2011 KBS Drama Awards

by javabeans

Awards, awards, awards! And tons of pretty people.

As with yesterday’s MBC Drama Awards, note that winners are decided in part due to popularity, in part due to ratings and politics. That said, I don’t think anyone will argue with their Daesang winner, Shin Ha-kyun (below), who has been tearing it up on Monday and Tuesday nights with medical drama Brain.

Also no surprise was the awarding of runner-up acting prizes to The Princess’s Man‘s pair, Park Shi-hoo and Moon Chae-won (above), which bagged a number of awards.
As did weekend hit Ojakkyo Brothers.

KBS tends to be a big event, attendance-wise, since they’ve got tons of dramas (across two stations), and a ton of awards given in numerous categories. Essentially, they break down their dramas into three categories: short, medium, and long. (I was a bit critical of MBC’s additional categories this year, but not because the idea itself is bad. KBS and SBS have been doing it this way for years, while MBC seems to always attract criticism for giving out shared awards and was trying to skirt that this time. Frankly, MBC should probably keep the new categories.)

As I said yesterday, these broadcaster awards shouldn’t really be taken too seriously as actual awards, since they’re given out, essentially, by bosses like end-of-year bonuses to reward their own productions. For a more straight-up competitive awards ceremony, look to spring’s Baeksang Awards, which is similar to the Golden Globes in honoring both film and drama productions. The Baeksangs aren’t without their own issues, and popularity definitely comes into play there as well, but it chooses its winners from across broadcasters — which should be interesting now that we have some potential cable spoilers entering the fray.

WINNERS LIST

Daesang: Shin Ha-kyun (Brain)
Top Excellence, Actor: Park Shi-hoo (The Princess’s Man)
Top Excellence, Actress: Moon Chae-won (The Princess’s Man)

Excellence Awards:
Daily Drama, Actor: Ji Chang-wook (Smile Dong-hae)
Daily Drama, Actress: Do Ji-won (Smile Dong-hae)
Miniseries, Actor: Jung Jin-young (Brain), Daniel Choi (Baby-Faced Beauty)
Miniseries, Actress: Jang Nara (Baby-Faced Beauty)
Mid-length Drama, Actor: Chun Jung-myung (Man of Honor)
Mid-length Drama, Actress: Hong Soo-hyun (The Princess’s Man)
Serial Drama, Actor: Lee Tae-gon (King Gwanggaeto)
Serial Drama, Actress: Kim Ja-ok (Ojakkyo Brothers)
Supporting Actor: Jung Woong-in (Ojakkyo Brothers, King Geunchogo)
Supporting Actress: Park Jung-ah (Smile Dong-hae, Only You), Lee Yoon-ji (Dream High)

Newcomer Award, Actor: Kim Soo-hyun (Dream High), Lee Jang-woo (Man of Honor),
      Joo-won (Ojakkyo Brothers)
Newcomer Award, Actress: Bae Suzy (Dream High), UEE (Ojakkyo Brothers)
Netizens’ Award: Shin Ha-kyun (Brain), Choi Jung-won (Brain)
Popularity Award: Park Shi-hoo (The Princess’s Man), Kim Soo-hyun (Dream High),
      Moon Chae-won (The Princess’s Man), Han Hye-jin (Thorn Birds)
One-Act Special, Actor: Choi Su-jong (For My Son), Lee Hee-joon
      (Cupid Factory, Identical Criminals, Perfect Spy)
One-Act Special, Actress: Han Eun-jung (400 Year Dream), Eugene
      (Princess Hwa-pyung’s Weight Loss)
Youth Actor: Park Hee-gun (Ojakkyo Brothers), Kim Hwan-hee
      (Believe in Love, The Houseguest and Mother, Only You)
Best Couple: Park Shi-hoo & Moon Chae-won (The Princess’s Man),
      Ryu Soo-young & Choi Jung-yoon (Ojakkyo Brothers),
      Kim Soo-hyun & Bae Suzy (Dream High),
      Lee Min-woo & Hong Soo-hyun (The Princess’s Man),
      Shin Ha-kyun & Choi Jung-won (Brain)
Writer Award: Lee Jung-sun (Ojakkyo Brothers)

Onward ho!

The fashions weren’t as colorful as MBC’s outing yesterday, and in fact there seemed to be an overabundance of blacks and whites. But since everybody looked good, I didn’t mind it so much… even though I’ll always long for more color. And variety. And personality. Plus, while it’s fun looking at pretty people dressed prettily, there is a noted absence of WTF outfits at this award show. Too bad; the WTF is part of the whole fun.

