‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Player Spencer Hawkins Talks About Breaking Down In Cookie Competition: “I Felt Physically Sick”

Thania Garcia South Korean boy band Ateez has the No. 1 album in the United States this week, landing its first No. 1 record with their sophomore set “The World EP.Fin: Will.” The 12-song set had the equivalent of 152,000 sales, according to data provided by Luminate, and serves as the follow-up to the eight-member group’s June EP “The World EP.2: Outlaw.” Preceded by the streaming hit “Crazy Form,” which boasts elements of Afro dancehall, “The World EP.2: Outlaw” was released via Sony Music Korea/RCA Records and is the fifth K-pop record to lead the Billboard 200 this year behind releases from Tomorrow X Together, NewJeans and Stray Kids.

were announced Monday morning, and the biggest shocker is … that they still exist!Like a post-apocalyptic Twinkie, the 80-year-old ceremony has survived against all odds. There’s been scandal after scandal, the disbanding of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a sale to Dick Clark Productions and a move from NBC to CBS.

Kate Middleton dazzled everyone at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace when she wore a tiara that hadn't been seen in over 80 years.The event was part of the state visit for the President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee in November. In a surprising fashion twist, the Princess of Wales chose to wear the Strathmore Rose tiara for the first time.This stunning piece hadn't been seen since the Queen Mother wore it back in the 1930s as reported by The Mirror.The all-diamond Strathmore Rose tiara was a wedding gift to the Queen Mother from her father, the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

Like the Japanese with their Godzilla movies, the Koreans are partial to a bit of post-apocalyptic social satire, and Um Tae-Hwa’s box office hit Concrete Utopia follows a path trailblazed in 2013 by Bong Joon-ho’s cult sci-fi Snowpiercer. Adapted from the popular webtoon Pleasant Outcast by Kim Soong Nyung and partly inspired by British writer J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel High-Rise, it centers on a Korean apartment block whose residents become lawless after a terrifying earthquake rips through the country.

What To Watch. This week’s column is different; as we near the end of the year, we’ve compiled our seven favorite movies of 2023 and how to watch them.‘Society of the Snow’ is Spain’s Oscar entry, exploring the true story of a horrifying plane crashAriana DeBose plays an astronaut in new Sci-Fi film set on spaceMartin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is based on the conspiracy behind the 1920’s murders of the Osage Nation, a tribe that were labeled as the richest people on Earth after the oil boom in America. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, two of Scorsese’s most frequent collaborators, and explores topics that he’s well versed in.

The Princess of Wales looked stunning as she donned an unusual tiara that had not been seen in more than eight decades at a state banquet held at Buckingham Palace.

BLACKPINK are still discussing their individual contracts with YG Entertainment, the label has confirmed.YG Entertainment announced yesterday (December 6) that BLACKPINK had re-signed with the K-pop agency following a months-long negotiation process, saying that the quartet would be releasing “new albums” and embarking on “world tours” in the future.However, in its statement, YG Entertainment also said that BLACKPINK had “signed an exclusive contract for group activities”, which left questions about the quartet’s individual contracts with the agency.In a later statement to South Korean news outlet eToday, YG Entertainment confirmed that “the exclusive contracts for individual members are still being negotiated”.In addition, the label also said that it is currently “difficult to provide details” about the duration of BLACKPINK’s new group contract, as well as any possible upcoming plans for new music. “For now, please kindly refer to the official statement only,” per TV Report, as translated by Soompi.Yesterday, the share price of YG Entertainment shot up by as much as 29 per cent after it announced that BLACKPINK have renewed their contracts with the agency.

official website.The ceremony also normally gives out honours for several special awards – including genre categories, best group, solo and performance awards and more – though Golden Disc has not revealed these categories nor their nominees.The 38th Golden Disc Awards will take place on Saturday, January 6 at the Jakarta International Stadium in Jakarta at 9pm KST, and will be aired on JTBC in South Korean.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Political drama thriller “12.12: The Day” dominated the South Korean box office for a second weekend with a $13 million haul. Its second weekend outing topped its first session, when it earned $11.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). And the film (aka “Seoul Spring”) increased its share of the weekend’s total cinema market to a crushing 81%. Separately, ComScore calculated that the film’s single country receipts made it the seventh highest grossing film in the world over the weekend. After two weekends on release, “12.12: The Day” has garnered $34.2 million, making it already the sixth ranking film in Korea this year and the third biggest Korean-produced picture.

