South Korean drama 'Squid Games' makes history at SAG Awards

SAG

Jung Ho-yeon, left, and Lee Jung-Jae were recognized by the Screen Actors Guild.

Netflix's Squid Games series surprised a lot of viewers with three statuettes from the Screen Actors Guild.

The series from South Korea won three awards from SAG Sunday. Lee Jung-Jae was awarded fro Outstanding Performance by Male Actor in a Drama Series, Jung Ho-yeon also won the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series and the series won a trophy for Outstanding Action Performance as a Stunt Ensemble.

The Squid Games wins made history. It was the first time actors in a non-English language series took home SAG awards. In fact, the series was the first non-English language series nominated by the guild.

“Oh my, thank you so much," said Lee as he accepted his statuette. "This is [something] truly huge that has happened to me,” said Lee during his acceptance speech.

“I did write something but I don’t think I’ll get to reading it,” added the veteran actor. “Thank you to the global audience for all of your love for Squid Game, and thank you, Squid Game team.”

When Jung Ho-yeon received her award she cried as she said, (through an interpreter) "I have sat many a times watching you on the big screen, dreaming of one day becoming an actor."

"I just want to say, thank you so much," she said in English.

Jung was up against better known talent including Australian Sarah Snook for Succession, as well as Elisabeth Moss for The Handmaid’s Tale, and Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon who were both nominated for The Morning Show.

SAG AWARDS: For complete list of winner, click here.

The drama revolves around a televised reality competition where debt-ridden contestants compete in children's games for the chance to win a mind-blowing amount of money. Loser are killed.

The series was wildly popular when it hit Netflix, where it pulled massive streaming numbers, become the streaming network's most watched show. The series recently was rewarded with a second season.

Even though it stars an all-Asian cast, the popularity of the series is proving to Hollywood decision makers that you don't need a White lead in order to attract a huge audience in the U.S. and around the world.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

First Asian woman to lead the San Francisco Opera

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

EUN SUN KIM

ASAM NEWS

Eun Sun Kim will become the first Asian woman to lead a North American opera company ever, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
The San Francisco Opera named Kim its music director just yesterday . She will officially take over in August 2021, filling the position vacated Nicola Luisotti at the end of the 2017-2018 season.

“From my very first moments at San Francisco Opera, I felt this was home.” she said in a statement. “There was an unusual feeling of open collaboration across so many facets of the Company-a real sense of professional alchemy. I’m deeply honored to be joining the San Francisco Opera family and helping to carry this incredible lineage forward. “

According to Opera News, Kim made her United States debut in 2017 in the Houston Grand Opera performance of La Traviata. After that, she became the Houston Grand Opera’s principal guest conductor. She joined the San Francisco Opera in 2019 with the production of Dvořák’s Rusalka.

She has numerous performances planned which may explain her delay in taking over the SF Opera. She’ll make her LA Opera debut in February and then return to Houston in April.

She is conversant in six languages and was born in Seoul. At 24 she moved to Germany to study and has spent two years as an apprentice in Madrid.

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Conroversy surrounds Video Music Award . for K-pop

Black Pink (top) was nominated in MTV's new K-pop category, which was one by BTS (below).

As expected, BTS, the Korean boy band that has taken the US music industry by storm, won the award Monday (Aug. 26) night for best K-pop group for their song "Boy With Luv."

The group was the first awardee in the newly created category that has been shrouded in controverrsy since it was created last month by MTV Video Music Awards. BTS was not present to receive their award because its members were on hiatus after a grueling world tour.

On its face, it looks like the award was created so that BTS, the wildly popular group, and the other K-pop groups that are making the trip over the Pacific and playing to packed venues and having their music on the Billboard charts.

K-pop fans have been the most vocal in expressing their concern that the category was MTV's "suspicious at best and borderline racist," according to Variety.

By creating the brand new award, MTV is sneakingly appeasing the legions of K-pop fans and at the same time excluding the K-pop groups from the marquee awards like Video of the Year or Artist of the Year, say the fans.

BTS's impact on the US music scene in such a short time is undeniable. Variety points tout has "outpaced many American, Canadian and Australian nominees, who weren’t exiled to a nationality-based category. BTS outsold the Jonas Brothers, who’re nominated for Artist of the Year. And not only is the septet the first Korean group to debut with a No. 1 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, they’re also the first act since the Beatles to have three No. 1 albums in a 12-month period. That aside, 'Boy With Luv' broke all kinds of YouTube records, besting even Taylor Swift."

(Swift won best Best Video and Ariana Grande won Best Artist.)

By those accomplishments, BTS should have been nominated in the prestige categories. BTS was nominated for Best Choreography, Best Collaboration (with Halsey) and Best Art Direction.  

Surprisingly, MTV says they were not aware of the controversy. In a statement, Bruce Gillmer, Head of Music and Music Talent at MTV International, said the addition of the K-pop category was meant to “reflect the rich pop music landscape.”

MTV's attempt to appease the fan base may have backfired based on the reactions on Twitter and the call for a boycott of the show.

“vmas thought adding bts in best group category will save the show but armys already decided to boycott it,” wrote a fan on Twitter.

“Is this supposed to be your attempt at acknowledging that you excluded the world’s top group from the main awards? Because it’s far too late for tokenism. I’ll still be voting for BTS and will happily be doing far better things with my Aug 26 than watching your outdated show,” wrote another.

For the full list of VMA winners, click here. 

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H.E.R. and K-pop's Blackpink will be featured at Coachella

H.E.R.

THE COACHELLA MUSIC FESTIVAL just released it’s 2019 line-up, and it features five-time Grammy-nominated Filipina American artist, H.E.R. and Blackpink, a female K-pop group.

This will be the second year in a row that H.E.R., a San Francisco Bay Area native singer is featured in the famous music festival.

In 2018, she was seen performing with fellow Grammy-nominated artist Daniel Caesar. This year, she will be showcasing more of her brand of music on both Sundays, April 14 and 21, alongside global artists like Ariana Grande, Zedd, Childish Gambino, Tame Impala and more.

In 2018, nearly every major music festival was blasted for their lack of gender equity. Men dominated the stage.

Coachella, which is the trendsetter for all other festivals, caught a lot of the negative feedback despite having Beyonce as its headline act last year. Based on the 2019 lineup announcement, it looks like they heard the feedback from their attendees and from women.

Besides the artist known as H.E.R. (Having Everything Revealed), the premiere music festival will feature Blackpink, the first K-pop girl group to play the music festival, 

Blackpink will perform at Coachella

The four-girl South Korean group's inclusion is the latest case o K-pop making it on the radar of the American general public. They will hit the Coachella stage on April 12 and 19.

Ariana Grande is the Sunday headliner, making her only the fifth-ever woman to headline a day at Coachella and the youngest in the festival’s 19-year history.

The entire festival is set for two weekends in April, beginning on April 12-14 and the following weekend, April 19-21.
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BTS makes history with its Grammy nomination

ASAM NEWS

BTS has become the first K-Pop group ever to be nominated for a Grammy, reports People.

BTS is up for a Grammy in the category of best recording package for "Love Yourself: Tear."  The album’s art director is HuskyFox.

According to Billboard, each of the three album in the BTS album series came in four different versions with each version boasting its own set of concept photos.

Billboard called the nomination “a major moment of inclusion,” although the group itself would not win the award. It’s a recognition of the impact of South Korea’s breakout artist.

Only credited art directors are nominees in the packaging category.

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