O’live’s inaugural Style Icon Awards
by javabeans
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.)
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WINNERS LIST
Actor: Lee Jung-jae
Actress: Sohn Ye-jin
Male Singer(s): Big Bang
Female Singer: Seo In-young
Culture and Arts: Violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill; photographer Kim Yong-ho
Politics: Member of Parliament Na Kyung-won
Sports : Martial artist Chu Seong-hoon
Model: Jang Yoon-ju
TV: actress Kim Hee-ae
There was also a “Special Awards” section, which I take to mean “Where we include really idiotic categories aping something you’d see at an Mnet awards show“:
SPECIAL AWARDS
“Beautiful Sharing”: Sean and Jung Hye-young
“Fun Fearless Female”: Sohn Ye-jin
New Icon: Shinee
Special Award: deceased model Lee Eon
Fashionista: Jung Ryeo-won
World Icon: Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Park Tae-hwan
Style Icon of the Year: Rain, Jang Mi-hee
Singer-actor-“World Star” Rain (I’m A Cyborg But It’s Okay) was named Style Icon of the Year. Bowl cut aside, I actually like how he looks. He comes across comfortable and confident in the first photo, which is how I think he (or anyone) looks best. Rain, please take a hint and stay in Korea so I can listen to your music while you’re in your element and refrain from mocking your attempts at world domination. That hurts me more than it hurts you. Oh wait, no it doesn’t. Still, I’d rather fangirl than fanwank!
Fashionista winner Jung Ryeo-won (What Star Are You From) rocks an edgy look that’s becoming typical of her. I just wish she didn’t look so joyless. You know what brings people joy, Ryeo-won? FOOD.
I can’t snark on my beloved Lee Jung-jae (Il Mare, Air City)! I mean, yes, he’s got weird permy hair and a bad cut and random facial stubble, and his blue tie meant to match his lapel trim — LAPEL TRIM — is a little off the color mark. And maybe he did win the Style Icon award in the male actor category, so who knows, he could have woken up that day with the attitude of those guys on Survivor or Project Runway who have immunity and just phone it in because hey, they’ve already won that day. But… oh hey, lookit that, ragging on Lee Jung-jae wasn’t so hard after all. Phew.
Park Tae-hwan, Olympic gold-medalist swimmer, looks nicely pulled-together and dapper, even if his super-stiff bow-tie does look like a big dead butterfly pinned to his throat. Or one of those pointy pinwheels that whirl around on a stick. Wee~!
Model-actor Choi Ji-ho (Antique) poses with Model Style Icon winner and one of Korea’s top fashion models Jang Yoon-ju (I Am a Model). Damn she is thin. And damn his jaw is square. (Which explains why they’re famous models, I suppose?)
Martial artist Chu Seong-hoon won as Sports Style Icon, and it’s not hard to see why — the guy oozes pizzazz and somehow makes a lavender pashmina and white suit look manly:
Jung Jun-ho (Last Scandal of My Life) hosted the event. He’s a little too safe in navy blue, but classic.
Kim Hee-ae (My Man’s Woman, Snowflake) won for TV Syle Icon. Boy, you could grate cheese on her collarbones.
This couple is ridiculously sweet and warm-fuzzy sappiness. Singer Sean and wifey Jung Hye-young (The Return of Iljimae) always look so happy to be together, even after four years and two kids. They’re super-happy and they’re not even annoying. How do they do that?
Jewelry’s Seo In-young, winner of the Female Singer Style Icon award, is often known for her rather vulgar stage displays (case in point, although not so much recently). But I must admit she looks sweet and cute — two adjectives not usually used with her — in this little black number.
Sohn Ye-jin (Alone In Love) wins the style icon award in the actress category. It’s hard to say something negative about her, isn’t it?
I like this dress on female Style Icon of the Year Jang Mi-hee (Angry Mom/Mom Grew Horns), but someone put a moratorium on that inexplicably popular (but fakey-fake) hand-on-hip pose, please!
Okay. I totally get the Marlene Dietrich-y, sexy dominatrix look that singer Hwang Bo is going for. For the most part, she really works it — she looks pretty hot despite the crazy eyes she’s sporting (third pic in particular) — but then she had to go and ruin it by slinging a bear rug over one shoulder. A BROWN bear rug over a chic, fitted black suit. I don’t get it. Then again, I didn’t win the style icon award. (Oh wait, neither did Hwang Bo.)
