Media

SB Chat Box #13: Idols in dramas, and a gimmicky Hello Baby

Written by Amy On January 19, 2012

Didja miss us last week?

Getting back to our regularly scheduled programming, this week on Seoulbeats Chat Box, Patricia and I discuss several trends in K-pop, starting with idols being cast in dramas and musicals, and the ever popular “Hello Baby,” making its way into its fifth season.

Yoochunand his new drama, and idols acting in dramas in general (0:44) (*note, as of the release of this post, Yoochun’s casting has already been confirmed)
Idols on the musical stage (10:00)
Babies, babies, babies on “Hello Baby” (20:03)
Multiculturalism and race on “Hello Baby,” and in K-pop (31:20)

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Download the podcast here.

Shouts to cutiepie88 for accurately guessing all the songs from last week’s podcast. Gives us your best guesses for this week.

And as always, if there’s anything you would like to hear us discuss in the coming weeks, let us know!

TAGS: Seoulbeats Chat Box

http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

you guys need to watch the hello baby this time, its just been the first episode and they are hilarious >_< they're so competely shameless, criticize variety shows all you want but at the very least the first episode was hilarious, and after sesame player you guys gotta be a bit curious for mblaqs newest variety show ^__^

http://evacuatewithstyle.org/blog Amy

I actually watched a clip of Seungho speaking surprisingly good English while looking for his kid. It was ADORABLE. But then again, I find anything that Seungho does to be ADORABLE, so……

http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

Lool you HAVE to watch then, after the first episode Seungho became everybodys number one ^__^
And you have to remember your kpop resolution, stop worrying about the future of kpop and just enjoy it ^__^

http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

Oh also, the last few podcasts I’ve listened to Amy totally sounds like she can’t stand kpop anymore >_<

Anonymous

She’s not alone. A lot of KPOP fans are getting cynical and rightly so.

ME

But I still have last hope for KPop, especially watching MBLAQ new mini album and patiently waiting for B2ST. Both of these groups are walking on the preferable track (at least for me). If, and only if WG stays true to their album and not so much compromise for US re-début (with Nick), I’m happy. Also, Big Bang will release new album as well as Shinwha.

Let’s cross our finger, that it would not be as bad as SBers predicted.
All the best, ME
http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

Just enjoy it for what it is though, it’s fun and some groups still have quality music at the same time so its all good ^__^

Guest

I don’t know if anyone is watching this, but if you are watching this drama would you like to give your thoughts on it? The drama is “The Moon that Embraces the Sun” . I think it’s really good, and I would love it if you guys talked a bit about it in a podcast !

Anonymous

I’ve been hearing rave reviews about this drama. It’s the one with Han Ga In, right?
Anonymous

Such a good drama , I am definitely going to miss the extremely talented child actors now that we are on the adult portion . But on the flipside, I like that we know nothing about what is going to happen from here on out since all the previews and the synopsis only told what will happen during the child portion.
http://evacuatewithstyle.org/blog Amy

I’m watching and I would love to spazz about it buuuuuuuuut barely anyone else on the team is :( Would make for a very lonely podcast if I were to talk about it by myself :(
http://twitter.com/soojin08 Camille

Just cried buckets because of it. PARTICULARLY, THAT DAMNED EPISODE 5.

;__________________;

http://twitter.com/soojin08 Camille

Wait, what? It’s not fair for other actors when they give these roles to stars like them?

Well, that’s quite a statement, and pretty one-sided, I must say.

Anonymous

Their argurments were valid. SK has a tiny entertainment industry where acting opportunities are scarce especially for new, up and coming talent.

It’s not fair to those actors who were specifically trained in that area to be upstaged by idols who do everything but not particularly well.

Now many aspiring actors look to become idols first and audition for idol management companies instead of acting agencies.

