Cable channel tvN’s new line of youth-targeted programming, which they’re calling the Oh! Boy series (which I’d first mentioned here), kicks off today with the launch of their first “flower boy” project, audition reality show Flower Boy Casting: Oh! Boy.

Jung Il-woo’s upcoming drama Flower Boy Ramyun Shop has been getting most of the attention for tvN, but it’s not the inaugural Flower Boy program. Flower Boy Casting will follow seven finalists in a competition, with the winner scoring a role in tvN’s second Oh! Boy drama series, Band Drama (a working title — the drama was previously working under the name Flower Boy Attack Band).

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Read the rest of Oh! Boy audition reality show premieres today (295 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, reality shows

Kim Myung-min is probably the top actor in Korea right now, and is certain to go down as one of the greats of all time. He’s also an interesting case because he has come into stardom late into his career, but unlike so many other actors, the fervent appreciation for him comes almost solely from respect for his tremendous talent and work, not as a sex symbol or celebrity. (He’s certainly handsome, but I almost think of him in an asexual way.) You see the man for his acting skills much more than for his looks or general fame. Which is, I’m fairly certain, just the way he wants it.

The MBC special documentary called “Kim Myung-min Was Not There” was announced last month and aired over the weekend. (It was also a ratings hit, since 10% is impressive for a documentary feature.) It also gave quite an insight into the actor and his process, and is really a must-watch for anyone harboring acting aspirations.

SONG OF THE DAY

White Tower OST – “B Rossette” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of MBC documentary special features Kim Myung-min (3,167 words)

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Post tags: Beethoven Virus, Immortal Lee Soon-shin, interviews, Kim Myung-min, reality shows, White Tower

Following her last role in the KBS drama Women in the Sun, actress Kim Ji-soo has left for London, as these newly released photos show.

She’s filming the trip — her first in that city — for a two-part broadcast on the women’s lifestyle channel DongaTV, called Kim Ji-soo’s London Life, which airs her episodes on February 11 and 18.

As with many of these types of programs, the camera follows around the star as they browse and walk around the city. Case in point: Choi Kang-hee’s Six Addictions, Shin Mina’s French Diary, Go Ara’s Twenty-Year-Old Story, Kim Haneul’s Travel Diary in Italy.

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Read the rest of Kim Ji-soo’s London Life (88 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, Kim Ji-soo, reality shows

It was announced last year that a Project Runway Korea was in the works, and now it’s all set to premiere on cable channel On Style this week. The program will air one episode every Friday at midnight, for a total of ten episodes.

Episode 1 was shown at a press preview on the 3rd, which showed similar format and sets to the American version. The competitive reality program features fourteen new designers and cuts one contender per week, with three finalists showing collections at Seoul Fashion Week in the spring.

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Read the rest of Project Runway Korea set to premiere (214 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, reality shows

Is it me, or is this kind of… random?

Clazziquai singer Alex is making his entry into the Japanese market, not in music but on television. And not just any television, but a food program.

Beginning in February, Alex will be the host for a program called Delicious Korea [맛있는 대한민국], which will be shown on eight stations, beginning with TV Tokyo. The show will break from the format of previous Korean cooking shows on Japanese television, and will hire an all-Korean staff to take care of everything from planning, research, and cooking.

The program will consult with a Japanese chef well-versed in Korean cuisine, and include a portion that features collaboration with Japanese production staff. Therefore, while Korea is the main focus of the show, it should remain accessible to most Japanese viewers.

Alex is also preparing for his first solo concert in Japan, to take place in Shibuya on January 20.

Via Star News

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Um, kinda.

Cable channel Mnet premiered its new show on October 25, Band of Brothers, in which Super Junior members Kang-in and Hee-chul, and Trax boys Jay and Jung-mo, decided to come together Beatles-style.

First, they adopted the early-Beatles look with the straight-cut hair and the black suits, with Hee-chul channeling Ringo Starr behind the drums, Kang-in as Paul McCartney, Jay as John Lennon, and Jung-mo as George Harrison. (Anyone else wincing at the travesty?) As part of the project, they sang some Beatles tunes and even shot a music video.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but I don’t think they actually “got” what it means to become the Beatles other than dressing in a costume and singing along like a cover band. (See in the clip below. I think it’s part cute, and part cringingly embarrassing.)

Aside from the Beatles aspect, though, it’s usually a lot more fun watching these idol boys in reality projects rather than, say, performing onstage. I suppose that’s why the kpop machine is built around the cult of personality much more than musicality.

