Thanks Guys!

2011-08-02T13:08:00.005+10:00

Hey there, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone over the last week (and always for that matter) who helped me reach a little personal achievement. You guys know that I love updating you on current events and new music that is being dropped from Asia and with the very limited hours I do have available to update this blog in addition to my full time jobs, I try to put whatever energy I have into it, as I am always hoping for it to grown and reach more people.
I actually was very happy to see that over the last 7 days jasepop.com had reached 1,135 page views across the period of 7 days. Over the last year an a half of writing for this blog I have never come close to that so I felt it best to say thank you for helping me get it there and for making it worth while. How can I thank you guys for the support and the constant updates in you Facebook groups... I don't know, but maybe I can start with a clip I found of Wonder Girls covering B.O.B and Bruno Mars' 'Nothin' On You'. This is without a doubt one of my favorite tracks over the last couple of years so it's great to see Wonder Girls but their own spin on it for Billboard.com
Let's hope it gets more heads turning and the girls can build on their success in the US!

New Korean Group 'Twi-light' Drop MV

2011-08-02T08:12:00.002+10:00

Always enjoyable to see yet another Korean boy group entering the music scene. This time round its 'Twi-Light' with their fresh debut single 'Without U'. The teaser was dropped last week as is the usual way to promote an upcoming track release but now band members Minyoung, Siwan, Siwoo, Sangmin, Zeno, Jaeyoon and Heechun can be seen full in the MV released today.
This time last year it was reveled that TGN Entertainment were to launch a group by the name of '20star', however that never occurred at the expected launch date in August 2010. Some of the group members of 20star are recognised faces in the Twi-Light line up.
Well, without keeping you waiting too much longer, here's the MV. Would love to know what you guys think so comment below, or shoot me your comment on the Facebook group for my Asian Pop radio show, 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment'. Have you joined our group yet?

K Pop Music Fest Ticket Date Announced.

2011-08-01T11:44:00.006+10:00

JK Entertainment have announced the date that tickets will go on sale for the massive Korean Pop music festival that is to be staged in Sydney on November 12th, 2011 at ANZ Stadium.
The concert that is to include a range of huge names including SNSD, 2AM, TVXQ, Miss A, 4Minute, B2ST, Secret, CNBlue, Kara and SHINee will be the biggest of it's kind in Australia yet and is all happining in celebratiuon of 50 years of diplomatic ties between Korea and Austrlia.
So here it is, the date that you will be able to grab your tickest for this massive event is on September 1st.
To get you pumped, here are a few videos of the artists that will be performing at the K Pop concert in Syndey in November. Who are you most looking forward to see? I must say I am hangiung out to see B2ST, SHINee, SNSD and 4Minute.
Ohh, and stay tuned to our radio show 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' for our K Pop Sydney 2011 special where we will be playing our favorite track of each of the 10 groups performing at the big day all in one massive hour of radio. Details soon.

Classic SNSD now with 'Gee'

Can't show you the best of the best without B2ST's

Ohh and just for good measure, let's dance to one of my first ever K Pop favorites, SHINee's 'Replay' the original and the best if you ask me.

Nadhira '12 Shades' Out Now

2011-08-01T09:54:00.011+10:00

Seems all I am doing at the moment is sharing Malaysian pop with you, but there is just so much going around to keep us entertained.
Nadhira made a splash on the Malaysian music scene in May 2010 with 'From Malaysia With Love', so far hitting the stage in Canada, Singapore and across Malaysia
Her first single release 'Breaking Up' went to the top of local radio station Fly FM's Campur chart and the follow on tracks 'Do It Again' (a personal favorite) and 'You Got Me' both reached the number one spot on Hitz.FM Met10 countdown. 'Do It Again' was Nadhira's fist music video.
Also notable is that Nadhira (official Ambassador for Puma) is also a
supporter of 30 Elephants, an International Organization helping
children worldwide through travel and cultural activities so it's easy to see she has a big heart!
In 2011 Nadhira is back with a newly produced album by Indonesian producer Wizzow, an album consisting of 12 tracks making it appropriate to name the album '12 Shades'.
The album highlights a broad range of music genres and styles showcasing the diversity of this very talented performer.
Complete with 10 English songs there's bound to be a follow up to 'Do It Again' that can wow the international audience who already love what she does.
Recently Nadhira also featured in a track released by Hitz.FM breakfast team JJ and Ean in support of the Malaysian football team who were in need of a new chant to boost the teams moral ahead of their clash against Liverpool FC.
Make sure you check out Nadhira's homepage www.NadhiraWorld.com and keep coming back to Jasepop.com for more updates on this talented woman. Nadhira has an invitation to speak to us on our radio program 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' so let's hope she takes us up on the offer!
Here are two clips from Nadhira. The first is her only music video so far 'Do It Again', followed by her new single release 'Tear Us Apart'

Big Bang in New Zealand.

2011-08-01T08:52:00.005+10:00

Had to share a video with you this morning of Big Bang's T.O.P, SeungRi, G Dragon and Taeyang 'chilling' on the mountain tops of New Zealand late last week.
The boys were in New Zealand recording a new commercial for outdoor sports brand the North Face and during the taping the guys bot a little carried away and started eating snow. That would be some very fresh snow. I wonder is anyone brought any Slurpee flavoring along with them?
It is the groups first trip to New Zealand and the guys were said to have been extremely excited about making the trip to this far away land, as you can see by the spirit fingers of Taeyang and G Dragon hoping of the plane in Queenstown late last week.

What a long trip from Korea! The guys were expected top stay for several days on the back of a delayed flight that help up their original plans.

SM Town Sydney - Part 3

2011-07-31T22:49:00.004+10:00

Gosh guys, what a busy week. Well I see that everyone is still keen to share pictures and videos a week after the SM Town Sydney Fan meeting so I made sure to upload my final 4 videos I shot on the day of the event. I really hope that some of you Sydney ladies and gents can come along to the Melbourne fan meet as at the end of the day, it's not about who puts on the best show, it's who we can get here for a concert.
Also a friendly reminder that you can keep up to date with developments in K Pop in Australia by listening to our radio program 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' on JOY 94.9 if listening from Melbourne, or you can listen online at www.joy.org.au/listenlive 7pm - 8pm Thursday nights Australian Eastern Standard time. Oh, and don't forget you can download the JOY 94.9 App to listen to JOY Pop wherever you go!
We also love having our Facebook friends join our group 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' to keep us posted on your favorite new tracks.
Well enough said for now, here are my final 4 clips from the SM Town fan meeting in Sydney. Such talented and dedicated fans!

Jasepop Inteviews Iz

2011-07-31T02:11:00.005+10:00

It's great to watch the career of such a talented artist grow over the years and Iz is a good example of this.
After getting in contact with Iz in late 2009 following on from his producing a track that my ex housemate Chris Kam wrote (A.L.O.N.E) and having success with the track in his home country Malaysia as well as overseas, Iz has also released a couple very prominent Malay singles too.
But over the last year, it is possibly his live performances that have stood out to me the most. In 2010 Iz not only supported US R&B star Usher in concert in Kuala Lumpur, but he also opened for Korean girl group Wonder Girls.
More recently Iz has began breaking in to the Indonesian music scene, releasing his current single in both Bahasa Malay and Bahasa Indonesia.

This week on our Asian Pop show 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' I was lucky enough to chat to Iz on air on Melbourne radio station JOY 94.9 about his music and future projects. Please take a listen to the full podcast above and if you are keen to find out more bout this young Malaysian artist, simply type 'Iz' into the Jasepop.com search field to bring up several previous articles that I have written on him. Below are some pretty entertaining clips of Iz for you to watch taken from his Youtube page so if you like them, make sure you take a look at the rest of his uploads. The first video below is of his back stage rantings at his performance alongside Wonder Girls last year.

And here he is on stage, opening for Wonder Girls in Malaysia. Go Iz!

Jasepop Interviews Ze!

2011-07-29T18:09:00.004+10:00

On this weeks JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9 myself and co-host Kayne Lee had the pleasure in interviewing one of our favorite Malaysian recording artists Ze!
We first played a track that Ze featured in titled 'In The House' about two months ago on the program. 'In The House' by Goldfish and Blink with vocals by Ze had our listeners going nuts and we got so much positive feedback and requests for the track that actually made it to number 1 on the Hitz.FM Met 10 in Kuala Lumpur.
Recently we shared a second track on the program by the Malaysian electro-pop artist lifted from her new album 'I Am Glam' a project from her own label Catapult Creative. The track named 'Boys I Like' was known in some circles as a gay anthem, also making it to the number one position on the chart.
NDo click on the podcast to hear the full interview with Ze! along with 3 of here awesome tracks in between that Ze kindly allowed me to podcast along with the interview that originally aired on JOY 94.9.
No, Ze! releases the new single 'Haircut' and its a brilliant pop tune. To hear the new track and to listen to the full interview taken from the show this week, simply click on the play button below.

Thanks to Ze! for the opportunity, and also for allowing me to share your three tunes via this jasepop.com podcast.
Catch the full show, JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9 every Thursday night from Melbourne, online at joy.org.au and via downloading the new JOY 94.9 APP. It's free so get on to it!

SM Town Sydney - Part 2

2011-07-27T00:00:00.001+10:00

Hey guys I promised you some more video footage that I recorded whilst at the SM Town fan meeting in Sydney last Saturday, but silly me I actually recorded them in a very high quality so they have taken forever to upload to Youtube, so sorry for the delay.
Well I has very hesitant to share this first video with those who were not at the event, it's actually myself being interviewed by one of the Aus2One event organisers about 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' the radio show in which I host live from Melbourne with my co-host Kayne Lee. Darn it, so it appears I cannot stand still on a stage without swaying left and right! *Note to self, do not do this when on stage at the Melbourne Fan Meeting in September*
Ohh well, regardless it was a great vibe and I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to talk about my show on JOY 94.9. Do yourself a favour and only watch the first half of the video as the second part contains me singing to G Dragon. Hmmm... why didn't I sing Butterfly instead, the only G Dragon track I have actually learned the Korean words to?

Plus here are a couple more videos taken on the day. Thank you very much to those that have stayed in contact following on from the meet on Saturday and I do hope you can join our Facebook page 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' so we can all stay in touch and share our love for Korean culture with the world.

Please come back to jasepop.com later today or Thursday to see two more clips within this entry :)

SM Town Sydney A Success!

2011-07-26T10:00:00.001+10:00

On Saturday a huge group of SM fans gathered in Sydney's Martin Place to show their support for an SM Town concert to be held in Australia. Similar efforts around the globe have taken place in recent months with one of the most successful meets occurring in Paris earlier this year resulting in not one but two concerts.
SM Entertainment, who are most known for being the record label who got Super Junior off the ground would have to be taking notice of the turn out in Sydney on Saturday.
On arrival in Sydney Thursday night I was drenched in rain and a nice clear weekend wasn't looking too promising at all. The rain carried over through Friday and hardly stopped with a continued flooding of rain from sunrise to sunset. Organizers of the fan gathering Aus2One Entertainment were very concerned for the safety of the young K Pop fans and the event looked likely to be scaled down. Luckily at around noon on Saturday the sky's cleared up with a ray of light shining over George street and I myself was optimistic about a good turn out. Take a look at the slide show following, to see some of the performances on the day, following on from some nice pics I took from the Sydney Tower.

Admitting now on jasepop.com that I was an hour late for the event being stuck for ideas of what to wear and having a heavy night of 'social drinks' with a bunch of friends from Adelaide I had not seen in a year, I eventually got my sorry ass down there and was blown away by the effort that had gone in to the event.
Martin Place surely did set a beautiful backdrop to such amazing performances by a lot of K Pop fans that clearly put a great deal of effort into their dance moves. I found out later in the day that some of the teens had arrived at 7am to practice their moves, dancing in the rain for hours.
SM, please.. do not be deceived by what looks like a small turn out. The rain had dropped around 250ml in 4 days and the sun was hardly seen all weekend, but it didn't stop the flood of fans that did make the effort to come out either earlier in the day or closer to the middle of the festivities.
Thank you all who said hello to me at the event and I guess thank you Sydney for allowing me to sing to G Dragon in the middle of Martin Place loud and proud. Nothing like being put on the spot. I am very much looking forward to presenting at the SM Town Melbourne meet in September. Stay tuned to jasepop.com and our radio show JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment for more news on that event to come.
For now, here is some of the video footage i shot on Saturday. Don't stress if your performance isn't on here as I still have around 10 more to upload and they will be up on jasepop.com later in the week. Well done to all involved.

Jasepop Interviews Viet Pop Star Hoai Anh Kiet

2011-07-21T16:57:00.006+10:00

On this weeks JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9 myself and my wonderful cohost Kayne Lee are lucky enough to talk to Vietnamese Pop Star Hoai Anh Kiet about growing up in Vietnam, we compare the music industry in Australia to the scene in Vietnam and we talk about his growing up in a famous family to a Mother and Father whom also are very well known performers. Hoai Anh Kiet also talks to us about his new album and his Melbourne album launch that took place recently at Heavens Door here in Melbourne.
Do click on the podcast below to here Kiet's full JOY Pop interview as well as his a live version of a track taken from his new album. I must say Kayne and I were extremely excited to have this man come in and perform for our listeners and I hope you enjoy hearing it too. For more information on Hoai Anh Kiet you can check out his Facebook fan page of the same name and take a look at one of his MV's below that was also filmed here in Melbourne alongside the Yarra River.
Catch the full show, JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9 every Thursday night from Melbourne, online at joy.org.au and via downloading the new JOY 94.9 APP. It's free so get on to it!

Ze! Radio Interview Next Week on JOY Pop

2011-07-20T19:03:00.005+10:00

I am excited to confirm that next week on my radio program 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' that myself and co host Kayne Lee will be interviewing Malaysian artist Ze! whom we have fallen in love with and simply think that she is amazing.
We first played a track that Ze featured in titled 'In The House' about two months ago on the program. 'In The House' by Goldfish and Blink with vocals by Ze had our listeners going nuts and we got so much positive feedback and requests for the track that actually made it to number 1 on the Hitz.FM Met 10 in Kuala Lumpur.
Recently we shared a second track on the program by the Malaysian electro-pop artist lifted from her new album 'I Am Glam' a project from her own label Catapult Creative. The track named 'Boys I Like' was known in some circles as a gay anthem, also making it to the number one position on the chart.
Today Ze drops a new single 'Haircut' and she shared with jasepop.com what the track was about;

"The song is dedicated to powerful women who inspire others. Because women take their haircuts a little more seriously than men. Ask any woman and she’ll tell you a reason behind that haircut and a lot of those times its about wanting to create change for herself. It’s about taking control of her own life and her own destiny. A step towards getting over the past and building a new future. Like, taking a huge step forward in her career or acquiring new confidence or getting over an ex lover. It’s about time for a revolution, ladies."

Ze will join us on JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment on JOY 94.9 July 28th from 7pm so be sure to listen to us if in Melbourne, online at joy.org.au or via the JOY 94.9 iPhone APP. The podcast will be available from jasepop.com right after the interview going to air.