That’s a serious problem and not one sided at all.

dgi

I think that if you are gonna talk about a certain topic you shoul unless be a informed about it: the three kids in MBLAQ’s Hello Baby are 3 years old not 6
chunface

cn blue- im a loner
kyuhyun – 7 years of love
2am – i did wrong
super junior – monster]

hopefully me and my friend’s guesses are right ^^

http://evacuatewithstyle.org/blog Amy

Vellllly velly good :)

Guest

but haven’t idols/singers always tried their hand at acting just like a lot of actors try their hand at music at some point? and two of the top tv stars, rain and yoon eun hye, right now are ex-idols. hyori, uhm jung hwa, se7en, heechul, kibum, lee dong geun, and lee ji hoon were all singers first before they tried their hand (and in some cases, failed) at acting.

a couple of the current idol actors were actors before they were singers like hongki and eunjung.

i think the fundamental problem with your argument is that if the idols did not take the roles, it would go to some struggling actor. because the reality is that it would not. it would go to another star actor who could get ratings. and it’s not like these star actors are all that great any way. i think kwon sang woo, song seung hyun, kim tae hee and some of the other big stars are honestly terrible actors and they know it and admit it.

and very few of the idols get cast in lead roles consistently. they only get cast if they bring in the ratings. the only 4 i can think of who can and will continue to get cast as leads are yoochun, kim hyun joong, yonghwa, top, yoona and siwon and yes, yoona, yonghwa and khj are terrible. the other three are decent if cast in the right roles. uee and eunjung are probably not instant choices for leads but again, they have some level of success behind them and some experience. the rest get cameos or play the assitant of the assistant of the the main lead’s bff. idk if any struggling actor would feel pissed off if they were skipped over for that role.
http://twitter.com/PhanTheHotness Jenny

can you talk about EXO, BAP and NU’EST??
they are the most recent newest boy groups that are battling it out to be on top. i would love to hear your thoughts about it :D
Guest

Erasing all appearances of one’s ethnicity is interesting. Do they feel like they’re “Cauc-asian” on the inside as a justification for the surgical changes made because they want to bring the “white” in them out?

As an American, this seems like a form of ethnic cleansing and white supremacy.
http://twitter.com/PheonixiaJJ Echo

I disagree with your viewpoint on both musicals and acting.

For the musicals that Junsu had to do he had to audition for the main role, and he got it based on his talent as a ‘musical actor’ and not only based on his idol power. And your viewpoint is negated simply by the fact that Selvester Leevay a worlwide composer/producer for musicals praised Junsu for his skills in the department. Also, Leevay CHOSE to work with Junsu again and even composed a song for Junsu. Similarly, musical colleague’s have praised Junsu for his acting ability. The award Junsu got was the ‘newcomer award’ and the ‘popularity award’. The popularity award cannot be argued against because Junsu DID get good reviews and his shows sold out extremely fast. Junsu said that he wished the musical scene would gain more viewers and Korea……and by being in one he wished it was possible more so than before.

Similarly, just because most idols suck at acting doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to try. Their are probably idols out their that are better at acting than at singing but they are also not given a chance. The only thing I can’t stand about idol’s being given a role….is when they ruined their first project by horrible acting are are given more roles in other drama’s (note: Yoona, Kim Hyun Joong, and Yunho). Also, your point on good or decent idol acting is also negated. Yoochun and Jaejoong have been praised by seniors in the industry. In Yoochun’s case seniors look forward to acting with him in drama’s…..if what they say in interviews on screen is actually true. Also, the new role that Yoochun has been given was crafted specifically for him. Yoochun and Jaejoong are successful actors. If you look at another case TOP is also a fabulous actor but he is also an idol.

Also, their are also actors out their who SUCK at acting and this is what they were trained in and given a chance for (eg. Park Min Young). The fact is their have been many castings in drama’s where a person is NOT an idol and their acting still makes me flinch with pain.

I do think that the drama department should start an audition process for at least main roles from now on…….so the best are actually chosen. I think the fact that just because a person is a idol they shouldn’t act is a invalid and somewhat lame point. Both idols and normal people off the street can do a horrible job at acting even if in one case they were trained.

