Cable channel O’live TV hosted its first Style Icon Awards on the night of October 30, and a parade of stars turned out on the “orange carpet” for the event. Held at Club Answer in the upscale Seoul neighborhood of Cheongdamdong, the event awarded select members from not only entertainment sphere to honor as icons, but also some from society and the arts.

Actor Jung Jun-ho (The Last Scandal of My Life) acted as host, and awards were handed out to stars like Rain, above (Style Icon of the Year), Jung Ryeo-won, Park Tae-hwan, Sohn Ye-jin, and more.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Rain – “사랑이라는 건” (The thing called love), from his recent 5th album, “Rainism.” I don’t love or hate the album — the third was really my favorite, and I was not impressed with anything after that — but it has a few nice tracks, like this one (I tend to prefer the songs Rain doesn’t release as singles.)
[ Download ]

See the full list of winners and the attendee fashions >>

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(Yeah I know, it should more accurately be numéro un, but that’s just not as funny.)

Actor Kang Dong-won took some time away from his busy film schedule to show off his fashion sense in October’s Numéro Homme Korea magazine. (His last film was 2007’s much-lauded M; his latest, Jeon Woo-chi, co-stars Im Soo-jung and is set for a 2009 release.)

The special edition of the magazine features a couple other “male fashionistas”: actor Cha Seung-won (Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth) and Big Bang-er G-Dragon.

Apparently Kang Dong-wan calls the concept he’d prepared for the shoot a “sport bohemian” look. Um…. yeah. Cha Seung-won’s pose is supposedly “dynamic” and his styling “hard-boiled.” G-Dragon sports “bold makeup” and plays with both masculine and feminine characteristics (its suicide boyz, y’all!). I think I have a different term for all three: “femme glam.”

Via Newsen

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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 >>

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Pop idol Seung Ri is less Big Bang and more Big Bang Theory (CBS) — “reading” his book upside-down here — in his lead role in the just-opened musical Sonagi (Shower).

Seoul, April 10, 2pm, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, M Theatre. Performance runs through May 5. More musical info here.

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The “Oricon Comet” Younha

The Korean pop music industry, like the recording industry worldwide, has been in a constant downward slide in recent years. The reasons for that are all the usual suspects: General sales slump for the CD market, rise of digital media, and, oh yeah, suckiness of the product.

Personally, I think kpop is both worse and better now than it’s been in years. It all depends on how you define “kpop,” I guess. What’s typically seen as kpop is the stuff you see on those live music shows, the girl- and boy-band pop groups, the idol stars, the overchoreographed dances, the lip-synching Barbie dolls. But the industry has diversified — there are so many niches now, subgenres, pockets of creativity — and while “mainstream pop” used to be all there was, now there are alternatives. So does kpop suck these days? Some of it really, really does. But some of it really, really doesn’t.

The following takes a look at the mainstream market and finds hope for the future of popular music.

2007 showed a different side than what the music industry has seen for the past few years. Up through last year, the state of affairs looked dark as things declined with no bottom in sight, but this year, there were singers whose successful hits shined a bit of light. Here, we take a look at a few of the praiseworthy singers who’ve enabled the pop music industry to look once more to a hopeful future. …

SONG OF THE DAY

Younha – “한 우산 아래” (under one umbrella) [ zShare download ]

The Top 5 List >>

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