Kim Jong Kook is a singer and variety star. I will readily admit to loving both sides of his career! He started his entertainment career in 1995 as part of the group Turbo.
Oh how far you've come Kim Jong Kook~
He started his solo career in 2001 and since then has released seven solo albums! As a solo artist Kim Jong Kook has proven to be wildly successful, with his biggest hits being More Today Than Yesterday (love, love, love this song and the music video for it!), One Man, and Loveable (my personal favorite). Honestly, all of his stuff is great and I love listening to it when I'm relaxing or working on homework.
Kim Jong Kook is known as having a high "mosquito" voice. Yoo Jae Suk loves to tease him about this which is always hilarious. In the above clip from Running Man Haha also provides some back up dancing ^_^
Despite his mosquito voice, Jong Kook is universally regarded as having one of the best (if not the) body in all of K-Pop.
Despite his singing career, I got to know Kim Jong Kook through his variety show appearances. Once he finished up his military duties in 2008 he joined the cast of Family Outing.
Kim Jong Kook really added so much to the Family Outing cast. I love his "rivalry" with Jae Suk, his "scandals" with Ye Jin and Hyori, and his relationship with his "small eyed brother" Daesung ^_^
And of course, we can't forget about Kim Jong Kook on Running Man!
I especially love Kim Jong Kook on Running Man. He always shows his weakness to girls which is so funny. Once again his "rivalry" with Jae Suk continues, and we get to see his love/hate relationships with his "kids" Haha and Gary. I love his "Sparta" and "Commander" characters, and of course his new cute~ "Kookie~ ^^".
Most of all I think I just love how he is smiling and happy (unless he is yelling at someone for doing something wrong kekeke). Hopefully Kim Jong Kook will have some new songs for us in the near future!
I mentioned earlier today that I was watching the MTV EMA's and guess what? Big Bang won!!!!
Honestly words cannot express my pure happiness at this win! To be acknowledged on a world stage is incredible for Big Bang (they beat Britney Spears for goodness sakes)! In his speech, G-Dragon introduces Big Bang and talks about how happy and thankful he is that they won the award. It was great to see Daesung again and the boys were looking great as always! If you are interested, there are some pictures of Big Bang with English speaking celebrities here. Hopefully this mingling will lead to some English collaborations in the future (a girl can dream, right?). Let's make 2012 the year of Big Bang~ ^_^
I've finished a fair amount of homework today and I have the MTV EMA's on right now in the hopes of seeing Big Bang (they're up for the best worldwide act award! Big Bang Fighting~~)! So while I'm waiting for them, I thought I'd post about one of the most recent drama's that I've watched.
Heartstrings
I was incredibly excited once I heard about this drama. Not only does it star one of my favorite K-Pop Idols, Jung Yong Hwa, but it also stars the super sweet Park Shin Hye. They also both starred in the drama You're Beautiful.
So~~~ Cute~ ^_^
Heartstrings tells the stories of Lee Shin and Lee Gyu Won. They are both music students attending university who happen to meet and then one thing leads to another ^_~ I must admit, the first few episodes were difficult for me to get through. The story wasn't that great and I wasn't invested in the characters yet. However, I pushed through out of my love for Yong Hwa, and I ended up being really happy that I did. We got to see some really sweet moments between Shin and Gyu Won, and there was just the right amount of emotional scenes to keep me interested. Let me tell you about the characters~
Lee Shin
Lee Shin is played by the handsome Jung Yong Hwa who is the lead singer of CN Blue. This was his first lead role and I thought he did a great job! Lee Shin is an outwardly cold character, but once you get to know him his sweet side comes out. He's a protective older brother (who wouldn't want him as their oppa?) with a sensitive side. I really liked getting to see him in boyfriend mode again, it really made me miss him on We Got Married! Honestly, this drama is worth watching just for him ^_^
I want to have Yong Hwa take me on a bike ride ^_~
Lee Gyu Won
Lee Gyu Won is played by the lovely Park Shin Hye. I don't know how she manages to look super adorable in every picture but she does! Gyu Won is pressured into being a traditional music major by her grandfather. She spends all her time practicing her gayageum. Her world turns upside down once she meets the arrogant Lee Shin. Once she gets a taste of the musical theater world, she questions her commitment to traditional music. She has many choices to make as the drama goes on, but I think she does really well for herself!
Kim Suk Hyun
Kim Suk Hyun is played by Song Chang Ui. He was also in the great movie My Girl and I. In Heartstrings his character is a Broadway director who just came home for the first time in years. He is still upset about his breakup years ago with Jung Yoon Soo and isn't letting it (or her) go.
Jung Yoon Soo
Jung Yoon Soo is played by So Yi Hyun. She plays a sweet but strong dance professor at the university. At the beginning of the drama she does not know how to handle the crush that Lee Shin has on her, and then she is forced to deal with the return of Kim Suk Hyun who seems to have it out for her. We get to see the pain that Yoon Soo went through in the past that made he the person that she is, and we learn to really care for her.