Also, in the case of drama’s……many new actors are given a chance, especially in historical drama’s. If they do a good job they will get more casting offers. It is like saying Rain shouldn’t have acted in Full House………the reason Full House was so good at its time was because Rain THE IDOL was in it. Also, Song Joonkie is also AN IDOL but he CAN ACT and is loved for it.

On the other hand people like Lee Min Ho started off as actors….and even though he doesn’t sing (yet….who knows if he will start)……he behaves like an idol being a Hallyu star and having fanmeetings and tours and whatnot.

Adding on to an already long post………..you should also know that most actors also SING (even though they are not idols). They participate is OSTs and some even create their own albums or singles.

Anon

The thing is, it took Lee Min Ho about 5 years into his debut as an actor before he got the gig in “Boys Over Flowers” and I don’t he got that lead role as easily as KHJ and Yoochun got theirs. That is the big problem. Idols who go into acting while they have active singing careers bypass the typical actor process wherein people start from the bottom and work their way up.

Exceptions to this rule are the idols who actually started in small, bit roles (acting and CF) outside of their group prior to getting main roles: Sulli (has not not acted in a while though), Eunjung, Jiyeon, Siwon, Heechul, Kibum and Yoona.

I am not sure with TOP. I think he had a small role in “I am SAM” and he hasn’t really done leading man roles yet so at least he is trying to follow the correct newbie actor process. With “Big Bang’s: popularity, it was probably much easier for him than a lesser known actor to be part of “Into the Fire” with big-time Hallyu actors so yeah, I will say, he got it pretty easy. At least he is not getting ahead of himself too much.

http://twitter.com/PheonixiaJJ Echo

As far as I’ve seen it Yoona is not a good actor. The others you listed can also be debated. Your argument using CF’s is invalid. An idols whole life/career is an act or image that is placed on them. If people believe their company-placed image that means they are doing their job right. Most of the lines they speak are scripted. They act in MV’s, CF’s and random company drama’s. After that if they still fail as actors then……….they just don’t have the talent for it.

As I stated above. I think main roles should be auditioned for like top musical productions have auditions.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ORSXPERTNAEPCKZBGEZMP7A3NU Bianca

So, I guess you guys aren’t going to watch T.O.P.’s new drama? LOL
jess1

The concept of Hello Baby? To see how these idols treat kids just the same as Dream Team is to show if these celebrities can do sports. Simple as that. I don’t get how is that difficult to grasp. Yes, throw any concept and put an idol will be talked about.

I think you guys just DO NOT like kids. lol No way is Hello Baby worse than We Got Married. That show is so unreal in everything. At least in Hello Baby, they really get to play with these kids and it looks obvious if they’re having fun or not, unlike in WGM where you have to have these fake feelings in front of the camera. Fake feeling are much more cringe-worthy.

A lot of people was excited for MBLAQ, since one, the given reason of them being the 2nd male group to be on the show and two, guys with babies are adorable, plus MBLAQ knows how to make a good variety show. I don’t know who among the two of you said it, but you obviously haven’t seen MBLAQ in a show. Try the first episode. I doubt you will say it’s bad. Or let’s bet on it. Bet on what? I don’t know. LOL

Also, Hello Baby kids are usually kid models. So to their parents, this is a job, an exposure. MBLAQ kids are all 3 year-olds, fyi – Korean-Canadian, French-Korean and Vietnamese-Korean. ;)
idontknoe

While I think Idols who suck at acting shouldn’t be getting leading roles, I think they have every right to “try” and act. Actors tend to have a longer career, so I see it as a looking towards the future move. They should start out with supporting roles to gain experience and maybe just simply learn how to act. Even rookie actors start out with supporting roles so its not ok for people to jump the rope when they don’t deserve it.

I actually really like the first 2 seasons of Hello Baby. I also loved Yoogeuns bond with Shinee since they are still apart of his life even now. Yoogeun was probably more headstrong than outright obnoxious…… I know how you feel about having a short fuse with kids though. After babysitting and tutoring for years, I sort of hate kids. My favorite part of the show was the fact the Onew pretty much avoided being around the kid. He literally looked terrified everytime he was around the kid.