 
Shin Ha-kyun (Brain) has been earning raves, and he is to KBS this year what Han Seok-kyu was to SBS (even with Brain lacking Tree’s ratings numbers). A no-brainer (har!) for the Daesang. The man looks dapper in a tux.

 
Moon Chae-won (The Princess’s Man) must be thrilled with her year so far, with awards for both her hit drama and her hit film (Bow: The Ultimate Weapon, on the fast track to becoming one of Korea’s top box office films, which got her a Grand Bell and Blue Dragon award this year). I can’t say I love her simple gown, but I do kind of love the overlayer she’s wearing — armless jacket? cape-wrap? coatlet? — with its shiny buttons and epaulets. She did a similar thing at the Blue Dragons, but there it was an actual jacket. I dig the upgrade. She wears it regally, which seems fitting.

 
Yes, Park Shi-hoo (The Princess’s Man) is sort of rocking a pompadour, but this is a man who can rock a mane of glory and a glam vampire (ooh, who wants to see him try those looks simultaneously?), so I’m pretty sure the pompadour’s still hot. Wait, did I really just say that? On him, at least. Also: I think it’s adorable that he and Moon Chae-won are color-coordinated, whether or not that was intentional. Or it’s Fate. Either answer works for me.

 
It’s amazing how much I love Hong Soo-hyun (The Princess’s Man) after having such distaste for her earlier roles. She was so insipid, and then suddenly she turned on the electricity. I actually thought she was great in Lie To Me as well — the character was terrible, but she was solid — which makes her doubly talented, because she’s got sharp comic timing on top of the dramatic chops. Can’t wait till she graduates to leading roles.

 
Jung Jin-young was another award-winner from the Brain cast, netting an Excellence Award. He’s going a bit casual, but he looks happy. Congrats to him.

 
Baby-Faced Beauty co-stars Jang Nara and Daniel Choi came together and both picked up awards. I didn’t think her performance was anything to write home about (she was solid, but the role didn’t require much of her), but no way KBS wasn’t going to give her something for her triumphant return to TV. Daniel Choi, as always, is adorable. I loved his character’s growth and his performance, so congrats to them both. And I do love Jang Nara’s dress, which fits her perfectly.

 
Their Baby-Faced Beauty co-star Kim Min-seo didn’t win, but she’ll have more chances in the future. The dress is safe, and I wish she’d opted for bolder makeup. On the other hand, the simple clean face makes me think she’s going to fit right into her upcoming sageuk drama The Moon That Embraces The Sun; she won’t be playing a gisaeng this time, so she’ll be dressed down from Cho-sun’s extravagance.

 
The weekend sageuk King Gwanggaeto hasn’t made a huge splash, but it did get actor Lee Tae-gon an award here.

 
Han Hye-jin (Thorn Birds) was one of the MCs of the event, with variety/TV host Jeon Hyun-moo and Ojakkyo Brothers’ Joo-won. She wore one of the many white gowns of the event, opting for a pretty, flowy number with sparkly beading. Pretty gold shoes!

I LOVE this look, so much. Probably my favorite look of the night, and UEE (Ojakkyo Brothers) just looks so fresh, flirty, and adorable. By all accounts she’s doing a fantastic job in that drama, and is reportedly much improved from her You’re Beautiful days. I actually liked her in You’re Beautiful, but in any case it’s nice to see people improving with every project.

I want this dress. I need this dress.

 
I also want and need Kim Soo-hyun (Dream High). Love him. Can’t wait for his sageuk debut. *Crosses fingers and waits impatiently for MoonSparkleFlowerChild.*

 
His Dream High co-star Suzy came with producer/mogul/songwriter/budding comic scene-stealer JYP. Okay, this one’s definitely intentionally coordinated. It’s not a rule, but I tend to love it when the younger stars dress in short, cute dresses. They have the rest of their lives to go long and formal; may as well get away with adorable short frocks for as long as possible, right? Even so, it’s sort of amazing how much older Suzy looks, not one year out from Dream High.

 
Lee Yoon-ji is too good to keep doing small supporting roles, even if she did win an award for hers in Dream High. When is she getting her own drama? This woman rocks. She also wears one of the many white gowns at the event, but hers has two leg slits up-to-there to give it some extra va-va-voom. Love the shoes.

