2015 MBC Drama Awards

by javabeans

Do you think that if Ji Sung hadn’t been awarded the Daesang at the 2015 MBC Drama Awards, there’d have been actual mutiny? Not that there was much question that he would get it, but MBC has figured out ways to make head-scratcher decisions before.

Like, say, suddenly increasing the number of award categories and winners almost to double its usual amount, so as to give everybody something. I have nothing against giving deserving actors their recognition, but the drama list has already carved into three categories, and now you have actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, new actor, and new actress awards for each category.

Moreover, just in case that wasn’t enough, MBC also gave some people not two, not three, but as much as four separate acting awards. Was it really necessary to give Ji Sung both the Daesang and the Top Excellence award for the same drama? (Typically it’s understood that the Daesang winner is pulled from the Top Excellence pool, so somebody else wins Top Excellence.) It’s nuts! I mean, just take a look at that winners list. You might wanna take a deep breath before diving in (it’ll take a while to get through it all)…

WINNERS LIST

Daesang (Grand Prize): Ji Sung (Kill Me, Heal Me)
Audience’s Choice Drama of the Year: Kill Me, Heal Me
Top Excellence Award, Special Production, Actor: Jung Jin-young (Dazzling Temptation)
Top Excellence Award, Special Production, Actress: Jeon In-hwa (Legendary Witches,
      My Daughter Geum Sa-wol)
Top Excellence, Serial Drama, Actor: Song Chang-eui (Make a Woman Cry)
Top Excellence, Serial Drama, Actress: Kim Jung-eun (Make a Woman Cry)
Top Excellence, Miniseries, Actor: Ji Sung (Kill Me, Heal Me)
Top Excellence, Miniseries, Actress: Hwang Jung-eum (Kill Me, Heal Me)
Excellence, Special Production, Actor: Sohn Chang-min (My Daughter Geum Sa-wol)
Excellence, Special Production, Actress: Oh Hyun-kyung (Legendary Witches)
Excellence Award, Serial Drama, Actor: Park Young-kyu (Mom)
Excellence Award, Serial Drama, Actress: Cha Hwa-yeon (Mom)
Excellence Award, Miniseries, Actor: Park Seo-joon (Kill Me, Heal Me, She Was Pretty)
Excellence Award, Miniseries, Actress: Kang So-ra (Warm and Cozy)
Best Supporting Actor, Special Production: Kim Ho-jin (Dazzling Temptation)
Best Supporting Actress, Special Production: Kim Su-mi (Legendary Witches)
Best Supporting Actor, Serial Drama: Lee Moon-shik (Mom)
Best Supporting Actress, Serial Drama: Lee Bo-hee (Apgujeong Baek-ya)
Best Supporting Actor, Miniseries: Kim Hee-won (Angry Mom)
Best Supporting Actress, Miniseries: Hwang Seok-jung (She Was Pretty)
New Actor, Special Production: Yoon Hyun-min (My Daughter Geum Sa-wol)
New Actress, Special Production: Lee Sung-kyung (Queen’s Flower)
New Actor, Serial Drama: Kang Eun-tak (Apgujeong Baek-ya)
New Actress, Serial Drama: Park Hana (Apgujeong Baek-ya)
New Actor, Miniseries: Lee Soo-hyuk (Scholar Who Walks the Night)
New Actress, Miniseries: Lee Yubi (Scholar Who Walks the Night)
Actor of the Year, awarded by PDs from the 3 broadcasters: Hwang Jung-eum
      (Kill Me, Heal Me, She Was Pretty)
Top 10 Stars Award:
      Kim Sung-ryung (Queen’s Flower)
      Cha Seung-won (Hwajung)
      Park Seo-joon (Kill Me, Heal Me, She Was Pretty)
      Hwang Jung-eum (Kill Me, Heal Me, She Was Pretty)
      Ji Sung (Kill Me, Heal Me)
      Kim Hee-sun (Angry Mom)
      Kim Yoo-jung (Angry Mom)
      Yoo Yeon-seok (Warm and Cozy)
      Lee Jun-ki (Scholar Who Walks the Night)
      Baek Jin-hee (My Daughter Geum Sa-wol)
Best Couple Award: Ji Sung, Park Seo-joon (Kill Me, Heal Me)
Popularity Award: Park Seo-joon (Kill Me, Heal Me, She Was Pretty),
      Hwang Jung-eum (Kill Me, Heal Me, She Was Pretty)
Writer Award: Jo Sung-hee (She Was Pretty),
      Ha Chung-ok (Make a Woman Cry)
Child Actor Award: Yang Han-yeol (She Was Pretty),
      Kal So-won (My Daughter Geum Sa-wol, Dazzling Temptation)
Voiceover Award, Foreign Dubbing: Jung Jae-heon