Meanwhile here's the new single by Ze 'Haircut'

SM Town Australia?

2011-07-15T17:11:00.009+10:00

On last nights radio program 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' I had the pleasure in interviewing Naureen Gana, founder of Aus2One Entertainment. Naureen is part of a hard working crew who are 'fighting' to get Korean artists to Australia to perform for K Pop crazies like you and I.
A massive SM fan gathering is set to explode on Saturday July 23rd at Martin Place in Sydney, an effort to have Korean fanatics raise their voices collectively and show SM Entertainment Korea that we are serious about our demands.
For the full interview from last nights show simply click on the play button below.

Remember to keep coming back to Jasepop.com for further information on the event and to tune in to our Asian Pop music show Thursday's from 7pm on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, online at joy.org.au/listenlive and via your downloading the new JOY 94.9 APP on your iPhone. We also thank the 25 new members this week on our Facebook page 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment'
For more information on the work that is being done to get your favorite Korean artists to Australia, make sure you head to aus2one.com and check out their new and improved website.

'Hands Up' If You Love 2PM!

2011-07-15T15:48:00.005+10:00

Here's a nice pumpy track to get you set for a great weekend.
A few weeks back I shared with you the new single from Korea's 2PM 'Hands Up'and since then people have been going nuts for it. The song has also picked up several awards and is having chart success, this week sitting at number 13 on the M Net singles chart.
Thanks to JOY Popper Andrew who recommended for us to play the new East4A remix on our radio show 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment', we will be sure to wack it on the show next week cause myself and my radio co host Kayne are loving it.
Now lucky for Andrew and the rest of the worlds 2PM fans, the boys have dropped the MV for the remix.
Here it is. Have a great weekend guys!

TravelBlog - Shanghai, China

2011-07-05T06:00:00.001+10:00

Today I share with you my trip to the mega city of Shanghai, China.
Shanghai is without a doubt the biggest city I have set foot in, being the most populous city of China this isn't all that hard.
On last count the city was made up of 23 million residents, and in my time there I realized how hard it was to find a nice quite place away from them all.
That DOES sound rather rude, I know. But you see, after touring China for 12 days and having already been to two other countries I really was really exhausted and just hanging out for a good nights sleep, but that did not happen until I left this country.

There are many agencies who run tours through China, but I decided to go with one that I have used on two occasions before 'Intrepid Travel'. I strongly recommend this company as they select the best local guides to show you around and they strongly support local communities giving you the traveler a mix of the grand, and a mix of the real city that you are seeing.
On arriving in Shanghai by bus I was simply blown away. Actually I found a way to get about two hours sleep on the coach and when I woke up I was sitting out the front of Nanjing Hotel on Nanjing Road, later realising that this was one of the busiest stretches in the city. We checked in to our modest room on the third floor of the building.

One would think being three floors above the street would be high enough to get away from the noise of the city but this was very untrue. In fact from about 4am right through until 2am the hustle of this massive city went well on in to the night, every night. Don't believe me? View this clip and see for yourself how bitchy and sleep deprived I actually was!

In all seriousness if I was to have landed in Shanghai fully refreshed ahead of a week to take in the sights and smells I would have loved it. This city sure does have a whole lot to offer. Part of the excitement present on a tour like this is the company that you share with those in your tour group. I must say I have had a good run over the years and meet some amazing people, to the point that you don't just learn about the city you are currently touring, you learn about the cities and the countries your fellow travelers are from.

This group was no exception they were simply amazing, except for one and after 2 years I think it's safe to name him.
At the beginning of the trip we were introduced to each other and for those who were traveling on our own, we were grouped together to share rooms for the duration of the China adventure. I was grouped with a fellow from Sydney. No disrespect to him, but after about 15 minutes I learned that he was a dick. OK, there's a little disrespect heading his way.
A know it all to be more precise. The kind of person that knew better, had been to more interesting places than yourself and across the board was so freaking amazing, the sun was sure to shine out of his arse.
This really put a downer on my adventure but I got to the point where I would just avoid him where possible. I strongly suggest that if you are traveling on your own and are faced with such a situation, spend little more play money on your own hotel room and eat noodles for the rest of the trip to make up for it.

Shanghai really did give me the ability to roam the streets and have plenty to do whilst avoiding my stuck up room mate. The Shanghai World Expo was building momentum and the people of this city were very excited about the event being staged in their city. Perhaps Beijing had already displayed such a grand show a year earlier with the Olympics and these people were doing their best to outdo earlier efforts. Many events were being staged on a regular basis in the lead up to the worlds biggest expo. I wish I had planned to tour Shanghai during the expo because the plans I saw whilst there were utterly breathtaking. If you are thinking about checking out Shanghai in future, you must take a walk along the pavilions area. Well I didn't get that option, but there was still plenty on show. Here's some more video footage I took on the streets of Shanghai.

Shopping is simply amazing in this city. Its comparable to Kuala Lumpur or the upmarket shopping centres of Bangkok. Even better the prices on all the clothes I wanted were dirt cheap. usually there is a catch and I learned what it was soon after walking through the doors of one particular department store. The staff are far too pushy and ridiculously helpful, to the point that two are assigned to each person entering the store. If you simply lift one particular red T-Shirt one assistant would say "also available in Blue, Orange, Yellow.." whilst the woman on the other side would be saying "and available in Small, Medium, Large). Surprisingly the quality of the clothing items I purchased in Shanghai were outstanding, and two years last they look brand new.

Now you can't visit a city like Shanghai and complete your time in the city without checking out an observation deck. Whilst the tour group I was with went to check out Shanghai's tallest building dubbed "The corkscrew" due to its shape most noticeably the large whole in the middle toward the top, I decided to visit the Shanghai TV Tower. Towers have become my thing when traveling and if I am going to visit a city I will make sure I find out if the city has one. Now here are two videos of my visit to the beautifully decorated Shanghai Tower, the first video from the outside and the second video on the inside.

Shanghai really is an amazing city with so much on offer. But be careful. Even the wisest tourist can be lead down a garden path, quite literally. On our trek to visit the Buddha on the mountain we were having a great laugh with our Taxi driver, he was sharing lots of information with us about our surrounds long the drive, then once we got to 'The Buddha' he took the help one step further buy offering to take us to the ticket booth to help us purchase our tickets. We were delighted to have him help us, until we realised he had actually taken us to a 'traditional Chinese Garden' instead. By this stage our Taxi driver was long gone, though I must say the mining that seemed to be getting carried out alongside the modest garden was also interesting to watch.

Lastly no trip to China can be done without a trip to a Karaoke venue. Forget the Great Wall, my priorities were clearly in order without question. I finally found myself a K-TV in Shanghai where I could rock out to some Korean Pop (more precisely BoA), followed by my tour guide having his shot at his favorite Chinese ballad.

Air Asia is still most likely the cheapest carrier for those travelling to China from Melbourne, but they are yet to fly directly to the city at this point of time. Air Asia do however fly to 6 Chinese mainland destinations via Malaysia. See airasia.com

Tonights JOY Pop Track Listing

2011-06-30T06:55:00.002+10:00

Hope you can join myself and Kayne on our program 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' tonight for these absolutely awesome tracks! In no particular order we will be playing songs by 2pm, Big Bang, Capsule, T-ara, Mighty Mouth, f(x) and more.. yeah it's mostly Korean this week, but there seems to be heaps of new and exciting Korean hits to share with you. Here's each track that we'll play tonight and a little about them.

Scatman John had a huge hit in Australia and around the world with his song 'Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)' in 1994. It was simply one of those massive songs from years gone by that I absolutely loved. Taken from their 3rd album 'Remember' released in late 2008 is Big Bang's 'Oh Ah Oh' featuring a sample of Scatman John's 1994 hit, a track we have not yet shared on JOY Pop (type 'Scatman' into Jasepop.com search bar for more information)

Korean ladies 2NE1 have dropped their new single and the MV that goes along with it this week and we can't wait to get it on the radio here in Melbourne. The song luckily has a little less autotune than their last instalment, but still keeps to the usual 2NE1 flavor. The girls have very unique costumes this time round.

2pm shared their new single with us last week (see Jasepop.com entry last week) and its a gift to their Singaporeans fans. The boys actually took their production team to the heart of Singapore to record the new video. Notice the opening scene just off Marina Bay with the new performing centre in the background. Nice!

Capsule, the duo from Japan will also be sharing their latest installment with Kayne and myself tonight. The full version of this song runs for a whopping 8 minutes long! We will be playing an edit that's a little more to the point! (see yesterday's Jasepop.com blog entry for a full review of this track and more info on the duo).

Ohh! Mighty Mouth are back with a new Summer Anthem. Plenty of new tracks are dropping in Asia at the moment for their summer, which is sure to keep us warm here in the southern hemisphere. Love the European influence in this track!

Plus a heap more that you will just have to wait for tonight on the show. Hope you can tune in guys! JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, Australia, online at joy.org.au/listenlive or search for us at the App store for the new JOY 94.9 App to listen to GLBTIQ radio from Melbourne, anywhere in the world. AEST 7pm to 8pm Thursdays! Don't forget to SMS us on +61416228529 and send your shout outs!

A World Of Fantasy

2011-06-29T07:11:00.003+10:00

I woke this morning on a very cold winter day in Melbourne. A quick check of the iPhone reinforced the chilling temperature that awaited my bike trip on my usual journey to work. It was 3 degrees outside, but my hot shower wasn't the only thing keeping me warm, a tune playing on the radio woke me up for the day ahead.
Introducing 'Capsule', the Japanese duo formed back in 1997. The pair, Nakata Yasutaka and Koshijima Toshiko met at the Teens' Music Festival when both 17 years old, their musical influences being bossa nova, lounge, breakbeat, and most recently electro house.
The duo are well known for 'selling out' by lending their work to many different TV shows, television station promotional work and other commercials (their track Portable Airport was also used for a commercial on the Comedy Channel here in Australia), yet they still have a huge following with their fans that stand by them and recognise their hard work and their abilities. Capsule have evolved quite substantially over the years and have 12 albums to prove it.

The current (12th) album to be named 'Killer Wave' was originally set to be released on March 23rd this year, but was held back due to the unfortunate Tsunami that hit Japan causing wide devastation. Capsule finally renamed the album 'World of Fantasy' and released the album in May this year, along with it the title track.

Though the song itself is truely brillaint and something that will transport you to another place as you sit and listen, the MV goes one better and the amazing CGI will leave you breathless.

Here's the track, I hope you love it, I will be playing it on JOY Pop, my radio program this week!

TravelBlog - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2011-06-25T11:57:00.001+10:00

If I was to say I have a 'second home' I would glad to call it Kuala Lumpur. The first time I visited this city was in 2007 and if I was to get technical and a little more indulgent than usual (knowing this is at an already dangerous level) I would proudly admit to having flow in to KL 8 times over the last 4 years. I must admit, traveling with Air Asia enables me to do this, as all flights from Melbourne must pass through Kuala Lumpur on the way to the rest of their Asian destinations. I do however ensure that I leave enough time to have a good stay over each time.
I remember the first time I was standing before Malaysia's iconic 'Petronas Twin Towers' being a little overwhelmed by what stood in front of me. Malaysians are very proud of this building and it symbolizes what the people of this country can achieve, even if it is the headquarters of their largest petroleum company.
Like most iconic sky scrappers around the globe, the Twin Towers come with an observation deck for tourists to take advantage of city views. However ticketing to this attraction is much different to your usual observation deck, you must get to entrance of the attaction early in the morning to get your hands on a pass to use later in the day. A bonus is free entry. A very limited amount of tickets are released to the public so it's vital you drag yourself out of bed early so you don't miss out.
Though the building is 88 floors tall the 'skybridge' (observation deck) sits between floor 41 on tower one, and floor 42 on tower two. The bridge itself is still the worlds tallest 2-story bridge. The overall building itself was the tallest building in the world from 1998 to 2004, until Taipei's 101 was built (see TravelBlog - Taipei, Taiwan). The Twin Towers in KL remain the worlds tallest twin tower construction.
If you find the thought of being up 41 floors with nothing below your feet a little unsettling then perhaps you would rather visiting the KL Tower, which is currently second tallest freestanding tower in the world. Built in 1995 the KL Tower has an equally breathtaking view of this wide busy city filled with lush green patches as far as the eye can see. The KL tower entry fee is around $11.00 AUD but other ticketing options can also include attactions below the tower such as a Wildlife Park. I would suggest you check out the wildlife park if you are to visit the tower, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. Though there are a fair amount of animals to see, it hardly compares to what you would find at a regular Zoo. I have also found it disapointing to see how visitors treat these caged animals, if I was one of the animals in the enclosures, I would be pretty pissed off on a regular basis, from the large amounts of teasing that takes place.

But lets be honest, not all of us go to a city like KL to check out the views, most want to shop shop shop! Kuala Lumpur is a shoppers paradise, so much so that the city puts on yearly shopping festivals, spanning for months long every year. There are far too many shopping centres worth checking out.
At the base of the Twin Towers you will find KLCC, four levels of stores including all the major departments chains such as 'iSetan' and 'Marks and Spencer', as well as all the botique stores you have grown to love. Or check out 'Berjaya Times Square', part of a massive shopping centre chain much like Westfield here in Australia, this shopping destination comes complete with an indoor theme park including a roller coaster!
Drive 30 minutes out of town, and you will come to Sunway Pyramid, this centre doesn't have a theme park indoors, but it does have one next door! Infact Sunway Lagoon is a waterpark voted one of Asia's best tourist destinations years running. If you're lucky enough to be in KL on the 1st of July, head down to the park to see Korea's 'B2ST' performing live during their first Malaysian fan meet.
After all this shopping and theme park fun, you are either going to need a fish massage to rest your feet, readily available all over town or you're going to need a good dinner. The brilliant thing about Malaysia is the diversity of foods that are on your doorstep with a little help from a country that is made up of mostly Indian, Chinese and Malay people, all bringing another delicious dish to your table! If travelling from Australia the exchange rate helps a great deal, and keeps good meals at a very good price. If you are on a really tight budget you can easily get away with a meal int eh foodcourt at KLCC for around 10-20 ringgit (AUD $3.50 - $7.00). The exchange rate is quite easy to work out, usually it sits between 2.80 to 3.40Ringgit for every aussie dollar you spend, so if you are looking at grabbing something fromt he shop, simply divide by 3 and you will be pretty close.
Accommodation isn't hard to find and usually you can find yourself a very cozy clean room at a fairly good price. I would recommend using wotif.com to find the ultimate bargin, but usually I book myself a room at the Grand Seasons Hotel, where you can usually find youself a room for around $50.00 a night and often the deal comes with a buffet breakfast included.
I would not recomend this city if you are not one that enjoys humid weather. You can walk out if your hotel room in Kl after your morning shower and be dripping wet 10 minutes later. However I love humid weather and its a welcome change especially when coming from a cold wintery week in Melbourne. Besides, nothing gets you feeling healthier than a good lounge by your hotel swimming pool, cheap cocktails, and lots of water to freshen up your mind and body.
If you are looking for a good dance along with a that drink, perhaps take a drive back to the Sunway resort area and dress to impress at 'Euphoria by Ministry of Sound', and you will hopefully catch one of the regualr big name DJ's that are visiting to show the people of Malaysia a good time.
UPDATED: Want a cheap trip to KL? Jump on adioso.com right now, type MEL to KL, and you may snag a flight from $250.00 AUD one way (Time of UPDATE: 9:38AM JUNE 27,2011)

Here's a tourism video set in the theme park 'Sunway Lagoon'. Thanks to AsiaTravel TV

Motorcycle Death, Big Bang's Daesung Responsible

2011-06-24T17:28:00.006+10:00

This is very sad news today. Many of you will be aware that on May 31 this year, Big Bang member Daesung was driving his Audi in Seoul and unfortunately ran over a motorcyclist, following the cyclists accident 2 minutes earlier where the victim had crashed in to a lamppost.
Reports today announce that Daesung has been found by the Korean police to have caused the death of the cyclist stating that the autopsy shows the victim who had come off his bike was still alive before being run over by the Korean celebrity.
After this, Daesung’s car crashed onto a parked taxi, who stopped to check on the motorcyclist.
After a lengthy investigation police said the victim was driving home along the bridge when he hit the lamppost at 1:27 a.m. and fell down. He suffered injuries in the neck and head. The police also said the victim had a blood alcohol content of 0.186 percent. Following on from the incident it is said Deasung fully co-operated with the police on the scene and left later making his way to the police station to give his side of the story.