 
Another white look on Lee Shi-young, who’s doing pretty good job working with the unruly mop she sports for her new drama Wild Romance. (Her KBS production for the past year: Poseidon, though perhaps that one’s best forgotten.) I don’t love the gown so much on its own, but given that she’s working around the short cropped hairstyle, I think the modern style suits her.

 
More white! This time it’s Park Min-young (Man of Honor), who goes for a flowy option with gold accents — the tassel down the front and the glittery heels, with the clutch. This is why all the white doesn’t bother me today, because they’re all such different styles that they’re not boring. It’s not just a collection of wedding dresses.

 
Chun Jung-myung (Man of Honor) looks like death warmed over. Did he die and crawl out of his coffin to make it to the awards ceremony? Or maybe he’s got a bit part in that upcoming zombie project. (Seriously, what’s with the ghostly face? Is he on the brink of collapse, or is it just a really bad makeup job? There are a number of men with suspiciously gleaming white faces today — Park Shi-hoo, Joo-won, Daniel Choi — but his is by far the worst.)

 
See, if you’ve got a tan face, you should just wear it, loud and proud, like Lee Jang-woo (Man of Honor). At least he looks healthy and not dying. I do wonder how long it takes to get his hair that perfectly swoopy, though.

 
Eugene took home an award for a one-act drama, Princess Hwa-pyung’s Weight Loss, which had her wearing a fat suit and looking unrecognizable. Hard to imagine not being able to recognize Eugene, who basically has not aged a day in the past ten years.

 
Han Eun-jung also won an award for her one-act. Eep, is it me or has she suddenly gotten a lot thinner, and not in a healthy-looking way?

 
Lee Jong-hyuk (Crime Squad). Yum.

 
Hwang Woo Seul-hye (Believe In Love) wears black, the other trend of the night, as well as a push-up bra that is doing a heck of a job. Bravo, and ow.

 
Her Believe In Love co-star Moon Jung-hee also wore black to the awards, although it could be a midnight blue. I guess she chose KBS over SBS (she was also in Thousand Day Promise this year — funny enough, co-star Lee Sang-woo (oppaaaaa!) was also in both dramas) given that her Promise role was more minor.

 
Black again for Choi Jung-yoon, who picked up a Best Couple award alongside her Ojakkyo co-star Ryu Soo-young

 
Jung Woong-in (Ojakkyo Brothers) arrived with Kim Bo-kyung, who had a Drama Special this year.

 
Eee! How adorable is it that Choi Su-jong (President ) and Kim Young-chul (The Princess’s Man) came arm in arm, and holding hands? They look so happy and cuddly; you’d almost forget that Kim spent months playing a bloodthirsty usurper. There was a little bit of pre-awards speculation that Kim Young-chul and/or Hong Soo-hyun were viable contenders for the Top Excellence alongside/instead of Park Shi-hoo and Moon Chae-won, given that they probably turned in stronger technical acting performances as Prince Suyang and Princess Kyung-hye. But you can’t argue with the two stars of a blockbuster show, whose leading roles were a large part of the show’s overall appeal.

 
Here’s Choi’s President co-star Jay, also member of pop group Trax, who reportedly had one of the year’s more successful idol-actor transitions:

 
I said this most of the white gowns weren’t bridal numbers, but hey, you have to have at least one, right? Do Ji-won picked up an award for Smile Dong-hae, as did her co-star Ji Chang-wook, who happened to also be picking up an award at SBS’s awards for Warrior Baek Dong-soo. I think I had this Wedding Barbie once upon a time.

 
My first impulse was to dismiss the billowy dress worn by Jung Eun-chae (Women of Our House). But the more I look at it, the more I kind of like the maxidress look, especially when you’re young and can pull off its cute contrarian appeal. Enjoy it while you can, because in another ten years it automatically becomes a muu-muu and/or caftan.

 
Jo Sung-ha (Romance Town) wears a pop of color with his tux:

 
Oh, how fast kids grow up. Oh Jae-mu was last year’s Baker King and this year’s young vegetable bachelor. He’s one to watch for the future. Meanwhile, Park Hee-gun won a youth award for Ojakkyo Brothers.

 
Hm, looks like Park Jung-ah is another former idol who’s having more luck acting than singing; she won an supporting actress award for Smile Dong-hae.

 
Park Joo-mi (Believe In Love) in more black, although this is one of the blander selections, I think. Even with the corset backing down the back to give it some interest.

I don’t know much about actress Han Hye-rin (New Gisaeng Story, Only You), but I do love her chiffony gray gown with the full skirt. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen something like it once or twice before at various other awards ceremonies, but I still love it.

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