On October 4, tens of thousands of citizens gathered in Seoul Plaza, Korea, to enjoy Korean singer Psy’s concert.

The chubby 34-year-old rapper, who recently became a global sensation with his song ‘Gangnam Style,’ held the concert for free in return for fans’ support.

According to Korean police authorities, about 80,000 citizens gathered, and it was the first time that the massive plaza was packed with this many people. His concert was also aired on YouTube, but many people had trouble with watching it because of too many simultaneous log-ins.

17-year-old student Huh Seung-ah said, “Usually, the concert ticket for a famous singer is really expensive. But, today, Psy is holding the concert for free! I didn’t want to miss this chance.”

Not only teenagers, but also middle-aged citizens attended Psy’s concert. 43-year-old house wife Kim Ji-hee said, “I see Psy’s news on TV every day. I wanted to see how fun his concert is.”

Foreign fans were also spotted. 24-year-old Valentina from Chile said, “I came to Korea to enjoy the Korean singer’s music, and today I’m so happy that I can enjoy Psy’s concert for free.”

The concert, which started around 10 pm, kicked off with Psy’s song “Right Now,” and reached the climax when Psy sang “Gangnam Style.”

Around 11:30 pm, Psy showed up with a bottle of soju, saying, “I promised that I will not drink on the stage, but, today, I’m so happy that I feel like I should drink.” He emptied the bottle after shouting, “Korea! Hooray!”

When 11:40 pm came, he took off his shirt and danced topless to “Gangnam Style.” He once said he would dance topless if he tops the Billboard Hot 100. Even though his song remains on second place of the chart as of October 5, he performed topless as he promised.

Because of the concert, the traffic of Seoul was controlled and guided by the police authorities from 6pm to midnight. Hotels and stores located around Seoul Plaza benefited from Psy’s concert.

Seoul Plaza Hotel, which is standing right next to Seoul Plaza, was all booked by people who wanted to watch Psy’s concert in the hotel. According to the hotel, some customers asked the hotel to change their room to higher floor to enjoy the concert.”

Convenience stores around the plaza also witnessed their sales volume increase. A part-time worker at Seven Eleven said, “Thanks to Psy’s concert, the number of customers was doubled.”

Image Courtesy of  KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has decided to make Psy’s song ‘Right Now‘ X-rated in Korea, and Korean people are expressing their displeasure.

Since ‘Right Now’ has attracted attention worldwide along with ‘Gangnam Style’, it is expected that Psy might release this song as his U.S. single by rewriting it. Psy said on September 29 via his twitter, “I heard the music video of ‘Right Now’ is getting attention on Youtube. It is a nice chance to follow up with this song!”

The song ‘Right Now’ was released in 2010, and it has attracted about 6 million viewers on Youtube with its distinctive lyrics and dance.

However, watching this music video on Youtube requires confirmation that the viewer is an adult, not only for Koreans, but also for foreigners. This is because Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has made the song X-rated, so Psy also had to open this music video only for people aged over 18.

The ministry, which was built in 2001 to protect the rights of women, teenagers, and children, made ‘Right Now’ X-rated because of a series of slang terms that were used in the song.

Regarding the ministry’s decision, the signature collection campaign by Korean Internet users is being held online, asking the ministry to withdraw its decision.

The campaign started on September 16, and as of October 1, about 1,200 people signed for this campaign.

The Internet user “ChungDoSeYou,” who led this campaign, said, “Because of the ministry’s decision, people are having trouble with watching the music video of ‘Right Now.’ I believe this song and music video have a possibility to become popular in the foreign market. Even some comments on Youtube said this song is better than Gangnam Style.”

He added, “The ministry’s decision is an outdated view which is limiting the chance to promote K-pop to people worldwide.”

This was not the first time Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been blamed for an outdated view. Since the ministry was established, many Korean songs and music videos have become X-rated for their lyrics. For example, the song ‘SulYiYa,’ which can be translated alcohol in English, by a Korean singer Jang Hye-jin, became X-rated because the song talks about alcohol, which is bad for teenagers. The song ‘Americano’ also was banned from teenagers because the song has the word cigarette in its lyrics.

The website of ministry is flooded with Korean Internet users’ frustrated comments. Surnamed Ko said, “The ministry is ruining the right to pursue people’s happiness by applying outdated standard to K-pop songs,” while surnamed Jung said, “I understand the purpose of ministry to protect teenagers from vulgar content, but in Psy’s case, I think the ministry has gone too far.”

Image Courtesy of  KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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Korean pop singer, Psy, who recently became a global sensation with his song ‘Gangnam Style’, has mentioned plans to release a new song or an album in the U.S.

At a news conference held in Seoul, Korea on September 25 (local time), Psy said, “I heard the sales volume of music album is increasing around Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. My agency asked me to release a new song or album by upcoming November. However, as you know, it is impossible to write new song in a short period, so I’m thinking to use songs I wrote before.”

He added, “Thankfully, my agency (Universal Republic Records) suggested me to release a new song or album in Korean language. I appreciate that people think my Korean rap sounds catchy, but I am now putting on my thinking cap before I start work. I think my first single song will be released around November, and a second single will be made in English.”

To spice up the climb of Gangnam Style on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Psy has bet that he will perform Gangnam Style shirtless in front of as many audiences as possible if his song tops the legendary chart, saying, “I have seen some reports or news articles by music experts about the possibility that Gangnam Style’s topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart. I’m sure the song will place its name in top 10.”