Police announced that Daesung will be charged without detention but they have not said what charges will be filed against him at this point of time, with the possibility of up to five years prison and a fine of up to 20 million won (approx 17634.75 AUD).

Big Bang and Daesung fan pages on Faceboook and Korean and Japanese Pop blogs have been flooded with messages of support for the group today, and many wait to hear the final sentence that will be handed down to the band member.

Japan Manufacturing Pop (Stars)

2011-06-24T04:14:00.002+10:00

I remember a good ten years ago watching the first documentary on the behind the scenes manufacturing of UK girl group Spice Girls. At the time many viewers found something quite unnatural about the process involved in searching for ‘token group member A’, ‘token group member B’ and so forth until the record company had something they could market to the masses. Jump forward 10 years and every second reality TV program is doing just that in the hope to ‘discover’ the next best thing.
In 2011 it appears we have moved another step forward. Not only are we manufacturing the pop groups of tomorrow, we are building the band members from head to toe. Recently fans of the popular female J pop group AKB48 discovered that their ‘soon to be added to the group’ artist Aimi Eguchi was infact not real and was a creation by clever CGI designers.
AKB48 holds the Guniness World Record for being the “pop group with the greatest number of members” with four different sub groups. Earlier in the month news networks in Asia were reporting on the popularity of the soon to be AKB48 member and the new member had already appeared in a television commercial along with the current group members. She had even appeared in a Japanese men’s magazine!
Eguchi has also appeared in an additional video introducing herself Japanese saying "Nice to meet you! I'm Aimi Eguchi, the new member of AKB48. I'm debuting in an advertisement for Ice no Mi CM. I will do my very best, so please give me your support!"

Check out the original commercial below and then take a look at the second clip which shows the crafty CGI work that created Eguchi… in the meanwhile, I still wait on the edge of my seat for the first fully robotic Japanese boy band. Many thanks to Jasepop.com follower Chris Kam for the heads up on this story.

And here's how Aimi Eguchi was created, using the 'best bits' of each AKB48 member

Jasepop Interviews Mizz Nina

2011-06-23T12:39:00.006+10:00

Hey guys, I've been going through my radio presenting acrhives and have dug up my interview with Mizz Nina from last year following on from the successful single release 'What You Waiting For'. The song made big waves in Malaysia and a few surrounding countries, so I got Mizz Nina on the line to talk about her teaming up with American artist Coby O'Donis and also about her work as a VJ on Channel V Malaysia. It's now available on the new podcast section of Jasepop.com Hope you love it and if you do, please share it with your mates.

YG To Tour SMTown Style?

2011-06-22T09:40:00.006+10:00

There is growing support for YG Entertainment to tour with its best and brightest stars in a similar approach to the label 'SM' who have over the last few years successfully taken Korea's best acts overseas and performed to sell out audiences in USA and France.
Earlier, YG Family and Jinusean member Sean jumped on his twitter account and tweeted to the world for support in such an event by saying “YG Family should hold a World Tour right? All the fans from different countries Holla!”
Can all YG fans in Australia put their hands up now (especially in Melbourne) and ask for a concert to be held here.. time and time again we get Chinese artists here and they sell out shows, why can't we have the best of Korean's here too. With so many options for stadium sell out events, they wouldn't have to look anywhere else. Besides, Sydney gets too many Korean visits so do something a little different YG and bring your team here.
Following the tweet, the hash mark #YGFAMILYWORLDTOUR became a very popular subject.

In other K Pop news, JYP's 2PM have released their MV for 'Hands Up'. Since its upload on YouTube only 2 days ago the video has already enjoyed over half a million views. I noticed in the first frame that the location is Singapore, later to find out that the entire MV was recorded in Singapore. Another group trying to buy in to the Singapore market? Nice to see!

K Pop Singapore, YG World Tour

Mizz Nina feat. Flo Rider.

2011-06-21T17:15:00.005+10:00

We got hint of a new Mizz Nina track in Mid March this year but not much was said about it again. Then whilst driving along on Friday night listening to Malaysia’s Hitz.FM I heard a mention about them playing the track.
So who was the artist that Mizz Nina was working with to follow up from the 2009 hit single ‘What You Waiting For? None other than Flo Rider.

So Mizz Nina has obviously found a successful formulae in teaming up with American artists to featuring in her releases and it seems to be working.
But really, no surprise that it would have been Flo Rider. He’s collaborated with just about every musician I know, keeping in mind Mizz Nina is not the first musician Flo had paired up with, he featured in the 2010 ‘Shine A Light’ remix of G Dragon’s ‘Heartbreaker’, even after GD was accused of plagiarizing Flo Riders track ‘Right Round’. Mizz Nina is currently in Miami recording the MV to her new track titles ‘Takeover’, according to her twitter account.

Earlier this year whilst reviewing who were my most loyal readers of Jasepop.com, I found it very interesting to see that despite writing about the very popular Big Bang, Wonder Girls and Jay Chou, those that usually pull in a good crowd in the pop blogging world, Mizz Nina blew me away with more page views about her than any other pop star I had written about. Readers are not just from Malaysia either, in fact only around 20% were reading my articles on her from her home country. People are craving more from Mizz Nina, and now they have what they’ve been searching for.

Tomas Ford Jasepop Interview

2011-06-20T06:24:00.000+10:00

UPDATED ENTRY - Recently on my radio program JOY Pop myself and my co-host Kayne had the wonderful Tomas Ford grace our airwaves. You may remember us speaking about the very talented Malaysian artist Ze! and we have played her track 'In The House' several times now (ring a bell?).
Well we spoke to the Perth based lad who recently produced a collaboration with the lady after the two meet last year at a local festival. Such chemistry was visible early so not only did the two talented folk produce a track together, but they performed together in May this year. Missed Tomas in May? Don't worry, as he will be telling Kayne and I when we will get a chance to see him next in Melbourne.
We also asked Tomas what it was like producing a track with another party via email, performing to different crowds and what it was like to recently open for one of his idols.

Join Kayne and myself on our radio program 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' every Thursday from 7 - 8pm AEST on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne and worldwide at joy.org.au/listenlive.
Don't forget to download the new JOY 94.9 app to make it easier for us to share our show with you every week.

TravelBlog - Taipei, Taiwan

2011-06-18T20:06:00.010+10:00

This week I take you on a journey through Taipei, Taiwan.
I was lucky enough to visit Taipei in 2009 as part of my Asian trip that included visiting Korea, China and also Singapore for the first time, and also a return stay for the second time in Malaysia. Visiting Taiwan seemed ideal considering my main objective for this holiday was to check out Seoul, Korea and knowing it wasn't all that far away it seemed to make sense. At first it was quite difficult planning the steps to include mainland China, Korea and Taiwan in the equation and deciding on the order in which to do things in the short period of time available to me. I was originally to start my tour of China in Shanghai and work my way from South to North finishing in Beijing, then fly to Korea.

After 5 days I planned to fly to Taipei, the nations capital for a further four days. Once I had it all mapped out I went to book my tour through China to find that the last place on that tour had been taken, so there was an obvious need to flip things on their head. I ended up starting in Korea, continuing on from Shanghai and THEN flying to Taiwan. In 2009 it seemed quite hard to book flights from Korea to Taiwan, I believe it had something to do with political agreements between the countries, and a quick look now at the time of writing this blog post revels much the same problem, still very hard to fly between the two.

Taiwan lies in the north of the country, approximately 680 kilometers from Shanghai, and just a little longer south of Seoul, Korea.
I had no idea what to expect from Taiwan and had done little research before hand. My only vision of this country was a dodgy report on the fishing industries in Taiwan that made its way to one of those dramatised news programs in Australia some years earlier, ohh yeah, and my print out from Wikitravel which is always useful. Also helpful was my decision to make friends online before leaving for my trip calling for locals who may be interested in showing me around, with the offer obviously that if they are ever in Melbourne, the favor can be returned. I have meet lots of people this way and have made some good friends for life, so I would recommend it. Locals always know that best attractions, the tastiest dinning spots, the real city and not just whats in travel guides.

I landed at the airport around 4pm and to my suprise my surroundings were rather quiet. I was especially thankful for this after spending around 12 days in busy China and since I hadn't packed ear plugs, this stillness whs very welcome.
I found my way to the correct bus fairly easily and made it to my stop just in front of the Xinsheng MRT station, and next to that the KDM Hotel in which I had booked a room. The room itself was comfortable enough and close to the action, so I would recommend this if your budget is around $50-$60 AUD per night.
After a quick shower and a lie down whilst watching Channel V China (notice a trend) 'Big Bang' once again dancing around to 'Gara Gara Go' got me in the mood for a night out on the town. I found it interesting the level of support there was for my favorite Asian group in China thus far, even more so than their home city of Seoul, where it was quite hard to hear K Pop in your regular club.

I meet a friend by the name of Victo around 7pm and he offered to take me to meet his friends for dinner. I had meet Victo a few months earlier in Melbourne as at the time he himself was holidaying around Australia after 7 years of studying in Sydney. He was in fact back in Taipei for only a week when I arrived, which I had no idea before hand. Even more coincidental was the fact that when I sat down for dinner with his friends one of them was someone I had been talking to online prior to my trip. Small world!.. even smaller again, a third person who I was chatting to before my holiday for tips on Taipei whom I invited to this dinner myself, was also friends with Victo. Even smaller world.

We sat in an Italian restaurant and belive it or not, I would say it was one of the best Italian meals I have ever had! Not what I was expecting from Taiwan, especially after 'enjoying' a range of different attempts at pasta in Thailand a few years earlier. Again, locals know all the best places to eat.
Still on the topic of food, it isn't always the restaurants that have the best tucker, I must say the Chinese Pancake I ate at a vendor in front of a 7Eleven store days later outdid it all. Delicious. I admit, I have been searching for a Pancake better than this one for 3 years now and nothing comes close.

After dinner we made our way to a club named 'Funky' the perfect club if you are looking for something GLBTIQ friendly. This particular evening turned out to be 'Water Pistol Night' where all patrons basically just wet each other throughout the night. Not enterainig so much at the begining, but after a few Bourbons (each with about 100 mill of alcohol in each glass), everything had entertainment value.
One highlight of the evening was requesting 'Big Bang', my DJ was excited to play 'How Gee' and everyone had a good dance. A little later Super Junior's 'Sorry Sorry' was pumping and much to the surprise of my new friends I was singing along to the track and we all loved it... well the song IS KOREAN, and the boys knew just as much 'real' Korean words as I..
Around 2am it seemed necessary to journey to the 7Eleven store across the road to grab a Slurpee. The club was hot and sticky with so many people and this was a vital measure to take. So off we went. I don't need to tell you how trashed I was, the following video can do that for me... what the hell was I wearing!

At 6am it was time to go home and sleep it off. Wait, let me correct that. Apparently the thing to do in Taipei after a hard night out is to head out together for breakfast and enjoy egg rolls and Soya Milk. Num num num. ^^
But Taipei isn't all about drinking in clubs, it's about drinking socially out doors in great bar areas such as the 'Red Theatre' too! Taipei sure does have a great community vibe, especially in the GLBTIQ community.

Another highlight was checking out the Taipei 101 Tower. At the time of visiting this building in 2009 it held the title of 'tallest building in the world'. That was exciting stuff, so up I went with my mate Ren to check out the view. I especially enjoyed the 'No jumping' sign in the viewing deck. The building itself is beautiful and something that the Taiwanese are rightfully proud of. It is an icon to their city and this is especially apparent at New Years Eve where you can see fireworks shooting off the building 100 floors high.

On my second last day in Taiwan my friendly tour guide Danny took me to the furthermore northern point of the county to a spot I believe the locals called 'Misery Point' as the cloud usually hovers across the hills and block the amazing view of the China Sea. On this particular day there was nothing but blue sky so I felt very privileged. The town was filled with gift stores and amazing places to eat and stay. Well worth taking a 30 minute train trip to if you are staying in the city.

Taipei remains one of the nicest places I have visited and I strongly recommend it as a holiday destination. The people are friendly and more than willing to assist you if you have any questions. I sometimes however feel that those who live in Taipei don't entirely appreciate the amazing city they are a part of. I award Taipei 8 out of 10.

Currently flights to Taipei departing Melbourne start at around $422.00 one way flying Air Asia, however these can involve a night in KL and then a transfer to a second Malaysian city so opt for direct flights. Do become a member on the Air Asia website so you can get regular deals on flights to Taiwan before the general public. More happy snaps of my Taiwanese trip can be found on my Facebook Album.

Here's a video by Unicorn Travel, it shows the best of Taiwan.

Another Hot Summer

2011-06-17T11:30:00.005+10:00

Well seriously this must be.. what.. the 10th version of this song now. This weeks number one track on the MNet chart in Korea is '(fx)' with their new cover of 'Hot Summer'. I first became aware of this track in 2007 when it was decided that the track would be sampled and featured on our JOY 94.9 Summer promos. This version was performed by German pop group 'Monrose' for their 2007 album 'Strictly Physical'.
In 2008 the song was covered for the first time by Aussie 'So You Think You Can Dance' contestant Rhys. This time round the song wasn't all that successful but it did reach 39 on the Australian singles chart.
In 2009 the song made it's way to Taiwan for yet another reworking by Taiwan megastar Jolin Tsai but this time the track took on a new form, and the lyrics were changed to 'Hot Winter'.
Now, 2 years later the song makes it's way to Koren girl group f(x). You may remember them for their hit 'Chocolate Love', one of my personal favorites.
Well here you go guys, I took the liberty in presenting to you all the different versions of the track. Which is your favorite? Enjoy!

