EXILE continues to sell big after doubling their member size with members from J-Soul Brothers. Their new double A-sided single THE MONSTER-Someday- released on April 15 recorded initial weekly sales of 172,000 copies, giving the 14-member EXILE a welcome new start with an Oricon #1 hit. This marks the third consecutive #1 single for the band after last year's The Birthday - Ti Amo - and Last Christmas. Including THE MONSTER-Someday-, EXILE now has seven #1 singles under their belt.

Best known for his role as F4's Mimasaka Akira in the TBS drama Hana Yori Dango, Chinese-Japanese actor Abe Tsuyoshi announced his marriage with Chinese actress Shi Ke on April 27. The 27 year-old actor met his Shi during the shooting of the film Stand In Love.

Text / Snoopy

The lineup for the 62nd Cannes Film Festival was announced on April 23. This year's Cannes, which will be held from May 13 to May 24, features a virtual who's who of world auteurs, with films from Ken Loach, Quentin Tarantino, Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodovar, Michel Gondry, and Jane Campion as well as Asia's own Ang Lee, Johnnie To, Park Chan Wook, Tsai Ming Liang, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Bong Joon Ho, and Pen-ek Ratanaruang.

Twenty films are up for the Palme d'Or, six of which are from Asian filmmakers. Mainland Chinese director Lou Ye returns to Cannes three years after his Summer Palace caused a wave of controversy, and earned him a ban at home for screening at the festival without Beijing approval. His new feature Spring Fever, a Chinese- French co-production, was filmed secretly in Nanjing in defiance of the ban. Taiwan filmmaker Tsai Ming Liang sticks with his arthouse aesthetics and perennial muse Lee Kang Sheng in Face, which follows a Taiwan director who travels to the Louvre to shoot a film exploring the Salome myth. Hong Kong director Johnnie To also stays to the genre he knows best with crime thriller Vengeance starring French rocker Johnny Hallyday.

Ang Lee goes back to Hollywood to direct Taking Woodstock, an adaptation of Elliot Tiber's memoir set during the iconic summer of 1969. Korean maverick Park Chan Wook, whose Old Boy won the Grand Prix in 2004, brings the vampire tale Thirst starring Song Kang Ho as a priest-turned-bloodsucker. Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza competes for the second consecutive year with his new kidnap thriller Kinatay. Also in competition for top honors is Spanish director Isabel Coixet's Map of the Sounds of Tokyo, which is set in Japan and stars Babel's Kikuchi Rinko.

Kore-eda Hirokazu's Air Doll, Bong Joon Ho's Mother, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Nymph, and Raya Martin's Independence are screening in the Un Certain Regard category. Raya Martin's twin bill with Adolfo Alix Jr., Manila, will also be shown in special screenings, making it the first time a Filipino filmmaker has had two films at Cannes. Mainland director Zhao Liang's Petition is also being screened out of competition.

This year's Cannes jury is chaired by French actress Isabella Huppert, and the jury includes Korean director Lee Chang Dong, and Taiwan actress Shu Qi. Pixar's Up will be the first ever animated film to open the Cannes Film Festival, while French director Jan Kounen's Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky will do the closing honors.

Text / Sanwei

Lam Seung Yee, the iconic Hong Kong soccer commentator and comic actor better known as "Ah Suk" (Uncle in Cantonese), was found dead in his home on April 23. He was 74.

A former soccer player and coach, Ah Suk was perhaps the most revered soccer commentator in Hong Kong in the last couple of decades. His trademark voice and witty commentary style have endeared him to generations of soccer fans. His career as a comic actor also owed much to his deadpan delivery of often-improvised dialogs. Between the Stephen Chow blockbuster Fight Back to School II in 1992 and the Herman Yau romantic comedy Herbal Tea in 2004, Ah Suk scored almost a hundred movie and TV drama acting gigs, his most popular role being the priest in the Young and Dangerous series. Retired in 2006 after hosting the World Cup live broadcasting program for TVB, Ah Suk's sudden death came as a blow to soccer and movie fans alike.

Text / dian

The 28th Hong Kong Film Awards were held on April 19. Wilson Yip's martial arts biopic Ip Man beat out Red Cliff, CJ7, Painted Skin, and The Way We Are for Best Film honors. The film also picked up Best Action Choreography for Leung Siu Hung and Sammo Hung, who also happened to be the award's presenter along with the other members of the Seven Little Fortunes. Ip Man leading man Donnie Yen, however, lost out in the highly contested Best Actor race to Nick Cheung for The Beast Stalker, which also won Best Supporting Actor for Liu Kai Chi. Ann Hui's low-budget critic's favorite The Way We Are, the only solely Hong Kong-invested production in the Best Film race, won Best Director and Best Screenplay, as well as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for veterans Paw Hee Ching and Chan Lai Wun, respectively.

CJ7 child actress Xu Jiao, who lit the firecrackers that kicked off the award ceremony's opening lion-dance performance, was named Best New Performer, while Derek Kwok picked up Best New Director for The Moss. John Woo's epic war film Red Cliff, which led in nominations, took home the most awards, though all in technical categories: Best Art Direction, Best Costume & Makeup Design, Best Sound Design, Best Visual Effects, and Best Original Film Score. Gordon Chan's Painted Skin won in Best Cinematography and Best Original Film Song. Best Asian Film was given to Feng Xiaogang's Assembly.

Sixties movie icon and two-time HKFA Best Actress winner Josephine Siao was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Director Wong Kar Wai presented the award, and Stephen Chow, who did not attend the ceremony, narrated her tribute clip. As 2009 also marks the 100th anniversary of Hong Kong Cinema, Infernal Affairs, The Eye, Days of Being Wild, and A Better Tomorrow version parody clips of Hong Kong's first film "Steal Roasted Duck" were shown at the ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by Eric Tsang and a round robin of co-hosts including Teresa Mok, Vincent Kok, Wong Cho Lam, Lam Tze Chung, Tenky Tin, Michelle Lo, Chin Kar Lok, Fan Siu Wong, Denise Ho, Kay Tse, and Sandra Ng.

Text / Sanwei

Popular Korean duo Fly to the Sky gave their final Korea performance on April 12, concluding 10 years of K-pop success. Formed by Brian Joo and Fany (a.k.a. Hwan Hee), Fly to the Sky made their debut in 1999 under powerhouse talent agency SM Entertainment, with whom the group remained until 2004 when they switched to PFull Entertainment. The duo celebrated their tenth anniversary this year, making them one of K-pop's longest-running idol groups. With the release of their eighth album Decennium in February, however, Fly to the Sky also announced that they would not renew their management contract, and that Decennium would be their last official album.

Though Fly to the Sky are not officially disbanded, Brian and Fany, now signed to different agencies, have expressed they are parting ways to focus on solo careers. Wrapping up activities for their album, the duo gave a series of farewell performances in early April, bowing out on April 12 with a final appearance on music program SBS Inkigayo, where they sang their debut single Day by Day and their last single Restriction.

Brian and Fany will continue to stay active in the entertainment industry as solo artists. Fany is planning to release a solo album later this year, while Brian is returning to his native United States in May to begin shooting for a Hollywood action comedy.

Text / Sanwei

The 2008 Hong Kong IFPI Gold Disc Awards, which distributes awards based on album sales, were presented on April 11. Superstar Andy Lau walked away with six awards, including Best Selling Hong Kong Male Artist and Best Selling Cantonese Album for his Wonderful World Concert Tour Hong Kong 2007 live album. His 2007 release Everyone Is No. 1 and Mandarin live album Wonderful World Concert Tour Shanghai also made it into the Top 10 Best Selling Cantonese and Mandarin Albums shortlists. Joey Yung was named the Best Selling Hong Kong Female Artist, with two of her albums in the Top 10.

