SNSD’s Jessica showers Krystal with hugs and kisses

The Jung sisters have always been known for being affectionate with each other, and another instance of their closeness was recently caught on camera!

KARA’s ‘MBC Gayo Daejaejun’ stage is worth $17 million USD

It’s been revealed that KARA‘s pre-recorded stage for the ‘MBC Gayo Daejaejun‘ cost a whopping 20 billion won (~$17 million USD).

Sunye shows off her leadership skills

A lot of people know about Wonder Girls‘ leader Sunye and her long history of kind acts and volunteer work. A recent clip gave further proof of her kindness and had many netizens praising her leadership skills.

Yoseob expresses his nervousness on duet performance with IU

On December 29th, B2ST‘s Yoseob had a wonderful duet performance with IU at the 2011 SBS Gayo Daejun.

’2011 MBC Gayo Daejaejun’, the most problematic year-end show of 2011?

The ’2011 MBC Gayo Daejaejun’ was an event greatly anticipated by K-Pop fans all over the world.

T-ara’s Eunjung tweets about her injured ankle from ‘MBC Gayo Daejaejun’

T-ara‘s Eunjung shocked fans when she stood on stage with pink slippers during 2011 MBC ‘Gayo Daejaejun‘.

2011 MBC Gayo Daejaejun Award goes to ‘Blue Team’ + Performances (Part 4)

It’s New Year’s Eve in Korea, and what better way to send off 2011 than with a livey music show with this year’s top artists!

Did the idol-infested 2011 SBS Gayo Daejun disappoint?

The 2011 SBS Gayo Daejun was an event that verified the great popularity of idol stars.

Performances from 2011 MBC Gayo Daejaejun (Part 3)

It’s New Year’s Eve in Korea, and what better way to send off 2011 than with a livey music show with this year’s top artists!

Performances from 2011 MBC Gayo Daejaejun (Part 2)

It’s New Year’s Eve in Korea, and what better way to send off 2011 than with a livey music show with this year’s top artists!

Performances from the 2011 MBC Gayo Daejaejun (Part 1)

It’s New Year’s Eve in Korea, and what better way to send off 2011 than with a livey music show with this year’s top artists!

B2ST wins ‘Song of the Year’ + Performances from the ’2011 KBS Music Festival’ (Part 2)

The ‘2011 KBS Music Festival‘ hosted a bevy of strong performances from many of this year’s top artists.

Performances from the ’2011 KBS Music Festival’ (Part 1)

The ‘2011 KBS Music Festival‘ hosted a bevy of strong performances from many of this year’s top artists.

Kim Hyun Joong nearly kisses Nana & Kahi at SBS Gayo Daejun

Kim Hyun Joong‘s provocative performance with the girls of After School is causing quite the stir among netizens.

Artists rush between SBS Gayo Daejun and MBC Entertainment Awards

The K-pop artists became extremely busy, as SBS Gayo Daejun and MBC Entertainment Awardswere held at the same time.

2011 SBS Gayo Daejun Performances

In the midst of numerous year-end events and programs, one that, perhaps, shines the brightest is the ’2011 SBS Gayo Daejun’ which always presents itself with glitz and glamor.

EXO makes their debut at SBS ‘Gayo Daejun’

As reported earlier, for members of SME’s newest boy group, EXO made their debut on tonight’s SBS Gayo Dajun.

-12.29.11 2011 SBS Gayo Daejun Performances-Part 2 12.29.11-

The end-of-year festivals are much-anticipated particulary for the many joint stages. SBS kicks things off in grand style.

-12.29.11 2011 SBS Gayo Daejun Performances-Part 1 12.29.11-

The end-of-year festivals are much-anticipated particulary for the many joint stages.

Year-end shows spell hell for artists

Starting with the ‘2011 SBS Gayo Daejun‘ on December 29th, this will be one hell of a week for artists as they attend back to back year-end ceremonies on top of their day to day schedules.

Although they admit that they wouldn’t miss such prestigious events for the world, they can’t help but lament at the intense work that comes with it. The growth of K-Pop globally has attributed to the rising prestige of the ceremonies, and artists that would have foregone them for international events in previous years are now making sure to work their schedules around to fit everything in.

Agencies and idol groups are realizing that their international popularity is further boosted when they achieve #1 in Korea. Thus, some will pre-record their international schedules or connect live from overseas, making sure to get their face time in for their Korean fans.

Idol singers are all “looking forward to the Korean year-end ceremonies” in light of the global attention K-Pop is receiving. Representatives of idols expressed, “We used to attend these ceremonies not very eagerly due to the fact that award shows started gradually disappearing and achieving very low viewer ratings. Now that the groups are promoting more actively overseas, they’re ironically realizing the importance of the support of their Korean fans.”

The idols have to come up with new performances and go through three nights of no rest and endless rehearsals, in order to keep up with all of the ceremonies. For the more popular artists, they’ll have to prepare for different joint collaborations and change up their choreography for remix stages.

Some networks will even cut out and shorten songs to fit their own broadcasting times, requiring rigorous practice to get everything down.

Every second counts and artists must prepare for every possible circumstance, especially when last minute changes are made. This is especially frustrating when they have less time to practice, but the standards of the viewers and audience have risen.

One idol group has even taken to the extreme measure of getting IV treatments to keep up with the demanding schedule, while another girl group is under surveillance for their worsening health condition from practicing all through the night every day.

One representative of a popular artist expressed, “During the year-end, the health of the artists and their representatives drop to its absolute worst. It’s really not easy having to go through three consecutive days of schedule, all focused on dance performances.”