Here's the newy by f(x), this weeks number one song on Korea's MNet Chart.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's the original by Germany's 'Monrose'

Now to Taiwan hottie Jolin Tsai and her 'Hot Winter'

Finally here's the Australian version in 2008 by Rhys.

Korea's Got Talent! 'Choi Sung Bong'

2011-06-16T09:00:00.002+10:00

In the current season of Korea's Got Talent, one young man has stood out for two reasons. Firstly when walking on to the stage to perform to the judges he shared the sad story of his upbringing and his long struggle with homelessness. I was certainly moved myself when I sat and listened to his story.
Whilst sharing this sad journey Choi Sung Bong continually says that singing gets him through and lifts his spirits in his times of need, but feels that he is not a good singer. Then the gentlemen is given the chance to show his audience what he is capable of and my god, This kid has an amazing voice!
You must check out this clip, and you must hear this guys angelic voice.
Justin Beiber has already endorsed the contestant and is supporting him all the way. I strongly encourage you to do the same. Add to the 6.65 million views that this clip has had on Youtube in the last two weeks since being uploaded and share this blog update with your friends.

TravelBlog - Tianjin, China

2011-06-11T09:00:00.003+10:00

One of the most exciting parts of travelling is that you never really know where you are going to end up. This at first may be a little daunting to a new traveller but once you take the bull by the horns and give it a go, you become alot more relaxed about it. For this weeks travel review I would love to share with you my favorite destination in mainland China and I did actually stumble across this with no original plans to visit the city.
I was in to my fourth day visiting Seoul in Korea with the intention that in a days time I would jump back on my Korean Air flight and make my way to Beijing to begin a 12 day tour through North China ending up in South China before jetting off once again. As I was lucky enough to fly with Air Asia on introductory airfares I opted for the cheapest alternative being the budget smart traveller I am. After all, I was happy to pass up extra leg room in an airplane for the extra alcohol in the nightclubs!
To achieve this budget journey I was required to take a flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, another 8 hour flight to Tianjin, and then a flight from Tianjin to the Korean capital. Air Asia had not started travelling to Korea at this time in history so I was up for a $500.00 AUD return flight departing Tianjin, much more than the $210.00 it cost to get me to China in the first leg.

Originally it was recommended that I would land in Tianjin after my adventure in Kpop land, get a taxi to the railway station and catch the newly built 317 kilometer an hour bullet train to Beijing where my tour would commence. I had planned an extra nights stay in Beijing before the tour kicked off, assuming that my 5 days dancing to Super Junior and stalking G Dragon in Seoul would require such an extended hotel room break to fully unwind.
Knowing I had extra day to play with and wanting to take full advantage of visiting another city I had not seen before so I jumped on a late hotel booking website and reserved a room at the Somerset Youyi. A little more expensive than my $35.00 a night room in the Crown Hotel in Itaewon, Seoul my credit card was debited $100 for one night. I chose to stay somewhere in the heart of the city cause I knew finding my way would be difficult.
The adventure started quickly, in fact the moment I left Tianjin International Airport. I made my way to the bus that was to take me to the city and there seemed to be a commotion that i had no way of translating on a bus full of 80 loud Chinese citizens, luckily one the gentleman travelers made his way toward me to share the news with a friendly "GET OFF BUS, OTHER BUS NOW GO TO CITY NOW, THIS ONE NO MORE!!".

Soon after the bus arrived at the main train station. Here I was to find the taxi rank and have a driver take me to my hotel. But Wikitravel reminded me that you can get ripped off at these taxi ranks and it is recommended travellers take a further walk away from the action and find a driver down the road. I took this far too literally and after walking in 30 degree heat for 30 minutes I allowed a driver to pull up and offer me a ride.
All seemed to be running far too smoothly when we arrived at the Somerset 15 minutes later. The taxi driver helped me in with my bags, and i gave him is tip for his efforts. I walked to reception excited to make my way to my room to find out that I had been driven to the wrong Somerset complex. One hour later I arrived at the correct Somerset Hotel, a far newer complex that was in immaculate condition. It was worth the trouble.
Making my way into my room I plonked my baggage down and moved toward the window to check out the city view (see photo roll below). I was speechless, what an amazing looking city. I was ready for an adventure, but right after I had a spa and pumped MTV Asia whilst I soaked. Within minutes Big Bang's new single Gara Gara Go was "pumping thru da speakers".

After a good rest I made my way out into the twilight of Tianjin. What a beautiful city with interesting smells, smiles everywhere you turn and a big community of people that seem to really want to be a part of each others lives. To the left I see children running in a competition, to my right about 20 people are flying kites, whilst directly ahead of me older folk are participating in some sort of TaiChi.
I walked around this city well into the evening just watching the locals having a good time with one another, eating, drinking and being merry. Not one sign was in English and I had no idea where I was going but getting lost wasn't a worry I knew eventually I would find my way back. The thing I enjoyed most whilst taking my evening stroll through this fabulous chinese city was the fact that in the three hours I spent exploring the town I did not see one other caucasion person, I seemed to be the only one. It's such a comforting feeling being the odd one out and on someone elses territory, completely alone. I that odd, perhaps a little.

As I walked along this peaceful city and watched a community of people gathering in the streets to dance, unwind and enjoy the company of one another, I somehow felt that we had it all wrong back home. From my earlier experience in a loud overcrowded bus on the way to the city, finishing up my one day in Tianjin in such a peaceful way, I was optimistic about what this big exciting country had in store for me.

Leaving the comfort of possibly the most amazing bed I have slept in the following morning, I made my way to the railway to purchase my bullet rain ticket departing Tianjin, arriving in Beijing. My first bullet train experience left me breathless. How amazing this train was, travelling at 317 kilometers an hour and somehow providing the smoothest ride I have ever known on a train. The comfort levels are right up there and the loverly passenger sitting with me that gave me a bottle of water also added to the comfort.

If you are heading to Beijing for your next holiday and you have not considered spending time in Tianjin I strongly recommend you do. Bullet train fares are very generous and you can journey the 150 kilometers in style, and do it within 30 minutes.

Fares for Melbourne to Tianjin in July start from $369.00 (June 10, 2011) via Singapore, flying Jetstar and Air Asia.

JOY Pop Radiothon Party Tonight

2011-06-09T04:00:00.002+10:00

You've been waiting for it and now here it is, the JOY Pop Radiothon Party kicks off tonight at 6:30pm at the JOY 94.9 studios in Melbourne. Why?
You may be aware that it costs an absolute fortune to run a radio station and this is no different in Community radio. Though presenters at JOY 94.9 don't get big paychecks like there workmates on Commercial networks (in fact we are all volunteers), it still costs close to $3,000 a day to provide a voice for the GLBTIQ community. That's why like other community radio stations JOY 94.9 stages an annual membership drive to ask you guys to support us by signing up for another year as a JOY 94.9 member, and win amazing prizes at the same time.
You can be a part of the fun tonight by either coming along to the studios if you have already RSVP'd, or tune in to JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, or online from anywhere in the world at www.joy.org.au.
The fun begins in the studio from 6:30pm and JOY Pop goes live from 7-8pm so don't miss out on the fun.
During the show you'll here the best of Asian pop music, a live performance by Jade Leonard, your favorite Asian Pop presenters from WYN FM and SYN 90.7, live on air Karaeoke and stacks more. Don't miss it. Listen to JOY Pop tonight from 7pm AEST through til 8pm, and call 1300 569 949 to become a member and support the voice of the GLBTIQ community.

TravelBlog - Singapore

2011-06-04T13:03:00.005+10:00

Singapore is without a doubt one of the most beautiful parts of Asia. It is also one of the least confronting places for western visitors to travel through which is good if it is your first time to this continent. Also helpful is the fact that English is one of the four official languages so if you are like me and lack a second language you will find your way around town with ease.
I have always had a fascination with Singapore and have longed to visit this country. Perhaps it’s my Dutch heritage and my ultra clean upbringing, but there’s something about this city that has outlawed almost everything possible, that somehow was enough to entice me.
There are a few ways to make your way in to this country, by road via the south of Malaysia, by boat or by plane. The third is your best option. Singapore in more recent decades has become the stop over for flights almost everywhere. Currently the Changi airport is the home to Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia Airways, Valuair and Jett8 Airways together flying on to 200 countries.
I have visited Singapore now on two separate occasions. The first time on my first solo adventure overseas in 2009 and the second time again in 2010. On my first venture I purchased flights online weeks before using airasia.com but ended up opting to take a bus from Melaka in Malaysia at the last minute instead. Not to worry! The flight I gave up was only $5.00 AUD from Kuala Lumpur. That’s the brilliant thing about flying in to Singapore. So many of the discount carriers are based in the country so you can always find yourself a great deal online.
If making your way by bus from Malaysia you first journey across the water of the peninsula, and head towards the colourful lights of this beautiful city. If you are flying in to Changai Airport you will be greeted by one of the world’s largest airports. In fact, the total size of the airport is 13 square kilometers. This airport is huge and it just keeps growing. It is very easy to get lost within the airport as there are actually two terminals. Don’t make the mistake I did and end up at the wrong terminal, especially if you are late for a flight. The two terminals of the airport are connected by Monorail which departs frequently. Like all good things in Singapore the airport generally runs smoothly, especially impressive given the amount of visitors that pass through its gates.
Singapore is one of the easiest countries to navigate through. Taxi’s await you at the airport and are metered so there is no hassle with having to bargain with a driver. Taxi drivers are honest and willing to help out where possible. The airport itself is only 17 kilometers from the heart of the city so without daytime traffic it will take you around 30 minutes to get to your hotel. If you arrive during the day I would recommend you opt for a train trip into the city centre, leaving from the airport terminal itself. The beauty about this country is that the total land area of the main island is quite small, so there train network is incredible. There is no need for your own vehicle if you live in Singapore.
After a few drinks and a good bass line, many of my Singaporean will admit that they are not all that proud of their country and would much rather move on to another more exotic place, but then get a bunch of Singaporeans in a room with a group of Malaysians and they all of a sudden become very patriotic.
Much like their neighbor Malaysia, the Singaporean government work hard to build on the low levels of patriotism and much of the work goes in to National Day and the National Day Parade. My friend Yen explained to me last year that looking back one would struggle to find a place to line the streets during the National Day Parade and would have to sleep overnight to get a good position for the event the following day. Tickets were also issued to people who wanted to attend so you would have to get in fast. In more recent years, a good view point at the Parade isn’t all that hard to find.
The weather in Singapore can be quite confronting if you are not used to high levels of humidity, but if you don’t mind getting a little sweaty and heading home for the occasional shower this won’t be an issue, in fact it can be quite refreshing to walk along the streets and stop by fruit stalls or ice cream vendors.
5 million people live in Singapore, which is amazing considering the size of this country. Whilst Australia’s total land area accounts for 5.2% of the worlds land, Singapore contributes .001%. There really is so much to see and do here, especially with the introduction last year of Universal Studios and opening of a second casino, Marina Bay Sands.
Universal Studio’s is without doubt amazing value and possibly outdoes Hong Kong’s Disneyland for the entertainment you get on your admission price. If Aussie travelers were to compare the admission price to Dream world on the Gold Coast in Queensland at $72.00 AUD with entry to Universal Studios in Singapore at $54.75 AUD the value speaks for itself. Let’s not forget that a booming Aussie dollar keeps all costs during your visit very low indeed. During your playtime in Universal Studios Singapore you’ll be entertained by ‘The Lost World’, visit Shrek 3D at ‘Far Far Away’, plus talk a stroll down the most realistic version of New York outside of the US, whilst ‘Madagascar’ brings you to a dense tropical jungle filled with strange and wonderful animals. It’s also worth relaxing at the 1950’s dinner with a burger and fries, but make sure you check out a show at the theatre beforehand. This massive theatre rivals any other historic theatre you may have been to and the shows are enjoyable for all ages. A lot of work has been put in to making this South East Asia’s future number 1 tourist attraction.

Do not visit Singapore without taking a trip to the new Sands Casino at Marina Bay. If you are not much of a gambler head there anyway and make your way to the viewing platform on the top of the building. At a cost of $20.00 you can spend as long as you desire on the most beautiful viewing deck I have ever seen. The designers of this special building have created a paradise above a 55 story hotel, the viewing deck is described as one of the largest gravity-defying cantilevers in the world’ so this attraction is a must!

Who could go past the amazing dinning at such great value, Singapore’s Little India is well worth a night out before heading out to the clubs. If you’re in a hurry, hawker stores are never too far away for a quick bite. Remember, if you are not used to spicy food, make sure the store assistant knows to limit the chili; otherwise you will be sweating it out even more than usual in this humid city.

Singapore is a clubbers paradise. Take a trip to North Bridge Road and have a drink at Superclub, enjoy cocktails at Sentosa or if you’re up for dancing with some gay boys, head to Chinatown where there are a few more good clubs to choose from. But be prepared for drink prices to be through the roof. I ordered a cola with no alcohol and it set me back $8.00. In another club a year later I purchased a Vodka Red Bull and it came with a $17.50 price tag. Alcohol prices are through the roof in Singapore and even wine in the Supermarket can cost nearly double the price you would expect back home. Remember this island imports almost everything, so it’s hard to keep costs down. If you’re travelling on a budget, grab a beer or two from 7 Eleven, drink on the street with your mates (you are free to drink in public areas) and then head off to the club.

You could easily spend a week in this amazing city with plenty to see and do, but it’s also an ideal place for a stopover, so if you are planning a trip and can work Singapore into the equation it’s well worth it. Flights currently departing Melbourne to Singapore inclusive of taxes at just $249 AUD (http://adioso.com/au/melbourne-to-singapore)

Take a look at the Marina Bay Sands promo clip!

Ze! Is In The House

2011-06-03T14:14:00.003+10:00

Ohh! A flood of amazing music is pumping through the airwaves direct from Kuala Lumpur at the moment.
Long time readers of jasepop.com will know the impact Mizz Nina's 'What You Waiting For' made on me last year, but it may be safe to say now that I have a new Malaysian favorite.
Yet another artist to be doing this country proud is Ze! who lends vocals to the new number 1 hit (Hitz.FM Met 10) 'In The House' by Goldfish and Blink. This track has club anthem all over it and it will be no suprise if it can make waves here in Australia or beyond. It's a sure fire track to get people lifting to their feet cutting it up on the floor.
Malaysian electro-pop artist Ze! Brings us a hot new album full of treats 'I Am Glam' on her own label Catapult Creative. Influenced by Madonna, with style that some have compared to Lady Gaga.
This isn't the first track she's been a part of that has made it to the number one position locally. The single that shares the album title 'I Am Glam' also made it to the number one spot on the MET 10, and she's also been noticed for her gay anthem 'Boys I Like'.
With increasing coverage on MTV, CNN and local Malaysian radio stations her popularity continues to grow.
More recently Ze! took a trip to Perth, Australia for a few shows and teamed up with local artist Tomas Ford for a track titled 'Til Death Do Us Part', the two meet at 'One Movement' in 2010 and got to working together. The final music was produced in Perth whilst the vocals performed by Ze! were worked on from KL.
Here's hoping we can chat to both Tomas and Ze! on our Asian Pop program 'JOY Pop' soon!