Via Sports Khan

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Post tags: cable programs, Kim Heechul, reality shows, Super Junior

Like Go Ara before her, Shin Mina (Devil, Go Go 70) lets cameras capture her recent trip to France for cable channel O’live Style. The program is called Mina’s French Diary and was filmed over a two-week period (August 20 through September 3).

Similar in format to the other travel diaries broadcast by O’live (i.e., Ara’s trip to Japan, Han Yeseul in L.A., Han Hye-jin in Vegas), the program follows Shin Mina around as she tours the sights of Paris: she browses vintage goods at a flea market, heads to Montmartre, and visits the tomb of chanteuse Edith Piaf. She also ventures to the seaside resort of Deauville.

Mina’s French Diary airs in four installments, the first of which shows on October 18.

(Ahh, I miss France. So pretty.)

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Read the rest of Mina’s French Diary (163 words)

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Post tags: cable programs, reality shows, Shin Mina

Ara celebrates being twenty with her first trip as a legal adult, taking off for Tokyo in a program for cable lifestyle channel O’live, She’s O’live: Ara’s Twenty-Year-Old Story (or, Ara’s Story of Being Twenty).

In the program, Ara visits the sights in several of Tokyo’s fashionable districts, stopping by hip spots like the pop artist Yoshitomo Nara’s café and browsing the expensive stores of Harajuku, yes, that home of the uber-trendy fashion aesthetic bastardized by Gwen Stefani. Ara has a chance to show her apparently impressive Japanese skills as well.

Throughout the trip, she tells anecdotes of her life, like this one that surfaced when dropping by a store selling Christmas items (it’s only August!): “When we found out that [SPOILER?] our parents were really Santa, my younger brother and I would pretend to be asleep while my mother set up the presents, and once we even sneaked outside to open our presents, then rewrapped them and went back to sleep.”

The program airs in two segments, the first of which ran August 30, and the second which shows on September 6.

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Read the rest of Ara’s Twenty-Year-Old Story (204 words)

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Post tags: Go Ara, reality shows

A couple more photos have been released in promotion for the upcoming broadcast of cable program Kim Haneul’s Travel Diary in Italy, which airs on August 6 and 13 as an On Style and ETN joint production.

Kim Haneul filmed the show back in April and traveled through Florence, Milan, Montalcino, and other well-known Italian cities. The camera follows the On Air star as she browses stores big and small, famous and hidden, showing off her fashion know-how and offering a glimpse into her daily travels as she navigates the streets with map in hand, talks with tourists, and of course, shops.

Ah, Italy. If I were going back there, I’d be interested in a lot more than just shopping for clothes and meeting designers. But then, I have no interest in being a fashionista, so I’ll leave that to stars like Kim. Give me a museum or La Scala any day.

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Post tags: cable programs, Kim Haneul, photo shoots, reality shows

Project Runway is coming to Korea. Cable channel On Style is producing and airing the competitive reality show for fashion-designer aspirants, having bought the rights to produce Project Runway Korea from the show’s international distributors, Fremantle Media.

Because the production rights have been bought from the purveyors of the original show, the Korean version will follow the exact format as the U.S. show, with twelve contestants completing one design challenge per week, each of which will result in one cut. The winner earns a cash prize and a spread in a fashion magazine, and just as U.S. finalists show at New York Fashion Week, Project Runway Korea finalists will present at Korea’s Fashion Week in the fall. Apparently there are strict guidelines that the show must follow regarding filming style, editing, set design, challenge content, etc., in accordance with the original format.

Project Runway has already been shipped overseas to countries like Canada and Malaysia, although this is the first time a well-known foreign format will be applied to a Korean reality show. Applications for contestants will be open until July 13, and the program plans to air in September.

I’m… interested to see how this shapes up. What I like about Korean reality programs, like I mentioned about Mnet’s cable reality show I Am a Model, is that they actually focus on the challenges and the stated purpose rather than highlighting interpersonal conflicts, which we see more in American faux-reality programming. (By the way, if you’re following I Am A Model on Imaginasian, it’s shaping up quite nicely. I dig that the pro models running the challenges, unlike Tyra, actually want their model-aspirants to succeed, and are frank about their business. I was actually pretty surprised that they would show one girl’s plastic surgery so honestly, although the actual procedure was so subtle that I could hardly tell the difference.) But then again, with the format so rigidly prescribed by the licensing company, maybe Project Runway Korea will just be more of the same. Which, granted, can be pretty decent as far as reality shows go.

Via Hankyoreh

SONG OF THE DAY

Choi Jin Yi (of Rumble Fish) – “그대라면” [ Download ]

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• I Am a Model

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