Finally! A New Lee Seung Gi Concert DVD

Lee Seung Gi has a special place in my little fangirl heart.

I don’t have the patience/endurance to follow many drama serials or TV programs, but the first Korean TV show that saw me turning in week after week for years is ‘1 Night 2 Days‘ (1N2D), and who doesn’t fall in love with Lee Seung Gi, the resident ‘young, caring, boyishly good-looking’ member of the cast?

I think many of his fans have formed their own opinions about the management company he’s with, Hook Entertainment. Late last year, his ‘Hope Concert‘ 2010 ‘Live’ Concert DVD was released, first in Japan, then in Korea, though international orders via external sellers were only available earlier this year. Reading fanblogs, I sensed many weren’t too pleased with the triple threat’s management team releasing a 2010 concert more than a year later.

Personally, I think it’s a calculated step with his management’s plans for him to break further into the Japanese market. The 2010 year-end concert footage hence gave them time to plan, edit, film extra bits and market as he begins his Japanese releases.

I think it’s also a result of over-stretching his scheduled activities. He may have started out as a singer, got popular as a TV host and later ventured into acting. It happened rather quickly and everyone wanted/wants a piece of Lee Seung Gi. How feasibly thin can you spread a white hot star out without the public getting sick of seeing him and without the centerpiece breaking down? Perhaps it’s wise on their part to focus on a set of activities at a time.

In a way, it’s rather poignant that this concert DVD was released around the time when his appearances on 1N2D were coming to an end.

The two things may seem unrelated other than his performance of “여행을 떠나요” (often translated as ‘Let’s Go on a Vacation!’, which more or less became ‘1N2D’s theme song), yet I do wonder how Lee Seung Gi might stack up without the consistently #1 entertainment TV program.

Without it, would we, the general viewing public, have grown to love this slightly bumbling, sometimes overconfident (especially with directions and his ‘scientific’ cooking methods! *facepalm*) ballad singer as much? Would he be the ‘CF King‘ he is today and be honoured as the ‘Nation’s Son-in-Law‘? Whatever may be made of the Internet and mobile media surpassing traditional media, TV remains a vital medium to endear good-looking young celebs to eyes and hearts everywhere.

How else are mothers and grandmothers going to learn of new young celebs to envisage as their son or son-in-law?

Cast of 2nd Season of ‘1N2D’?

More rumours of the new cast for the upcoming second season of variety show ‘1 Night 2 Days’, or affectionately ‘1N2D’. Although at the rate this is going, I think I’ll just have to find out by turning on the telly come March to see who’s onscreen.

(Top row, left to right: Lee Sugeun, Uhm Tae Woong, Kim Jongmin;
Bottom row, left to right: Kim Seung Woo, Sung Si Kyung, Joo Won)

I’m a HUGE fan of this show for some years, so I’ve been monitoring updates with bated breath. It seems the only consistent point, which most viewers would’ve known for some time now, was that it wasn’t likely Lee Seung-gi was going to stay on for season 2. Heck, mega Hallyu star has a Hong Sisters drama lined up! And perhaps, some military service on the horizon?

(And there can only be so many unglam shots of mega Hallyu star waking up all drowsy and unwashed, his budding bromance with Jongmin, or failing to score some dinner while playing games that only the evil genius that is Na PD-nim can conjure up.) I kid, I kid; I kid because I love.

It seems like the above six names have been thrown around for some time and, come March, could be the faces we see. I like the mix of familiar and new members, and I’m guessing just like the old pairing of Kang Hodong and Lee Sugeun were the main hosting anchors, and now Sugeun with Seung-gi, Sugeun and Seung Woo might be the second season’s main hosting pair. I’m a fan of Sugeun’s comedic antics on the show and of Seung Woo’s acting, so I’m pretty psyched for this oddball fatherly pairing!

Joo Won’s inclusion seems to be a calculated attempt to replace Seung-gi’s position as the ‘young cute thing’, but the new inclusion I’m anticipating the most is the Prince of Ballads, aka Sung Si Kyung!

I found myself enjoying his stint as guest MC on the latest viewers’ tour episodes. He was outgoing and mingled well from the get-go, and had a biting sense of humour that didn’t spare even PD Na. Also, imagine him towering over everyone else, that visual itself will be the source of many jokes to follow…

Source: Nate Entertainment News
Picture credit: as tagged