Jay Park

Jay Park (박재범) is a South Korean-American singer, dancer, and actor. In his early high school years, he joined the local b-boy crew, Art of Movement (AOM), and it wasn't until 2004 when he auditioned for JYP Entertainment that he caught the eye of Park Jinyoung and was brought to Korea to receive further training in dancing, rapping, singing, and the Korean language. Park first appeared through MNET's Hot Blood, a documentary-style reality program that showed the future members of idol groups 2AM and 2PM in training, with Park finishing at the top spot with the most fan votes, and as 2PM's leader. On September 4, 2008, 2PM debuted with their song "10 Point Out of 10 Points" (10점 만점에 10점) on music program M! Countdown after the release of their first mini-album Hottest Time of the Day a few days prior. However, it was their promotions for "Again and Again" that catapulted the group's status in Korean music, and earned them first place awards for a capped 3 successive weeks in music programs, SBS's Inkigayo and Mnet's M! Countdown in May of 2009. On September 4, 2009, unfavorable comments towards Korea were found on Park's personal Myspace account from 2005. The comments, written in English to a friend, were misinterpreted and mistranslated by Korean media, quickly spreading across hundreds of news articles. In what has been termed a show of "explosive nationalism", netizens displayed overwhelming rage over the posts with many demanding for his expulsion from Korea and a petition signed by three thousand calling for his suicide. Park expressed deep remorse and shame over his past, forgotten words and issued an official apology. Despite this, on February 25, 2010, JYPE announced that they had permanently terminated Park's contract with collective agreement among the other 6 members of 2PM. On March 15, 2010, Park created his own YouTube channel, where he decided to revitalize his career and began uploading cover songs for his fans and officially marked his return to music after a long hiatus. Since then, he has gone solo and has had activies both in America and South Korea, so far releasing three singles and two albums; the latest being "Take A Deeper Look ". Jay Park has also starred in the movie "Hype Nation" and the upcoming "Mr. Idol".