Sandara Park

Sandara Park (Korean: 박산다라, Hanja: 朴-, born November 12, 1984 in Busan, South Korea) is a television personality who is also called "Dara" as one of the vocal members of Korean Girl Group 2NE1. A former Korean expatriate who once starred in movies and television shows in the Philippines. Her unusual three-syllable Korean name, which she has talked about numerous times during interviews, comes from that of a Korean general, Kim Yushin - whose childhood name was "Sandara (산다라)". Sandara Park made her debut in 2004 with ABS-CBN's Star Circle Quest.

Early life

Sandara was born to affluent Korean parents. However, by the time Sandara was 8-years-old, her father's relatives placed him in a financially tight spot which then crippled his business. In hope of recovering from this strain, Sandara's father tried his luck in the Philippines. He settled in a small apartment in Pasay City, and started a business. Sandara and her family remained at her grandmother's house in South Korea for some time until her father finally had enough money to relocate them to the Philippines.

Initially, no one in their family was fluent in English or Filipino (Tagalog). However, she learned English and studied Chinese when she began school in the Philippines, and later became quite fluent in Filipino (Tagalog). Her interviews have also shown that she developed Englog and Taglish capabilities.

Stardom in the Philippines

Rise to Philippine showbiz

During one of her school functions, Sandara met Pauleen Luna, who was then a talent of ABS-CBN Channel 2 Talent Center ^[2]. Luna encouraged the shy Sandara to audition for Star Circle Quest, a then-up-and-coming reality talent search for ABS-CBN.

The show's judges called her in, and she was able to elude elimination several times, paving the way for her inclusion into the contestant-pool's top ten. Being a native Korean, she displayed some trouble with the daily exercises set by the panel of Filipino judges. During the last elimination round in which the final five contestants were chosen, Sandara made Philippine history by garnering approximately 500,000 text votes, making her the first female to garner that much SMS support. And so she remained until the final night when she was announced First Runner-up to Hero Angeles. It is estimated that she got at least 2,000,000 accumulated SMS votes from supporters during the entire run of the contest.

Star Status Established

Sandara Park became a member of ABS-CBN's elite circle of homegrown talents, properly named Star Magic ^[3]. ABS-CBN ^[4] showered Park with projects after her Star Circle Quest ^[5] days. She had six local commercial endorsements for personal care and food products. She also received several television show offers. She starred in a youth-oriented program SCQ Reload, OK Ako, and hosted "Sandara's Romance", a show featuring Korean dramas and commentary. She also had a hosting stint on ASAP Fanatic, a Sunday noontime teen variety show. She also appeared in a local daily primetime superhero soap opera, Krystala, as Kim, who shared similarities with her real-life self, but her tight schedule limited her appearances.

In addition, Sandara also embarked on a musical career that eventually led to the release of her self-titled 6-track album which spawned the novelty dance hits "In Or Out," a song that parodied her experiences on Star Circle Quest, and "Walang Sabit," the jingle for Rejoice Shampoo. As proof of Sandara's rapid rising-star status, the album was Certified Double Platinum (2x Platinum) selling more than 60,000 copies after 6 months.

Sandara also appeared in four movies - Bcuz of U, a three-storyline movie which co-starred other prominent local actors, Can This Be Love, which grossed P 99,000,000 in the box office, D' Lucky Ones and Super Noypi, a Filipino fantasy film and an official entry to 32nd Metro Manila Film Festival.

Return to South Korea

Sandara left the Philippines and returned to South Korea on August 1, 2007 ^[6] with her mother and siblings to begin a new life. The next day, August 2, 2007, YG Entertainment reported that they had signed a contract with Sandara^[7]. As a new member of the YG family, she joined popular Korean artists and bands such as Big Bang, Se7en, Jinusean, Lexy, and 1TYM. Sandara has made an appearance in Gummy's Music Video for the song "I'm Sorry (ft. T.O.P of Big Bang)" as the partner of T.O.P.