Ze! and Tomas Ford's 'Til Death Do Us Part' is available for download free at http://tomasford.com/ Check out this local talent and please support him.

An Honest Mistake

2011-05-30T18:25:00.009+10:00

I'm not usually my poppy self today. Perhaps I'm on the come down from the weekend and back at work on the dreaded Monday. Perhaps I have heard SNSD's 'Mr Taxi' one too many times of late or it may be that I have finally been able to let go of that horrendous Gaga-rbage 'Born this Way' and I'm in the mood for something of a little more substance.
I found it today in my usual hunt for new music in Malaysia.
Shine the spotlight on our next guest so to speak. They are a part of the massive indie scene bursting from Malaysia, they seem to be keen supporters of democracy and freedom of speech in a country that often doesn't get all that much say in the day to day running of things (though rest assured I consider KL my second home) following on from their participation in the 'Rock For You Rights Music Festival' in April this year, and they are climbing the local Met 10 chart on Malaysia's Hitz.FM this week number one.
Meet 'An Honest Mistake'. With acoustic emo roots, the band has of late evolved with a new sound with some of this attributed to new drummer Jone Yeoh. Their current single 'I have a hole in my skinnies' is number one on the Met 10 chart.
Check out www.anhonestmistekband.com

TravelBlog - Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

2011-05-28T17:00:00.003+10:00

I could not help myself. Again I had to write the name of this fine country as the locals do. It is how I would write the name of this country whilst sending letters back home during my visit to this amazing destination, much to the humour of my family back home. Still, perhaps I was playing it up because I was so overwhelmed by stepping off a plane and onto the tarmac in a city I would never have dreamed about visiting.
It seems fitting to start my new Jasepop.com travel reviews in the country that was my first overseas destination back in 2007.
I landed at Noi Bai International Airport on December 10th. My travel agent and friend Naama recommended that we take advantage of an extra night’s sleep in Ha Noi before our planned tour with Intrepid was to kick off on the 11th. Now after having travelled with this company three times on other Asian destinations I would usually opt for arriving on the day and not waste an extra day but Ha Noi is a fast paced hectic city, so this time an extra day to soak up the surrounds and get used to the noise levels was a welcome suggestion.

The memories, the feeling and the smells of that day stick with me nearly four years later. For anyone that has made the journey overseas for the first time will tell you, those memories never fade. It's like being lifted from one planet and dumped on another, though perhaps the differences between the two countries may have been less apparent if I decided to venture to a country more like my home Melbourne, Australia.
The first point of difference was in the airport itself. Guards with huge riffles left right and centre, the haze of the indoor smokers, and the remaining structure of what may resemble an airport. It is here where I came face to face with my first customs official. Though having nothing at all to hide, the unapprovingly cold glare on this man’s face looked as though he was ready for some action, and the abundance of military gear surrounding me didn't ease my nerves the slightest.

Shortly after we ventured to the taxi rank and for the first time in my life I was greeted by a gentleman with my name on a card over his head, just like in the movies.. Well in Vietnamese dramas anyway! This patient man had been waiting for us for an extra 45 minutes as our plane was delayed from its stopover in Kuala Lumpur. Alongside my ex whom I was travelling with, we each offered our driver a $5.00 tip and he seemed over the moon and greatly thankful.

To my knowledge the average wage for workers in Vietnam in 2007 was around $800.00 US, that working out to a little over $15.00 for a weeks wage and god knows how many hours that may entail. Once I realised this I took great enjoyment in being in a position to tip frequently and it was quite uplifting to be able to support people who were providing incredible service along with a smile.
It's a smile that follows you across Vietnam. These people, though many we met with very little were some of the friendliest people I have meet in my life.

After experiencing my first of many terrifying taxi trips to come in Asia, I arrived at my hotel room. Naturally being my first trip overseas I ran to see what the TV had in store for me. How beside myself I was to see Ms Kyle Minogue as the MTV Asia Artist of the month. Ignorant as I may have been I hadn't realised how popular many Australian artists were in Asia, and perhaps it became most apparent two weeks later in Cambodia when scores of people dinning at a restaurant jumped to their feet to sway to Holly Valance's "Kiss Kiss".

A lively city filled with hospitable people, incredible history and delectable food at value unmatched by the other eight Asian countries I have experienced in my travels thus far. On our first evening together as a group we dined at a restaurant for around 5 dollars each and ordered many beers priced at around 25 cents AUD each. One such beverage was a local made larger fresh from a local brewery and cost no more than $1.00 for a 1 litre bottle.

As a student on a budget there are plenty of ways to stretch the budget further, but one could easily be taking advantage of a good thing and personally I always feel obliged to support local charities or organisations along the way.
I could not let you go past a fabulous restaurant by the name of "Koto" at Van Mieu st, Hanoi right next to the temple of literature. A not-for-profit restaurant and vocational training program for youth of Hanoi, the Vietnamese Australian founder Mr Jimmy Pham saw the need for youth of the city to be further trained and to help them achieve their goals. Many of these trainees have gone on to successful careers in the hospitality industry and some have gone on to open their own restaurants. The food is to die for and the service is warm and inviting. Get there early as we did and hopefully they still have the all you can eat breakfast!
Koto is currently fundraising to build a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. For more info on how you can support this amazing cause see http://www.koto.com.au/buy-a-brick-build-a-dream

May I suggest October to November as the best time to travel to this incredible place, the rainy season is over and the average temperature is around 25 degrees Celsius. Being there in December it was quite crisp in the morning so remember to bring a jacket in your suitcase if you are travelling in the cooler months. Remember when travelling in the dry months of the year it can still be cold but you wont find many stores selling winter clothing.

I strongly recommend you travel with Intrepid Travel. The guides are usually very talented, have a great knowledge of the city they are sharing with you and usually if you are booking last minute you can bag a bargain with a tour at 20% off the regular price. Visit www.intrepidtravel.com for more information on tours available. I have actually stayed in touch with my tour guide and though we don’t chat all that much we are quick to share news on Korean boy band Super Junior and their concert schedule in Vietnam. On meeting my guide Amanda that first evening in Hanoi I was quite surprised to learn that she was from Doncaster, a suburb of Melbourne which coincidentally was the neighbouring suburb from the one in which I was living at the time.

Flights currently start from $352.00 AUD Melbourne to Hanoi via Singapore and Ho Chi Min City flying JetStar, that is if you can afford the time for a couple stop overs.
Final tip from Jase: Pack your earplugs, especially if you are a light sleeper.
Jasepop.com awards Hanoi Vietnam 8/10

Here are some videos I took whilst in Ha Noi. Excuse the quality as they were recorded on a poor quality video phone. The first video was shot on arrival in the city on the first day.

This city never sleeps. Here is Ha Noi by night.

Super Junior Release BIJIN MV

2011-05-25T16:11:00.009+10:00

My life has been just that tad bit empty of late with no such releases of tracks by Korea's Super Junior (isn't that just a little bit sad and perhaps slightly exaggerated?). But take a deep breath and put a smile on your dial die hard SuJu fan, because yes indeed Super Junior have released another MV. This time round, Super Junior release "BIJIN" which is the Japanese version of last years huge Korean hit "BONAMANA".
There are two reason why this excites me, the first being that its great to see yet another Korean group doing well on the Oricon charts in Japan, the second being I find it much easier to sing along to trackS with Japanese lyrics rather than their original Korean.
But it seems not everyone is happy. Fan forums are filled with disappointed SuJu fans who have been very vocal about their disapproval of the new Japanse MV itself, most stressing that they feel the group deserved a better quality film clip for their musical pursuits in Japan. Others find the music itself with much MORE auto tuned than the original hit.
Regardless of what fans are concerning themselves with, can I make a prediction that this will be next weeks Japanese number one single?

Support 'I Heart JOY' 2011 Radiothon

2011-05-22T18:06:00.003+10:00

I want to spend the time now to thank you for your support of our program ‘JOY Pop’. If you have not listened to our Asian pop show yet, what's stopping you?
‘JOY Pop’ was developed to not only share a brand of pop music that many prior to listening to the show from Melbourne (where we are based) were unaware of, but it is a program designed to share GLBTIQ news and views to those in the community in Asia. We continue to work hard to improve our reach and presence in our community throughout Asia. JOY 94.9 gives us the opportunity to do this, in fact we are the only Asian Pop program in the world presented by GLBTIQ members of the community for the GLBTIQ community.
Kayne and I volunteer our time to bring you ‘JOY Pop’ but radio isn’t cheap to run. It costs JOY 94.9 around $2,000 a day to do what we do! JOY needs the support of people like you to keep running and in our case keep sharing Asian pop and news important to our community here and around Asia (and the world).
June 4 to 10 marks a week of celebrations and even better, your chance to win amazing prizes if you sign up as a paid member of JOY 94.9. In fact if you sign up during ‘JOY Pop’ you will be in the running to win a prize that is only available to those who sign up on our program.
Our Radiothon program will go live at 7pm - 8pm on Thursday June 9. You can ring up and become a member during our program by calling 1300 569 949 (1300 JOY 949).
Memberships are $88 for a family (these guidelines are quite diverse) $66 for individuals, $33 for concession card holders and only $22 if you’re under 18. Being a JOY member means you are supporting Kayne and myself, supporting a voice for the GLBTIQ community and enabling yourself to win great prizes EVERY TWO WEEKS!
Put it in your diary now, the JOY Pop Radiothon special - Thursday June 9 at 7pm.
We’ll be off to celebrate the only way we know how, dinner at Shanghai Dumping then a dance at Heaven’s Door, Commercial Road, Prahran, VIC!
Again, thanks for supporting me on Jasepop.com and for those of you who are tuning in to my weekly Asian Pop program JOY Pop' Thursday nights 7-8pm Australian Eastern Standard time.

200 Posts on Jasepop.com

2011-05-22T13:30:00.004+10:00

I would like to thank all who have made the time to read my Asian Pop updates over the last two years.
I started Jasepop to share my love of Asian pop with my friends in Melbourne who otherwise would not have know about this regions music. Since then and nearly 14,000 page visits later the blog has also grown in to a weekly radio program with my mate Kayne. JOY Pop can be heard Thursday nights on the 94.9 frequency in Melbourne on local radio station JOY and can also be heard worldwide at www.joy.org.au/listenlive. The program comes to you live on Thursday nights at 7pm Melbourne time and runs for an hour.
I always enjoy comments that listeners send in during the program like 'Loving the show, I would not usually listen to Asian Pop but I will listen from now on'.
Naturally Asian pop does not get all that much publicity or support in Australia but since starting Jasepop.com and developing the supporting radio program on JOY 94.9, I have learned how many fans Korean pop especially now has in our country.
Those of you that also have a passion for blogging and sharing your interests with the world will know that it can become very hard to find the time to keep blogging and often the thought does cross your mind of chucking it in and giving it up. I have felt like this a few times over the last year. Finding the right work & blogging balance isn't all that easy! But I decided to push through and keep blogging because I do find it very rewarding when people write to me and tell me that I have introduced them to a solo artist or group that they have grown fond of.
So again to those who do continue to read my blog and who have regularly listened to our program on JOY 94.9 Thursday nights, I do say thank you for your support and I look forward to entertaining you more frequently in the future.
In a couple weeks time I will start adding travel reports to Jasepop.com to share my travel stories with you, reviewing one country at a time and I do hope you can read them and comment too.

Jewelry Comeback

2011-05-16T09:02:00.011+10:00

They announced an end to promotions mid March, and only two months later the 'Jewelry' girls are hitting the web with comeback teasers? Actually the teasers are complete and the digital single have been reveled in it's entirety.
It comes after another line up change with the announcement of group member Yewon joining in January this year and the first single release for 2011 'Back It Up'.
Jewelry got off to a shaky start back in 2001 with their first album release 'Discovery', having such poor record sales that two of the singers were replaced.
After a few unsuccessful attempts at tapping in to the Japanese market Jewelry's real commercial success came in 2008 with the release of the single 'One More Time', complete with some very memorable dance moves it made much impact on the Korean charts for 2008.
Though the group is made up of only four members (quite small compared to most girl groups in Korea these days), there are an additional 6 that used to be part of the group, each whom had left for various reasons from 2001 to 2010. Regardless Jewelry remain the longest running girl group in Korea of all time.

MTV Video Music Awards Japan, 2011

2011-05-15T08:00:00.005+10:00

Nine-member K-pop group 'Girls Generation' have scored three nominations in the MTV Video Music Awards in Japan. Can you believe SNSD are the only Korean artist included in the nominations this year? Amazing! Yet it seems like just about every Korean pop star is dabbling in the Japanese market in 2011, perhaps they missed the cut off.
This years awards show has been renamed as 'MTV Video Music Aid Japan' to commemorate the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 this year where thousands of Japanese people sadly lost their lives.
So which performer do you head to in order to lift the spirits of these Japanese music fans? None other than Lady Gaga, of course! She's nominated in three categories herself and will be the main performer on the night.
The awards ceremony is to be held on the 25th of June at the Makuhari Event Hall at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, Japan.
Girls Generation have had their debut Japanese single 'Genie' accknowledged and nominated in the Best Group Video, Best Video of the Year, and Best Karaoke song categories. As for the 'Best Group Video' category, the Girls will be up against long time performers Linkin Park, Black Eyed Peas and local Ikimono-gakari.
Girls Generation are also up against Gaga, Katy Perry and Japanese superstars Namie Amuro and Hikaru Utada for the 'Best Video' of the Year.
In the 'Best Karaoke! Song' category, the nominees are Girls Generation, Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, Kana Nishino and Ikimono-gakari.
The debut single 'Genie' was huge in its release in late 2010, and their current Japanese single 'Mr Taxi' has been on top of Billboard Japan’s Hot 100 chart for the last two weeks.
It has also been announced that on June 1 this year, Girls Generation will be dropping their full length Japanese album. Something to lift the spirits of their local Japanese fans after a difficult start to 2011.

Big Bang's 'Love Song'

2011-04-30T08:56:00.002+10:00

Never underestimate the heartache that is caused toward a passionate Asian Pop blogger when they have struggled to come up with a plan of action that see's them with an Internet connection at their new home address. Trying to sign up to an Internet connection in the lead up to the 2011 Easter period was a disaster for me, and for these reasons it has been difficult for me to find the time to blog. I am hoping to get my butt in to gear now and continue bringing you all the latest Asian Pop news.
For these reasons I have fell behind the rest in staying up to date with the latest K Pop news of late, and sadly I have only seen the latest Big Bang single 'Love Song' now.
I must say, this MV has my favorite element, being a single shot film clip from beginning to end, I adore this approach in a music video. It takes a lot of skill to keep a camera rolling for over 3 minutes and have the subject matter follow on without making any slip ups.
What I find most interesting about this new Big Bang song is the underling sense that the idea for this project came from U2's 90's hit 'With Or Without You'. It seems obvious to me and many others are saying it too. What do you think? Regardless, I think they have sampled the U2 song in a positive light and breathed new life into a classic tune.