Oy, Jin Bora! I have tremendous respect for musicians, and Jin Bora is a talented jazz pianist (remember her from the Anyband project with Tablo, Boa, and Xiah Junsu?). But she looks like that traditional ghost-story evil spirit — you know, the pure, innocent girl who was wrongly murdered and comes back to wreak vengeance upon her worldly tormentors, a la The Ring? Except she ran out of funereal white shifts and grabbed a candy-colored hanbok instead, so now she looks like The Ring meets Scary Movie.
There’s a little too much black on this orange carpet, but TV announcer Jung Ji-young positively glows. I can almost overlook the dead bird she killed and pinned to her torso.
I do not understand velour formalwear. Still, R&B/pop singer Bobby Kim is groovy and laid-back, thanks to his too-cool-for-school attitude more than his clothing:
Comedienne Kim Hyun-sook (Rude Miss Young-ae) is way uncomfortable — the shoulders around ear level are a dead giveaway — but I think the dress is fantastic on her. Flattering to her figure and a great eggplant color. Want.
Aw. How adorable when grown men look like little boys, as Ryu Deok-hwan (My Son, Our Town) does here in his overlong jacket. On the other hand, I don’t think that’s the effect a 21-year-old rising actor is necessarily going for on the red carpet.
I’m not a huge fan of electronica-pop singer Sheean‘s hard look, but she’s got a strong image and she works it. Violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill wins the Culture and Arts Style Icon award and opts for a simple, classic suit.
Variety show performer Amy (Happy Sunday) looks pretty in white, designer Ha Sang-baek goes glam-caszh, and soccer player Kim Young-kwang strikes a model pose.
Via O’live TV
Tags: awards, Big Bang, cable programs, Choi Ji-ho, Hwang Bo, Jang Yoon-ju, Jung Hye-young, Jung Jun-ho, Jung Ryeo-won, Lee Eon, Lee Jung-jae, Park Tae-hwan, Rain, Seo In-young, Sohn Ye-jin
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1 Alyssa
October 30, 2008 at 3:10 PM
javabeans, thanks for all the pictures of our favorite celebrities! :D
but was it hyori or boa that was in the anyband group with tablo, bora, and junsu?
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2 Javabeans
October 30, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Oops, you're totally right, it's Boa.
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3 Shaenna
October 30, 2008 at 3:14 PM
I actually like Hwangbo's look, even with the "bear rug," it's like old Hollywod glamour. Soh Yeh-jin looks fabulous, and it is true you can never really say anything bad about her.
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4 rihanna
October 30, 2008 at 3:24 PM
DRAmabeans i just wanna say YOU ARE THE BEST KDRAMA BLOG really you bashing something if that necessary. UNLIKE POPSEOUL SHE BASHING AS SHE WANTS event she takken off the article from another blogs popseoul never translating
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5 saryKIM
October 30, 2008 at 3:34 PM
OMG... when I thought Jung Ryeo Won couldn't look any thinner... she looks thinner in those pics than in any other pic I've seen of her. Arms and legs super thin, and her face looks really narrow and long, especially in the third pic of her; reminds me of Sandra Oh's long face. Did her face normally look like that?? Please, eat girl!! (Actually, I heard that she has an eating disorder. Don't know if it's true though)
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6 ruthiepoof
October 30, 2008 at 3:43 PM
about the "Special Award" thing they have, I think the only two winners there that deserved the award were Sean, Jung Hye-young and Lee Eon.
Sean and Jung Hye-young deserve it because of the charitable works they have been doing.
About Lee Eon, it's like a respect that they gave to him because we have to admit, Lee Eon could have won the Male Award or whatever they have for the male model award because he was a model.
Thanks for the article!
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7 gia
October 30, 2008 at 3:46 PM
where can we see that show online
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8 deeta
October 30, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Yeah, whatever happened to JRW couldn't have been good. She looks dead and that's not pretty.
If Hwangbo just went with the black suit, it would've totally rocked. The fur thing on her shoulder ruined it big time.
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9 nileey
October 30, 2008 at 4:44 PM
LOL, love your comments on Park Tae-hwan's bow-tie...it's so funny!
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10 pabo ceo reom
October 30, 2008 at 5:50 PM
Slightly off-topic but is Rain's third album the one called "It's RAINing"?
Also, how was his first and second albums? I've listened to the later stuff but not the early stuff. Thanks!