2NE1

2NE1 ^[8] was much anticipated by the fans of YG Entertainment. Before their debut, YG Entertainment had put up numerous videos of the members, Sandara Park, Park Bom, CL, and Gong Minji during practice, and they became well-known as the Female Big Bang. Sandara was a very popular member of 2NE1. News of the "Female Big Bang" even became highly anticipated overseas, and their fans began to grow. Then, on March 27, 2009, 2NE1 was featured in a commercial for the LG phone Lollipop with Big Bang. Sandara and 2NE1 gained popularity both through the commercial and the music video of the song "Lollipop" and their debut became a hot topic. On May 6, 2009, two versions of their debut song "Fire"'s Music Video were released, igniting the fire that would spread throughout the Kpop world. 2NE1 performed their debut stage on May 17th on SBS Inkigayo. Their song "Fire" topped charts for weeks, and 2NE1 hit the top spot again with their song "I Don't Care" from their first mini-album. The song was released on July 1, 2009 and hit number one on the charts the same day.

She is now known for her new stage name Dara.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network
2009	2NE1 TV	Herself / 2NE1 Member	YG Entertainment
2009	돌아온 일지매 (The Return of Iljimae) [9]	Rie	MBC
2007	Dalawang Tisoy	Kim	C/S 9
2007	Nuts Entertainment (Balakubak)	Herself / Guest	GMA Network
2006	Voltes V (Tagalog Dubbed)	Voice Actress for Jamie Robinson	Hero
2006	Star Magic Presents: Abt Ur Luv	Bettina	ABS-CBN
2006	Star Magic Presents: Bongga	Barbie	ABS-CBN
2006	Gudtaym	Herself	ABS-CBN
2006	O-Ha!		TV5
2006	Crazy for You	Ara	ABS-CBN
2006	Komiks: Machete	Mara	ABS-CBN
2005	Maalaala Mo Kaya	herself	ABS-CBN
2005	SCQ Reload: Kilig Ako!	Sandara Soh	ABS-CBN
2004	내 이름은 산다라 박 (My Name is Sandara Park)	Herself	KBS
2004	Krystala	Kim	ABS-CBN
2004	ASAP Fanatic	Herself / Performer	ABS-CBN
2004	SCQ Reload: OK Ako!	Sandara Soh	ABS-CBN
2004	Sandara's Romance [10]	Herself / Host / Narrator	ABS-CBN
2004	Star Circle Quest	Herself / Contestant / Runner-up	ABS-CBN

[edit] Film

Year	Title	Role	Producer
2007	Super Noypi	Michi	Regal Films
2006	D' Lucky Ones	Lucky Girl	Star Cinema
2005	Can This Be Love	Daisy/Yoon Hea	Star Cinema
2004	Bcuz Of U	April	Star Cinema
2004	Volta	Herself/Cameo	Star Cinema

[edit] Others

Year	Title	Role	Organizer
2009	I Don't Care by 2NE1	Member	YG Entertainment
2009	Fire by 2NE1	Member	YG Entertainment
2009	Lollipop by Big Bang feat. 2NE1	Member of a new girl group called 2NE1	YG Entertainment
2008	Music video of "I'm Sorry" by Gummy	Guest appearance together with T.O.P. (member of Big Bang) as a couple
2007	The ARAW Values Advertising Awards	Herself / Presenter
2006	Ang Ganda Ko (D' Lucky Ones Movie Theme Song)	Herself / Singer / Cast Member	Star Records and Star Cinema
2005	Farewell Lovers: A Lover in Paris Special	Herself / Host	ABS-CBN
2005	2004 MBC Awards	Herself / Presenter	MBC
2005	21st PMPC Star Awards For Movies	Herself / Presenter, Performer, and Winner - Best New Movie Actress of the Year	Philippine Movie Press Club
2005	Sandara: Ang Pambansang Krung-Krung ng Pilipinas (TV Special)	Herself	ABS-CBN
2005	Walang Sabit ( Music Video / Commercial )	Herself / Singer and Model / Endorser	Star Records and Rejoice
2004	In or Out	Herself / Singer	Star Records

