South Korean pop superstar Rain blamed local concert promoter V2B Global for technical difficulties that resulted in the cancellation of his performance Saturday night at Staples Center -- the last in a string of planned U.S. shows in the singer-dancer-actor's "Rain's Coming" world tour that failed to go on as scheduled.
But viewed another way, the show's last-minute cancellation can be partially attributed to a breakdown of the K-pop phenom's celebrity industrial complex. Miscommunication between his various American tour promoters, as well as Rain's recent changeover from his powerful talent manager, Park Jin Young, to a new manager accounted for at least some of the confusion that led to the technical trouble that stopped the show.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday July 10, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 43 words Type of Material: Correction
Rain concert: An article in Tuesday's Calendar about South Korean pop star Rain said JYP Entertainment sold the rights to the singer's American tour to Revolution Entertainment. JYP sold the rights to another promoter, StarM, which in turn sold the rights to Revolution.
The missed concert -- for which 77% of available tickets were sold, according to Ticketmaster -- could push back his efforts to establish his pop stardom in America by as much as two years.
"The local promoter didn't set up everything," Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, said through an interpreter Sunday. "When I came to the venue, the LED screen couldn't be set up. I have rain falling in the concert -- that couldn't work. The stage wasn't set up, there were no lights, no sound. I wanted to do a great show. But yesterday, I couldn't get on stage."
V2B's Chief Executive Andy Kim, however, tells a very different story, insisting the tour's original promoter, StarM, pulled the plug on the show after discovering the production would not be able to use Rain's massive Korean-made LED screen -- a central component of his stage show -- because it didn't conform to American electrical standards.
"It was a safety issue on the equipment they provided," Kim said. "But the real reason the concert was canceled is the Korean team didn't move quickly enough to make an alternative plan.
"They kicked me, the local promoter, out of meetings they were having with management," he added. "Then at 5:30 [Saturday], Staples wants me to approve a press release saying the concert has been canceled. StarM didn't consult me. I didn't know until I saw the press release."
Rain, 25, part of the globally popular "Korean Wave" movement and often referred to as "the Justin Timberlake of Asia," said he felt sad and angry about disappointing fans, some of whom had traveled from Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul for the performance.