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11 Javabeans
October 30, 2008 at 6:07 PM
^ Yes, #3 is "It's Raining." Here's how I'd rate them:
Album 1. Not bad. Nothing special, in my opinion. I didn't like his single "나쁜 남자" (Bad Guy), and the album was the standard hip-hop-lite that conventional kpop likes to use. Listenable. Had a few nice ballady R&B tracks, like "익숙치 않아서" (Because it's unfamliar) and "악수" (Handshake, listen here). I didn't really like the rest of the album.
Album 2. Better. Albums 2 and 3 are almost even for me, and this is where he really hit it big, with songs like "태양을 피하는 방법" (How to escape the sun) -- listen here and another version here. One of my favorite Rain songs is "아쉬운 빈 공간 " (Empty space, here). A few nice songs, mixed with a few more I disliked (in general I really dislike his Usher wannabe songs, all dancefloor techno manipulations and little heart). I liked "난 또 니가 좋은 거야 " too (here).
Album 3. Kinda more of the same, but I guess the ratio of songs I liked to the ones I disliked was higher. Again, I avoid his big hits like "It's Raining" (it's hardly even a SONG), but I dug his melodic tracks like "Quiz," "11 Days," "I Do," "Biggest Thing," "지운 얼굴" (Familiar Face). BTW, what's with all the English titles? Maybe it's here he began to have dreams of world expansion, who knows.
And you know the rest. As with everything, this is all my opinion only.
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12 popcorn
October 30, 2008 at 6:47 PM
O.O I didn't know JRW can be so....thin. Wow, I thought she was so pretty back when I watched her in What star are you from?....
What happen to the girl? =_=
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13 pabo ceo reom
October 30, 2008 at 9:17 PM
Thank you! I definitely have to check out the early stuff then...especially the second one.
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14 phjfever
October 30, 2008 at 10:08 PM
i didn't recognize JRW --- she does look different! i guess i got used to seeing her with less make up in What Star...? Congratulations to all the winners ...Rain one of my favorites --- i love his new hairstyle!
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15 Maggie
October 30, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Jung Ryeo Won just copies looks from the Olsen twins, Rachel Zoe, and other Hollywood celebrities. She has no original style. I can't stand her.
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16 dreamyStar
October 30, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Wow...for someone who's always been considered skinny, JRW still never fails to surprise me with her thinness. I mean, really. She can already play the role of the corpse bride. That girl needs to EAT. as in EAT!
Sean and Jung Hye Young are adorable as always. Yeah, how do they do that?!
I wish Rain would just stay in Korea.
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17 Aazmi
October 30, 2008 at 11:12 PM
Errrm, referring to Jung Jun-ho's look, isn't it a big no-no to wear black shoes with a navy suit?! He should've worn brown shoes. ;p
Chu Seong-hoon somehow reminds me P-Diddy. Kinda cool!
Sohn Ye-Jin always managed to look both demure and sophisticated at the same time. *drool*
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18 Elaine
October 31, 2008 at 12:05 AM
I think JRW had to lose weight for a movie she filmed not long ago.
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19 shp
October 31, 2008 at 6:01 AM
Javabeans,
Your many fans love your blog because of your witty observations that are spot-on. You proved again with this entry how funny you are...I was chuckling throughout.
"...you could grate cheese on her collarbones..." How do you even come up with that?!?
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20 carribeane
October 31, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Firstly, thanks Javabeans for the thoroughly enjoyable commentary... love it! =) and for all your time take to do all these stuff.
As for Jung Ryeo Won, I admit she's really too skinny but I read recently that she's losing weight for a new role as a sick, vegetative patient or something of the sort. So don't judge her too quickly.
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21 Beverly
October 31, 2008 at 11:07 AM
I can understand several reasons why fans would like to keep Rain in Korea, but give all of us fans in America a break since it is sometimes difficult for us to see him, hear his music and read articles about him in English.
Every day I think to myself "come to us Rain"!!
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22 Ja Ja
October 31, 2008 at 6:40 PM
I was suprised and glad Lee Eon was mentioned, made me miss him all over again!!
overall in general everyone looked nice!
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23 lalala
November 6, 2008 at 1:47 AM
yay!! SHINee won!!! :D <3
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24 mooooo
October 9, 2009 at 1:02 AM
whats up with the RUDE comment on Hwang Bo and Tae Wan??
let post ur pic so we can judge will ya??
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