I’m in total agreement that Ji Sung should have won the Daesang for Kill Me, Heal Me, although once you look at the dramas that were in contention for awards this year from MBC, it’s no wonder that Kill Me, Heal Me took home a boatload of trophies. Not that it wasn’t thoroughly entertaining, but MBC hasn’t had a ton of hits, so the same few names tended to dominate the winners list. Ji Sung told a story about how when he was a rookie, a director who’d hired him actually cornered him to say, “I’ve never seen an actor as bad as you.” Hard to believe, eh?

If ever there were the teeniest chance of someone else snatching up the Daesang this year, it would have to be Hwang Jung-eum, though I don’t think it would’ve happened since it seems like popular consensus that Ji Sung had it locked up. She wasn’t better than him, necessarily, but she did headline two of MBC’s biggest hits this year, Kill Me, Heal Me and She Was Pretty, so there was an argument for honoring that. But MBC just dealt with that by showering Hwang Jung-eum in awards—Top Excellence, Actor of the Year, Top 10 Star, and the Popularity Award.

It’s cute that the awards went with a funny pick for Best Couple, with Park Seo-joon and Ji Sung winning for their Kill Me, Heal Me dynamic, where Park Seo-joon was the object of adoration by one of Ji Sung’s personas, excitable teenage Yo-na, who tried at every turn to fondle and molest her oppa. I still giggle to recall her reaction when she finally stole that kiss she’d been angling for.

Park also got showered in awards, since he was also in (the same) two of MBC’s big hits. Ya gotta make your cash cows happy, right?

Kim Jung-eun was given a Top Excellence award for Make a Woman Cry, her weekend drama. She can wear clothes very well… but not this time, methinks. I mean, the dress could be worse, technically, but it doesn’t really do much for her, and adds a whole level of frump with the lacy, cape-y top that really didn’t need to be there.

Her Make a Woman Cry co-star Song Chang-eui also won an award (though really, who didn’t?) and looks crisp and fresh.

Hello, Jung Jin-young, award winner for currently airing melodrama Dazzling Temptation. Lookin’ good, ajusshi.

I did hear Jeon In-hwa mentioned (a little bit) as a Daesang possibility for her role in weekend drama My Daughter Geum Sa-wol, and she ended up taking Top Excellence instead.

Kang So-ra keeps turning out spot-on looks for awards ceremonies and red carpet events. I suppose the gown could have a little more interesting design work (particularly the bottom half), but the overall effect is eye-catching and lovely. She’s definitely the best of the red gowns of the night (of which there were several).

I suppose it’s a little odd to see her on the award roster for Warm and Cozy (which earned her an Excellence award), but (1) there were some slim pickins and (2) she really did make that drama watchable by giving her character a heart and relatable feelings when everything else was frustrating and illogical.

Yoo Yeon-seok was one of those frustrating and illogical things in Warm and Cozy, and while his acting was far better than the character, I’m not about to cry that he was robbed of any awards for it. I’m just glad to see him here, looking happy and handsome.