All of T-ara’s kids were half Canadian and Korean. The Moon siblings.

Nana

I thought they were fully Korean, but with Canadian citizenship.

Anonymous

The dads white Canadian.
Bstar5

No they’re mixed. The father isn’t Korean he looks white.

Anonymous

My big issue is with idols that either have proven they suck (ahem* hyunjoong/yunho*ahem) or have no experience getting the leads in dramas. If they want to dip their toes into dramas fine, however do it in a supporting role first (like what 4minute’s jun ji hyun has been doing) , if you prove you can act , then and only then get the lead later on after more experience and if you suck either get more training or just accept that this isn’t the career choice for you. While there are definitely idols who can act or at least decently act , its more often they suck beyond belief. Like how the bloody heck did SNSD’s Yuri get the 2nd lead in a Shin Se Kyung / Yoo Ah In drama as her first non-SME produced role or Sooyoung (love her as a person though) be the lead with Lee freaking Jung Jae, WTF?? Frankly if I wanted to watch mediocre idol acting in a drama I can easily watch TW-dramas which are famous for casting singers, but I am disappointed to see how kdramas have digressed so much in quality with the repeated casting of idols who in the end really just do do the parts they are casted in justice.
Anonymous

The Korean public like Yoochuns acting
Do mediocre stars get Baksangs?
Yoochun did for acting not popularity

Junsu also did for acting not popularity

Yoochuns scenes in Miss Ripley/ SKKS were also the highest rated

Are we also going to start complaining about Eric and Yoon Eun Hye?

Anonymous

Do mediocre stars get baeksangs? Simply put, yes they do. If they are popular enough or their drama is successful enough they can even win a baeksang. I don’t think yoochun is horrendous but I don’t think he is an amazing actor at the moment either. Also can you reall say he is a better actor than Kim Soo Hyun who was also in that category (even though he isnt really a newcomer)? It was saegeuk light, I wouldn’t call SKKS a genuine saegeuk, it was more rom-com then anything, and he was out-acted by both joonki and Yoo ah in.

I absolutely adore YEH, Eric, and Yoon Kye Sang, but let’s be real here, it took a couple of projects before these three became what they are today. YEH was great in Coffee Prince but if you watch most of her projects she still needs a lot of work in terms of acting. Same goes for Eric who was amazing in Que Sera Sera but still needs acting work. Also in terms of YEH and Kye Sang , both became actors once they FINISHED their idol careers and took it as a career change and not another way to get popularity.

Anonymous

Sageuk as in he was required to speak in sageuk tone/speech

i think blue1004 from thundie’s blogspot put it better than i ever could
“However, what would a discussion on the cast of Sungkyunkwan Scandal be without mentioning Micky Yoochun. If Lee Min-ho was the breakout actor of 2009, Micky Yoochun made 2010 his. In doing so, not only did he shatter the prejudice people held against idols-turned-actors, but he also earned himself the ticket to act again in the future.
By no means do I imply that his acting was free of flaws. So then why the praise of adoration I throw at him?

