With Chuseok fast approaching, the upcoming holiday weekend will be chock-full of Chuseok specials as South Koreans clog up the national highways going home, spend time with the folks, eat tons of holiday food…and pass the time watching family-friendly television.

One of KBS’s specials is Noriko Goes to Seoul, scenes from which you can see in the tons of stills below. The special — I guess you could consider it akin to a TV movie, or a one-act drama — stars FT Island singer (and You’re Beautiful idol boy Jeremy) Lee Hong-ki, alongside Japanese actress Takashima Reiko.

In a nutshell: She’s a Japanese housewife, he’s the aspiring musician who fails audition after audition; the two develop a friendship and she helps him through the difficulties of heading toward his dream.

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Read the rest of Tons of stills from Lee Hong-ki’s Noriko Goes to Seoul (308 words)

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Post tags: Lee Hong-ki

As a self-admitted newbie to k-pop, I had no idea who Lee Hong-ki was. I know that may sound a bit lame of me since I even watched the Hong Sisters drama You’re Beautiful, in which he played one of the main characters. Imagine my surprise when I googled his name, and found out that he played my favorite character from the drama, Jeremy! Silly me.

Lee Hong-ki, lead singer of the popular idol band F.T Island, will be starring in the 90-minute KBS Chuseok special Noriko goes to Seoul, opposite well-known Japanese actress Takashima Reiko. (Chuseok is one of the biggest holidays in Korea, and often broadcasters will air specials in place of the regular drama schedule.)

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Read the rest of Stills from Lee Hong-ki’s Chuseok special (183 words)

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Post tags: Lee Hong-ki

Hong-ki! Dramaland has missed you! FT Island’s voice-of-a-hardened-rocker-in-the-body-of-a-kid lead singer Lee Hong-ki (You’re Beautiful) has just signed on to be the lead in a Japanese drama. He’ll be starring opposite Ichikawa Yui (Love Game), above. Are they just trying to explode the screen with cuteness? They look like a pair of anime characters.

The drama is called Muscle Girl, and I can’t even begin to fathom what that means, because it can’t be literal. Maybe she’s a gangster who kicks ass and he’s her toady? Maybe she’s an athlete and he’s her trainer? Maybe it’s totally nonsensical and has nothing to do with anything? Yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and put my money on the last one.

It seems that Hong-ki’s going the same way of his You’re Beautiful co-star, Park Shin-hye, who’s starring in Taiwanese drama Hayate the Combat Butler. While I’m all for his global success, I’d like to see him back in k-dramaland sometime soon. He played my favorite character in You’re Beautiful, and though he’s still got a lot to learn as an actor, he’s got a raw talent for emoting onscreen.

If there’s going to be dubbing in this drama, I’ll be sad, mostly because his voice is what makes Lee Hong-ki stand out. But chances are, that’s the way it goes. On the upside, FT Island will be doing the OST for the drama, so there’ll be lots of Singing Hong-ki on the soundtrack. FT Island already does well in Japan, so the album should be a hit.

Muscle Girl will air on TBS/MBS in Japan in April.

Via Joy News

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• You’re Beautiful: Episode 1
• FT Island’s Hong-ki ready to return to acting

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Post tags: Lee Hong-ki

December 31 was the night for two station awards ceremonies. First up, we have the 2009 SBS Drama Awards, where, like at the previous night’s MBC Drama Awards, the night was dominated by one big winner, the makjang mega-hit revenge series Wife’s Temptation.

Even so, a fair mix of other dramas also won awards, which is aided by the fact that SBS had a lot more successful dramas to work with than MBC did. Brilliant Legacy, Cain & Abel, and City Hall all won awards, while You’re Beautiful picked up a lot of the fan and youth picks (new stars, popularity award).

My big dissatisfaction with the list, though, is that there are SO many dramas named that the designation feels rather meaningless — it’s like the station wanted to be sure not to leave out anyone that they handed something to every one of its shows that had at least mild success.

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Post tags: awards, Cha Seung-won, Han Hyo-joo, Jang Geun-seok, Jang Seo-hee, Jung Kyeo-woon, Jung Kyung-ho, Jung Yong-hwa, Kim Mi-sook, Kim Sun-ah, Lee Hong-ki, Lee Min-jung, Lee Seung-gi, Lee Soo-kyung, Moon Geun-young, Park Shin-hye, So Ji-sub

Well, here we are: the final episode.

I liked it quite a lot, and thought it tied up our ends nicely. I enjoyed the way the main conflict was resolved, and while it wasn’t perfect, I like its balance between hitting that dramatic climax and reminding us of its sense of fun.

(Beware, this thing is freaking LONG!)

SONG OF THE DAY

Wheesung – “사랑해” (I Love You) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 16 (Final) (72 words)

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Post tags: Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful

I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I might. I was concerned that the usual Episode 15 angst would frustrate me (based on past Hong Sisters trends), but I was really pleased with how the conflict plays out. Some nice acting, and a few great scenes.

SONG OF THE DAY

FT Island – “A Song For You” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 15 (62 words)

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Post tags: Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful

As previously announced, the cast of SBS’s You’re Beautiful held another mini-concert on November 23, where footage was shot for the drama’s final episode, which airs this Thursday.

The mini-concert was held at Seoul’s Melon AX Hall at 6pm and featured all four of its main cast members — Jang Geun-seok, Park Shin-hye, Lee Hong-ki, Jung Yong-hwa — who make up the fictional idol band A.N.JELL in the show. Even with only a few days’ notice, a crowd of more than 2,500 fans showed up.

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Read the rest of A.N.JELL holds its last concert (383 words)

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Post tags: Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful

Once again, we run the gamut of emotions from light to heavy, which I always find to be a welcome thing when a drama heads to its more serious moments. Yes, some of the conflicts amp up in this episode, but it also has more of its trademark goofy parody sequences to lighten the in-between moments. The threesome parody in this episode is possibly my favorite Hong sisters parody ever.

SONG OF THE DAY

Jang Geun-seok – “Good Bye.” This song plays late in the episode. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 14 (90 words)

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Post tags: Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful

What an utterly delightful episode! I wasn’t exactly disappointed with last week’s, but I do think they took a small step back from the giddiness and/or angst of previous episodes. Well, it’s all back today, and in full force.

Also: When did Jung Yong-hwa learn to act?? He wasn’t ever terrible, but he seems much better all of a sudden. I like.

SONG OF THE DAY

Lucite Tokki – “손” (Hand) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 13 (75 words)

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Post tags: Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful

The drama hit its series high rating with this episode, although that only translates to a very modest 11.1%. Still, yay for upward mobility. (IRIS, in comparison, is far out in front with its own series high at 33.7%. We’ll see how Hero fares next week.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Spicy Soda – “나에 곁으로” (Stay by my side). Love the crescendo and the chorus on this one.
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 12 (72 words)

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Post tags: Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful