Kpop Lovers n Life

Korea’s largest music award show is on the verge of being cancelled in the wake of accusations of unfair judging. SM Entertainment has announced that their musicians, including Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, SHINee, and f(x), will boycott the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), claiming that they cannot trust the judging criteria or the fairness of the awards. SM Entertainment cited an example of “Gee,” Girls’ Generation’s greatest hit this year, saying that while “Gee” finished in first place for nine weeks straight on Music Bank, it never once placed first in M Countdown, Mnet’s music ranking show on Mnet.

Before the boycott of SM Entertainment, Inwoo Entertainment had declared that it will pull out the nominees belonging to the company, Park Hyun-bin and girl duo Wink, because “I Like You” sung by traditional K-pop diva Jang Yun-jeong and legendary singer Nam Jin were not nominated.

If artists belonging to these two management companies really don’t show up at the award ceremony, the reputation of MAMA as the largest music award show in Asia will be greatly damaged. Since the days of the Mnet KM Music Festival, Mnet has been at the center of controversy for a host of reasons. Last year the top prize went to three different teams, and M, also known as Lee Min-woo of Shinhwa, suddenly cancelled his appearance minutes before the live show.

The swine flu pandemic has also hit the world of K-pop. In September, Kim Hyun-joong of SS501 was the first among K-pop artists to contract the virus. In October, K.Will and Cho Kwon of 2AM also came down with the swine flu. This week, Jong-hyun of SHINee and Noh Si-hyun of Gavy NJ were also diagnosed with the disease.

The government raised the swine flu alert on November 3 from "Orange" to "Red" as the epidemic has spread nationwide.

The reason more singers are coming down with the H1N1 flu virus lies in fatigue and weakened immune system, which is the result of their busy schedules. They stand a high risk of contracting the virus because they often perform overseas and meet with many people.

While music record companies are trying to come up with countermeasures, no clear solutions have come out yet. Though demand for music albums is usually lowest in November and December, this year dozens of new albums are being released daily because many artists are active these days. Moreover, thousands of people are gathering at year-end awarding ceremonies and concerts.

SHINee's agency, SM Entertainment, said it was hard to find out how singers catch the flu virus because they visit numerous places daily and meet with many people. "Our singers wear masks and carry hand sanitizers with them, but we urge them to exercise to improve their health. We also told them to notify us about any health problems as soon as possible so that we can take swift measures," said a person from the agency.

Several artists who have been preparing for year-end concerts said they would cancel their concerts if the flu epidemic became worse. Singers who are scheduled to release new albums are refraining from meeting with people. One popular male artist said he only went to his studio to record his album and stayed at home most of the time to avoid the flu, because once he came down with it, it would delay his album release and he would simply feel bad.

K.Will, who was recently cured of the H1N1 virus and will soon release his second album, says it is important to take prompt measures when cold symptoms appear. He said, "I contracted the virus because my immune system was weakened after spending several days and nights recording my new album. I had a very high fever, my eyes were bloodshot. Medicine that I bought at a drug store made my fever even worse. Then I was diagnosed with the disease and received Tamiflu. As soon as I took it, my fever disappeared and I was able to recover. It's important to catch the disease at an early stage."