Lee Min-ho and Kim Bum of “Boys Before Flowers”

Wow, that’s kind of fast — only three weeks into the drama and already a Baeksang nomination.

Both Kim Bum and Lee Min-ho of KBS’s Boys Before Flowers are up for the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards in the same category (new actor). (Kim Bum’s nomination, however, comes for his four-episode turn playing young Dong-chul in MBC’s East of Eden.) They’re also nominated in the popularity award category.

As much as I like Lee Min-ho’s portrayal of Jun-pyo, I think Kim Bum’s performance in East of Eden was more award-worthy — but they’ve got pretty good competition: Eom Ki-joon (The World They Live In), Lee Sang-woo (First Wives Club), and Jung Kyeo-woon (Women in the Sun).

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All right, we’ve seen MBC’s Acting Awards (met with much criticism) and SBS’s awards, so now we close out the broadcast station awards with the 2008 KBS Acting Awards.

No real surprise (or controversy) for KBS’s Daesang, awarded to veteran actress Kim Hye-ja for her role in the popular series Mom’s Dead Upset. Personally, I don’t know that Kim was outstanding in that drama specifically, but there’s no doubt she’s built up an impressive, long-running career and therefore this was probably more of an opportunity to give her a lifetime-achievement-ish Daesang.

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It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, huh?

• Newlywed Park Eun-hye is returning to work following a recent miscarriage of what would have been her “honeymoon baby” (she wed in April). She plans to attend the upcoming Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), which screens her film Night and Day.
• Speaking of which, Kim Rae-won (Gourmet) and Han Eun-jung (Lawyers of Korea) will take a particular place on Wednesday’s opening-night red carpet at PIFF, as brand models for the festival’s sponsor, L’Oreal Paris.
• Song Il-kook had his day in court and won; the reporter who accused him of assault (whom he countersued for false accusations) has been sentenced to a year’s imprisonment. Ouch. We may never know the truth of whether he struck her as claimed, but a year in the slammer seems harsh. Well, that’s what happens when you go up against a rich actor with powerful connections.
• Sigh. Things are hard enough for Ahn Jae-hwan’s widow Jung Sun-hee, whose husband killed himself over large amounts of debt, and has endured accusations of kidnapping Ahn by his sister. She underwent an additional round of police questioning, spending four hours at the police station on the 29th. Jung roundly denies Ms. Ahn’s claims, and also denies rumors that she’s heading overseas for rest (which doesn’t sound like a bad idea, actually — the press was all over her collapses at Ahn’s funeral, and she again collapsed after emerging from the police station).
• I don’t think many people outside of Korea are watching cable drama Chosun Police [조선과학수사대 별순검], but the MBC Dramanet fusion sageuk gained a following as a “Chosun-era CSI” and is now set to launch its season 2. The production press conference was on the 29th, featuring lead actor Lee Jong-hyuk, who admitted he’d purposely avoided watching Season 1; he wanted to differentiate his character from its original actor, Ryu Seung-ryong.
• Kim Min-jung (26, of New Heart) has been cast in the lead of MBC’s drama 2009 Foreign Baseball Team, which was originally a hit manhwa in the ’80s. Actors Yoon Tae-young (Legend’s Hogae), Park Sung-min (Legend’s Saryang), Park Jung-hak (Kingdom of the Wind), Song Ah-young (Moon Hee), and Kim Sun-kyung (Legend’s Lady Yeon) are also cast. There’s a whole lotta Legend there. It should air sometime next year.
• After spending most of his recent energies trying to make a dent in the international film scene, Rain is back to kpop after two years away with his fifth album. He’s announced that his title track will be a dance song, followed by a ballad, to go on sale in October. Rain, here’s a fundamental rule of showbiz: Show, not tell. We’re happy to welcome ya back if your work is good, but g/d I’m sick of hearing so much about it.

 
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Just goes to show: don’t mess with a celebrity. Particularly one as rich and famous as Song Il-kook who doesn’t take kindly to be painted as a woman-beater.

To refresh memories: A freelance reporter, Kim Soon-hee, accused Song of assault back when she was trying to approach him for an interview regarding his upcoming wedding in January. He refused and went into his home. She sued that Song struck her in the face and knocked her teeth loose. He countersued saying she was a big fat liar. The court then ruled that the security camera footage supported Song’s stance that they had barely touched, to which she countered that the footage (taken from Song’s home security cameras) was doctored in his favor. A cameraman testified to back up her story. Song then accused the woman of false accusations and perjury.

The final trial regarding the false accusation claim opened on September 11. Now the actor’s reps are calling for punishment for her actions, requesting 2 years and 6 months’ hard jail time. Ouch.

However, with Reporter Kim maintaining that she is innocent of the charge, people are wondering how the judge will rule. Her lawyer said, “Another reporter present at the time testified that there was a physical fight with Song Il-kook, and in the act of shutting his apartment’s glass doors (in her face, I presume), five of Kim’s teeth were injured. … Ms. Kim has no intention of slandering Song Il-kook.” Kim said in her defense, “The investigators didn’t believe me and charged me with making false accusations.”

The ruling on this case will be delivered on September 25.

Via EDaily.com

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…and we’re off!

KBS and MBC both premiered their new dramas today, one a sageuk starring Jumong star Song Il-kook (Kingdom of Wind), and the other a classical-music-based drama featuring White Tower’s intense Kim Myung-min (Beethoven Virus). Both come highly anticipated, not least because we’ve got two big names going head-to-head.

While KBS has had several decently performing sageuks this year (Hong Gil Dong, Great King Sejong), MBC is the one who needed the hit more, having had a rather dismal year. Both stations had their share of flops, but KBS isn’t in as much of a slump, with several strong hits; MBC really has only had one bona fide success in The Last Scandal of My Life and several high-profile misses.

With today’s showings, MBC emerged just a hair ahead with Beethoven Virus, its first episode earning a 15.7% against Kingdom of Wind’s 14.7% (TNS Media ratings). That puts them virtually even, and are pretty good numbers for both dramas. (SBS’s modestly popular Working Mom concludes in two weeks and is replaced by a third potential heavy-hitter, The Painter of Wind.)

Already buzz seems tentatively positive for both series, with Kingdom of Wind earning praise for its grand-scale battle scenes and acting (although some voiced their concerns that the historical-based stories may rehash familiar territory from other dramas of its ilk, particularly Jumong, which also starred Song Il-kook). On the other hand, Beethoven features an “upbeat,” light tone and a lot of interest in seeing its three stars performing in their musical milieu. Netizens generally expressed satisfaction at a first episode that met their expectations.

I haven’t seen either premiere, so I can’t weigh in yet (though I’m leaning more toward Beethoven) — thoughts?

Via Asia Economy

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