Their Warm and Cozy co-star Kim Hee-jung was also pretty solid in that show, but she was also in a much more successful MBC production this year, My Daughter Geum Sa-wol.

Speaking of which, here’s My Daughter Geum Sa-wol’s lead, Baek Jin-hee, looking very pretty and also a little predictable. She really, really likes the white formalwear for awards shows, but at least she looks lovely in them.

Song Ha-yoon looks a little concerned in most of her photos. Do you think it’s because it totally looks like she and Baek Jin-hee ordered gowns from the same dressmaker, except he ran out of flowers and lace for Song Ha-yoon’s dress and just stopped detailing it? It’s doubly funny since Song Ha-yoon and Baek Jin-hee are co-stars on My Daughter Geum Sa-wol, which is currently airing. Awk-ward!

Park Se-young is another My Daughter Geum Sa-wol castmate (there are a ton of them. Her dress kind of reminds me of a stiffly uncomfortable prom dress, but it does offer us one of the only pops of color of the night, and the only one that’s not white, black, or red. Extra points just for that.

I wouldn’t call Yoon Hyun-min a new actor, but as we know, these award designations are often fluid and hazy. And this is his first outing with MBC, in My Daughter Geum Sa-wol.

Do Sang-woo is also from My Daughter Geum Sa-wol, though to me he’s still the jerky, no-bullshit director from Ex-Girlfriend Club. He does monochrome and looks very tall.

Okay, so here’s the thing. Kim Yoo-jung (Angry Mom) is suuuuper beautiful. She looks radiant and youthful. But that doesn’t mean her style choice is a winner, because it’s just so heavy and grim with all that black, and all the long black hair to boot. It’s not chic enough to be edgy, and not weird enough to be gothic.

Aww, Ji-soo (Angry Mom), you look like a grown-up little boy. He’s adorable.

I love this dress on Angry Mom’s Lizzy! It’s sweet, flirty, and super-cute with the heart cut-out in the back. She looks fantastic and fresh, and now I’m remembering how I wanted all of her lip colors in that drama. Product placement works, y’all!

Kim Hee-won, like many a veteran character actor, has had a busy year with drama project after drama project. He’s here for Angry Mom, where he infuriated and scared me. He followed that with Let’s Eat 2 where he was funny and a little pathetic, and then topped it off with Awl, where I found him both infuriating and a little pathetic. I love to hate this guy.

Oh, honey, no.

Okay, I like that Lee Yubi (Scholar Who Walks the Night) tries different things, fashion-wise, and doesn’t go for the cookie-cutter starlet types of looks, which are often very safe and conservative. On the other hand, they also don’t look like you took out your grandma’s silk nightie, added glittery red stripper platforms, and tried to make a fashion statement out of it. I’m not actually averse to the idea of the dress, but it’s about three sizes too big and she’s not rocking the confidence or bravado to quite pull it off.

I enjoy the strong pattern worn by Lee Soo-hyuk (Scholar Who Walks the Night), dizzying though it may be. I’ll just avoid that problem by staring at his face instead. Which is so hard, obviously.

More red! This time it’s on Han Sun-hwa of Rosy Lovers, who looks chic and put-together. I’m not excited by the dress, necessarily, but she looks good, so it’s done its job.

I think Go Woo-ri (Queen’s Flower) has the lesser version of that dress—kind of similar in silhouette, but not as sophisticated. I’m not a fan of that red mesh at the top. Be strapless or don’t! Make up your mind!

On the other hand, here’s Kim Sung-ryung, also of weekend series Queen’s Flower, and she owns it. The red carpet, the attitude, the everything. This is how you manage bold, sexy, and sophisticated at the same time.

Here’s her Queen’s Flower co-star Yoon Park (soon to be seen in SBS’s body-possessing drama Please Come Back, Ajusshi):

Sure, this look is a bit nuts, but Hwang Seok-jung played a flamboyant fashionista in She Was Pretty (she’s here with her co-star Ahn Se-ha, who played her reporter nephew in that) and this look is exactly The Most kind of thing you’d expect of her character.