First, it must be mentioned that I was never a fan of DBSK. I was very much aware of who they were and even the names of all the members. I agreed that they were a good-looking group, and in fact, I personally found Micky Yoochun to be the most attractive of the five members. Nevertheless, their music was never to my taste, and even though I indulged in k-pop music every once in a while, I convinced myself that as long as I remained disdainful of DBSK (the epitome of the current k-pop idol culture), I’d be okay.
Second, I did not look favorably at idols going into acting. It wasn’t the idea of singers acting or even that they were somehow “less talented” than the other actors who were professionally trained in acting. On the contrary, there are many actors who’ve been acting for years and who still cannot act. What did bother me were the fans who blindly supported their idol stars, even when the acting or the drama, many times both, were clearly bad.
And so with these two biases against him, I watched the first episode half-heartedly, ready to drop the show at the first sign of boredom, but also with the eyes of a hawk toward Micky Yoochun, almost fully anticipating his acting to go wrong.
My first reaction to seeing him on-screen was surprise at how scholarly he looked in his hanbok. But the bigger surprise came once he opened his mouth. You see, I come from an old school of thought in believing that a sageuk needs to sound like a sageuk. With the influx of fusion sageuk dramas in recent years (of which Sungkyunkwan Scandal is one), many actors could get away without ever having to learn the distinctive voice tone and voice control of the traditional sageuk speech. This is understandable.
Even so, the public still expects certain characters (for example, those serving in the royal court) to speak in the sageuk tone in order for them to have the appearance of authority and command. Those who have failed to do so have been targets of acting criticism from the Korean audience. This is easier said than done when even many veteran actors struggle with getting the sageuk speech right. If done incorrectly, it only highlights any acting deficiencies they may have. (By the way, who else is looking forward to seeing how Kam Woo-sung handles the sageuk speech in King Geunchogo? This is one man who can act, but whose voice is not suited for a sageuk at all. He was able to get away with it playing a street entertainer in The King and the Clown, but to do so again playing a king? Hmm, this I got to see. But I digress.)
So imagine my surprise when this young, inexperienced idol-turned-actor totally nailed the voice tone and control of a sageuk speech.
Whereas others criticized that Micky Yoochun’s expressions looked stiff and emotionless, I thought this suited the stoicism of the ideal Confucian scholar. Speaking of proprieties and customs in his textbook-perfect sageuk speech and in his serious, stoic face, Yoochun painted exactly who his Lee Sun-joon’s character was supposed to be. I was sold! And what a beautiful contrast this initial portrayal of Lee Sun-joon would be to the man he changes into after he meets Kim Yoon-hee. It wasn’t some grand emotional break down scene, but in small moments when Lee Sun-joon’s inner thoughts seeped through and his perfect façade broken, whether in a small eye-roll or a gentle smile, that made me scream in delight, “Yes, he GETS it!”
I disagree that he was out acted by Joong Ki and Yoo Ah in Lee Sun Joon was not an easy character to pull offI’d say he was on par wit yoo ah in but i felt that Joong Ki overracted his role i loved his as sejong though

“ both became actors once they FINISHED their idol careers and took it as a career change and not another way to get popularity.”
^ i dont see how this is relevant since their residual popularity from idol-dom did help them get the roles

Her experience is similar to mine
I wasnt a fan of yoochun before Sungkyunkwan scandal and kpop didnt exist to me
I’ve been watching dramas almost 5 years and i think he deserved his best newbie awards

Liz23

I agree that the concept of Hello Baby is troubling in a way. It minimizes the difficulty of actually raising a child, like children are just some cute play things. Also I’m kind of worried about the filming conditions. Usually underage idols film for long periods of time, and they don’t really have regulations for young idols, so how does this effect the children that are even younger that star in this show? Hopefully there’s a set limit for them, like they can only film until 8pm. Also if no one calls out the bratty kid on his behavior,it reinforces his behavior. Hopefully his parents will do something about it, or he was just encouraged to act like that by the PDs, because if that’s how he actually behaves, he will grow up to think that it’s ok to be a spoiled brat.
The biracial promotion is also troubling. They could’ve mentioned it in passing during the show instead of creating whole profiles for them and promoting it before the show. I think rather than highlighting their Vietnamese and French backgrounds,like you said, they will most likely use it to reinforce their image as a globalized country rather than taking an active interest in other backgrounds. Although interestingy enough multiculturalism has also become a trend in Korean movies, and it is addressed as a serious issue: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/01/13/2012011300607.html
Although I’m not sure if there are any korean movies dealing with being biracial in Korea.

Liz23

Sorry, my mistake. One of the movies listed in the article has a biracial character.
http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

Dw Joon has already managed to make on of the kids cry by telling him off for bad behaviour lol
Also the whole race concept doesn’t seem to be as bad as everybody is thinking, the concept is more to teach the kids Korean etiquette etc, in the next episode they’re all going to be dressing up for new year etc, so it a nicer concept than just ‘lets show how these kids are only half korean’.

