Global girl group UNIS adds one more date to their fan signing event in Manila

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Apr 30, 2024 07:26 AM

  

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Global girl group UNIS added another date to their fan signing event in Manila to give more chances for people to meet them. 

UNIS will be holding their “U&iS Fansign Philippine Tour” in Manila and Cebu. 

The tour originally had two dates slated on May 4 at Ayala Center Cebu and May 5 at Metrotent Convention Center.

UNIS (F&F Entertainment, X)

A third fan sign event will be held on May 6, 5 p.m., at the Activity Center of Ayala Market! Market! in Taguig. 

UNIS debuted in South Korea in March with the mini-album “We UNIS.” The members are Elisia, Gehlee, Hyeonju, Nana, Kotoko, Yoona, Yunha, and Seowon. 

Elisia and Gehlee are Filipinos, and Hyeonju is Filipino Korean, who is known as Belle in the K-pop girl group Cignature. 

This marks UNIS’ first event in the Philippines. With several Filipino members in the group, fans are looking forward to personally witnessing the group’s successful debut this year through the fan sign events.

To join, fans need to buy at least one set of “WE UNIS” albums which are now available at https://www.cdmentertainment.ph for only P5,000. This comes with perks like Hi-Touch, exclusive fansign photocards, and raffle entries to perks.

The “U&iS Fansign Philippine Tour” is presented by Y Global Music and CDM Entertainment.

Rock band We The Kings to storm Davao City on April 21

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Apr 4, 2024 12:03 PM 

Wildly popular American rock band We The Kings from Florida will be taking the Philippine stage by storm when they perform in Davao City this month. 

The We The Kings Asia Tour 2024 Live in Davao will be held on April 21 at the SMX Convention Center Davao.

We The Kings (Pulp Live World)

After their memorable performance in the Philippines in 2014, and due to overwhelming demand, We The Kings are ready to perform before Filipino fans again. 

Formed in 2005, We The Kings became a musical powerhouse by blending elements of alternative rock, emo, pop, pop-punk, pop rock, and power pop to create a distinct sound. 

The band’s current lineup—all of whom will be at the SMX Convention Center Davao for the show—includes Travis Clark (vocals/guitar), Hunter Thomsen (guitar), Coley O’Toole (keyboard/guitar), and Charles Trippy (bass). They have consistently pushed musical boundaries while cultivating a dedicated fanbase. Having toured with industry legends such as All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, and Simple Plan, We The Kings demonstrated their prowess on international stages. 

Their hit “Check Yes Juliet” achieved platinum status in Australia, and their collaboration with Demi Lovato, “We'll Be A Dream,” earned a Teen Choice Award nomination. 

They’ll first join as special guest at Boys Like Girls in Manila on April 20 at Araneta Coliseum, followed by their headlining concert in Davao City. 

For the  We The Kings Asia Tour 2024 Live in Davao, they have  prepared a setlist designed to make the night memorable and linger in the hearts of fans forever.

Tickets are available through SM Tickets outlets nationwide or online at smtickets.com.  

For the ultimate fan experience, the VIP with Meet & Greet option is available for P5,000. Standard VIP tickets are priced at P3,000, while General Admission tickets are available for those looking to enjoy the concert at P2,000. Ticketing charges will be applied. 

The show is proudly presented by Skesh Entertainment, Davao Concert Scene, and Pulp Live World. 

K-pop group TWICE achieves first No. 1 album on Billboard 200 with ‘With YOU-th’

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Mar 5, 2024 04:43 PM

  

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K-pop girl group TWICE achieved their first ever No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart with their new mini-album “With YOU-th.” 

The album, released on Feb. 23, debuted at No. 1 on the March 9-dated Billboard 200 chart “with 95,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 29, according to Luminate, largely from traditional album sales. It’s the fifth top 10 for the Korean pop ensemble in total, all earned consecutively,” Billboard reported. 

TWICE (JYP Entertainment)

“The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album,” it added. 

Of the 95,000 units earned by “With YOU-th,” the “album sales comprise 90,000 (it’s the top-selling album of the week, as it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales; it’s also the largest sales week for an album in 2024), SEA units comprise 4,500 (equaling 6.33 million official on-demand streams of the set’s six songs) and TEA units comprise 500.” 

“As With YOU-th is mostly in the Korean language, it is the 24th mostly non-English language album to hit No. 1, and the first of 2024,” according to Billboard. This is TWICE’s first No. 1 album on Billboard 200 in over eight years since their debut in 2015 and extends their own record for the most top 10 albums on the chart for a female K-Pop act with five. 

Next month, TWICE will be heading to Las Vegas for a one-night-only encore performance of their fifth world tour "Ready To Be” in the US–“Ready To Be Once More”--at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on March 16. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased HERE.   

K-pop group ITZY to launch second world tour with Manila as one of the stops

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Jan 26, 2024 00:55 AM 

K-pop girl group ITZY announced the launch of their “ITZY 2nd World Tour: Born to Be,” which will span 18 countries in Asia including the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Europe and North America. 

In Manila, ITZY will hold the concert on Aug. 3 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, ITZY and Live Nation Philippines announced. 

ITZY will launch their second world tour in February (JYP Entertainment, Live Nation)

“MIDZY! ITZY is coming back to Manila! #ITZY #MIDZY #ITZY_BORNTOBE #ITZY_WORLD_TOUR,” according to an X post by Live Nation Philippines. 