And here's U2's hit for you to compare the two.

Heartbreaker Cover Heaven

2011-04-24T12:27:00.006+10:00

I saw this online this morning and I just had to share it. Contestant Baek Chung Gang
of the popular "Birth of a Great Star" talent series took on G Dragon's "Heart breaker" for his performance eon the program this week. The top 8 contestants were given the task of covering an idol singers song.
Usually known as the clean cut and well dressed contestant of the reality TV show, Baek Chung Gang wowed me with his sparkly gold shirt and matching gold chain.
Not a bad cover in my opinion.
If you, like me, like your K Pop covers then make sure you tune in to my Asian Pop Show this coming Thursday night at 7pm to 8pm Australian Eastern Standard time for the "JOY Pop Best Asian Pop Covers Special" where we will be playing our favorite covers from around the world. There is sure to be a Big Bang or G Dragon cover played.
If you have a song that you believe we should be playing on this once off show, then please request it. Log onto facebook and tell us via our Facbook group "JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment".

'JOY Pop' Live radio Tonight - 3 Disk DVD Giveaway

2011-03-23T19:13:00.012+11:00

Yes it's Wednesday and that means its time for my radio co host Kayne and I to bring the Supa Luv. Not only are we bringing you the best of Asian Pop from Malaysia, Japan, Korean, Thailand, China and Taiwan (boy we've covered them all this week) but we give you the chance to win another DVD on tonight's show with thanks to Madman Entertainment.
"2oth Century Boys" is based on the hugely successful, award winning manga series created by Naoki Uraswa and directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi.
One of the biggest movie undertakings ever attempted in Japan, the story sees a group of childhood friends reunite to save all of humanity from an evil organisation that wants to bring about the end of the world.. no, it's not who you think it is!
This 3 disk DVD set could be yours, just tune in to "JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment" tonight on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne from 9pm Australian Daylight Savings time, and live from you bedroom anywhere in the world, at www.joy.org.au/listlive 7pm Tokyo time.
Also on tonight's show we cross live to Japan to chat once again to Laurer Tiernan of "Nature Airliner" who shares music from the duo, plus we hear some one of his solo tracks!
Did someone say cash giveaways? No. Lol. This is Community radio. For your chance to win tonight's 3 disk DVD set, tune and and don't forget to be a JOY 94.9 member. More details on JOY Membership at www.joy.org.au.

Hitz.FM Malaysia - Censor Gay Ga Ga Lyrics

2011-03-22T12:42:00.008+11:00

Reports from just about every newspaper in the world have been writing of the disappointment felt by members of Malaysia's Gay and Lesbian community where a local radio network made a choice to remove lyrics of gay reference from Ga Ga's latest track "Born This Way".
The song that has received abundant support from GLBTIQ pop lovers, seen by even Elton John as "the new gay anthem" has had the lyrics "A different lover is not a sin ... No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track, baby... I was born this way" removed from what gets aired on AMP radio in Malaysia.
AMP radio who own the top English top music station in Malaysia "Hitz.FM" stated that "The particular lyrics in Born This Way may be considered as offensive when viewed against Malaysia's social and religious observances,"
Gay Malaysian activist Phang Khee, encouraged Lady Ga Ga to protest against the radio stations' decision and ban them from playing any of her songs and was quoted saying "Radio should be a platform for marginalised voices and understanding, not perpetuating ignorance and hate."
For more on issues relating to the GLBTIQ community of Malaysia and to show your support, visit www.seksualitimerdeka.org

Korean Idol Looses 8 Kilos, 1 Month.

2011-03-22T09:28:00.010+11:00

I can never get over the effort that goes in to not only trying to produce good pop music, but all things on the side that are required to be successful in today's pop scene. A perfect example of this today is CNBlue member Jung Yong Hwa who according to allkpop.com recently told a press conference he had lost 8 kilograms in just a month in preparation for the groups new album. Can this be safe? Is it healthy?
The star said that he cut down to a quarter of the rice that he usually eats and ate only chicken breasts and bananas, though he did say that he used the treadmill each night. So how much of this is his own desire to look good and be successful and how much of this is the record companies orders?
We know that record companies can often dish out some pretty harsh guidelines for artists signed to their label. We remember when the girls of popular Korean group "2NE1" came on the scene and were told they were not to have relationships for at least two years so they could focus only on group promotions.
What is reasonable and what is a healthy lifestyle for these pop stars?

Mizz Nina New English Track Soon.

2011-03-21T17:39:00.005+11:00

World Domination with Mizz Nina? Well, she's certainly doing her best anyway.
Two weeks ago I was reviewing who reads my blog and where you guys are reading from. I found it very interesting to see that despite writing about the very popular Big Bang, Wonder Girls and Jay Chou, those that usually pull in a good crowd in the pop blogging world, Mizz Nina blew me away with more page views about her than any other pop star I had written about.
Readers are not just from Malaysia either, in fact only around 20% were reading my articles on her from her home country. People are craving more from Mizz Nina, but whats happening?
Well we have not heard of an English single release yet which is disappointing for her international fans, but recently Malaysia News Straits Times reported that Nina is heading to the UK "scheduled to record a new single in London at the end of the month with an international artiste"
Could she be working with Bruno Mars? After all, Nina is supporting Mars in his upcoming concert in Kuala Lumpur on April 10 as part of his "Doo-Woops And Hooligans World Tour" where his tour will also reach us here in Australia from April 12 to 16.
Congratulations to Nina also, for having the most downloaded local English song in Malaysia over the last year. Her smash with Colby O'Donis "What You Waiting For" earned her 600,000+ downloads on Maxis mobile alone! Bravo.
We look forward to see what Nina has cooked up for her next collaboration, and hope to interview her again on JOY 94.9 on "JOY Pop, The Asian Pop Experiment".

Fun With NYC

2011-03-20T13:02:00.000+11:00

I had to share this clip. There is no need to really say anything about this clip, its just too colourful and fun to be put into words. In it's first week on the Oricon chart it debuted at the number 2 spot. Well done fellas. The song is called 'Yume Tamago". Enjoy!

This Weeks Asian Chart Toppers

2011-03-17T17:55:00.002+11:00

Its time to check in on the charts around Asia once again on Jasepop.com At first glimpse I thought that the number one single on this weeks Japanese Oricon chart may be a little too energy driven and inappropriate at this time given the disaster that the country currently faces, but what better to lift the spirit of the Japanese people, a hit from SKE48 "Banzai Venus"

Taking out the number one position on Korea's MNET chart this week are the two fellas that make it hard for you to breathe breathe breathe, Jun Hyung of BEAST, featuring in the latest hit by the ever amazing Wheesung, "Heart Aching Story" staying strong this week. By the way, how cute is Jun Hyung with those glasses!

Number 1 on this weeks Hong Kong Chinese Pop Chart, Kolor's "As Simple As".
Co produced by Hong Kong singer Candy Lo, this EP was released in December and contains 5 tracks, with the 5th track on the EP "24K" featuring Hip Hop outfit 24HERBS.

Asia's dance king Show Luo takes the cake this week on the Taiwan singles chat with the infectious tune "Only You". Complete with the amazing footwork that we have come to expect from this Taiwanese megastar. Luo is gearing up for his concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia promising is MY fans that he's about to bring it for sure, and that the ticket price will be well worth the show they see!

Sitting at the top of the Hong Kong HMV Mando Album Chart yet again this week is the wonderful Eason Chan. Don't they just love him!

Plus, Potato this week top the charts in Thailand.

JOY Pop 'Helping Japan Special' Tonight

2011-03-16T10:04:00.014+11:00

Tonight on my Asian Pop program 'JOY Pop' my co host Kayne and I will be looking at ways we can assist our Japanese friends after last Fridays devastating Tsunami and Earthquake. What can we do, how can we help? This question always arises after such a disaster and it can be difficult to know who to help and how we can assist in efforts to bring about the help that is required.
Last week Kayne and I decided that this weeks show would be a J Pop special pumping the tunes and letting the J Pop love shine, but the tone has changed since the events that have unfolded on the East coast of Japan last weekend.
Tonight on the program we will be speaking to those that have lived and currently live in Japan, we ask aid organisations what we can do to help and what funding is required and we speak to an organisation that are planning a dance party here in Melbourne alongside sister parties around the globe in aid of the disaster relief. The party, 100% Quake Aid (NZ and Japan Quake Benefit) is to take place on March 25th and we'll have all the details you need to know!
Plus we chat to musician Laurier Tiernan of 'Nature Airliner' who lives in Japan looking at his music, his life in Japan and his thoughts on how we can help.
If you live in Japan and would like to share your thoughts, your feelings or perhaps you have been a part of the community in the past but have now moved. Please share your messages by commenting below, or join our Facebook group 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' and leave your comments, so we can share your thoughts on our program tonight.
Catch us tonight live at www.joy.org.au/listenlive anywhere in the world and in Melbourne at JOY 94.9 fm. Lets do what we can to assist our Japanese friends who need our support more than ever.

For more on 'Nature Airliner', see http://www.reverbnation.com/natureairliner

Mizz Wood Drops In On 'JOY Pop'

2011-03-15T09:00:00.003+11:00

Not long ago local lady Mz Wood popped in to the JOY 94.9 studios to allow us lucky lads an interview. Mizz Wood shared what her and the boys were up to and in addition to this Mz Wood performed her amazing single "Shanti". This lady oooozes talent, and so do the lads looking after the drums and guitar!
This performance was the first of its kind on our radio program "JOY Pop". 1 Hour before the shows start time, Kayne and I were feeling that perhaps we had bitten off a little more than we could chew. We underestimated how much work was involved in setting up a studio for a live electro set!
The concept was to have a local performer come in to talk about their work and share their music as well as put their own spin on a popular Asian pop song. On this evening Mizz Wood took on Korean girl group '2NE1's hit "Try To Follow Me" and passed with flying colours. You must take a look at the clip below that Mizz Wood herself was kind enough to record and provide to Jasepop.com
For more on our Asian Pop radio program, head to Facebook and search for "JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment". Don't forget to support Mizz Wood, and head to her homepage www.mizzwood.com

Tonight, On JOY Pop - Live Radio 9pm

2011-03-09T02:00:00.002+11:00

On tonight's JOY Pop show, where myself and Kayne Lee bring one hour of Asian Pop music to the world, we will be sharing with you our favorite English hits by Asian artists. This is quite a hard thing to do, because there have been so many hits that have impacted the charts around the world over the last few decades, but regardless we will give it a go!
In this weeks '5 on T.O.P' where we focus on a special countdown, we will be looking at the top 5 songs by Asian artists to have an impact on the Australian music scene throughout the years.
Catch JOY Pop on JOY 94.9 every Wednesday night at 9pm Australian Eastern daylight savings time in Melbourne, and live online every week at www.joy.org.au. Just click on the listen live button and be tuned in at 9pm AEST!
Don't forget to become a friend on facebook. Check out 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' And don't forget to say hello and let us know where you are listening from, by emailing onair@joy.org.au or commenting on our Facebook page

This Weeks Number 1 J Pop Single - Arashi 'Lotus'

2011-03-08T08:00:00.004+11:00

Talk about reinvention. Arashi constantly have me stunned! How can one group which have been releasing tracks for well over eleven years, keep up with the times and how do they compete with the constant stream of new youthful boy bands that keep coming through that revolving door of the Japanese Pop industry?
Starting with their first album release in 2001 Arashi have given us an album every year right through til 2010, with the exception of 2009 where they released a best of album presenting their ten years of performing together.
Arashi (English translation - Storm) have done a brilliant job this time round, pleasing their fans who have been with them for the long haul, and picking up a few new followers with their new debut number one single "Lotus"
But sadly it's not all good news for the boys today.
News has been published in relation to the suicide of porn actress AYA which took place last October. The actress was known for dating four of the group members.
Japanese magazine "Weekly Jitsuwa" has referenced a disclosure book, which is hoped to shed some light on the reason behind her suicide.
Fans of the boys have been commenting on the recent aticle in forums this morning, with most stating they don't think the latest details of last October's events will do anything to ruin the reputation of the group.

How To Dance K Pop Style 2010 - Eat Your Kimchi

2011-03-07T21:00:00.003+11:00

Oh! Where does the time go. It's March 2011 and I have only now just seen Simon and Martina's 'How To Dance K Pop Style 2010'. As I have mentioned in a past Jasepop.com post, these two guys living in Korea helped introduce me to the world of K Pop loving with their YouTube videos aimed at helping new English teachers in Korea find their way in the big bad world of K Pop land... yeah I didn't know where I was going with that one either..
In fact the two guys from EatYourKimchi.com helped me immensely in my efforts to navigate through Korea myself in 2009, and for that I am thankful. But there video 'How To Dance K Pop Style 2008' was a video I kept going back to for more. It was hilarious. I was (as were many of their fans) excited to have them bring the best of K Pop moves in 2009 and now, again for the best moves in Korean music videos of 2010 as voted by the public through their website.
If you have not gone along to their website or their YouTube page yet, I strongly recommend it.

This Weeks Hong Kong Number 1 Album - Eason Chan

2011-03-07T08:00:00.003+11:00

Good to see Eason Chan still doing big things on the Hong Kong chart "Stranger Under My Skin" is his 2011 offering coming after last years successful "Taste The Atmosphere" and his amazing 'Duo' live concert, where he took his show as far as Melbourne. 'Stranger Under My Skin' contains the latest radio hit "Bitter Gourd" and also comes with a bonus disk of three hours of additional mando tracks. Ohh, and the extra disk includes Faye Wong, which should keepa few people I know happy!

Big Bang "T.O.P" The Chart

2011-03-04T13:10:00.002+11:00

Well done boys. Today you without a doubt are dominating the MNET music chartthis week. Would you believe that all five singles from Big Bang's mini album "Tonight" are this week in the top 6 songs on the chart.?At number 6 today is "Hands Up", followed by "Somebody To Love" at number 4. Sitting at number three this week is their single "What Is Right", number two "Cafe" and at number one, it is not hard to believe that the single (the name given to the mini album itself) this week at number one is "Tonight". See, I am not the only BB fan in the world. What other group in any country of the world could possibly do what these lads have done in Korea today?

Big Bang Tonight English Version?

