1. Big Bang and Super Junior triumph over Britney Spears in 2011 [NEWS]
Boy groups Big Bang and Super Junior garnered a lot of international interest in 2011, having beat out international pop icon Britney Spears to achieve their titles as world stars.


First, Big Bang attended the 2011 MTV EMA‘s which were held in Belfast, Northern Ireland back in November. 


The boys were nominated under the “World Wide Act Asia Pacific Nominees” category for the EMAs and won, advancing to the “Worldwide Act Nominees” category alongside famous international artists such as Abdelfattah Grini(Africa/India/Middle East), Lena (Europe), Restart (Latin America), and Britney Spears (North America) 


Big Bang stunned the world, and themselves, by winning the award. They became the first Korean artist to ever achieve such a title, and Big Bang made their mark in K-pop history. 


Britney Spears is a mega pop star, having gifted the world with hit after hit, and over the years has built a phenomenal fan base with her sexy performances and vocal talent. The fact that Big Bang won the award despite being up against the international superstar was especially noteworthy, and proved that they were qualified to be titled ‘world star’s. 

The boys of Super Junior have also surpassed Britney Spears. 

On December 6th, mashable along with twitter aggregate data analysis website What The Trend released their annual ‘Top 10 Twitter Trends‘ list. The company analyzed over 207,518 hash tags to identify the top trending topics of 2011. 

Under the ‘Top 10 Trending Topic’s on Twitter’, popular idol group Super Junior ranked 4th under the artists category and 7th overall, just above Britney Spears and even the devastating Japan earthquake. 

Under the artists category, the boys were #4 behind world-famous artists Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and the Jonas Brothers, respectively. 

Big Bang and Super Junior are no longer idols only within the boundaries of Korea. They have made themselves known to a growing international audience receiving global applause and praise, and they are drawing high attention as fans are anxious to observe their next big ventures overseas.

Source & Image: OSEN

2.Who were the top digital sellers in K-POP for 2011? [NEWS]

With 2011 counting down to a close, the industry is slowing down to look back at its achievements over the past year. Following a list of the most successful producers, Star News has followed up with a ranking of the most popular digital tracks over the past months. 

The list was compiled by Olleh Music and ranks the top 50 songs this year which performed the best in the digital form. The number was determined by combining the number of downloads + the number of streams the song received on its website. 

(Parts ommited)

The top ten was rounded out by Big Bang with “Tonight” (#4), SECRET with “Shy Boy” (#5), f(x) with “Pinocchio” (#6), CN BLUE with “Intuition” (#8), and B2ST with “Fiction” (#10). 

2NE1 also had a strong year with 4 songs on the top 50, including “Lonely“, “Don’t Cry“, “I Am the Best“, and “Ugly” at #14, 16, 22, and 39, respectively. 

MBC‘s ‘Infinity Challenge’ also shook the charts with their ‘West Coast Highway Music Festival’challenge, where each member teamed up with a songwriter to pen their own duet track. Park Myung Soo and G-Dragon‘s collaboration track, “I Cheated“, landed at #20 while Yoo Jae Suk and Lee Juk‘s “Apgujeong Nallari” was positioned at #42. 


Counting by individual months, the top songs for each month this year were:
-Hyun Bin’s “That Man” (January)
-G.NA’s “Black & White” (February)
-Big Bang’s “Tonight” (March)
-Orange Caramel‘s “Bangkok City” (April)
-Sistar19‘s “Ma Boy” (May)
-SECRET‘s “Starlight Moonlight” (June)
-GG‘s “I Cheated” (July)
-2NE1′s “Ugly” (August)
-Davichi‘s “Don’t Say Goodbye” (September)
-Lee Seung Gi‘s “Love Time” (October)
-Wonder Girls’ “Be My Baby” (November). 

You can see the full list below of the top-selling digital songs for 2011. Do you see your favorite artist? 

1. ‘”Black & White” – G.NA
2. “Good Day” – IU
3. “Roly Poly” – T-ara
4. “Tonight” – Big Bang 
5. “Shy Boy” – SECRET
6. “Pinocchio” – f(x)
7. “Someday” – IU
8. “Intuition” – CN BLUE
9. “The Story Only I Didn’t Know” – IU
10. “Fiction” – B2ST
11. “Twinkle Twinkle” – Girls’ Day
12. “My Heart is Beating” – K.Will
13. “Ma Boy” – Sistar19
14. “Lonely” – 2NE1
15. “Goodbye Baby” – Miss A
16. “Don’t Cry” – Park Bom
17. “Please” – Kim Bum Soo
18. “On Rainy Days” – B2ST
19. “Mirror Mirror” – 4minute
20. “I Cheated” – GG (feat. Park Bom)
21. “That Man” – Hyun Bin
22. “I Am the Best” – 2NE1
23. “Tok Tok” – Mighty Mouth (feat. Soya)
24. “The Boys” – SNSD
25. “Well Done” – Navi
26. “You Are the Best of My Life” – Lee Hyun
27. “Going Crazy” – Song Ji Eun (feat. Bang Yong Guk)
28. “Heart to Heart” – 4minute
29. “So Cool” – Sistar
30. “Starlight Moonlight” – SECRET
31. “Day By Day” – Kim Bo Kyung
32. “Bangkok City” – Orange Caramel
33. “Hot Summer” – f(x)
34. “Don’t Forget Me” – Huh Gak
35. “Be My Baby” – Wonder Girls
36. “Turned Off the TV…” – Leessang (Feat. T Yoon Mi Rae, Kwon Jung Ryeol)
37. “Don’t Say Goodbye” – Davichi
38. “For First-Time Lovers” – Jung Yong Hwa
39. “Ugly” – 2NE1
40. “Words That Freeze My Heart” – Wheesung (feat. Yong Jung Hyung)
41. “Love Song” – Big Bang
42. “Apgujeong Nallari” – Drooping Snail
43. “Tokyo Girl” – Busker Busker
44. “Hello” – Huh Gak
45. “Hold My Hand” – IU
46. “Bubble Pop!” – HyunA
47. “Cafe” – Big Bang
48 “I Miss You” – Noel
49. “Americano” – 10cm
50. “To Me” – Rainbow

3.Daesung shares his feelings on his comeback [NEWS] 

 Daesung, who recently made a comeback with the MBN drama, What’s Up after seven-month long hiatus, shared his thoughts on his comeback at a press conference for the drama held on December 6 in Seoul.

When asked to share his feelings about making a comeback, he answered, “While taking a break, I thought about what I’ve done up to date and what I should do in the future. And I wanted to make an official appearance like this to make an apology to everybody.”

Daesung went into hiatus since his involvement in a speeding accident that resulted in the death of a motorcyclist in May. The Big Bang member returned to the entertainment industry with the role of Ha Do Sung in the drama. His comeback and his first acting attempt have been drawing a lot of attention and support from his fans.

Daesung continued, “I thought I should return and show my better side. I’ve been nervous and worried under the pressure that I had to please people.” “Due to my activities, I often missed out on classes. And thanks to this role, I got to have direct experience in school life. I enjoyed shooting since the fellow cast members are about the same age as me and our lifestyles are similar.”

What’s Up, written by scriptwriter Song Ji Na, best-known for major hits including SBS’ The Sandglass and MBC’s Eye of Dawn, covers a story of young and passionate musical majors. It airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9am. 


4.Taeyang, "The World is You" [TWITTER]