KBS must be run by fangirls, and other news

And Best Couple goes to……………?

Oh, yeah. You read that right. Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In have been nominated for the award of ‘Best Couple’ at the 2010 KBS Acting Awards for their work in KBS2TV’s ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’!! I can’t even tell you how much this thrills me. For those of you who may be new to the Korean drama scene, each major broadcasting channel (SBS, KBS, MBC) has a end-of-year acting awards ceremony to honor various actors, directors, etc. from their own channel’s dramas from that previous year. They represent some of the most prestigious acting awards in Korea, so this is quite a big deal.

Translation: Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In, who played Yeorim and Guh-roh, respectively, in ‘SKKS,’ became known as the representative ‘boy-boy couple’ in the drama and received the enthusiastic support from the drama’s mania viewers. The scene where Yeorim said to Guh-roh, who was risking danger to go catch the fake Hongbyeokseo, “Then who am I, at your side? Go and live however you want and got lost” and showed his tears even created a ‘gay scandal.’ At the time, the drama’s producers and actors all explained(?), “It was just the expression of 10 years of deep friendship,” but in the end, thanks to enthusiastic support, they were catapulted into the nominations for the award of Best Couple.

A representative from KBS dramas said, “The powerful support of the Association of Accredited Journalists [출입기자단], which provides recommendations for the KBS Acting Awards nominations, especially made it possible for Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In’s names to be confidently included in the list of nominees,” and “We expect that they will receive no less support than other boy-girl couples in the viewers’ votes.” Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In are receiving attention for the possibility that they may become the first ‘boy-boy couple’ to win the Best Couple Award. The 2010 KBS Acting Awards will air on December 31st.

This also recalls the 2008 SBS Acting Awards, in which the drama ‘Painter of the Wind’ received a Best Couple nomination for girl-girl couple Moon Geun Young and Moon Chae Won. The passionate support of netizens was enough to help them beat out 20 other drama couples and take the Best Couple Award, the first time a gay couple was able to do so.

Reported by Lee Da Jeong at Sports Chosun and Choi Minji at TV Daily via Nate
Translated by jaeshinah

Continuing along the theme of the KBS Acting Awards…

On December 7, KBS announced that Song Joong Ki and Lee Da Hae have been chosen as the MCs of the KBS Acting Awards! It is also possible that Choi Soo Jong may join them as the 3rd MC, but nothing has yet been confirmed.

Translation: Song Joong Ki made his successful debut as an MC through KBS2’s ‘Music Bank,’ and Lee Da Hae showed her smooth and natural MC skills with Tak Jae Hoon and Kim So Yeon during last year’s KBS Acting Awards and the 2008 SBS Acting Awards, making this her 3rd year in a row that she will MC a major acting awards ceremony.

Song Joong Ki’s acting in KBS2’s ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ as Gu Yongha displayed a sly, yet deeply heartfelt performance, showing off his magnetic charm, and Lee Da Hae played Hyewon from KBS2’s hit drama ‘Chuno’ from the beginning of this year, drawing tears from viewers for her excellent portrayal of loyal and painful love.

Reported by Cho Beom Ja at Sports Today via Asiae
Translated by jaeshinah

It has been announced that JYJ (Jaejoon, Yoochun, Junsu) will be performing at the KBS Acting Awards! Apparently they have been confirmed as artists, but they are currently in negotiations (read: fights) with KBS about how many songs they will be able to sing. Normally, singers perform a single song, and in JYJ’s case they would probably sing “Chajatta” from the SKKS OST. KBS has said that JYJ must be like any other artist invited to perform and must sing only one song, but the news is reporting that JYJ is asking to sing two songs: one from the SKKS OST, and one from their own album ‘The Beginning.’ An anonymous source who is familiar with JYJ’s activities told reporters that their request comes from the point of view of wanting to perform as much as possible.

Because JYJ is still tangled up in legal conflicts with SM Entertainment, their opportunities to appear on television and promote their album are highly limited. SM has been trying to block JYJ’s television performances, which is also why their expected performance at the Blue Dragon Movie Awards on November 26 was cancelled at the last minute. If JYJ takes the stage at the 2010 KBS Acting Awards, it will be the first time they take a step away from their former company and begin their independent television broadcasting activities. It has also been reported that JYJ’s appearance at the awards ceremony will deepen the rift between KBS and SM Entertainment.

Translated and paraphrased by jaeshinah from a variety of sources: 1, 2, 3

The most popular Naver searches of the year?

Search portal Naver has published the most popular searches from January~November 2010, showing what topics netizens were most interested in this year.

As you can see above, basically all of the most popular searches were related in some way to entertainment or sports. Regular followers of Korean pop culture will recognize many names and faces above—which shows you just how much love and devotion SKKS received throughout its run and afterward =)

In order: 1) King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo; 2) Sungkyunkwan Scandal; 3) My Girlfriend is a Gumiho; 4) Park Ji Sung goal; 5) Girls Generation; 6) Kim Yuna; 7) T-Ara; 8 ) Twitter; 9) SuperstarK2; 10) Jang Jae In.

Reported by Momonews
Translated/paraphrased by jaeshinah

What do Albania and YAI have in common?

‘Sky and Sea,’ the movie directed by Oh Dal Kyun and starring Jang Nara and Yoo Ah In, has been nominated for the 8th annual Tirana International Film Festival (TIFF), held in Albania’s capital of Tirana. This is the first time an Asian movie has been nominated at the film festival.

TIFF, Albania’s only film festival, has been held annually since 2003, and this year featured 72 submissions from 49 different countries for the category of ‘long film.’ Among these, 11 films were chosen as official nominees, and ‘Sky and Sea’ represents Asia’s only nomination.

‘Sky and Sea,’ starring Jang Nara, Yoo Ah In, and Juny, is about three friends who help one another heal their scars and pain.

‘Sky and Sea’ received the Best Actress in a Foreign Film award at the 18th annual China Golden Rooster Hundred Flowers Film Festival in October, and has received positive critical reviews in Europe, as well, where negotiations are close in reaching a deal to distribute the movie.

The Tirana International Film Festival will begin on December 13 and will hold its closing ceremonies on the 18th. ‘Sky and Sea’ will be shown on the 17th at 3PM to an audience of reporters, judges, and interested viewers.

This year, TIFF received more than 500 submissions from 67 different countries for the categories of long film, short film, and animation.

Reported by Lee Ji Young at OSEN
Translated by jaeshinah