Treading the remaining weeks of the month, as we enter a new quarter and a new season for the year, we bring you all the freshest and thrilling releases in music and films and things that the Internet cannot not talk about in this edition of our weekly pop culture roundup.
Listening station
BTS’ Jimin to debut first K-Drama OST for Our Blues
With Our Blues’ exciting plot and star-studded cast, BTS’ Jimin is confirmed to be the ‘cherry-on-top’ as he will join the team as the OST’s singer.
Yamyam Entertainment confirmed on March 15 that Jimin was chosen to perform the series’ official soundtrack. In a report by Soompi, the said entertainment agency shared, “Since world-class group, BTS’s Jimin will be joining us, we will energize the drama with a masterpiece OST song that harmonizes well with the flow of the story.”
Our Blues is the newest tvN drama scheduled to air on Saturdays and Sundays. Set in Jeju Island, the drama delves into the bittersweet and fun lives of its varying characters portrayed by Shin Min Ah, Lee Byung Hun, Kim Woo Bin, Han Ji Min, and more.
This is Jimin’s first time performing an OST for a Korean drama. Last year, two members of BTS have participated as OST singers for dramas, Jin sang “Yours” for tvN’s Jirisan, while V sang “Christmas Tree” for SBS’s Our Beloved Summer.
Mark Tuan to release new track “Lonely” this year
GOT7 member and rapper Mark Tuan, on his venture as a solo musician, will release another single this coming March 24, 12:00 AM (EST) with the track “Lonely.” Announced on March 16, the musician noted that he’s having a hard time in choosing what to release first between his prepared tracks “Lonely,” and “Save Me.”
The following day, finalized with the releasing date and tracks, Tuan announced that “Lonely” will bless his legions of fans first.
Earlier this year, Tuan released his song “My Life” and was featured in one of the tracks in Marvel’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings with the song “Never Gonna Come Down” with singer Bibi.
SEVENTEEN’s The8 Drops his Digital Solo Track “Hai Cheng”
Heads up Carats! SEVENTEEN’s member The8 released his newest digital single in Chinese-language “Hai Cheng.”
Released on March 18, the vocal and performance member unveiled his versatility by touching a pop ballad genre with a piano accompaniment. The8 also worked in full participation of the music production from the composition of the lyrics with the help of his fellow member Woozi, who produced numerous songs for the group, along with lyricist ALFa.
“Hai Cheng” marks the fourth solo track of The8 after the release of “Side by Side” in 2021, “Falling Down” in 2020, and his solo debut track “Dreams Come True” in 2019.
Star-studded video for James Reid’s Hello 2.0 (Legends Only) featuring JAY B and ØZI is out now
The star-studded music video of “Hello 2.0”, made it worth the wait, with the string of featured cameos of siblings Ranz and Niana, Zack Tabudlo, The A-Team, Mimiyuuuh, Maris Racal, Nadine Lustre and her dog Calcifer Dante Pendragon, Jay Park, Seori, Nancy of Momoland, Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, Vaness Wu, Ylona Garcia, and many more.
The video featured a total of 36 cameos of musicians, dancers, and content creators from the Philippines, Korea and more, a version that merits the title, “Legends Only”.
EXO’s 10th debut anniversary special is coming this April
South Korea music and performance juggernaut, EXO, announces their plans for their upcoming 10th anniversary with a fan event that will happen both offline and online. The event will be held in Seoul’s Jamsil Stadium on April 9 at 7:00 PM KST. Meanwhile, fans all over the world can watch the event simultaneously through the live streaming app Beyond VLive.
The group’s members Suho, Xiumin, D.O, Kai and Sehun are slated to join the event performing hit songs that propelled them to be at the forefront of KPop dominance.
It was in 2012 when the nine-piece group debuted building such immense fanbases with hit songs like “Love Shot” and “Monster.”
For offline ticket reservation starts today Monday, March 21 while for online viewers, it will begin on March 24 at 3:00 PM KST, tickets can be purchased on Beyond VLive and SMTown&Store.
This will be the first activity of the group after their comeback last year with “Don’t Fight the Feeling.”