The remaining eight top-selling artists were Aaron Kwok, Leo Ku, Stephy Tang, Kary Ng, Denise Ho, Ivana Wong, Vincy Chan, and Raymond Lam, whose 2007 and 2008 albums both made it into the Top 10 sellers. Fellow TVB crossover singers Myolie Wu and Linda Chung received Best Selling Newcomer awards along with G.E.M., William Chan, RubberBand, and Square. Best Selling Mandarin Album went to Taiwan boy band Fahrenheit's 2 Face. The other Top 10 Mandarin releases belonged to S.H.E., Show Luo, Lollipop, Yoga Lin, Andy Lau, and Twins. Japanese boy band w-inds.' Seventh Ave and Single Collection Best Eleven were the Best Selling Japanese/Korean Albums.

There are some glaring omissions from this year's Hong Kong IFPI Gold Disc Awards recipients as four major music labels - Universal, Sony BMG, Warner, and EMI - pulled out of the IFPI last year so their records and artists, including big sellers like Jay Chou and Eason Chan, are not accounted for in the calculations.

Text / Sanwei

Pop diva Koda Kumi and her younger sister misono joined forces for the single It's All Love!. Their efforts have paid off as their single released on March 31 shot to Oricon's #1 position. It's All Love! is the first Oricon #1 hit by a sibling group since Dancing Sister/I'm in the Mood for Dancing by Irish band The Nolans in July 1980. Koda Kumi and misono are also the first sibling group to reach Oricon's #1 spot in the initial week.

It's All Love! reached first-week sales of 74,000 copies and follows Koda Kumi's #1 hit single stay with me released on December 24, 2008. misono previously only scored #2 hits with her former band day after tomorrow, so It's All Love! is her very first #1 hit.

Text / Snoopy

After a dip into darker territory in Derek Yee's yakuza drama film Shinjuku Incident, Jackie Chan returns to his favorite action comedy genre with his latest Chinese movie Big Soldier, bringing some fresher faces to the attention of the world. Shot in Yunnan, China with a modest price tag of US$25 million, the period actioner has wrapped principal photography, and should begin its theatrical run sometime in 2009.

Jackie introduced the main cast and crew members at the press conference held in Beijing last week. Director Ding Sheng only made his feature film debut last year with The Underdog Knight, but he had previously shot several commercials with Jackie, and the two clicked. Out of Jackie's new co-stars, the most well-known is sure to be Taiwan pop king Leehom Wang (Lust, Caution). Playing female lead is newcomer Lin Peng, who performed at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics last year. Other main cast includes Korean singer Yoo Seung Jun, and Jackie's disciples known as the "New Seven Little Fortunes".

The film is set in the Warring States Period of ancient China, and the plot involves an older soldier capturing a young general from a rival state, and then embarking on a fight-filled adventure. According to Jackie, the story idea has been brewing in his mind for 20 years. At first he saw himself in the "Small General" role, but when the story finally got made two decades later, he had to vacate that role and take the "Big Soldier" role instead. While he was undecided over the casting of his co-star, Mrs. Jackie Chan (Lin Feng Jiao) made her preference heard, and Leehom beat Jaycee Chan and Daniel Wu for the role.

Text / dian

Speed Racer, Dragonball: Evolution, and the forthcoming Blood: The Last Vampire are only the beginning of Hollywood's budding love affair with anime and manga as there are plenty more live-action adaptations to come. Mandalay Pictures just picked up rights for Gatoh Shoji's light novel series Full Metal Panic!, a high school action comedy that has been adapted into manga and anime. High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron is reportedly in the talks to star as the hero, an anti-terrorist mercenary tasked to protect a schoolgirl with special powers.

Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way is planning on adapting two anime classics, Otomo Katsuhiro's post-apocalyptic cyberpunk masterpiece Akira and Kawajiri Yoshiaki's Ninja Scroll. A self-professed anime fan, DiCaprio recently expressed that he's interested in casting Japanese actors for the films, and pop superstars SMAP are among the names being considered for Ninja Scroll. Watchmen screenwriter Alex Tse is scripting the revenge actioner about a mercenary ninja in feudal Japan. The live-action Akira, meanwhile, has been in speculative limbo since remake rights were acquired, but it's tapped as a two-parter with Ruairi Robinson directing.

Keanu Reeves is reportedly playing the leading role of bounty hunter Spike Spiegal in the adaptation of futuristic sci-fi anime western Cowboy Bebop. Other live-action anime remakes in the Hollywood rumor mill include Warner Brothers' Robotech, last attached to Tobey Maguire and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and Ghost in the Shell, which was licensed by DreamWorks.

Text / Sanwei

The highly anticipated big-budget Taiwan police drama Black & White starring F4's Vic Chou will begin broadcast on April 11 on PTS. Boasting a budget of over NT$80 million (US$2.4 million), PTS's tenth anniversary drama reunites Vic Chou with Meteor Garden and Mars director Tsai Yueh Hsun for an ambitious buddy cop action thriller. With its grand cast, tightly wrought storyline, and large-scale action scenes, the scope and style of Black & White mark a first not only for PTS, but also for Taiwan television.

Vic Chou plays against type as a danger-shirking playboy cop who cares more about scoring dates than catching criminals. After sleeping with his superior's daughter, he gets transferred to a different district, and paired with the craziest cop on the force played by newcomer Mark Chao, the son of renowned veteran actor Chao Shu Hai who also appears in the drama. One a crafty slacker and the other a reckless hero, the two young cops with completely different values and work methods end up unlikely partners on a huge case that involves the Taiwan mob and politics.

Black & White co-stars top actress Janine Chang as a forensics expert and I Want To Become A Hard Persimmon's Ivy Chen as a mob boss's daughter. Sammo Hung's son Jimmy Hung pulls double duty playing an underworld boss as well as serving as the drama's action director. The Black & White supporting cast also includes stars like idol Kingone Wang, model-turned-actresses Sonia Sui and Patina Lin, and Hong Kong veteran Paul Chun.

Text / Sanwei

The legend of "Laughing Gor" is set to continue on the big screen! The death of the character Leung Siu Tong (played by singer-actor Michael Tse), more commonly known as Laughing Gor, in the hit Hong Kong TV drama E.U. has sparked tremendous reaction from netizens in recent weeks, who mourned him online and made him the talk of the town. In response to the passionate reception towards the undercover cop, TVB filmed an extra sequence for the drama's final episode, in which Laughing Gor is seen putting on his police uniform, hinting a possible return of the character in the next series.

But fans don't need to wait too long to see Laughing Gor back in action. In a surprising move, TVB honcho Stephen Chan announced plans for a movie after filming the latest episode of his talk show Be My Guest with Michael Tse, who is best known on the silver screen for his supporting role in the 90s gangster film series Young and Dangerous. The movie, a co-production with Shaw Brothers, will start shooting in May and targets to hit cinemas in August. It is going to be a prequel to the series, with Herman Yau directing and Michael Tse reprising his star-making role. It is unknown yet whether other cast members from the series, like Michael Miu Kiu Wai, Kathy Chow, Ron Ng, and Sammul Chan, will participate in the movie.

E.U. is the third series in the TVB police drama franchise The Academy. In E.U., Laughing Gor is originally portrayed as an arrogant triad leader, who is later revealed to be an undercover cop sent to infiltrate the triad gang, and a pivotal figure in bringing down the arch-villain. His heroic sacrifice turned him into an overnight sensation and arguably one of the most popular drama roles in TVB history.