At the end of the news conference, he made his exit with the “dancing horse” dance, making reporters laugh out loud.

Seventy foreign reporters and about 200 reporters from Korean media were gathered at the news conference, showing Psy’s soaring popularity.

Psy, who flew back to Korea on September 25, is planning to stay in Korea for three weeks. Psy is going to manage a tight schedule.

He is scheduled to perform at the universities’ festival, and about ten universities are waiting for Psy to visit their campuses. On October 2, he will perform at the “CY×PSY concert, Let’s Play with Psy” with an audience of about 10,000, and the concert will be offered for free. He will perform at the Pusan International Film Festival and a national athletic meet on October 6, and 11 respectively.

Since he is one of the judges of Korean singer audition show “Super Star K,” he will attend the show as a judge during his visit to Korea.

The schedules of filming commercials are also lining up for Psy. At least five advertisers are waiting for Psy to work with them, according to Psy’s Korean agency YG Family. The agency said, “As the popularity of Gangnam Style increases, Psy is dated up with many domestic and foreign schedules.”

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A gun battle broke out on September 21 between armed gangsters in Thailand because of the song “Gangnam Style.”

Gangnam Style is the popular song by Korean pop singer Psy. This song is currently being appreciated by many people worldwide with its catchy melody and funny dance.

According to the Bangkok Post, two gangster groups, which have been rivaling with one another for years, fired off their guns at least 50 times at each other in downtown Bangkok on Friday.

The newspaper reported that two gangsters hold a ‘Gangnam Style’ dance contest. However, as the contest got along and the participants got excited, gang members started provoking and mocking each other, causing a volatile situation that broke into gun battle.

It is reported that some cars were damaged, but no people were injured.

Thailand has the second largest number of viewers of the Gangnam Style music video in the world, followed by the U.S., according to YouTube.

In Thailand, not only the original version of Gangnam style is enjoying popularity but also the parody versions are winning attention.

As of September 22, a parody video made by Thai YouTube user ‘tigercrychannel’ has attracted over 7,000,000 viewers, and another parody video, ‘Gangnam Style Bie The Ska’ has gotten over 3,600,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, The music video of Gangnam style has surpassed two million views on YouTube so far. The video ranked 30th in the number of viewers ranking of YouTube. It took only 70 days for Psy’s music video to land this spot.

It is expected that the music video of Psy’s Gangnam Style would attract over 500 million viewers by upcoming November at this pace, according to Korea’s newspaper etnews.

The music video of Gangnam Style attracted one hundred million viewers on YouTube only within 52 days, while it took 56 days for Justin Biber’s “Baby,” and 114 days for Beyonce’s “Single Lady.”

If the video of Gangnam Style reaches the number of 300 million viewers, it will be ranked in top 20, and when it attracts 500 million viewers, it will place its name in top 5.

Justin Biber’s “Baby” is currently on the first place of this ranking with having 780 million viewers.

Psy has just started his move in the U.S, promoting himself by being on many American shows and performing in concerts, it is expected that he would garner more viewers on YouTube and drag more people’s attention.

Gangnam Style is on the 11th spot on the Billboard and the 1st spot on iTunes Charts as of September 22.

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As the popularity of Korean singer Psy’s Gangnam Style increases, the supporting cast of his music video is getting attention as well. Among these, the most popular one is the smiling guy who dances when the door of the elevator opens, while Psy lies on the floor inside of the elevator, singing. The man is dancing to Psy’s song in a suggestive way, thrusting his pelvis. People have found his moves both funny and perverted and the guy is generally knowns as “Elevator Guy.”

The scene lasts for about seven seconds, which is short compared to other scenes of the music video. However, “Elevator Guy” has become somewhat of a phenomenon on his own as a lot of people find him hilarious and started to wonder who the guy really is.

Even Psy said via twitter, “People keep asking me about the elevator guy these days.”

The pelvis-thrusting guy in the video is actually a famous comedian and show host in South Korea. His name is No Hong-chul. He was born March 31, 1979.

No debuted as a show host on Korea’s music cable channel ‘Mnet’ in 2004. He quickly became popular with his witty words and distinct personality, and now is one of the most influential celebrities in Korea, appearing in many TV and radio programs.

He has shown a lot of talent in many fields so far. No was designated as a professional bobsleigh athlete from the Korea Sports Council, and as a dance sports player in 2007 and 2009 respectively. He used to run an online shopping mall selling grotesque clothes, and also controlled a tourism company. In 2010, he became a professor at Seoul Art College, teaching Fashion Art.

Korea’s newspaper, Nocut News, reported on September 13 that some American shows asked No to be on their show as a guest, but he rejected the offer because of the language barrier.

Gangnam Style has given No a lot of opportunity to get professional exposure, but actually he was not on the list of cast members at first. It is reported that No was on the music video as the “Elevator guy” by chance. No visited Psy when Psy was shooting the music video, and Psy asked him to be in one of the scenes. Psy is close friends with No.

The most popular show that No is current on is “Muhandojun,” which can be translated in English “infinite challenge,” or “reckless challenge.” Muhandojun was first on air back to 2006 from MBC, one of Korea’s biggest TV stations, and it is widely loved by Korean people. A total of seven members are hosting this show and No is one of them. The show is mainly about the hosts; they are given various missions and have to do those missions on camera. Since this show is super popular in Korea, when people are talking about No, they automatically connect this show to No.

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