On January 15, the Asia Model Festival Awards were held at Seoul’s COEX Convention Hall. The event took “Asia is One” as its slogan, probably to explain a few of the awards handed to (pan-)Asian actors (read: non-Korean) like Joe Cheng and Hayashi Tantan.

I’m not really sure about how they decided on the winners, which include both actors and models, but as with so many of these events, it’s not so much about the relevance as it is about the pretty.

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As previously mentioned, singer-dancer-actor-designer-CEO-”world star” Rain is coming out with his own fashion line, “Six to Five,” which he kicked off in style on the 23rd with a fashion show–launch party–mini concert. Trust Mr. Multihyphenate to give the same treatment to his big events.

The launching party took place in Ilsan and was attended by some of Rain’s industry buddies, though not a whole slew of them; some key attendees included Hyori, Yoon Kye-sang, Chae Rim and Kim Sun-ah.

Apparently, the rocket was chosen as the brand symbol to express “the spirit of challenge that overcomes time and space.” Er….. Furthermore, the brand name is based on the concept of moving from the five senses into the realm of the sixth… in which case, shouldn’t the brand name be Five to Six? O_o

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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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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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Vogue celebrates its 12 anniversary with a special spread featuring seven leading ladies styled as film (and TV) figures using the concept “Vogue Fashion Movie.”

Go Ara, above, takes on the Gossip Girl character of Serena van der Woodsen, played by Blake Lively.

Below, Kim Min-hee adopts the Edie Sedgwick look as portrayed by Sienna Miller in the movie Factory Girl; Su Ae dresses as Queen Elizabeth a la Cate Blanchett; Gong Hyo-jin follows Gong Li’s footsteps in Memoirs of a Geisha; Uhm Jung-hwa takes her moniker as Korea’s Madonna literally by taking on Madonna’s Truth or Dare image circa 1990; Seo In-young mimics Renee Zellweger’s Chicago look as Roxie Hart; and Jang Mi-hee styles herself after The Devil Wears Prada.

My vote for best styling goes to Kim Min-hee (here’s Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick, and the real-life Edie), though Uhm Jung-hwa’s pulled off her look pretty well, too (the hair! the scary cone bra!).

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