Anonymous

There’s a difference between acting in a musical and a drama.
I think Junsu knows he can’t act as well in dramas, or movie, as Jaejoong or Yoochun.
With musicals, the actors on stage feeds off from the reactions and energies of the audience and atmosphere, similar to how an artist or idol is on stage. Therefore, when it comes to musicals, Junsu can act better because he has that instant feedback from people watching him; it’s also evident in his past performances in concerts, where charisma is oozing from his pores.

I admit that Jaejoong and Yoochun aren’t the best actors but they are starting out and at least they’re trying; it’s only been 2 years, even drama students study longer in school. However, Jaejoong and Yoochun are gradually getting better and developing their skill. Measure from the Banjun dramas, to ‘Vacation’; then from ‘Heaven Postman’ to ‘Sunao’ to ‘Protect the Boss’ for Jaejoong and from ‘Beautiful Love’ to ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ to ‘Miss Ripley’ for Yoochun.
Yes, some of their star power is used in gaining high ratings when airing–it’s obvious that idol dramas are paid more attention to but the entertainment industry is a fickle place of business so inequality is always going to exist; like any other working sphere. Unfair to actual actors that are getting parts stole from them? I guess, but what you don’t realize is the entertainment industry is one of the most cut-throat industries to be in; a person works harder than they should and definitely more that someone who has a 40-hour work-week.
Think of it this way: maybe an idol star (not saying it WILL BE someone from JYJ) could someday have a career like Justin Timberlake or Andy Lau–who went from being an idol to a respectable actor. Why wouldn’t the chances of that happening to in South Korea like it can in America or Hong Kong?

Yunho and Changmin haven’t had much training or time to put effort into their acting like JYJ; they’re busier traveling between multiple countries, singing and performing. They’re like how Jaejoong was during Mirotic era in late 2008: focused on their music career and having acting in a role as a side-job that they’re aren’t putting 100% in. Which kind of leads to why is seem Yunho and Changmin aren’t good actors; they could be but they don’t seem to be taking acting classes like Jaejoong and Yoochun have. They aren’t getting advice from their sunbaes/seniors to help improve. I see it as to why Yunho and Changmin were overacting in “Heading to the Ground” and “Paradise Ranch”.
I’m not saying HoMin are behind JYJ but that their career is more consist of singing than acting, while JYJ on the other hand are balancing both singing and acting; for different reasons.

http://twitter.com/rabeckham27 rabeckham

really love your explaination on Yunho and Changmin, agree cent percent!

Anonymous

Thank you! I’ve noticed you writing comments in other articles that talk about DBSK/JYJ/HoMin too!

http://twitter.com/Chewywonbin Honey

Also, you can’t train a dog to talk…..it’s just not going to happen. Sometimes, you have it and sometimes you don’t. People can’t handle the truth sometimes & instead chose to believe they could accomplish anything. Wouldn’t this world be great if those people would just leave it to the professional?
http://twitter.com/PheonixiaJJ Echo

During Heading to the Ground Yunho didn’t have any singing promotions.
Similarly, Changmin filmed his drama long before he had any singing promotions. It was just put on air much later.
Also, while Yoochun was filming SKKS he was ALSO promoting around the world through concerts and often had to fly back to film scenes.

Anonymous

Hi! I think I recognize you from jyj3.net ^^ (You may see me around as rilanna)

I’m not vouching for HoMin completely, I’m just saying maybe they should be given some lax.
I respect and like how JYJ have managed to have their careers expand into wider and farther into other entertainment regions. And I have to say that, as of mid-2011, I’ve enjoyed following JYJ’s activities more than even HoMin’s at all, outside of music.

