Choi Su-jong of “Dae Jo Young,” Kim Haneul of “On Air”

Nominees are out for the 2008 Korea Drama Festival awards, and the list is rather ho-hum. For example, the nominees for Best Drama are: Legend (MBC), Mom’s Dead Upset (KBS), Dae Jo Young (KBS), and Gourmet (SBS).

At first I was disappointed in the list of nominees, but then I thought back to the year and realized it’s just been a ho-hum year for dramas overall. Although, if we’re nominating Legend for Best Drama, which premiered over a year ago in September 2007, surely there are other series that have been overlooked.

The Korean Drama Festival runs from November 1 through 5 in Jinju; see the nominee list beyond the jump.

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Tags: awards, Beethoven Virus, Choi Su-jong, City of Glass, East of Eden, Han Ji-hye, Hong Gil Dong, Jang Geun-seok, Kim Bum, Kim Haneul, Kim Myung-min, Lee Jin-wook, Legend, New Heart, On Air, Sung Yuri, You're My Destiny

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On October 4, the Premiere Magazine-sponsored “Rising Star” awards ceremony was held at the Pusan International Film Festival to name its, well, rising stars.

Ha Jung-woo and Su Ae won for their performances in their recent films (thriller The Chaser and period war piece You’re Far Away, respectively). Ha said, “I’d like to become an actor who can always give his audience an entertaining movie.”

Jung Ryeo-won and Jung Kyung-ho, on the other hand, won for best new actors (My Girlfriend Has Two Faces and You’re Far Away). Seven Days director Won Shin-yeon took the directing award.

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Tags: awards, film festivals, Ha Jung-woo, Jung Ryeo-won, Su Ae

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MC Jang Geun-seok

Although I didn’t watch August 23’s broadcast of Mnet’s 20’s Choice awards (a wannabe VMA’s, really), looking over the full winners list, my first reaction is: “What were they smoking?”

Some choices made sense. I get why Jang Geuk-seok, shakin’ his thang above as the event’s MC, was awarded Hot Movie Star (Male) because he’s had a great year coming off the drama Hong Gil Dong and recent movie Baby and I. And Hot Sports Star is a topical choice, going to the recent gold-medalist female weight lifter Jang Mi-ran, while the annoyingly catchy, ubiquitous earworms “One More Time” and “So Hot” (by Jewelry and Wonder Girls, respectively) are no-brainers.

But even the fact that they’ve got a “Hot Schoolgirl” category (winner So-hee), or “Hot Comment” (I think they meant catchprase) are kind of, pardon my French, retarded. And don’t even ask me what “Hot Sweet Music” means.

Furthermore, I get that “American beef” was a hot topic this year, but to highlight it at an awards show as the “winner” of Hot Issuemaker seems a little crass. Or just stupid.

Check out the full list beyond the jump, along with pics of the show in all its tacky glory.

MNET 20′S CHOICE WINNERS AND ATTENDEES >>

Tags: awards, Big Bang, Girls Generation, Jang Geun-seok, Jun Jin, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Min-hee, kpop, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Hyori, Park Min-young, Park Shi-hoo, Park Yong-ha, Ryu Seung-beom, singers, Uhm Jung-hwa, Wonder Girls, Yoo Seung-ho

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This is kind of random, but the recent KBS fusion sageuk Hong Gil Dong just won an award at the second Roma Fiction Fest on July 12.

The competitive categories were TV Movie, Miniseries, and Continuing Series; Hong Gil Dong won for Best Miniseries.

According to the Roma Fiction Fest site, “The Festival confirms and restates the objective of offering itself as an annual event for the worldwide production of television fiction and as a meeting place where the elevated artistic quality of products matches great success in terms of audience.”

The Diamond Award (best of all three categories) went to 10 Days to War, a BBC Two production that also won for best TV Movie. Special Mention went to Boris 2, shown on Fox Channels Italy, which was also the winner of the Best Continuing Series category.

Hong Gil Dong isn’t in bad company: other awards included Best Director (Continuing Series) going to Omar Madha of Spooks, Best Male Lead (Continuing) going to Michael C. Hall of Dexter, and Julianna Margulies for Best Female Lead (Continuing) for Canterbury’s Law.

You can see the full winners list here: Roma Fiction Fest.

SONG OF THE DAY

Yozoh - “Love” [ Download ]

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Tags: awards, film festivals, Hong Gil Dong, sageuk dramas

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Best Actress winners Yoon Eun Hye (drama), Kim Min Hee (film)

The 44th Baeksang Arts Awards were held in Seoul on April 24, handing out top honors to the films and television programs of the previous year.

Big winners included films The Chaser and Forever the Moment (aka The Best Moment In Our Lives); Yoon Eun Hye won for her trend-setting turn as Go Eun Chan in last year’s smash drama Coffee Prince, while War of Money took home Best Drama.

SONG OF THE DAY

MC Mong - “옛날 옛적에” (Once upon a time) from his recently released fourth album. [ Download ]

 
Full awards list for the 44th BAEKSANG AWARDS >>

Tags: awards, Coffee Prince, Go Ara, Han Hyo-joo, Hong Gil Dong, Hyun Young, Jang Geun-seok, Jung Il-woo, Jung Ryeo-won, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Jung-eun, Kim Min-hee, Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Dong-wook, Lee Jia, Lee Seon-kyun, Lee Yeon-hee, Lee Yoon-jung, Legend, Park Shi-yeon, Park Shin-yang, Park Yong-ha, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Kang-ho, Sung Yuri, War of Money, Yoo Gun, Yoon Eun-hye

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