Discography

Year of release	Title	Singles
2004 Star Records	Sandara [11]	In or Out Mapasagot Mo Kaya Smile In Your Heart Sabi Ko Na Nga Ba Dear Heart
2004 Star Records	SCQ Fab 5 Ragnarok OST (Tagalog) [12]	WE ARE THE STARS -Ragnarok The Animation Theme Song WE ARE THE STARS -Ragnarok The Animation Theme Song (MTV)
2005 Star Records	Sandara / Rejoice "Walang Sabit" (Repackaged) [13] [14]	In or Out Mapasagot Mo Kaya Smile In Your Heart Sabi Ko Na Nga Ba Dear Heart Walang Sabit Walang Sabit (Minus One)
2006 Star Records	Sandara (Ang Ganda Ko) [15]	In or Out Mapasagot Mo Kaya Smile In Your Heart Sabi Ko Na Nga Ba Dear Heart Ang Ganda Ko (Bonus Track, Theme Song Of "D' Lucky Ones")
2009 YG Entertainment	2NE1 Mini-Album [16]	Fire I Don't Care Pretty Boy In The Club Let's Go Party Stay Together Lollipop (Bonus Track)

Kim Hyun Joong

Kim Hyun Joong (born June 6, 1986) is a South Korean male singer, actor and leader of boyband SS501.

Career

Kim debuted as the leader of SS501 in 2005. In addition to their musical activities, SS501 participated in two reality shows — Thank You For Waking Us Up (2005) and Thank You For Raising Us (2006) — that profiled the group's life together. They also appeared in MNet's Idol World in 2007, which showed SS501 doing various missions in Japan.

He joined the cast of MBC variety reality show We Got Married on May 11, 2008, with Hwang Bo, who is 6 years his senior. They achieved high popularity acting as a newlywed couple. Due to his appearance on We Got Married, he was cast in the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango as one of the members of the famous F4. Known as the "Lettuce Couple", Kim and Hwang Bo went on to win MBC's Best Couple Award. The couple made their official exit from We Got Married on December 14, 2008 due to scheduling conflicts presented by Boys Over Flowers.

In the hit drama series, Boys Over Flowers, he plays Yoon Ji Hoo (Hanazawa Rui, in Hana Yori Dango). The series was a huge media and ratings sensation in Korea during its run from January to March 2009, garnering a huge amount of popularity for the entertainer.

Along with his bandmates, Kim is preparing SS501's new Korean album, for which each member will be doing a solo. The group will kick off their Asia concert in mid-August 2009.

Filmography

• Boys Over Flowers (KBS2, 2009) Yoon Ji Hoo
• Nonstop 5 (Episode 208, MBC, 2005)
• Can Love Be Refilled? Sitcom (KBS2, 2005

Awards

• Popularity Award for Television on KBS2's Boys Over Flowers (The 45th PaekSang Arts Awards, February 2009)^[1]

• Best Couple Award on MBC's We Got Married with Hwang Bo (MBC Awards, December 28, 2008)

James Yap PBA Career

James Yap entered the 2004 PBA Draft, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs. His teammate Artadi was also selected in a later round which foreshadowed a UE-tandem in the professional league.

Bothered by an ailing shoulder, Yap had a slow start in the 2004-2005 season. Later on, he started to blossom as he had numerous games of which he scored 20 or more points. However, he failed to lead Purefoods past the quarterfinal round against Shell Turbo Chargers. Eventually, he lost to counterpart Rich Alvarez in the Rookie of the Year race.

2004-2005 Rookie Season Averages: (63 games) 27.0 mpg, 12.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.3bpg, 2.3 fpg

In the 2005-06 PBA season, he picked up his pieces and went on for a better display. Along with Kerby Raymundo and import Marquin Chandler in the 2005-06 Fiesta Conference, Yap was a close to prominent force in the Giants’ bid to the championship showdown as he came 4th in the statistical race, behind Raymundo, Red Bull Barako’s Enrico Villanueva, and Air21’s Ren-Ren Ritualo at the end of the semifinals series. Villanueva was the eventual Best Player of the Conference. To make matters more wayward, with about a minute left in game 6 of the Finals series, Yap failed to promise the Giants a possible turnaround for a game 7 or a championship title as he missed a supposedly easy layup to cut Redbull’s 4-point lead. Consequently, the Giants submitted to a 4-2 series conclusion. As a comeback, in the classification round of the most prestigious conference, Philippine Cup, he recorded 34 points to devour the Sta. Lucia Realtors and even broke it with a career-high 37 points to beat crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra. At the near end of the round, he was a one-man offensive force, complementing the Pingris-led defensive end, and winning against the powerhouse team TNT. [8] . The victory put the Purefoods team to an automatic best-of-seven semifinals slot. The semis series turned out to be another historic comeback for the Purefoods franchise with James Yap’s offensive, Kerby Raymundo’s leadership, and Marc Pingris’ defensive heroics.

