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After recording sales of over 4.7 million with four albums in Japan since 2001, K-pop star BoA (19) will hit Korea with her fifth album in mid-June. BoA is in the middle of producing of her new album at the SM Entertainment studio in Apgujeong, Seoul, with three or four songs already recorded.
¡°I won¡¯t stop at being a star only in Korea and Japan,¡± a buoyant BoA told the Chosun Ilbo in an exclusive interview. ¡°I will become the top in Asia, and get recognition in the U.S. and Europe to become a world-renowned Diva.¡± She added, ¡°As I have tried in Japan, I want to come back to my fans as a more matured person, overcoming my old image of a girlie singer.¡¯¡±
Since her debut in 2000 with the album ¡°ID:Peace B¡±, she has given concerts in Korea and in Japan and secured her position as a top artist in both countries. The newly released album ¡°Best of Soul¡± in February topped the Oricon Charts in Japan, and BoA became the first female singer to reach a million sales this year. BoA¡¯s subsequently released 15th single ¡°To the Motion¡± ranked first in the Oricon¡¯s Weekly Single chart in Japan, the first time an overseas singer has held the spot in 22 years.
¡°Her face is popping up on billboards throughout Asia. She may just be this region¡¯s global face in the years ahead,¡± wrote William Peseck Jr., a leading columnist for the U.S. finance news agency Bloomberg, in a piece titled ¡°Six influential Asians changing their part of the world¡± on April 21. ¡°Time Magazine¡¯s list of the 100 most influential people in the world published on April 18 misses BoA,¡± and notes, ¡°The economic effects are multiplying and offering a ray of sunshine for the No. 3 economy in Asia that has grown sluggishly in recent years.¡±
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An article on Korean singing sensation BoA in France¡¯s ¡°Le Monde¡± daily
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Achieving at an early age what other singers have not been able to do in a lifetime requires a combination of exceptional effort and inborn talent. BoA is always full of confidence. ¡°It¡¯s the shortage of female singers who can sing live and dance at the same time is what has made my success,¡± she is often heard to comment. Lee Soo-man, the SM Entertainment director who scouted BoA, says, ¡°Since 1996 I had been looking for a dancer-singer between 13 and 15 fit for the Asian stage. That¡¯s when Boa appeared. I am lucky to have met such a talent.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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