ZE:A marks release of first full-length album with showcase

Korean idols ZE:A at the showcase for their first full-length album "LOVABILITY" held in Seoul, South Korea on March 16, 2011. [Star Empire Entertainment]

Korean idols ZE:A held a showcase yesterday, after a eight month hiatus, to celebrate the release of their first full-length album.

The nine-member boy band kicked off the showcase in Seoul, South Korea on March 16, revealing the music video for title track "Here I Am" for the first time ever from their new album "LOVABILITY" which is set for release today.

The showcase continued with a powerful performance from the boys of their songs "Again," "Be My Girl," "Special Day" and "Here I Am."

"It feels great to be back on stage and we are feeling quite nervous right now. We worked really hard on this album and it feels just like when we made our debut performance," the members said, sharing their thoughts on returning to the local music scene.

"We want to thank our fans for showing up today while expressing our condolences and prayers for our fans in Japan," Moon Jun-young the leader of ZE:A said.

Last week, Japan was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 sending a 10-meter (33-foot) wave surging through several of its towns and cities. The country is trying to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and care for millions of people without power or water.

"We were scheduled to perform in the country but a fan from Japan called our company and told us not to come. We know it's not much but we will donate a share of the profits from our Asia tour to the earthquake relief and hope to see our Japanese fans very soon."

Composed of other members Kim Dong-jun, Jung Hee-cheol, Kevin, Hwang Kwang-hee, Ha Min-woo, Swian and Kim Tae-heon, ZE:A (Children of Empire) made their debut in January of last year with song "Mazeltov" from their first mini-album "Nativity" and followed it up with "Leap for Detonation" and "Level Up."

The group branched out into the music market in Japan after performing on music program "SEOUL TRAIN," which introduces K-pop artists to local fans, in early March 2010 and signed with Japanese entertainment company IMX two months later.

They placed at No. 3 on Oricon's daily singles chart with their first Japanese album "ZE:A!" and held a sold-out concert in the country last month as well as playing the male leads in the Japan-Korea collaboration film "RONIN POP."

The boys will officially begin promoting "LOVABILITY" with their comeback performance on cable music channel Mnet's "M! CountDown" today.

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Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@