–

Let me clarify (and if I miss anything, it’s because I wrote my previous comment a week ago):

I remember about what was about on in 2009. But what you have to realize is that SM is more focus in the music aspects of those under their labels (of course, excluding a few actresses like Go Ara and Lee Yeonhee). Also especially since HoMin who are a part of their #1 money-making group. I’m just assuming from what I’ve seen is that one of the reasons HoMin aren’t up-to-par with JaeChun’s actings is probably because they didn’t get appropriate full acting lessons. But maybe I’m giving HoMin the benefit of the doubt here since I didn’t watch HTTG or PR passed the first ep.

Yes, I know Yoochun was busy doing SKKS during the first and Asian leg of The Beginning showcases; he was filming in between performances. It’s also why he collapsed from exhaustion, not once but twice. However, the two weeks Yoochun was in the US for the The Beginning Showcases, he didn’t fly back to Korea to film for SKKS (I would know because I was following twitter more during that period, counting down in wait to see JYJ in LA). The only time Yoochun ever flew to Korea from the US, in between concert performances, was back in late May (26 or 28?,) 2011, after the New Jersey and before the LA concert. (And as YC-biased I am, I’m not going to exaggerate my belief that he flew AROUND the world–just bodies of water since Shanghai, Taipei, Malaysia, and other Asian countries are only a few time zones apart, unlike the 16-hr flight to Korea to LA–to often have to fly back to film scenes. Each JYJ members know how to manage their schedule to give themselves about enough rest to not burn out [I'm not questioning if Junsu can handle going to South America in between his Elisabeth performances; I know he can, I even had predicted they would do it early March because I saw the gap in teh Elisabeth casting schedule])

I may be biased toward JYJ sometimes but I don’t look at things only from one standpoint, especially when it comes to DB5K and I’ve loved them since before the split and all back to 2007.
I try to consider different things going on behind the scenes.

http://twitter.com/rabeckham27 rabeckham

*sigh* i wonder why majority of the articles on this site are DBSK/JYJ/Homin based? i mean there are tons of other bands and idols out there yet you just cannot get enough of Jaejoong Junsu Yoochun Changmin Yunho… Cassies dont love you for it and im sure fans of other groups dont love you for ignoring other groups either…

coming to the discussion itself, it is no secret why idols get casted in dramas, its to make a drama with a not-so-groundbreaking story and budget into a big hit nevertheless! anybody can guess that! and its not just in Korea, world over famous figures make cameo appearances in soaps or serials to lift its sinking ratings!
As for criticizing Yoochun for continuing to act, to the point of condemning it i dont think Yoochun is half as bad as the other idols who have ventured into acting or continued to do so, you pointed out KHJ let me point out Yonghwa (CNBlue), the cast of Dream High (Suzy, Taecyeon).. also you forgot to point out some idols who have given very decent performances: UEE, Eric!
Dream High 2 is starting in a while, i hope you will comment on the acting of actors in that drama with just as much passion!

Now for musicals, as you know the musical industry is not as popular neither as glamorous as the drama industry agreed? i think i idols such as Junsu decide to opt for musicals, they are actually doing a favor to that industry by bringing it some recognition so that later on people who are actually trained in musical field can have more opportunities! as or Junsu’s musical skills he might not be better than everyone in that industry but the fact that he has stuck to that and has been improving is not hidden from the people who actually bothered watching his Mozart DVD or clips from Tears of Heaven.. if he was a hopeless case im sure that the director Sylvester Levay would not have picked him up for his 2nd musical.. besides that Junsu has gathered praise from many actors of the Musical industry itself aswell…

honestly i had had so much of your DBSK based talk that i didnt bother listening after 17 min…
http://twitter.com/Chewywonbin Honey

I totaling understand where U girls are come from. I mean it’s hard enough already being a stable actor even w/out idols interfering.

