Here we are! The last of the year-end review series.

This post is something new, but I thought it would be an interesting experiment. Although each of us reviewers has our personal favorites, which we outlined in our personal reviews, it’s a different thing to move past preference and try to be objective in a sort of Dramabeans Awards — hence, these Editors’ Picks.

We voted in rounds, first nominating all potential candidates, then narrowing them down to a small pool of finalists, then culling that to one or two picks. As a result, not all of us got picks that we may have personally felt were most fitting, but we all respected the process and the opinions that led us to these selections.

SONG OF THE DAY

Queen Seon-deok OST – “아라로” (Araro) by I.U. [ Download ]

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(I’m very pleased to introduce guest review #2, which comes to you courtesy of thunderbolt. Tune back in tomorrow for more! —javabeans)

Have you watched The Good, The Bad, The Weird? If you haven’t and the movie is available for rent in a store near you, pick it up and invite a few friends over. It’s truckloads of fun and will fit in perfectly with the fêting and feasting this time of the year. Moreover, you’ll find yourself clutching your sides because he who plays “The Weird” is so funny. Between the figurative good, bad and weird in the movie, I’ll take whoever makes me laugh the hardest.

Likewise, in a year where I watched fewer dramas but finished more of them, my favorites were the ones that made me squeal and giggle. As the months passed and it became apparent that this was going to be another so-so year, I lowered my expectations and decided a good drama need not be perfect in every aspect. All I asked was that the writing was alight (not necessarily crackling in every scene), that it worked my laugh muscles, and that it wouldn’t leave me with hives or a nauseating hangover.

SONG OF THE DAY

You’re Beautiful OST – “Promise” (A.N.JELL version) [ Download ]

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With the year coming to an end, that means it’s time to take stock of the past twelve months (well, eleven really) in kdramas. The broadcast stations will be holding their awards ceremonies at the end of the month, and I’m working on my wrap-up of 2009’s offerings — as are some very talented (and prolific!) drama-watching fans — which I’ll post up closer to the end of the year.

But this is your turn to weigh in on what you liked or didn’t. I didn’t do a year-end poll last year (after putting one up in 2007) and people seemed to really want one, so it’s back.

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I know it seems like most of the attention for My Fair Lady is squarely focused on the three main leads, leaving out fourth wheel Moon Chae-won, but she’s not really being overlooked in the greater scheme of things. (I do think her presence in the story is markedly less important than the other three, however, which makes her more of a second-tier character thus far.) Here’s an interview with the rising star:

“I want to show my smile more often”

This is a golden time for Moon Chae-won — dramas, advertisements. She has to smile broadly at the feeling that she’s hitting one home run after another.

Following the popular SBS Brilliant Legacy, which drew in ratings surpassing 40%, her recent drama My Fair Lady also feels like it’s headed for success. Furthermore, she is pleased to be acting the character of “Yeo Eui-joo,” which is a role that suits her perfectly.

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The last (and first) drinking interview I posted was with Kang Ji-hwan (Part 1 and Part 2). Here’s a new one featuring Han Hyo-joo, recent star of SBS’s hit weekend show Brilliant Legacy. Like Kang Ji-hwan’s, this one is also divided into two parts (Part 2 will be up soon!).

 
“I haven’t had any work done,
but I’m not against plastic surgery”

Short-haired Han Hyo-joo seemed like she had just burst out of her drama Brilliant Legacy as main character Go Eun-sung. She says, “I come out of character relatively easily,” but the afterimage of her Eun-sung character remains in her appearance and gaze. Her expression is as lively as it is calm when she sees a wine she likes before we begin the drinking interview, or when she says, “I’d like to try acting in a heavy melodrama.”

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