Screening room
Jericho Rosales to star in his first international series Sellblock
Dubbed as ‘Asian Drama King’, Filipino actor Jericho Rosales is set to return on screens internationally as he will star in prison-action drama Sellblock.
In a report by Variety, ABS-CBN’s head for international production and co-production Ruel S. Bayani confirmed on March 15, that Rosales is chosen to be the lead in the action series co-produced with BlackOps Studios Asia.
“We are thrilled for this opportunity to showcase Filipino talent on the global stage.” Bayani shared. Along with Rosales, notable Philippine artists Tirso Cruz III, Cherry Pie Picache, Ronnie Lazaro, and Rosanna Roces are also part of the series.
Sellblock is included in BlackOps’ projects with Philippines-based Psyops8, Story Arch Pictures, an American production company, and Agog Film, a production company based in Hong Kong.
‘driving home 2 u’: An Olivia Rodrigo Documentary Film is coming
Prepare your driver’s license as 18-year old superstar Olivia Rodrigo, is set to drop her concert film titled Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U (A Sour Film) on Disney+, which will be released this coming March 25.
Taking fans behind the production process of her much-celebrated concert series, we’ll see how the singer-songwriter journeys from Salt Lake City, where she started recording her iconic songs, to Los Angeles where she worked on her debut album SOUR in 2021.
In the teasers and trailers, the film is intended to include wholly new arrangements of tracks and performances of 11 of her hit songs in different locations throughout her road journeys and travels from one city to another.
Francine Diaz shines in her exclusive series Bola-Bola
iWantTFC releases the official trailer for Bola Bola, an online series starring Francine Diaz and her three leading men PBB Kumu Celebrity KD Estrada, actor Ashton Salvador, and BGYO Akira Morishito.
In Bola Bola, Diaz, portrays Thea, a plus-size woman who considers food as her greatest love, navigating the persisted judgment and social standards of beauty.
Directed by JP Habac and produced by Dreamscape Entertainment, the series will start its streaming this coming March 26 and will air every Saturday and Sunday via iWantTFC.
Netflix’s Elite set to premiere its fifth season in April
Yup—we have less than a month to wait ‘till we dive in again in the Elite universe. Famous for its teen-drama-thriller spice, Elite has been ranking atop the trending lists on social media and on the Netflix platform itself.
The series is known for its bold depiction of progressive themes of racism, classicism, homosexuality, and sexual liberation. While the fifth season’s storyline has not yet been shared, fans are expected to watch out for what happened on the last episode of season 4 at the deadly New Year’s Party.
With the new season coming, characters are expected to come and go. Elite’s striking characters are starred by Itzan Escamilla (Samuel), Miguel Bernardeau (Guzmán), Arón Piper (Ander), Omar Shana (Omar), and Claudia Salas (Rebeka), and the newest addition to the cast Argentinian actress Valentina Zenere and Brazilian actor André Lamoglia. Its latest season is set to be released on April 8, 2022.
The Metropolitan Theater Offers Free Screening of Classic Feminist Films
On March 20, the Metropolitan Theater in Manila City just launched their second edition of “Mga Hiyas ng Sineng Filipino” with three digitally restored classic films that highlight stories of women in the Philippine context.
In partnership with Film Development Council of the Philippines, Philippine Film Archive, and ABS-CBN Sagip Pelikula, the theater presented a trilogy of feminist films Brutal (1980), Moral (1982), and Karnal (1983), directed by Marilou-Diaz Abaya and written by Ricky Lee.
In a month-long celebration National Women’s Month, this set of film screenings commemorate the victories and struggles of women from then that shows relevance up to this day.
Umbrella Academy Season 3 teases new cast and upcoming release date
It has been almost two years since the Umbrella Academy Season 2 left us jaw-dropped and hanging in limbo. Netflix finally gave us the justice we deserve, with a recent teaser of the series’ release date and of course and a much-welcome bonus, new characters to watch out for.
The teaser shows the Umbrellas and the Sparrows, who are the new characters to be played by Justin Cornwell, Britne Oldford, Jake Epstein, Genesis Rodriguez, and Cazzie David.
Season 3 of the series is officially announced to drop on June 22.
Compiled and written by Andrea Andres, Roni Mae Serrano, Jaime Bautista, and Melanie Uson