2011-03-03T15:49:00.008+11:00

Great News, yes Big Bang is back. Baby Baby! Big Bang have returned with another Mini album, the first to make it to Korean shelves in nearly two years! The first single release is 'Tonight'. The MV was launched yesterday and it's already getting great feedback, as is the mini album's content. Most fans have come out excited about the quality of the mini album. Many though have raised the point that it is not much effort for the fans who have waited two years, but let's not forget that everyone of the boys have been working on solo albums or singles during this break. Most recently the baby of the group Seungri released his second solo track following on from his first solo single "Strong Baby" in 2008, GG and T.O.P have been creating magic in the form of a duo, Daesung brought us "Cotton Candy", and G Dragon's "Heartbreaker" album went nutso (nearly landing GD in jail in the process).
There are also rumours on allkpop.com today that the new single may be getting released in English which has English speaking K Pop fans going nutso. But the rumours could be true as G Dragon was spotted on film recording dance moves whilst singing to English "Tonight" lyrics, which some are saying could be for use on Big Bangs soo to be released 2011 Japanese album.

Hitz Have Bieber Fever

2011-03-03T08:00:00.003+11:00

It's true, Malaysia's Hit music station Hitz.FM have come down with Bieber fever, more so than anyone in the world I would say. It's hard to switch on Hitz and not hear then talk about Bieber some time within the space of 30 minutes. Hitz morning crew JJ and Ean were so devastated recently that Bieber failed to win a Grammy that they have started a campaign on Facebook to get one million people to "like" their Bieber page, and if they manage to get 1 million people to like the page, they are to award Beiber face to face with their own version of the Grammys award, "The Hammy" The Hitz crew explained Justin Bieber had the most viewed (and most discussed) video on YouTube over the past year, and cannot understand how he could not take out the top prize at the Grammys.
One may say it's just a little bit of promotional activity to remind listeners that Bieber is heading to Malaysia this year but who cares. The Hitz crew are having some fun with this and have taken things to the next level. All presents on the radio station have recorded a video sporting Bieber hairdo. Check out the video below!
You can help the Hitz crew with their efforts to reach 1,000,000 likes by searching for "Justin Bieber for Grammy by hitz.fm (Hammy)" on Facebook and clicking "like"

I'm Live on Radio Tonight, Tune In, Say Hello.

2011-03-02T16:28:00.004+11:00

Hey guys. I really hope you can join me tonight for my radio program "JOY Pop", where we are hosting a Mash Up special. A mix of tunes from Asia, mixed with the hits you know and love from the rest of the world. You might here a little bit of Flo Rida mixed with G Dragon, 2NE1 mixed with Black Eyed Peas... endless possibilities. Regardless, its gonna be a great deal of fun. Don't miss it. Tonight AEST 9pm on JOY 94,9 in Melb, www.joy.org.au/listenlive for the live stream worldwide.
Don't forget you can also join our Face book group to share your Asian Pop music lovin'. Just search for "JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment" and join!
Oh yes, and don't forget to email onair@joy.org.au whilst listening to our show tonighgt and let us know ehere you are listening from. We love it, crave it!

Going East, A No Go For Far East

2011-03-02T13:30:00.002+11:00

According to stuff.co.nz "Far East Movement" (who hit that charts in New Zealand with their hit "Like A G6") will not be making their way to the country anymore as part of their world tour and have cancelled their gig in light of the recent earthquake tragedy. The quake has so far claimed over 150 lives and the death toll is still on the rise.

In a statement FM were quoted as saying,

"Like everyone around the world we are deeply saddened by the news of the devastating earthquake in Christchurch.
"We understand that New Zealand is in a state of shock and mourning and we respect that all New Zealanders need to focus on their loved ones in Christchurch. For this reason we have decided to cancel our promotional trip to Auckland next week as we feel the timing is not appropriate.
"Our love and thoughts are with you New Zealand, and in particular with the brave people of Christchurch."

According to www.stuff.co.nz, the group have made a donation to the New Zealand Red Cross. Dressed in tuxedo's the guys recently opened for Rihanna on here Australian leg of her tour performing their hits "Like a G6", "Girls on the Dance floor" and third single "Rockateer".

The boys also have a new single out, "2 Is Better ft. Natalia Kills, Ya Boy". Take a listen and share your thoughts. Not sure if I am a fan of this one myself, but what could out do G6 really?

JOY POP Jade Shares Her Asian Travels & Music

2011-02-25T17:55:00.007+11:00

Last week I was lucky enough to have local talented artist Jade Leonard agree to coming in on my Asian Pop show on JOY 94.9, to share her travel stories and some live music with us. First off Jade shared stories about living in different areas of Asia, how they compare to one another, where she felt most comfortable and which were on the top of her favorites list. She also spoke a little about performing in countries of Asia. Then thankfully Jade performed a live version of her new single "Funny Bunny". Just before it was time to go Jade then performed a cover version of Lionel Richie's "Hello". Odd song choice you may say? Listen to the full interview and Jades two full tracks below, and don't forget to tune in to JOY Pop Wednesday nights 9pm AEST at joy.org.au for your live Asian Pop Music fix, with myself and co-host Kayne Lee. Send your song requests to 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' on Facebook, and remember to take a looksie at www.jadeleonard.com.
Oh yeah, and we look forward to Jade's return soon where she has agreed to attempt an Asian Pop cover. Great news!

Copy this link to hear the full interview with live performance.
http://www.box.net/shared/vedxyp69ci

Let It Rain

2011-02-20T16:45:00.004+11:00

I've been meaning to whack this clip up on to my blog to show you some footage of Melbourne's 'big wet'. Reading from outside of Australia you may not be aware of the drought that we Victorians have been going through, that is until recently. For around 13 years we have been subject to water restrictions and we even got to the point where out showers were timed, meaning being water wise was of great importance. But for the last year now, we have experienced the reverse of this, and it's started to rain once again, granted a little too much.
A few weeks ago, I was less that one kilometer from my home when suddenly it started pouring with rain. Now, I have been to Malaysia 7 times now and I know what a downpour is. This out did anything I have seen whilst in KL. Within minutes the streets were flooded and there were all sorts of objects floating past out car.
Whilst sitting at the red lights in Camberwell Junction, this is what we saw (video taken from a bystander) We would have been sitting right here about a minute or two before, and glad we kept pushing through.

Here's the same section of road, from the view of another car making its way through the junction. Notice the tram pushing through the flood waters. The final clip I have added here shows the same tram later, about 50 meters from my front door, which made news headlines internationally.

Here's another view of the stream of water coming down Burke Road Camberwell, in which we were caught in..

Another amazing view of the flood waters sweeping along Riversdale Road, about 100 meters from where we were parked in the intersection..

And finally, here is the last clip, the closest to my home, we were lucky to get through there just before this footage was taken. I quickly went home, got changed then five minutes later I headed off for my mothers birthday dinner. Strangely enough two years ago on the same weekend we had out most devastating natural disaster ever, where over 150 people had their lives taken due to the Black Saturday fires.
You will notice the Post office, up until last weekend, I live behind these buildings.

My Radio Show Featured in Newspaper Today

2011-02-03T08:00:00.004+11:00

To be taken directly to the article online, click on the blog entry title above.
My co host Kayne and I are absolutely wrapped to be featured in today's Southern Star Newspaper, in Melbourne. Star is a free publication and can be picked up almost everywhere in Melbourne and surrounding suburbs. Thanks to reporter Andie Noonan for your support and for all who have gotten behind 'JOY Pop', my spin off of this very blog, Jasepop.com. Whoo!
Lifted from Southern Star Newspaper 3/2/11
ASIAN POP MAKES A JOYFUL CHANGE
Not too fussed with Britney’s latest offering? Feeling a bit Gaga’d out? It may be time to look across continents for your latest shot of pop music madness — and it seems Asian pop is shaping up to be the next frontier for chart-toppers.
Last week SBS Radio launched its new Asian pop hits show. Well ahead of the game, two presenters on Melbourne GLBTI radio station JOY94.9 FM have started a show dedicated to playing the best pop from the Asian region.
Jason ‘Jase’ Gipps, a presenter with JOY for six years, and fellow Asian pop fanatic Kayne, now host the show of their dreams — Joy Pop — every Wednesday.
Gipps describes the pair as “two Caucasian lads who’ve come down with Asian pop fever”.
“Sometime I think I’m taking my Asian pop obsession too far,” Gipps told the Star Observer.
“But once I found Kayne it made me feel human again because he is, to the max, crazy about it, to the point he’s learnt Korean because he thinks the music is just amazing.”
Gipps said it was during a trip to South-East Asia in 2007 that he first stepped into a whole new dimension of pop music.
“I tuned into MTV Asia and Channel V China while I was there and thought, this is interesting, this is pretty upbeat and colourful and fun.
“It’s one of those moments — you find something underground and nobody knows about it and you do get into it for that reason and then you want to share it with people.”
Gipps said he and Kayne want to show the JOY audience there’s much more to pop than just the UK and American markets.
“We’re trying to showcase music from everywhere… we really try to get a mix from Japanese to Korean, Filipino, we’ve played Malaysian music, a bit of Indonesian, so really focusing on South-East Asia.”
But Gipps said it’s now Korean pop (or K-Pop) sending young fans screaming.
“Japan really had the market … the rest of Asia was focusing on, so they had a big industry.
“But if you look at Google Trends, about a year ago it changed from J-Pop to K-Pop, and Korea’s really taken over.”
Gipps said he thinks Asian pop will appeal to gay and lesbian listeners.
“I think it will, let’s not pigeonhole people, but there’s obviously a fair chunk of the gay community that like to have their dance music and they like a pumpy beat. Feedback so far from people has said, ‘I would not go out of my way to listen to this music but I’ve found myself listening tonight because it’s so upbeat and fun’.”
Gipps said some K-Pop clips can also feature some surprising boy-on-boy action.
“One of my old workmates sent me a clip of Super Junior,” he said. “They are basically a group of 13 guys, and the clip has a lot of colour and is a lot of fun and there’s a bit of kissing each other.
“Watching them, you may be led to believe that Korea is gay-friendly and then you travel to Korea. It’s actually quite depressing — they’re not (all) accepted there, so it was quite a lot of shell shock when I got there.”

info: Tune into Joy Pop on Wednesdays from 9pm.
Visit www.joy.org.au

A Gift From A Distant Friend

2011-02-02T07:00:00.004+11:00

Yesterday, I received a gift from the lad who first introduced me to Super Junior. Dan Vo was a work mate of mine at JOY 94.9 in Melbourne for many years but mid year 2010, he decided to journey (perhaps of self discovery)eventually touching down in England. It was Super Juniors 'Happiness' music video that introduced me to a world of colour, and fun and I am always grateful for my friend Dan introducing me to the popular boy band, and further more, to Korean Pop artists. All the way from London, direct to 'Joy Pop', I was sent a compilation album of 37 Korean hits, published by M Net. I look forward to sharing it with you and my listeners on 'JOY Pop' next Wednesday night. Don't forget that tonight is our Chinese New Year Eve special, where we are playing nothing but Mando and Canto hits from more recent times, through to the classics. JOY Pop can be heard on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne every Wednesday night in Melbourne and online at joy.org.au/listen live at 9pm Australian Eastern Daylight savings time.
Thanks for your support Dan Vo.

Indo Rocker Gets Jail Sentance Over Porno Video.

2011-02-01T18:00:00.003+11:00

Indonesian favorite, the front man of Peter Pan has recieved a jail sentance for a sex tape that has been circulated on the internet. He will be in prision for more than 3 years under anti-pornographic laws that were introduced in Indonesia in 2008. The star claims his innocence. Here's part of a news article that made its way to The Age Newspaper website in Melbourne, Australia...
An Indonesian court on Monday jailed one of Southeast Asia's biggest rock stars for more than three years after sex tapes of him with two television celebrities appeared online. The sentence drew howls of outrage from singer Nazril Ariel's fans in the court and across the Malay-speaking world, while the "freeariel" hashtag shot to the top list of trending topics on Twitter.
The 29-year-old.. was sentenced to three and a half years in jail for "giving an opportunity for others to spread, produce and prepare a pornographic video", the judges said in their verdict. Islamist hardliners pelted the police van with rotten eggs and tomatoes as he was escorted to the court..
Stick-wielding Islamists later beat people on the street outside the court as tempers flared and police struggled to control the two sides. Wearing a dark green sweater over a white pinstriped shirt, Ariel looked calm as the sentence was handed down. He told reporters who mobbed him as he was being led back into custody that he would consider an appeal. "I'll think about it," he said.
His fans in court, mostly young women, let out a collective cry...
Muslim protesters also complained that the sentence was too light for a man they see as a threat to the moral fabric of the nation of 240 million people, 80 percent of whom are Muslims. (theage.com.au)

For video news, check out this clip. A news buletin from www.newsy.com

Indonesian Rock Star Sentenced to Prison for Sex Tapes - The best bloopers are here

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-01-31T19:17:00.004+11:00

To celebrate Chinese New Year, on my radio program 'JOY Pop' on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, we will be having a Chinese New Year special. Along with my co-host Kayne, we will be playing nothing but your favorite Canto and Mando Pop hits to take you through the night this Wednesday to the new year, on the following day. If you have a song you would like to hear played on this very special show, please send your requests below in the comments section and we will do our best to get them on.
Remember you can catch our Asian Pop program each week on Wednesdays at 9pm through til 10pm Australian Eastern daylight savings time, at www.joy.org.au/listenlive. Head to Facebook to join our group 'JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment' for updates and details on our Twitter account too!
Happy Chinese New Year, 2011!

Album review Mizz Nina's 'What You Waiting For'

2011-01-25T12:35:00.005+11:00

Last week my housemate came home with Mizz Nina's album 'What You Waiting For'. Those unaware, Mizz Nina is from Malaysia and she had a massive hit this time last year in MY with her first single release 'What You Waiting For', the album being of the same name. The single featured Colby O'Donis, you may remember his vocals from Lady Ga Ga's 'Just Dance'. The single certainly worked in Malaysia and got a heaps of airplay on local top 40 radio station Hitz.FM, but it didn't really make all that much of a tint on the markets outside of the Malaysian boarders. The single however was added to JOY 94.9's play list in Melbourne, Australia and Mizz Nina was featured on my drive program 'The Chase', a phone interview that took place in July, 2010 on the station.
The album is one in which you can put it in your player, and not think much at all about changing the track. The first song you'll hear is 'Away With You'. A great beat and some very fun vocals. This one is infectious. In fact the lyrics are part of my Facebook stat update today. You know you've made it when people are quoting your lyrics on FB and Twitter! This song showcases a little of her rapping skills, which she is obviously more comfortable with considering she is a Rapper, rather a Pop singer. Its a good mix of her two sides.
Track 2 moves on to a song titled 'Yesterday'. It's very much, more of an R&B flavour. "You're So Yesterday", yet another memorable line to get stuck in your head while Mizz Nina sings of her longing to be showered in roses.
Then we come to Pinda Minda. One of those songs that can be summed up in one word, 'Hot'. Sadly for me, it's in Malay and I have no idea what its about! Good thing I have a Bahasa Malaysian translator at home!
'Let Me C U Get It' sends off a Snoop Dogg music vibe, with lyrics close to that of Lil Kim, just a little less.. 'trash hoe'. After all Mizz Nina is the kind of lady you'd bring home to your Mum, that way inclined. Perhaps a little like Australian Jessica Maulboy.
'Sometime' featuring Dandee is something reminiscent of a Korean Pop song featuring music from a K Pop rapper. It just fits, and is very loungy.
Finally, 'Never Leave You Behind' reminds me why I looved listening to early Lauren Hill (Think Doo Wop - That Thing). Well worth a listen if you like those guys. Very chilled out.
Over all I give Mizz Nina's album an 8/10. You'll put it on, you'll listen to it in the background while cooking and you'll love it. To the point that you will forget half the songs are not English, but it won't seem to matter. Just a shame that there really isn't a pop song that can follow on for commercial release in the way that 'What You Waiting For' could, in my opinion.

