New York Welcomes Korea's Rain
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Rain, a Korean pop star and actor, performs during his American solo concert debut in the first of two "Rainy Day New York" shows at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday /AP-Yonhap
By Han Eun-jung
Staff Reporter
K-pop sensation Rain hit the notes, showed off the moves and flashed the smiles that have won over fans all over Asia before a sell-out crowd in New York City on Thursday evening.
The first of Rain's double bill at Madison Square Garden Theater was his official U.S. debut. It was also the latest of performances that go to make up the singer's ongoing "It's Rainy Tour".
His song list for the night included hits like "Nan Napun Namjaya" and "Aksu", the latter saw Diddy, the current nickname of entertainment mogul Sean Combs, enter the stage at the finale.
Introduced to the audience by Rain's label manager J.Y Park, the founder and CEO of Bad Boy Records congratulated the Asian superstar on his local debut.
Diddy also announced that Rain would be the first Asian spokesmodel of his own popular urban casual clothing line "Sean John".
Arguably one of the most influential and richest figures in the hiphop scene, Diddy was involved in the signing and developing of artists Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans and Ma$e.
J.Y. Park is currently helping Diddy on his upcoming album.
Some 100 journalists from Associated Press, New York Times were present reporting on the first Asian to perform in any of the four venues that make up Madison Square Garden.
Since the launching of the "It's Rainy Tour" in 2005, the performer has taken the stage of sold out arenas across Korea, China and Japan. He performed before an audience of 20,000 in Tokyo, Japan and 40,000 in Beijing, China.
However, according to JYP Entertainment, official promotion efforts will not start until sometime after October.
Until then, the 23-year-old singer is to work on his English so that he can put out an English-language release for the American audience.
"It's Raining", his most recent album since debuting 2002, has been enjoying success in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. It has sold more than 1 million copies to date.
By Han Eun-jung
Staff Reporter
K-pop sensation Rain hit the notes, showed off the moves and flashed the smiles that have won over fans all over Asia before a sell-out crowd in New York City on Thursday evening.
The first of Rain's double bill at Madison Square Garden Theater was his official U.S. debut. It was also the latest of performances that go to make up the singer's ongoing "It's Rainy Tour".
His song list for the night included hits like "Nan Napun Namjaya" and "Aksu", the latter saw Diddy, the current nickname of entertainment mogul Sean Combs, enter the stage at the finale.
Introduced to the audience by Rain's label manager J.Y Park, the founder and CEO of Bad Boy Records congratulated the Asian superstar on his local debut.
Diddy also announced that Rain would be the first Asian spokesmodel of his own popular urban casual clothing line "Sean John".
Arguably one of the most influential and richest figures in the hiphop scene, Diddy was involved in the signing and developing of artists Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans and Ma$e.
J.Y. Park is currently helping Diddy on his upcoming album.
Some 100 journalists from Associated Press, New York Times were present reporting on the first Asian to perform in any of the four venues that make up Madison Square Garden.
Since the launching of the "It's Rainy Tour" in 2005, the performer has taken the stage of sold out arenas across Korea, China and Japan. He performed before an audience of 20,000 in Tokyo, Japan and 40,000 in Beijing, China.
However, according to JYP Entertainment, official promotion efforts will not start until sometime after October.
Until then, the 23-year-old singer is to work on his English so that he can put out an English-language release for the American audience.
"It's Raining", his most recent album since debuting 2002, has been enjoying success in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. It has sold more than 1 million copies to date.
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