CD/OST giveaway winners!

by javabeans

Thanks to everyone who entered our CD/OST giveaway! Now it’s time to announce our winners.

We had a great time reading through all y’all’s entries, because it’s refreshing to step back from the dramas themselves once in a while and hear not just about how awesome a show is (or isn’t), but also what it means to you personally. ‘Cause if there’s one thing we’ve learned while running Dramabeans, it’s that these shows are so much more than mere TV shows. And we’re always touched, amazed, and a little surprised to hear the ways in which a drama series can affect a life in a real and significant way.

That is, it was tons of fun until we remembered we had to pick just ONE entry to give a CD to. Oy, that was hard. I know I can speak for everyone when I say we all struggled to pick just one, and probably would’ve loved to give away a dozen just so we wouldn’t have to choose.

But we made up the rules, so like ’em or not (curses, Past Us!), we had to abide by them. If you are a winner, we will be in contact with you shortly!

Without further ado:

SHINee’s “Sherlock”

#527 myrahEeeeeeee

I’d like to win SHINee’s “Sherlock” because I’ve always been a ShaWol (a SHINee fan) ever since I’ve branch out from KDrama to KPOP. As shameful as it is I don’t have any of their album.

Minho has always been my favorite in SHINee because of the way he cared for that baby in the reality show Hello Baby. It’s so sweet and since then I’ve carried a Minho flag like a cheerleader. When news of his name being attached to the Korean version of Hana Kimi broke out last year it was definitely one of the highlight of my fan girl life of 2011. Fast forward this July when he was confirmed for the role and I squeal like a 16-year old and did the dance of joy. I’m so excited to watch To The Beautiful You! Like asdfghjkl excited! The fact that I’ve already watch the Taiwanese and Japanese versions will not stop me from anticipating every episode of it. I hope dramabeans will recap To The Beautiful You! >< Anyhow, I'd like to win SHINee’s “Sherlock” because If ever I win, I will freakin' spazz about it in Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ and all SNS I have an account. I'm good at spazzing.. Description: 😀 Thank you for this opportunity Dramabeans!^^  

You’ve Fallen For Me OST

#331 Michelle

The You’ve Fallen For Me OST, please!

If I’m being perfectly honest, this is not my favourite drama. I don’t even know if it would make the Top 5. But it’s the drama that’s so strongly tied to and reminiscent of THAT summer. The summer when I went on vacation with my family and played the songs from this OST on repeat because the other option was staring at insanely boring tourist attractions that only my dad was interested in. The summer when I would head down to the lobby of whichever hotel we were staying at to use the free WiFi and catch up on the recaps/subbed episodes of this drama. The summer when I realized that drama guys aren’t REAL–at least not where I’m from.

You’ve Fallen For Me is not a perfect drama, but it’s MY perfect drama. It was light and cute, it built a world where I could hide myself when I felt lost in my own surroundings, and it made me smile even when I didn’t feel like it. The songs–while also extremely catchy–filled me with this feeling of inexplicable glee whenever I listened to them.

The drama and the OST aren’t about the attractive actors or the pretty actresses. Not for me, at least. Rather, they’re about THAT summer. That’s why this drama is unforgettable and this OST will never fail to bring on a fresh wave of nostalgia.

Chuno OST

#316 teeeeman

CD of choice: Chuno OST

Left alone at home during the two-month summer break (the family went off holidaying while I stayed for summer school in an attempt to graduate from uni earlier. Hardest ‘no’ in my life, ever), I took to camping in the den with food and my trusty harddrive hooked up to the TV. Mom had warned me against Chuno but I thought, eh.

Turned out, eh became HOMGJUMPINGPUMPKINS ISTHATJANGHYUKNEXTEPISODENEXXXTTTT! (Because ‘Successful Story of a Bright Girl’ had been the last thing I saw him in. The less said about that, the better.)

I think I love everything about that masterpiece of a drama, and then some. Dae-gil broke my heart, but then made me smile through my tears. The brotherhood was amazing. The action sequences (and directing) were godly. During those chase scenes when “Change” by Gloomy 30′s played, I galloped on my imaginary pony on the sofa, lunch forgotten. When it came to those episode-end cliffhangers… Well, the girl in my den screaming, thrashing in the air and fumbling for the remote for the “Next” button who looked like me? Wasn’t me. Nope.