15 Dishes - Indian Curry

2011-01-24T23:41:00.003+11:00

So I'm running a little behind in my attempts to learn 15 new dishes in 15 days, but help is at hand. My best friend Larissa came over to encourage me, and by using a recipe from a mutual friend Caitlin, we were able to create my first ever attempt at a curry! Quite surprised, it turned out perfectly.
It contained Pumpkin, Cauliflower, Rogan Josh paste,, cloves, Garlic, Onion (whoops we forgot the onion), chick peas and coriander.
Amazing stuff. Well done Caitlin. Next time you must come over and cook with us! 12 more dishes to go! I'd better get a move on now!

Asian Pop Addict: [About] Asian Pop Addict

2011-01-20T15:18:00.000+11:00

Asian Pop Addict: [About] Asian Pop Addict: "So what's Asian Pop Addict, you ask? It's a weekly podcast radio show where every fan girl (or fan boy- we know you're out there!) can ge..."
Just thought I'd drop you guys a line. We have just started presenting what we believe is the only Asian Pop Music Program from a Gay and Lesbian perspective, in the world. Check it out sometime. All the details are on our Facebook group, JOY Pop - The Asian Pop Experiment, or my blog www.jasepop.com Would love to hear from you!

15 Dishes in 15 Days - Day 2

2011-01-19T00:04:00.004+11:00

As I mentioned yesterday I have set myself a personal challenge, to learn 15 new food dishes, in as many days. Day two arrived and I decided that after a 2.5 hour long lasagna last night, I'd go for something a little quicker. It's quite the challenge to spend 2 hours cooking (plus shopping time), after a 10 hour day at work. regardless, I opted for 'Asparagus and Tofu Stir Fry'. Don't hold it against me, but I choose to follow Curtis' recipe on the Coles Super Market website. http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/506/asparagus-and-tofu-stir-fry/.
Silly me picked up 2 bunches of Chinese Broccoli, rather than a Buk Choy, and I couldn't track down fresh chili as there we none left in the Supermarket, so I used hot Chili Sauce.
Not as good as last nights lasagna, but a pass. 5/10
Now to keep me motivated for tomorrow's dishs, random 'foodish fun' with Super Junior...

Where's the K Pop loving Sydney?

2011-01-18T08:35:00.000+11:00

Last week on the 12th of January in celebrating the 50 year relationship between our beautiful country Australia and our friend Korea (anniversary of Korea-Australia diplomatic relations), a concert was held in our nations largest city, Sydney, New South Wales.
Luckily for those that attended THE FREE CONCERT, which was mighty hard to get tickets to I might add, the audience got to see the ever popular K Pop boys SHINee, the ‘Emperor of Ballad’ Shin SeungHun, as well as Son HoYoung of Korean band G.O.D.
Approximately 2,000 tickets were sold to the event and thousands more put their hands up for the chance to see their favorite Korean Wave stars but sadly missed out.
Reports show that there were also 25 people at the event from local media organisations but to date I have found it extremely hard to find any write ups in the local press. Which just goes to show that us die hards here in Australia have so much work to do to help promote this music and the groups we adore.
There was however one great write up by the 'Fairfield Advance' newspaper which is good to see. You can check out this article by following this link.
http://fairfield-advance.whereilive.com.au/your-news/story/hallyu-strikes-town/
In other SHINee news, a female Serbian singer, Jelena Karleusa has been thought to have ripped off SHINee's hit “Lucifer.” What are your thoughts? Take a listen to both and decide for yourself.

15 Dishes in 15 Days

2011-01-17T23:19:00.003+11:00

The die hards will kill me for writing about anything other than Asian pop music, but please let me indulge. After all, it's my blog! lol. I have set myself a task to learn 15 new dishes in 15 days. In a little over a month I will be shacking up with one who is quite the cook, so at the risk of having nothing to contribute to the home I have decided to set myself this challege. Beginning with a classic and a favorite, Vegetarian lasagna (baby steps people). Can't believe I have only just attempted this.
It involved browning the Onion, Mushroom, Garlic, Eggplant, cooking for 15 minutes, followed by simmering the tomato, tomato paste and the milk and cranberry juice (a substitution for red wine in which I forgot) plus whatever frsh herbs I had in my Veggie patch out the front.
Once cooked for 30 minutes, the sauce I had created was to be used in layers along with the remaining Ricotta, Parmesan, and Mozz cheese.
May I just say, OMG, its the best Lasagna I have eaten. I simply can't believe this went well. Only downside was sprinkling the Ricotta on the top, it slightly burnt.
One down, 14 to go! How about some Asian dishes? What would you guys recommend I cook? Got any recipes? Jase.

2011 Begins with Big Bang

2011-01-17T09:00:00.000+11:00

Yes yes, everyone is going Ga Ga about TVXQ's return single and yes it is amazing. But look out TVXQ, Big Bang is about to touch down, and they are landing full force.
Over the last 18 months, Big Bang has been making a wave (a Korean Wave, lol) in Japan with hits like Gara Gara Go, Tell Me Goodbye and crowd favorite Beautiful Hangover (ok, Jase's favorite at least). But Korean fans have been on the edge of their seats waiting for news on the next album in their home country.
Fans can now be at ease with the knowledge that a date has now been set for the album to be released on February 24, and the boys have decided that instead of performing the usual comeback stage type show on television, they will be opting for full scale concerts '2011 BIG SHOW‘ on February 25th through 27th.
The group have decided that they want to showcase their whole album, rather than just selection of new tracks on a television program, and I can't agree with their approach more. They say there fans deserve it, but I can't help but think it MIGHT have something to do with ticket sales.
In the meantime, the lad I dub 'Baby Bang' Seungri, the youngest member of the group releases his solo work very soon, in fact we can expect to see the official music video on the 20th, four days from now. Will it be more popular with the public than GD and T.O.P's recent efforts. I think it will. Check out the teaser video below.

JASE POP GOES JOY POP

2011-01-12T17:46:00.005+11:00

Two months ago I decided I wanted to take my blog to the airwaves so I gathered many helpful hands, put in a program proposal and before you know it, I was told that we could present our very own Asian Pop themed show on JOY 94.9 in Melbourne. My regular blog readers will be aware that I have worked at JOY 94.9 for 3 years, and volunteered in total as a presenter for over 6 years. I have presented various programs from quite literally the Breakfast Show, to JOY's Drive show. We now I get the chance to present a new show, one of my own conception, an Asian Pop Music program that not only introduces songs by artists many in Melbourne and the JOY community would be unaware of, it will also link Melbourne's GLBTIQ community with those in Asia's community. Exciting stuff. Many have raised their hands to take part i this program, be it a recording artist from South East Asia bringing us regular updates on the industry in Malaysia, through Arts and Culture reports from Taipei. Plus regular updates from those in the know, sharing the movers in the J Pop, K pop and Thai music scene, just to get the ball started.
An Asian Pop show is a fair different road to take, considering my first ever program proposal on the same radio station was for an Australian music based program by the name of 'The Local'. Little did I know when deciding on the name of that one that a leading commercial radio station in the same city, had a program of the same name!
Thankfully a very important person to help complete this Rosy little picture deserves a mention here. A good friend of mine now, whom i met through other K Pop crazed people in Melbourne, Kayne Lee will be helping to drive JOY Pop as my co-host.
Kayne only just made his radio debut last night on the Tuesday Drive Program on JOY to preview the first show that kicks off tonight, almost a radio virgin.
we hope you can join us for the first live JOY Pop program which begins today. Catch us weekly on Wednesdays 9 to 10pm Australian Eastern Daylight Savings time via the web at www.joy.org.au/listenlive. Choose your preferred player and catch us each week.
As the show grows, we plan to podcast too so keep coming back to JasePop.com, and listen to JOYPop on JOY 94.9.

Merry Christmas to my Friends & Family.

2010-12-17T20:27:00.002+11:00

I may have failed (temporarily) as a blogger, but I'm trying to win you back now, by recording you a Christmas Message. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Lots of Love, Jason (aka Jase-Pop)

Am I Rice Queen 2010? LOL.

2010-10-29T00:02:00.006+11:00

I have decided to enter a little competition in Melbourne, which has been held for the last 17 years. The competition is really centred around Asian guys of Melbourne strutting their stuff on stage and showing off the goods.. but there is also a round each year titled 'Rice Queen of the year'. This is the round that reflects the Caucasians who support the Asian community of our city. I decided last year whilst watching the competition that it would give me something to work towards from a fitness perspective, trying to bulk up over the year leading up to this years event. All was going well until around March this year, when I had a small bicycle accident whilst riding to work along the Yarra river. A bunch of school students riding toward me were not watching the on coming traffic and before I knew it, I was air born with a lovely flipping action, landing on my back. It stopped me from going to the gym for about 2 months, then I had to kick off training again very slowly so I didn't further injure myself. As the months flew past quickly, I found out that the round I wanted to participate in was to be held on November 10th. 4 weeks ago I decided I needed a kick start so I decided that I'd seek the help of a personal trainer and protein shakes. I'm on track, but I am exhausted. With the help of my friends ensuring that I don't eat junk food for the next two weeks leading up to the first round, I might just be in with a chance.
In the first round I must 'dress to impress', followed by dress to symbolise 'East meeting West', showing off a connection to my favorite Asian country (no doubt this will be something Korean), followed by perhaps a military get up!. Hello!
I'll keep you posted in the two weeks leading up to the event. Part of this competition is my getting support through online voting. I will let you know how you can support me in this way soon. Thanks guys for your help in advance! As you know I am a strong supporter of Asian music artists and the Asian community in general so it would be great to get a little love from you guys in support of the competition

'FM' Rocket Up Chart Like a G6 Baby!

2010-10-28T20:20:00.004+11:00

Can you believe this? I can. 'Far East Movement brings the Asian invasion to the pop charts' (The Canadian Press) Wow! I have written about Far East Movement previously on Jase Pop, and for good reason, I freakin love their work! Such a fan of their song 'Girls on The Dance floor' I pushed for the song to be added to the JOY 94.9 play list and it was whacked it on the following week! (I currently work at JOY 94.9 in Melbourne, Australia). I've also had my resident DJ on my drive time program DJ Shigga, include their music on exclusive mash ups on our Tuesday afternoon program.
So it's fitting to tell you that the LA based group made up of all Asian gentlement,a Chinese/Japanese American, two Korean American's and one Filipino American, have made it to the top of the billboard chart with their single 'Like a G6'. Originally noticed in the US for their single 'Round Round' with was used for the Hollywood movie 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'. The guys this year also support Robyn, Kelis and Lady Ga Ga in their tours.

Eat Your Kimchi!

2010-10-27T11:25:00.004+11:00

So I have spoken about thee guys before and I think they are a riot. They are English teachers in South Korea from Canada, and they love their K-Pop. In fact, when I was planning my trip to Korea last year these guys were an amazing help to me. They gave their subscribers tips on getting around on the subway, places to eat, things to see and do. But it was one of their video's from 2008 that originally got my attention and helped the K-pop storm grown within me. If you search back through Jase Pop to one of my earliest blog entries you will see my write up on their YouTube video 'How to Dance K-Pop style'. They released a similar video late last year to showcase their favorite Korean hits of 2009. Now days not only do the Canadian couple share helpful tips on living and working in Korea, they review new music video's from today's big Korean stars. I;m going to share these with you every week now, and I thought I would take this opportunity to bring you up to speed with some of their funniest clips. In the mix, SHINee and B5ST. Enjoy! I know I do!

K-Pop Takes Over Bollywood.

2010-10-18T14:53:00.000+11:00

Appologies for the delayed updates on jasepop.com. Last week was the busiest work week I have experienced this year thus far. I will update more regualary from here on in.
Here to get things started is a clip from the BBC televison service, a report on how the Korean culture, it's movies and music are becoming more present in India, than it's Bollywood that it is more famous for. So interested in Korean culture are the residents in one particluar area of India, it's people explain that they feel more in touch with Korean lifestyle, than they do the Indian culture. Notice the BBC reporter takes a stroll to the Korean DVD stand where his first selection happend to be the very popular Boys Before Flowers, a series in which I picked up at my own local market here in Melbourne, Australia and thoroughly enjoyed.

2010-10-06T13:10:00.006+11:00

Don't forget to pencil this one into your diary guys.
It's not far away now. Remember that this coming Saturday night sees Amber lounge celebrating the K-Musik festival with an after party, and an appearance by Korean rock girl group NIA. Ohh, so exciting to have some Korean pop stars coming to Melbourne on the verge of a group that is really about to take Asia by storm. Catch DJ Shigga and the guys at Amber Lounge in Melbourne this Saturday night from 10pm, 388 Lonsdale Street, City.
Don't forget to check out Shigga's home page at www.shigga.com, add him on Facebook by searching "Shigga 시가 Shigga" and get along to see him in action. As you can see on the banner you even get to play video games.
Remember to tune in to JOY 94.9 in Melbourne every Tuesday at 5:55pm for an exclusive music mix from DJ Shigga, presented weekly on my radio program "The Chase". Hear it worldwide at www.joy.org.au/listenlive. We are a strong supporter of English songs by Asian artists.

'Black Eyed Peas' Filipino Hits

2010-10-05T12:48:00.002+11:00

Here's something I was not aware of until today. Did you know that Black Eyed Peas have recorded 3 different Filipino tracks? It's true. A Filipino song has been recorded on each of their album releases from 2003's "Elephunk", their 2005 release of the amazingly successful "Monkey Business" and the more recent album in 2009 that took the world by storm "The E.N.D".
I first heard their Filipino track "Bebot" this morning listening to "Pop Asia" whilst in the shower, lol. It's where I do a good chunk of my research, ha! Filipino's correct me if I'm wrong, but it roughly translates in English to the words "Hot Chick". "The Apl Song" recorded in 2003 is a tribute by BEP's rapper Apl.De's Filipino heritage, as are the other two. I love finding songs like this. I had no idea that such songs were recorded, as I'm usually not one for purchasing western albums. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Black Eyed Peas, but really only know about their single releases.
It's good to see an artist being proud of their heritage and sharing with the world, their love for their home country. Stay tuned for MY soon to be released track about growing up in Narre Warren, lol.