After the accumulation of player statistics at the end of the semis, Yap edged out teammate Kerby Raymundo and RedBulls’ Enrico Villanueva for the Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player award. This acknowledgement made him, at 24 years of age, 5th in the youngest players, and 2nd (since 2002 MVP Willie Miller) as a sophomore to have won the individual award. He was the statistical leader and garnered more than 7000 combined votes from players, 4-man committee and media, almost 5000 votes away from the rest of the candidates. All annual awards were distributed minutes before the Game 4 in the finals series [9] — a game which portrayed the MVP sinking in 5 of his 7 attempts from beyond the arc and 6 of his 8 attempts from the charity line. He was also named to the Mythical First Team alongside teammates Raymundo and Roger Yap, and on-court rivals Enrico Villanueva and Lordy Tugade.

2005-2006 Sophomore season: (57 games) 36.4 mpg, 17.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.4 bpg, 2.1 TOpg, 2.7 fpg

Yap’s sudden popularity in the professional league could not be denied in only his second season — a year which put him local sportswriters [10] spotlight for the second time around. To attest was the jampacked coliseum chanting “M-V-P!” in the background of the 2006 Philippine Cup Finals Game 6 — the hype that was when Yap was flawlessly dishing in charity stripes with less than two minutes away from the balloons and confetti falling.

James Yap Amateur Career

James Carlos Yap is a Filipino professional basketball superstar for the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was a 2005-2006 season’s Most Valuable Player, and is now fast becoming one of the basketball icons in the professional ranks. Now in his fifth year, he is already a five-time PBA South All-Star team starter through 2004 to 2008.

As a kid, Yap already showed athleticism. He first fell in love with football and baseball and track and field, and played these until high school. His uncle Emmanual Yap was one of the few who first noticed his potential in basketball. Growing up, he looked up to one of the most prolific players in the history of Philippine Basketball, Samboy Lim.

James Yap emerged to be one of the most promising basketball stars in the Iloilo/Negros region back in the late-90’s. Early on that decade, he played for the Bacolod Tay Tung High School and made his mark at the school. He was transferred to Iloilo Commercial Central High School, displaying his skills. Manila Standard. Along the way, he sparked his team to three consecutive Iloilo PRISAA titles. At that time, it was rumored that the Negros Slashers of the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association was going to sign Yap.

However, as fate had it, Yap preferably primed himself for the collegiate level. He played for the UE Red Warriors under former national team coach, Boysie Zamar, even though DLSU also had an eye on him. In 2002, known for his quick-release shooting and all-around presence, he, alongside playmaker Paul Artadi and hustling Ronald Tubid, brought the Red Warriors to the Final Four after years of absence. However, 2nd seed University of the East lost to a dramatic semifinal series as they faced Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, the eventual champion. In the same year, he led UE to the 1st Bantay Bata Crossover Cup, exacting a sweet revenge against Ateneo in the Finals. A month after, he once again led UE to the inaugural Collegiate Champions League crown, beating FEU.

In the heat of UAAP (67th season), Yap led the Red Warriors to the Final Four for the second straight time as he topped his teammates in points and rebounding, and closed second to Artadi in overall efficiency rating. Eventually in the semifinals series, the Warriors lost to a much more defensive orchestrated team, Far Eastern UniversityTamaraws led by tactician coach, Koy Banal. Nevertheless, Yap was named as the Most Valuable Player, stunned everyone else as there were Mark Cardona and Arwind SantosPhilippines in the 2003 Southeast Asian Games for a gold medal finish. Thus, the Philippines Sportswriter Association honored him the best player in his field, basketball, in the amateurs alongside Asi Taulava in the professional level. who were neck and neck for the plum. The majority of the UAAP basketball community’s nods paved the way for James’ win as he topped the vote from coaches, players, and media which accounted for 50%. In the same year, he, along with teammate Paul Artadi, was teamed up with other UAAP and PBL counterparts to lead the

James Yap also played in the Philippine Basketball League from 2001-2004. In 2001, he played for the ICTSI-La Salle Archers forming a backcourt tandem with Mike Cortez that almost had their team beating the veteran-ladden, Shark Energy Drink, in the finals. In 2002, he teamed up with guards Mark Cardona and Joseph Yeo, played decoy most of the times while still explosive in a number of games–one which saw him sparking the offense, putting the Archers in the playoffs against Blu Detergent Kings. In 2003, he had to sit out the whole conference long after ICTSI refused to sign his release papers to make him eligible to play for Sunkist-Pampanga. In 2004, Yap signed up for one conference with the Welcoat Paintmasters, teaming up with the comebacking Jojo Tangkay, leading them to a runner-up finish. He and Tangkay lost to Peter June Simon of FASH team for the MVP plum. Yap ended up completing the Mythical First Team.

