DBSK/HoMin gearing up for US Promotions?

Below is a press release sent out by an American PR agency:

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K-POP KINGS TVXQ DEBUT INNOVATIVE VIDEO FOR "CATCH ME" CHOREOGRAPHED BY TONY TESTA

Known throughout Asia as the "Kings of Korean Pop and Hallyu Wave" and "Dong Bang Shin Ki" in their native South Korea, K-pop trend-setters TVXQ are bringing their dynamic sound and style to American audiences. Managed by SM Entertainment the same agency that shot Girls' Generation to the top, this progressive duo of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin are widely considered one of the leading acts in today's global K-Pop movement, due to their visionary work and fiercely loyal fan-base.

The epic and highly stylized video for TVXQ's debut US single "Catch Me" marks the next chapter in the highly influential band's artistic evolution. Featuring choreography by the world-renowned Tony Testa (Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson), the clip showcases the duo's signature moves, including their epic "hulk dance" inspired by the acclaimed action flick The Avengers. Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfUlE2LlGro

"Catch Me" was recently featured on Live with Kelly & Michael, and is the lead single off TVXQ's new album of the same name. Upon its September 26th release, the album swept Korea's weekly Hanteo Chart for three consecutive weeks (September 24th ~ October 14th). The full album is currently available for download at the iTunes music store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/catch-me/id563873137


Later this year, TVXQ will embark on their first solo world tour. They will kick-off their first leg of dates on November 17-18 in Seoul, South Korea -- those two performances sold out in less than 3 minutes.

CONNECT WITH TVXQ
http://tvxq.smtown.com
http://www.facebook.com/tvxq
http://www.youtube.com/tvxq

SHORT BIO
TVXQ which is an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (also better known as Dong Bang Shin Ki) means "The Rising Gods of the East". TVXQ! is one of Asia's most successful acts and has been labeled as "Asia's Stars" and "Kings of the Hallyu Wave" for their immense success and contributions to Korean pop. They have two official fan clubs in Korea and Japan, known respectively as Cassiopeia and Big East. Cassiopeia notably earned a Guinness World Record in 2008 for its size and is said to be one of the largest fan clubs in the world. TVXQ's 5th Japan Arena Tour 2012 - Tone sold out in under one minute with a record of 550,000 total attendees.

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If you've ever looked through blog archives, you'll know that before I converted to K-Pop (and brought a couple of my blogger friends along), I blogged mainly about British and American pop music. 2008/2009 was also a time when online PR firms were beginning to go in full swing and ferociously pushing content to bloggers, so I was put on a fair number of mailing lists.

To this day I still get countless e-mails from PR firms of various size and influence, most of which I do read through to see if they'll be relevant to what this blog is now. Most of the time the content I receive doesn't fit, and so you can imagine how surprised I was when I got this press release from an agency I've been in contact with for over five years now, because it more than fits in with this blog's direction. I guess my background has given me the opportunity to be one of the first to find out if ever K-Pop acts try and break the US, like I have now.

However the press release above doesn't directly state any solid facts like date, place, release format, so please take it for what it is, and what it is alone. That is, until anything is confirmed.

There are a number of important points to take note of with this press release. First, this came from a US-based PR agency that deals with acts like Coldplay, Yuna and Keane, among others. This press release, I assume, has been sent to bloggers who are either based in the US, who have blogged about American music, or are in circles that deal mainly with Western releases. That alone means that SM may very well be bringing Yunho and Changmin to the US, and they're doing it through the inside -- like how they approached Japan with the original five.

Majority of the information on that press release is common knowledge to majority of us -- they're under SM, "Catch Me" is the new single, it's choreographed by Tony Testa, the Seoul concert sold out really fast, DBSK are gods and the driving force of Hallyu, etcetera etcetera. However, one of the phrases I bolded is especially interesting:

The epic and highly stylized video for TVXQ's debut US single "Catch Me" marks the next chapter in the highly influential band's artistic evolution.

Debut single? US? There are no dates on the press release, but considering the fact that apparently, Yunho talked of plans to play some shows in the US in support for "Catch Me", this might actually happen. When and how, no one knows yet.

In any case, I'll keep you guys posted, so check back here, or follow me on Twitter for faster updates. If you aren't already.

9 comments:

  1. This is NOT a debut single in the US. God who was the ignorant that wrote this... just because they're touring in the states you assume this is a debut single there? They're just going on a world tour through asia, then america and hopefully other places as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The "ignorant" who wrote this was from Cornerstone Promotion, the PR agency who sent out the quoted press release above. If you'd like to contest the validity contents of the press release proper, please take it up with the agency. ;D

      Delete
    2. *the validity of the contents

      Delete
  2. wow thank u very much for the article! TVXQ is an insanely talented and incredible group! easily the best and most innovative in kpop.

    it would be amazing to see them debut in the US :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just heard an ad for Catch Me on KIIS fm in Los Angeles so I'm pretty sure it's the debut single, the ad was like "TVXQ.... CATCH ME.... SM ENTERTAINMENT" with the chorus playing in the background, i just about hit the car infront of me I was about to spasm

    ReplyDelete
  4. but HoMin/2VXQ are not as good or popular as JYJ and BigBang.
    those groups have better chance to success in America.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOL HOMIN? DO YOU REALLY NEED TO WRITE THAT? ISN'T IT OBVIOUS THAT WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT DBSK, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DUO?

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL HOMIN? Do you really need to write that? Isn't it obvious that when we talk about DBSK, we're talking about the duo? Don't let new kpop fans confuse, there is no group called homin!

    ReplyDelete
  7. i don't think the west is ready for kpop... yeah gangnam style is huge here but mostly because it is A. funny, and B. the dance.
    and tvxq don't even speak english fluently (unless they have been studying up secretly) and we all know how much the US likes english.
    wasn't there a report that SME just had a bad third-quarter profits-wise? and that they blamed it mostly on the super junior and tvxq concerts (LOL 4ever). why are they risking a US stint now? unless it is just a US tour and they will perform and then go home, a la SMTOWN.

    ReplyDelete

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