So now we’re on to She Was Pretty castmates, with Shin Dong-mi looking elegant in asymmetrical white.

Shin Hye-sun and Park Yoo-hwan played a side couple in Pretty, and came to the awards together. I really don’t think her look is very flattering on her—the hair, the glittery skirt—which is too bad since I thought she was rather adorably twee in Oh My Ghostess as Jo Jung-seok’s little sister.

One upside to divvying up all the awards into so many categories is that a lot more veterans get a chance to take home trophies, like Cha Hwa-yeon (Mom)…

…and Kim Su-mi (who was only intended to cameo in Legendary Witches, and thanked the viewers in her acceptance speech for asking for her to return, because she was then upgraded to series regular)…

….and Lee Bo-hee (Apgujeong Baek-ya).

Dohee is one of many ladies wearing white (there’s always a large white contingent, though I’m always hopeful that the trend will be bucked), and she arrived with her Mom co-stars, Lee Moon-shik (who won a supporting actor award) and Choi Ye-seul.

Im Shi-wan hasn’t had any dramas this year, but it makes sense he’d be here since he did have a lead role in 2014’s reunited-brothers melodrama Triangle, which got him a new actor award last year.

Sooyoung, likewise, had an MBC drama last year (My Spring Days) but not this year. I don’t think the cut of this gown is great, but I do love the intricate beading and champagne-gold sheen.

Park Hana, another woman in white, played the titular Baek-ya character in daily drama Apgujeong Baek-ya (also called Apgujeong Midnight Sun), and arrived with her co-star Kang Eun-tak. They both won new actor/actress awards for the series.

I love Jang Young-nam (Dazzling Temptation), who’s got amazing range and doesn’t always get to make the most of it in her drama roles. Despite the sea of white, I do like this beaded sheath gown on her.

Go Sung-hee, on the other hand, meh. I mean that about the dress, which doesn’t seem to flatter her much, though I suppose it’s my general feeling on her acting as a whole. She did not have an MBC drama this year, but starred in last year’s Records of a Night Watchman. (She had a few projects on other stations in 2015, though, Spy and My Beautiful Bride.)

Jung Hye-sung does have that ingenue thing going on, but it suits her and I’ve noticed her popping up everywhere all of a sudden, so maybe she’s about to break out, or at least step up to the next level. She’s currently in the legal thriller Remember—Son’s War on SBS, has a small background part in KBS’s Oh My Venus, and was in MBC’s daily drama A Daughter Just Like You.

And here’s her Daughter Just Like You castmate Kang Sung-min. I’m not the only one who finds brown formalwear odd, right?

Y’know, if you had to describe this dress and the one above in words, they’d share a lot of the same descriptors, and yet Jin Ye-sol (Great First Wives) looks like she’s literally on her way to the altar. It’s something right out of a bridal catalogue. Maybe from the ’80s?

I have to say I’m digging this ensemble on Oh Hyun-kyung (Legendary Witches), who makes a turtleneck and a shiny floral pattern look chic and edgy.

This… is an unfortunate color pairing, right? Actually, it’s less the pairing and more that Shin Dong-yub somehow decided that puke color on the red carpet would be just the thing to wear while accompanying a young starlet, Lee Sung-kyung (of Queen’s Flower and the upcoming Cheese in the Trap).

Kiddos! Sometimes they outshine the adults, either on the acting front or the fashion front, and definitely on the cuteness front. Kal So-won pulled double-duty for MBC this year in My Daughter Geum Sa-wol and Dazzling Temptation, and looks super cute in her pink dress and Mary Janes. Below is Yang Han-yeol, Park Seo-joon’s sweet childhood counterpart in She Was Pretty, and Kim Ji-young from last year’s big hit, Jang Bori Is Here.

Via Star News

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