K-pop group ITZY’s new album sells more than 123,000 copies on first day of release

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Jan 10, 2024 

K-pop girl group ITZY’s new mini-album “Born To Be” sold more than 123,000 copies on the first day of release. 

“Born To Be” was released on Jan. 8 under JYP Entertainment, Imperial and Republic Records, featuring 10 new tracks including solo songs from each member, the first time since their debut. Each ITZY member contributed to the composition of each solo track.

ITZY (JYP Entertainment)

According to Korea’s Hanteo Chart, “Born To Be” sold a total of 123,489 copies on the first day of release on Jan. 8. With this, ITZY topped Hanteo’s daily physical album chart. 

ITZY also released a music video for the lead single “Untouchable,” which garnered 2.83 million views on YouTube as of this writing. 

Meanwhile, ITZY will hold concerts at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul on Feb. 24 and 25, marking the start of their second world tour “ITZY 2nd World Tour: Born To Be.” 

Their first world tour, “Checkmate,” included an eight-city US leg, as well as an Asian leg with performances in seven regions; Manila in the Philippines, Singapore, Jakarta in Indonesia, Chiba in Japan, Taipei in Taiwan.. 

“Born To Be” track list 

Born To Be

Untouchable 

Mr. Vampire

Dynamite

Crown on my Head (Yeji)

Blossom (Lia)

Run Away (Ryujin)

Mine (Chaeryeong)

Yet, But (Yuna)

Escalator

Melai Cantiveros brings house down with funny speech at Asia Artist Awards

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Dec 15, 2023 01:02 PM

  

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Filipino actress Melai Cantiveros-Francisco brought laughter to the delight of the audience and stars at the 2023 Asia Artist Awards (AAA) in the Philippines on Dec. 14 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan. 

Cantiveros-Francisco, star of the film “Ma'am Chief: Shakedown in Seoul,” was given the Best Actor Award at the AAA along with Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim Se-jeong, Lee Dong-hwi and Lee Joon-hyuk. 

Filipino actress Melai Cantiveros-Francisco on the red carpet at the 2023 Asia Artist Awards (AAA) on Dec. 14 at the Philippine Arena (Jonathan Hicap)

Wearing a pink gown, Cantiveros-Francisco elicited laughter and cheers from the audience as she made her speech for the award. 

“Magandang buhay (Good life). If someone question why I have award, don’t worry I question too,” she said. 

She added, “Because I just received award all of my life from my mother and father every time they are angry too.”  

“Tonight my heart is very ‘kuwan’...the best. I think because God moves in mysterious ways. And it because of the Pulp Studio, my Pulp Live World, Pulp Studio family. To my director of ‘Ma’am Chief,’ Madame Kring Kim, Sir Jimmy Kim and to my producer, I cannot believe the food that they eat, why they choose me,” she said. 

Melai added, “To Sir Vernon Go and Inang Reyna, Happee Sy-Go, thank you so much for this award. Thank you AAA. I cannot believe this happening. I’m so, I’m very sorry to the Koreans I acted like this. But I’m so overwhelmed to this kind of award. And I offer this award to my co-actors in this movie. I love you all. Thank you Lord. To my family, we will serve the Lord.”

“Ma'am Chief: Shakedown in Seoul” is Pulp Studios’ first film project and it was shot in South Korea and the Philippines. It was released in Philippine cinemas on Nov. 15. 

The 2023 AAA was presented by Pulp Live World, Star News and TONZ Entertainment. Its sponsors were Metrobank, Smart x VIU, McDonald's, Colgate, and the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines.  Its broadband partner was PLDT x Smart, and the livestream partner was Lazada. 

BLACKPINK’s Lisa joins Spotify’s Billions Club through song ‘Money’

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Nov 14, 2023 07:24 AM 

BLACKPINK’s Lisa joined Spotify’s Billions Club, a group of artists which has a song reaching one billion streams on the music platform. 

Spotify announced on Nov. 14 that Lisa will be featured on its Billions Club episode. 

BLACKPINK's Lisa (Instagram, screenshots from Spotify video)

“Breaking records and serving while doing so. LISA is the next inductee into the #BillionsClub,” Spotify posted on X (formerly Twitter).  

Lisa was presented with a one-billion streams plaque by Spotify. 

“Congrats on being the first K-pop female artist to have a track reach one billion streams in Spotify history!” Lisa read the card sent by Spotify. 

Lisa is the first K-pop solo artist and first female K-pop artist to have one billion streams for a song through “Money.” 

Lisa’s song “Money” has reached one billion streams on Spotify and set a Guinness World Records (GWR) title. 

Last September, Guinness World Records announced that Lisa’s “Money” set the record for the “first K-pop track by a solo artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify.” 

“On 19 September 2023, social media was awash with news that ‘MONEY’ by Lisa (Thailand, b. Pranpriya Manobal) – the "B-side" of her debut single ‘LALISA,’ released on 10 September 2021 – had become the first track by a K-pop solo artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify,” according to GWR. 

It added, “As one of just four tracks by the BLACKPINK rapper/singer available on Spotify, YG Entertainment and Interscope Records cashed in on ‘MONEY’’s viral success and released it officially as Lisa’s second solo single on 9 November 2021.”

“As of 21 September 2023, ‘MONEY’ had amassed 1,002,683,408 streams on Spotify to eclipse BLACKPINK’s best-performing track, ‘How You Like That,’ with 855.7 million streams,” GWR added.