Purefoods Players

#	Name	Position	Height	Weight	College
1	Lanete, Chico	Guard	0-0	0	Lyceum of the Philippines University
2	Belga, Beau	Center	0-0	0	Philippine Christian University
3	Fernandez, Jonathan	Guard	0-0	0	University of the Philippines
5	Salvador, Jondan	Forward	0-0	0	De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde
8	Simon, Peter June	Guard	0-0	0	University of Mindanao
10	Adducul, Rommel	Center	6-6	224.4	San Sebastian College - Recoletos
12	Bugia, Paolo	Center	0-0	0	Ateneo de Manila University
13	Yap, Roger	Forward	0-0	0	University of San Jose - Recoletos
14	Villanueva, Enrico	Center	6-5	209	Ateneo de Manila University
17	Aban, Aaron	Forward	0-0	0	Colegio de San Juan de Letran
18	Yap, James	Guard	6-3	189.2	University of the East
21	Raymundo, Kerby	Center	0-0	0	Colegio de San Juan de Letran
22	Alonzo, Chad	Forward	0-0	0	Adamson University
28	Yee, Richard	Forward	6-11	194.7	University of Santo Tomas
32	Alvarez, Rich	Small Forward	6-5	209	Ateneo de Manila University
32	Robinson, Topex	Guard	0-0	0	San Sebastian College - Recoletos

Purefoods Players

	Chico Lanete 01 - Guard	Jondan Salvador 05 - Forward	Peter June Simon 08 - Guard
	Michael "Topex" Robinson 11 - Guard	Jonathan Fernandez 12 - Guard	Roger Yap(+) 13 - Guard
	Enrico Villanueva 14 - Center/Forward	Paolo Bugia 15 - Center	Aaron Aban 17 - Guard/Forward
	James Yap(+) 18 - Guard	Richard Alonzo 20 - Forward	Kerby Raymundo 21 - Center/Forward
	Richard Yee(+) 28 - Forward	Beau Belga 30 - Center	Richard Alvarez 32 - Forward

2008 MMFF Awards Winner

Well, there you go, Baler is one worthwhile film to see among the entries to the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). In the 2008 MMFF Awards Night held Saturday evening at the Sofitel Hotel, it managed to garner ten awards. It won for Anne Curtis her first acting award, and a Best Actress award at that!

Baler was also declared Best Festival Picture, and also won Best Director for Mark Meily, Best Supporting Actor for Philip Salvador, and the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award. Manilyn Reynes won Best Supporting Actress for “One Night Only” while Christopher de Leon won Best Actor for “Magkaibigan.”

In the technical film-making categories, Baler almost sweep the MMFF awards night winning Best Screenplay for Roy Iglesias, Best Cinematography for Lee Meily, Best Production Design for Aped Santos, and Best Editing for Danny Anonuevo.

Animated film “Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia” won four awards with Best Visual Effects for Robert Quilao, Best Busical Score for Jessie Lasaten, Best Theme Song for “Lipad” (by Jessie Lasaten and Artemio Abad Jr., performed by Lea Salonga), and Best Sound for Albert Idioma and Wally Dellosa. Jose Javier Reyes won Best Original Story for “One Night Only”; Robert Villar won Best Child Performer (”Shake, Rattle, and Roll X”); and Noli Villalobos for Best Make-Up (”Desperadas 2″).

MMFF Top grossers “Ang Tanging Ina Ninyong Lahat,” which so far earned 41 million pesos in its first two days of showing, was declared the 2nd Best Festival Picture, while “Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After,” which raked in P35.6 million in 2 days, was declared the 3rd Best Festival Picture.

Incidentally, Baler has a 2 day box-office receipt total of P15.2 million to place third among the top-grossers.