Aust Winner 澳洲长风论坛

[傲霜枝]

短短三年间，韩国流行天王RAIN凭著一连串的畅销单曲盘据各大排行榜榜首，在国内累积了大量的（几乎全是）女性粉丝，如今他已经准备好要将触角跨足海外各地。RAIN今年拿下了MTV的亚洲大奖，并且於七月在日本举办了第一场个人演场会，而在香港及东京一连串的公演门票也都急速受清。
然而让韩国流行文化主导亚洲的关键却是连续剧，这也是RAIN让这个秋天的电视圈充满期待的原因。这个大男孩般的歌手将演出一个很有男子气概的K1搏击选手，在一出命名为”A Love to Kill”的剧中，爱上自己哥哥的情人。虽然这出戏在韩国十月才要首播，然而凭藉著韩剧在各个区域中惊人的普及度，意指这个顶尖巨星将迅速成为亚洲最熟悉的面孔。
但是为什麼选择在此停下了脚步？RAIN的经纪人相信他可以成为第一个打入美国市场的韩国艺人。JYP，一位流行音乐的制作人，他发掘并且训练RAIN，本身是一个卓越的舞者以及词曲创作者，曾经与美国的艺人合作过，像是Mase以及Will Smith。自从去年旅居在洛杉矶以来，JYP就四处向一些制作公司推销他旗下的歌手。原本RAIN几乎要与Lil’ Kim合唱一曲，并且收录在Kim最新的专辑里，在美国发行，但是RAIN经纪公司的执行长Jimmy Jeong说，最後因为Kim必须提前入狱服刑而宣告流产。Jeong说，这只是一个小小的挫折，他说，我们要将目标放在全球市场，RAIN不可能仅属於亚洲。
--By Donald Macintyre. With reporting by Chan Yong Kim/Seoul

[傲霜枝]

http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/art...1103646,00.html

From TIME Asia Magazine, issue dated September 19, 2005 Vol. 166, No. 12

Monday, Sep. 12, 2005
Fall Preview: Music
A Korean Force of Nature
BY DONALD MACINTYRE

In just three years, Korean pop star Rain has built a huge domestic following of (mostly) female fans with a string of chart-topping singles, and now he's ready to branch out overseas. Rain picked up MTV Asia prizes this year, played his first solo concert in Japan in July and has lined up sold-out gigs in Hong Kong and Tokyo. But the engine of Korean pop-culture dominance in Asia is the soap opera, which is why Rain is forecast for TV this fall. The decidedly boyish singer will play a macho K-1 fighter who falls for his brother's lover in a series tentatively titled A Love to Kill. Though the show is set to air first in Korea this October, the astounding popularity of Korean TV dramas around the region means that the pop star could soon become a familiar face throughout Asia.

But why stop there? Rain's managers believe he could be the first Korean star to break into the U.S. market. Park Jin Young, the pop impresario who discovered and trained Rain, is a talented dancer and songwriter who has worked with U.S. artists like Mase and Will Smith. Since setting up camp in Los Angeles last year, Park has been shopping his protégé around to U.S. production companies. Rain almost managed to score a track on rapper Lil' Kim's latest album—but the plan fell apart after Kim was convicted of perjury and had to start serving a jail term, according to Jimmy Jeong, an executive at Rain's management company. Just a minor setback, says Jeong: "We're targeting the global market. Rain's too big for Asia."

Credits: RB @ RainPH for the translation//Ling @ RainSingapore for the scanned page//Speed Devil @ Soompi for the cover//Raina @ jeongjihun.com