Rain Invited to Japan as First Non-Japanese Asian Artist

Korean star Rain has been invited to a prestigious music award ceremony organized by MTV Japan as the first ever non-Japanese Asian performing artist. So far, only top-rated American, European or Japanese artists had been invited to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan (VMAJ) organized by the world-renowned music channel MTV Japan. Last year, the guest performing artist was The Darkness, and in 2003 it was Craig David. The invitation of Rain as a performing artist this year signifies that VMAJ recognizes his potential to become a world-renowned star. VMAJ 2005 announced its decision to invite Rain as the first non-Japanese Asian performing artist after it unveiled a list of other performing guests late last month. The list included Japanese artist Orange Range, American pop singer Ashanti, American rock group Hoobastank, and Japanese singer Amuro Namie. Rain, who had the opportunity to perform on the same stage with Hoobastank and Amuro Namie at the MTV Asia Awards in February, has now received another opportunity to sing with the world’s biggest stars. VMAJ 2005, which is in its fourth year, will be held on May 29 at the Bay NK Hall in Tokyo. Rain has also been nominated for the Best Buzz Asia Award along with G.O.D., Tony Ahn and Jang Nara. He is scheduled to participate at a Korean-American concert on April 23 in Los Angeles, U.S.A., where he plans to stay for a month to prepare for the VMAJ 2005.