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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, June 9, 2007

Will it Rain here? Tour delays rumored

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Some concert ads for Rain now use the name Jung Ji-Hoon instead, because of legal issues.

ASSOCIATED PRESS LIBRARY PHOTO | April 2007

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RAIN

8 p.m. Friday

Aloha Stadium

$55, $115, $225; Ticketmaster at (877) 750-4400, www.ticketmaster.com

VIP tickets $300; in person at Rain VIP ticket office, Samsung Plaza, 655 Ke'eaumoku St., 1st floor, or via Click Entertainment at 941-8870, 10 a.m.5 p.m. weekdays

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Clouds are gathering over a scheduled Aloha Stadium concert Friday starring Korean pop star Jung Ji-Hoon, popularly known as Rain, amid pending litigation over the use of his stage name, media reports that the South Korean popster's World Tour dates are being postponed and Internet rumors about a possible cancellation.

Seung Su Lee, president of Click Entertainment, which is bringing the concert to Honolulu, has traveled to Seoul to check on the situation, and is expected back in Hawai'i with updates on Monday, his office reported. Tickets are still being sold, and Click Entertainment said it still expects to mount the concert.

A complication is trademark infringement litigation over the use of the stage name Rain. A lawsuit was filed in Reno last February by music company Rain Corporation, which promotes a Beatles tribute band named Rain.

A Korea Times article published today said that Rain, a K-drama actor and singer, was postponing his U.S. tour. The tour's scheduled dates include Honolulu on Friday, Atlanta on June 19, New York on June 23, San Francisco on June 27 and Los Angeles on June 30.

In Honolulu, tickets for the stadium performance were on sale yesterday through Ticketmaster, and the performer is described as "Rain (The Singer)." Fans who called Click, where $300 VIP packages are still being sold, have been told that the show is a go.

Ticketmaster sales for an Atlanta performance June 19 now call the event "Ji-Hoon's World Tour 2007," describing him, Prince-style, as the artist "Formerly Known as Rain." The status of New York and Los Angeles billings could not be confirmed.

Rai's Web site lists cancellations for Toronto (tonight) and San Francisco (June 27), but continues to promote the dates in Honolulu, Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. "Everything is under the control of God," said Sung Up Park, CEO of Big Band of Korea, who was here yesterday to assist Click Entertainment.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.