Even the quiet scenes got me in the heart; take for instance the one with Seol-hwa’s haegeum-strumming, which started out humorous as she mimicked animal sounds but later evolved to a stirring piece, the sound of a man’s unrequited love (if memory serves). I don’t have unrequited-love-icitis a la Dae-gil myself, but I remember thinking, oh my goodness that’s exactly what it must feel like to be in love. It’s touches like these peppered throughout the show that elevated my appreciation for this gem of a drama.

Some guy in Japan made the news a few years ago when he announced he was “dating” his favourite video game character. I’m not that far gone, but if Chuno were a real person…

Shut Up: Flower Boy Band OST

#276 thefunofit

Everyone around me hates kdramas. They used to be indifferent, but then I and my obsession with them changed that irrevocably. I watch regardless, because it’s an escape and becuse it shows me that dealing with my life, with the world, with my problems, is both easier and harder than I offten think.

Shut Up Flower Boy Band did that for me. In the middle of my second semester at college, I was having the hardest time even finding the will to get up and go to class. I was stalled, for some reason, unable to figure where I was, what I was doing, and why I was doing it. I felt like, once I was finally in charge of my own life, I had no will to really live it.

Then this show comes along. And I see these characters who seem to know exactly what they want, and put their all into trying to get it. Episode by episode, this show taught me something, cheered me up, made me think about where I was and why I was there; what I was doing and what I wanted to do. It took away what excuses I could make for myself, because I wasn’t the only one who was young and lazy and viewed with vague condescension by everyone around me. It made me feel like finding something to fight for.

I want the Shut Up Flower Boy Band CD to use in my alarm clock. I want to wake up every morning remembering what I saw and felt, the characters I loved and laughed with and cried for, the feeling it gave me that the world is made up of choices and not inevitabilities. I want it because I’m not where I want to be yet, and I’m scared I might forget where I’m going. I want a talisman to remind me of who I am and what I want, that’ll keep me going even when I’m not sure, when I’m making excuses for myself, when I want to give up but I’m not ready to. And whenever I’ve achieved something, I want to look at it to say I told you so to myself.

The King 2 Hearts OST

#659 Mawiie

I hope that Girlfriday isn’t cranky yet from reading all the entries, because I’m tempting my luck for the King 2 Hearts OST as well!

Like a lot of people here, K2H will probably be my pick for drama of the year, at least on an emotional level. It’s one of those dramas that have obvious flaws but that you just can’t help but love (and by love I mean luuuuuuurve). While I don’t usually pay much attention to the soundtrack of a drama, this OST does elevate everything in that fictional world and makes it so real to the viewers. Every track was skillfully inserted so we can laugh and cry with the characters as if we were there with them. Never did I feel manipulated by the music (i.e. Feeling sad because the music was sad but the scene isn’t that emotional) or did the music takes me out of the scene (i.e. bad music cue). I was so immersed into the K2H world that listening to the soundtrack still has some weird effect on my brain:

– Whenever I heard the bgm that was played during JH’s rescue in episode 12, my heart rate would shoot up.
– Whenever K-Will’s ‘Love is Crying’ plays in my ipod, I could feel my heart wrench and my insides churn because images from the prison scene in episode 18 would immediately flood my mind.
– When I listen to some of the instrumental songs, I would smile to myself because my heart would swell with pride as JH’s awesome moment

That’s some serious Pavlovian conditioning there! Girldriday, you were the one who started the fandom, now you have to take responsibility for me! In Bong Gu’s words: “Why are you making me this way?!”

Maybe listening to the original sound track can slowly desensitize me you know? Here, the imaginary JH in my has some words for you

JH: Seriously, you should take responsibility for the crazy withdrawal symptoms you’ve caused to the English speaking netizens. That how a true leader of a fandom should act.
GF: But…there are so many of them!
JH: Yeah but it’s not my fault if you’ve made us look so awesome. Now deal with it. Just give it to Mawiie since she’s the one who gave you the opportunity to talk with me.
GF: Uhhh but it’s in *her* imagination.
JH: You mean you’ve never imagined yourself talking to me? Come on just give it to her *insert Seung Gi’s wink + dimple here*
JH: (to himself) Ah streeeess… Why do I have to wink in every fangirl’s imagination? Hang Ah will kill me if she finds out =.=