Text / dian

After months of controversy and debate, the parental advisory rating on popular boy band Dong Bang Shin Ki's hit song Mirotic was removed on April 1. Last November, the Commission on Youth Protection, the government arm in charge of reviewing and rating media content according to the Youth Protection Law, sent waves through the Korean music industry by slapping "unsuitable for people under 19 years of age" ratings on many mainstream pop songs including Rain's Rainism and Dong Bang Shin Ki's Mirotic, both of which were deemed inappropriate for minors due to sexually suggestive language. In Korea, albums flagged as unsuitable for minors cannot be sold to people under 19 and must be affixed with advisory stickers; flagged songs cannot be aired before 10 p.m. on television or radio.

The "banning" of Dong Bang Shin Ki's Mirotic two months after its release caused an uproar among fans and record company officials. By the time the rating was made official in early December, the album had already sold close to 500,000 copies and won the Grand Award at the Golden Disk Awards. As Dong Bang Shin Ki's fanbase is composed mostly of young people, the group quickly released a "clean version" of Mirotic, modifying lyrics in questions like "I got you" and "under my skin" to "I chose you" and "under my sky". Their agency SM Entertainment, however, was adamant that the song's lyrics were not sexually explicit or unsuitable for minors.

In an unprecedented move, SM Entertainment filed a court appeal in mid-December to challenge the ban. On April 1, the Seoul Administrative Court finally reversed the Commission on Youth Protection's parental advisory rating after reviewing the case.

Text / Sanwei

Released on March 23, veteran Japanese pop group DREAMS COME TRUE's twentieth anniversary album Do You Dreams Come True? climbed to the top of the Oricon charts with first-week sales of 231,000 copies. The duo's victory is made even sweeter by the fact that their twelfth #1 album also sets a new record for them. Formed by female lead vocalist Yoshida Miwa and bassist Nakamura Masato, DREAMS COME TRUE now rank first among groups with female lead vocalists for most #1 albums. ZARD and Every Little Thing follow with 11 and 8 #1 albums, respectively.

DREAMS COME TRUE also lead in million-selling albums with a total of ten, followed by ZARD (9) and TRF (4). As for the overall number of sold albums, their lead is even more obvious at 27,663,000 sold copies, once again followed by ZARD (19,718,000) and Every Little Thing (13,364,000). The last time DREAMS COME TRUE occupied the top spot of the Oricon album charts was with their 2006 album The Love Rocks.

To celebrate their anniversary, DREAMS COME TRUE recently kicked off their 20th Anniversary DREAMS COME TRUE CONCERT TOUR 2009 on March 21 at the Osaka Jo-Hall. Their nationwide tour will cover 33 shows, ending with a final performance at the Okinawa Convention Center on July 5.

Text / Snoopy

Korean entertainment giant YG Entertainment's new girl group, dubbed the "female Big Bang", made their debut on March 27 with a new song and a commercial. The four members appear with labelmates Big Bang in the rainbow-colored commercial for LG Cyon's new mobile phone. The girls also sing the title CM song Lollipop, which is the group's first digital single. The music video for Lollipop will be released in late March to early April.

Female Big Bang is formed by Park Bom, Kong Min Ji, CL, and Sandara Park, who was previously a big star in the Philippines. Born in Korea and raised in the Philippines, Sandara Park rose to stardom through a talent show program in 2004, and embarked on a successful television, music, and movie career from 2004 to 2006. After her popularity began to decline in the Philippines, she returned to Korea in August 2007 and signed with YG Entertainment. She attracted attention last year for her kissing scene with T.O.P in the music video for Gummy's "I'm Sorry", and has a supporting role in MBC TV drama The Return of Iljimae. Park Bom previously appeared in a mobile phone commercial with Lee Hyo Ri and Lee Jun Ki, and has featured in songs for Big Bang and Lexy. The rapper of the group, CL also featured in Big Bang's mini-album Hot Issue before.

The group will officially begin activities later this spring, and Big Bang leader G-Dragon is tapped to produce the group's first album.