Han Hee Joo
Han Hee Joo is played by Woo Ri. Han Hee Joo is a snotty, stuck up, theater brat who is the daughter of one of the department heads at the university. Therefore, she gets whatever she wants. And what she wants is the lead role in the musical. I hope it's not Woo Ri's fault, but unlike Jung Yoon Soo it never got to the point where I rooted for her. Her character never really showed much change, and I never felt that she was worthy or deserving of what she eventually got. Sorry, but I just found Han Hee Joo to be incredible irritating throughout the entire drama.
Yeo Joon Hee
Yeo Joon Hee is played by the amazingly cute Kang Min Hyuk, who is the drummer of CN Blue. He was also in the amazing drama It's Okay Daddy's Daughter. Joon Hee (although I hate to say it) is a bit of a simple, one dimensional character. He is in Lee Shin's band, The Stupid, and he is always hungry. Upon first sight he falls head over heels for Han Hee Joo and spends the entire drama romancing her. He is incredibly sweet and it is impossible to hate him, although I personally wanted to grab and shake him because he could do so much better than Hand Hee Joo!
Here's a cute fan made music video of the drama to give you a taste of it. It also features my favorite orginal song from the soundtrack, You've Fallen For Me by Jung Yong Hwa. I really love the meaning of the song, especially when Shin tells Gyu Won he says it to himself to get over his stage fright and she begins to do the same. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did ^_^
For those of you that have watched Heartstrings what did you think of it? And for those of you who haven't seen it yet, are you going to give it a try?
This isn't really going to be a full post, but I just wanted to share this with everyone ^_^ I mentioned in my last post that I was having trouble finding a SNSD shirt that I really liked. So I ended up making one! I just ordered it today and it should arrive in about two weeks. This is what it looks like--
Front
Back
What do you think? If you like it, I think you should be able to order yourself one here. Just make sure you change it to your email and zip code ㅋㅋㅋ. I also created a white version if you would prefer that one. If you do buy it, I would love to know! We should all wear a SNSD (or pink) on November 19 to support Girls' Generation!
I also have another question for all my lovely blog readers ^_^ If I were to create a series of Running Man shirts would you be interested in those? I might try to make one and show it to you~
Are you ready to complete the Girls' Generation posts?
Taeyeon was born on March 9, 1989. She is the leader and main vocalist of Girls' Generation. Her voice is amazing (just listen to her version of Hush Hush)! Taeyeon is generally considered to be the most popular member of SNSD.
Like Seohyun, Taeyeon was also in We Got Married. Her partner was Hyung Don which many people were upset about (although I thought they were a funny couple ^_^). Taeyeon has also been the DJ for various radio shows, and was also the voice of Margo in the Korean version of Despicable Me.
Queen Taeyeon
Taeyeon was the lead in a Korean production of the play Midnight Sun and she got great reviews for her acting. She has also participated in many drama soundtracks. I think we can expect a lot from leader Taeyeon in the future ^_^
Now for one of my all time favorite SNSD songs-- Gee! This song is so catchy and will be stuck in your head after you listen to it the first time! I love trying to dance the "crab dance" with this song, and it's also one that I've sung at noraebang before!
We have finally met all the members from Girls' Generation. Did you enjoy learning about them? Are you ready and excited for their American debut now? Who's your favorite member?
Now that we're back to the SNSD posts, let's find out about Jessica!
Jessica was born on April 18, 1989 in San Francisco. In addition to being fluent in English and Korean she can also speak Japanese and Chinese. She was the first girl to be chosen to be in SNSD. She joined SM Entertainment in 2000, so she spent about 7 years training before she debuted. Can you imagine spending that long training when you are so young?!
Jessica is one of the main singers of the group. She has done some modeling work, including a campaign for Dior with some of her members. She was also in a Korean production of Legally Blonde in 2009 as Elle Woods. Also in 2009 she took part in an episode of Infinity Challenge where she sung a popular duet with Park Myung Soo, Naeng Myung.
One fun fact about Jessica is that her sister is Krystal from f(x)! What a talented family! We will probably be seeing a lot of Jessica because she seems to be one of the main girls in charge of their English interviews ^_^
Since there is no music video for the Korean version of Mr. Taxi I've decided to include a performance of it. Mr. Taxi was released earlier this year as a Japanese single, and the Korean version was released on The Boys. I've really been enjoying this song, and I hope you enjoy their performance of it ^_^
Before I go, I thought I'd share with everyone something I have planned~ On November 19, SNSD is supposed to released their English "maxi-single" to stores in America. Because of this a friend and I are planning on having a SNSD party that day ^_^ We will be eating at a grill table restaurant after buying our maxi singles, and we are currently debating on whether we should buy or make shirts. Does anyone know where to buy some cute SNSD shirts? Everything is going to be pink this day! If you cannot join us in Michigan, maybe you could have your own Girls' Generation party! I'd love to hear about it if you do have one!
Sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled SNSD post, but this could not wait! You may have remembered me posting before about how upset I was that T.O.P. was in NYC and I was not. Well, the pictures and video from his time there just came out and I need to share them with you.
The concept of the shoot is Brooklyn Boy. Sorry Dan Humphrey, you just lost your title of best Brooklyn Boy. Let's enjoy T.O.P. as a Brooklyn Boy~
If that doesn't make your heart go dugeun dugeun than I don't know what will! Everything about this video is flawless, his hair, the clothes, the backdrop, his voice....I could go on and on!
And I'll share some pictures from the shoot with you as well...