But let’s not carry away w/ this whole argument of idols getting the easy route onto acting, because at the end of the day “IT’S ALL ABOUT PAYING THE BILLS.” If you truly believe that actors need more love, then you need to support them (this goes out to everyone who feels the same way you do). Obviously we’re not in the industry so we don’t know how hard it is to find investor /broadcaster. Idols just happen to have a huge support system & they’re a safer route. Argue all you want, but if you were the producer, you would do the exact same thing & offer a role to an idol as well, because to to find trust in a new actor is such an uncertain road ( it could go in any direction).
kc

this is slightly off topic, but when you two were mentioning how Koreans wanted to be more “white”, I couldn’t help thinking about all of the American female stereotypes they have in Korea… cause I mean, if you think about it, there are only really two images in Korea and really all of Asia…

as in, there is the stereotypical stupid foreigner

or the slut…

I mean look at all of the music videos depicting foreign girls as being dirty, as being so easy, as in sleeping with all of the band members easy… it sorta gets me thinking, do they really think all American girls are like this? that all WHITE girls are like that?
felicia elasih

the way disney ‘cultivates’ their stars.. it’s basically the same system as the korean entertainment system. People audition, they get casted for their particular talent, but get trained in all different sorts of areas as well, and then debut as whatever they auditioned as but then also branching out to different parts of entertaining. Try to get as much money as you can with what you have, yknow?

I think being a musical actor/actress would require you to actually be able to perform live with minimal audio editing. Though I guess it’s true that dramas can do that too.. But yes i do agree with like… the people that are actually supposed to be in say, musicals, and are amazing at it but is overshadowed by some famous idols that are just good.

Really? I thought when DBSK was with that girl in Chocolate was really sweet. Idk.. maybe just the fatherly-ness coming out of Yunho and Yoochun, brotherly ness of Junsu and motherly-ness of Jaejoong, and the awkwardness of Changmin.

Oh gosh. shinee’s hello baby was hell. I wanted to slap the kid so many times :P

Hello Baby… I think it’s just the prospect of seeing your idol in a tv series.. over a few episodes doing cute things on tv or just basically being on tv. and it might not be necessarily scripted and it’s just fun to look at. But I agree with it exploiting the kids that are on the show. and the idol
Guest

ya kiddin me? if anyone (an idol), its yoochun who deserves more dramas. after SKKS, there’s A LOT of ahjumma fans who never even bothered about idols before, turned into chun’s fans. and unlike other idols, he received praisings from critiques because of his sageuk acting. from the eye expression etc etc. and as for junsu…need i say more? Mr Sylvester Levay friggin composed a song specially for him and chose to work with him TWICE. the mozart concert centered around him although we know for every musicals, there’s different people playing the same lead role. thats how important junsu is. these two people had broken the idol prejudice by going all out in the field outside music.
appleApple

Hmmm. In the preview for the 2nd ep of MBLAQ’s Hello Baby, Joon already made the boy Leo cried because he scolded him for misbehaving. I don’t know, but their season really seems worth the watch.
Celebrating whiteness? Idk about that…CN Blue – I’m a LonerCho Kyuhyun – 7 Years of Love2AM – I Did WrongSuper Junior – Monster
http://twitter.com/amyjean92 Amy Jean

I just watched the second episode of Hello Baby with MBLAQ and I finally see your concerns about multiculturalism in this show. I’m already really uncomfortable seeing the unequal attention between the two girls, Lauren (half Canadian) and Dayoung (half Vietnamese). Lauren, being who she is, with long brown hair, a small face, etc. compared to Dayoung with short, jet black hair, a larger face, etc. is already labeled the “preferred” child in my eyes. When MBLAQ were talking about the children’s problematic areas, they said Leo was an aggressive child and Dayoung is really shy, but they said Lauren is just pretty. I get the fact that Dayoung has yet to really open up with them compared to Lauren, who seems to be the perfect angel who does everything her appas say, but I don’t think it’s fair. It seems that they’re already pitting these young girls against each other, and I’m starting to believe that Dayoung is aware that a lot of the attention does go to Lauren. I wonder how Dayoung will think ten years from now. Will she think that her “appas” liked Lauren better because she was half-white, and therefore she is inferior? Then again, this is a “reality show” so it might have been edited to make us believe such. Still, I’m concerned about the impact that this will have on them in the long run.