NewJeans, followed by aespa, Jungkook and NCT Dream taking home the most trophies – view the full list of winners below.Held on December 2, the 2023 Melon Music Awards ceremony was hosted by IVE’s An Yu-jin at the Inspire Arena in South Korea. Most of the winners in each category were decided through a mix of digital sales, online voting and panelist votes, though the Record of the Year grand prize and special awards were based solely on panelist votes.Girl group NewJeans took home two of the four grand prizes of the night, namely Artist of the Year and Song of the Year – the latter with their song ‘Ditto’.

Squid Game: The Challenge is almost over, with just one more episode left!

Tyler, The Creator‘s fashion label Golf Wang have announced worldwide holiday pop ups.The musician will launch 12 holiday pop up stores on December 2, along with their current permanent locations in Los Angeles, New York and London.Golf Wang will travel across the world to Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong, Toyko, Melbourne, and London. A store will also arrive in Seoul, South Korean, however its location will be announced in the future.In the US, further pop ups will be found in Austin, Atlanta, Bay Area, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.The stores will contain portions of the FW23 collection, along with a graffiti airbrush-inspired art piece that will be featured on different items like tees, fleece, jackets and accessories.

Netflix’s Squid Game is the basis of a new reality show where 456 contestants compete for a huge cash prize.Based on the South Korean survival drama, Squid Game: The Challenge sees contestants take part in various games inspired by the series for a chance to win $4.56million.A synopsis for the show reads: “As they compete through a series of games inspired by the original show – plus surprising new additions – their strategies, alliances, and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them.”Since the first five episodes premiered on November 22, the series has topped the Netflix charts in the UK. According to Deadline, the premiere episode drew an audience of around 1.1million households in the US.Netflix has not announced whether the show will return for a second season.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief South Korea’s two largest streaming services, Tving and Wave, are in advanced merger talks, according to Korean financial news media. The move appears intended to strengthen the home-grown platforms, which currently trail streaming market leader Netflix. The Korean Economic Daily reported Wednesday that CJ ENM, the largest shareholder in TVing, and SK Square, the biggest backer of Wavve, could strike an agreement as early as next week.

Squid Game: The Challenge has become the most-watched show on the platform this week.This is according to data from Netflix’s official most-watched list, which tracks the platforms most popular content based on a metric called “views”, based on “the total hours viewed divided by the total runtime”. For the week of November 20 to 26 – also the show week of debut – Squid Game: The Challengelogged about 20.1million views.The unscripted survival series draws from the games depicted in Netflix hit 2021 K-drama series Squid Game.

EXCLUSIVE: Squid Game: The Challenge has piqued the interest of quite a few spectators.

ASTRO member Rocky has opened up about the sudden passing of his former bandmate and friend Moonbin earlier this year.Rocky opened up about the death of Moonbin in a new interview with South Korean news outlet 10 Asia, where he spoke about their long friendship and how the passing had affected him.“I wasn’t myself for the first couple of weeks after he passed away. It was a big shock to me,” Rocky said, per SBS Star, revealing that he and Moobin had known one other for over 12 years.“If I’m being completely honest here, I’m still getting over the whole thing.

Prince William and Kate Middleton are facing “their duties as equal partners”, a royal expert has claimed. On Tuesday 20 November, the pair were all smiles when they joined other members of the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace to view artefacts from the Royal Collection alongside President Yoon Suk Yeol as part of the South Korean president’s state visit to the UK.

Alison Herman TV Critic From the moment Reed Hastings tuned into an earnings call wearing a green-and-white tracksuit, it was clear Netflix may have learned the wrong lessons from the success of “Squid Game.” In 2021, the South Korean drama — created, written and directed by auteur Hwang Dong-hyuk — became a surprise global sensation with a grim and violent allegory of capitalism exploiting the desperate many for the enjoyment of a wealthy few. Hastings, a rich and powerful tech founder, was closer to one of the titular game’s masked spectators than a contestant risking their life for a chance at the prize, though he didn’t seem to see the irony.

Netflix’s Squid Game is the basis of a new reality show where 456 contestants compete for a huge cash prize.Based on the South Korean drama, Squid Game: The Challenge sees contestants take part in various games inspired by the series for a chance to win $4.56million.A synopsis for the show reads: “As they compete through a series of games inspired by the original show – plus surprising new additions – their strategies, alliances, and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them.”The first five episodes will arrive on Wednesday November 22 at 8am GMT in the UK. This translates to 12am PT and 3am ET in the US.The remaining five episodes will be released in two batches: with four episodes arriving on Wednesday November 29, before the final the following week on December 6.Netflix released a trailer for Squid Game: The Challenge last month – check it out above.Squid Game, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, was officially renewed for a second season in June last year.