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.
New actress Song Min-ji appeared in the August 13 episode of horror drama Hometown of Legends and is now sparking lots of comparisons to pop diva Lee Hyori.
What do you think, Hyori-esque or not? (Or, should I say, Hyorish-esque? Hyorish-ish?)
‘Cause I’m pretty sure Gong Hyo-jin is made up as a cat, yeah? In any case, stars pose with pets for the Vogue Korea “Fashion Pet” photo shoot celebrating the mag’s 12th anniversary.
Participants include Nam Gyuri, Lee Hyori, Kim Jung-eun, and Jo Seung-woo, pictured below. Other stars in the exhibition include Seo In-young, Chae Yeon, Chae Jung-ahn, Yoon Eun-hye, Han Chae-young, Lee Beom-soo, and members of DBSK and Super Junior.
The exhibition will be available for viewing at Gallery 1 in Cheongdamdong from July 22 through 26.
I know we’ve all probably been guilty of the “whorey Hyori” play on words at one point, but now she’s she’s just helping everyone arrive at that conclusion, isn’t she?
Here she poses for her promo poster (”It’s Hyorish!”) for her recently leaked third album (which officially releases in early July). Hopefully this time, her album makes news on the merits of its own songs (ha) rather than for ripping off others’.
Another celebrity with an upcoming ten-year anniversary is pop singer, widely renounced actress, and all-around sexpot Lee Hyori, who first debuted as a member of the questionably named girl group FinKL (Fine Killing Liberty? Really? That’s the best you could come up with) in May of 1998.
She talked about her career milestone in an interview with Kyung Hyang News. Regarding her status as a sex symbol:
“My body does have flaws — it’s not a hundred percent perfect. I wanted to withdraw from the ’sexy star’ image, but it became exaggerated. I can’t even go to the public saunas for fear that people would be disappointed at my body in real life. [Laughs]“
After trading on her sex kitten image for so long, Hyori looks on her impending thirties:
“From here on, I’d like to become the ‘nation’s friend’ through my acting. All this time, I hadn’t really felt rivalry for anyone, but I found that I was most envious when Jeon Do Yeon won the Best Actress award at Cannes last year. After that, I became determined to become an actor worthy of recognition.”
Well, at least she aims high. But Hyori winning acting honors at a film festival, much less Cannes?? Well, take a look at her universally panned performances in Three-leaf Clover and When In Love, Love Like Them and draw your own conclusions.
Plans for the future?
“I’ll continue making dance music. In the next five or six months, I’ll put out my third solo album. In the past, I’d used lots of instruments for a full sound and fast beats. In the third album, I go for an acoustic sound and the vocals are simple. For overseas markets, I don’t put a lot of weight on not speaking Japanese or English that well. In the past ten years I’ve been a singer for half the time and an MC for the other half, and acted a little. In the future, I want to split my time equally three ways. As in the past, I want to continue setting trends, and incorporate sports too. Recently I went to America and watched a basketball game, and it wasn’t just sports — it was a show. I also have a lot of desire to pursue acting. I want to tear down people’s biases that Hyori is only a leading star but choose movies and television dramas based on strong stories, and start as a supporting actor. I think a character brimming with energy would be just right.”
I’ve never thought she was exactly a brain trust, but Hyori’s statements make her seem just a big grandiose, don’t they? Kind of like imagining Paris Hilton aiming for an Oscar. (Hey, I’ll freely admit she can be hot. Pretty, upon occasion. But classysheisNOT.) I’d given her perhaps more credit than I should for having a sense of humor about her role in pop culture, but it seems Hyori takes herself entirely seriously, which is, ironically, kind of a joke.
Lee Hyori - “Get Ya,” the song that earned her a lawsuit for ripping off Britney Spears. Egads! You know you’ve crossed a line when Britney Spears — the queen of the ham-handed pop-culture pastiche — sues for copyright infringement. [ zShare download ]