Text / Sanwei

Many of Korea's biggest movie stars will be taking to the small screen this year. All eyes are on KBS's all-star espionage thriller IRIS which marks the return of Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee, who have been away from television since 2003's All In and 2004's Love Story in Harvard, respectively. Loosely based on the film Shiri, the drama revolves around globe-trotting rival agents and assassins, and co-stars big names like Jung Jun Ho, Kim Seung Woo, and Big Bang's T.O.P. Slated for broadcast in the fall, the highly anticipated big-budget production just started filming in March, and will feature location shooting in Japan, China, U.S., and Russia.

Cha Seung Won is returning to the small screen after a six-year absence for the SBS mini-series City Hall from director Shin Woo Chul and writer Kim Eun Sook, the team behind the Lovers series. Airing in late April, the drama follows the political journeys of an ambitious bureaucrat and a low-level civil servant played by My Lovely Sam-Soon heroine Kim Sun Ah.

After a year more notable for his marriage than his acting work, Kwon Sang Woo has two TV dramas lined up in 2009, both with MBC. First is the romance Cinderella Man co-starring Girls' Generation's Im Yoon Ah which airs in mid-April. He is also attached to the big-budget war drama Road No. 1, the highly anticipated television version of Taegukgi that has been in the talks since last summer. Incidentally, Kwon's wife Son Tae Young is also back to work in the spring for the SBS daily drama Two Wives.

Award-winning actor Hwang Jung Min takes on the first television role of his 15-year career in the upcoming KBS romantic comedy Six Months. This mini-series about the unlikely love story between a postman and a famous actress co-stars Kim Ah Joong in her first drama since breaking through with 200 Pounds Beauty in 2006. Six Months, Cinderella Man, and City Hall will be competing against each other for ratings come April as they're all airing in the competitive Wednesday-Thursday 9:55 p.m. timeslot.

Text / Sanwei

Comedian-turned-director Matsumoto Hitoshi revealed details about his new film Symbol during a press conference on March 20 at the Okinawa International Movie Festival. Better known locally as Matchan from manzai duo Downtown, Matsumoto landed a critical and commercial hit in 2007 with his directorial debut Dai Nipponjin, an oddball mockumentary about a loser superhero. The success of Dai Nipponjin has greatly increased anticipation for his second film, which began shooting last September and is now in post-production.

Matsumoto again pulls triple duties as director, writer, and leading man for Symbol, and this time, he is virtually the film's only cast member. Like during the lead-up to Dainipponjin's release, the multi-tasking director has been very vague about his film's plot, revealing only that his character is a man planning to escape and ends up in various predicaments. The film will be released by Shochiku in the fall. Matsumoto is also aiming to screen Symbol at the Cannes Film Festival where Dai Nipponjin premiered two years ago.

Text / Sanwei

J-pop diva Amuro Namie is once again on top of the Oricon charts with her latest double A-sided single Wild/Dr.. The first week sales for her 35th single released on March 18 recorded 75,000 sold copies. Amuro's singles have consistently charted in the Oricon top ten since her 1995 solo debut, and she holds a record as the only female J-pop artist to have a top 10 hit each year for fifteen consecutive years. Last year's 60s 70s 80s and the new Wild/Dr. also mark the first consecutive No. 1 hit singles for the singer since her Can You Celebrate maxi single and I Have Never Seen single released in December 1997 and January 1998, respectively.

Amuro Namie is also holding four additional Best Fiction concerts in Asia this year according to a recent announcement by her record label avex trax. The tour dates and locations are June 20 and 21 at the Taipei Arena and July 11 and 12 at Shanghai's Grand Stage. Kicking off in November 2008, the singer's earlier nationwide Best Fiction tour was greeted with great enthusiasm in Japan, leading to sold-out shows and additional gigs. She attracted a total of 450,000 concertgoers, setting a new record for Japanese solo female artists. With the addition of these overseas gigs, she is set to break her own record, reaching a total audience of 500,000 people for her Best Fiction tour.

Text / Snoopy