The K-pop star Rain¡¯s ambitions attracted the attention of arguably the world¡¯s weightiest newspaper, the New York Times, in its doorstop Sunday edition ahead of Thursday¡¯s concert by the heartthrob at Madison Square Garden. Under the heading ¡°The Ambassador,¡± the paper said the man dubbed, in a two-edged compliment, Korea¡¯s Justin Timberlake ¡°wants nothing less than to break down barriers, build cultural bridges and become the first Asian pop star to succeed in America.¡±
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A picture of Rain during an October concert in Hong Kong is featured in the New York Times online edition on Sunday.
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The paper said Rain ¡°had been dreaming about Madison Square Garden since he was a child imitating Michael Jackson's moves.¡± It also relayed the moving tale of his acceptance by management firm JYP Entertainment run by singer Park Jin-young when his mother was already very ill and had to miss her son¡¯s debut. Park, portrayed as Rain¡¯s Pygmalion in the article, told the daily the singer was motivated by a sense of obligation to his late mother. ¡°He promised his mom that he was going to be the no. 1 singer in the whole world," it quoted Park as saying. "That's why he never parties, never drinks, never goes out and practices hours every day."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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