[Behind the Scene] 2013 Paeksang Arts Awards: Red Carpet Report

The red carpet is more than a mere entrance for the nominees, presenters, and other participants of an awards ceremony. It’s where they officially compete for recognition of how trendy or physically beautiful they are and also a cruel place that so plainly exhibits a star’s popularity when out in the sun.

The same went for the 2013 Paeksang Arts Awards, the 49th year of the annual festival for TV and film professionals, which opened at the Peace Palace in Kyung-hee University of Seoul last night.

The rain was not enough to keep onlookers from catching a glimpse to their favorite stars, while the Hallyu fever invited a noticeable number of foreign visitors holding their placards for Hallyu icons such as Park Yuchun, Kim Beom and Park Shin-hye.

TenAsia stood with them to spot the unexpected, out of the ordinary, and surprising moments our dearest stars brought with them to the red carpet and of course, give our own evaluation of their performances last night.

 

 

 

Black Dress & Red Lips Everywhere

A varied version of black dresses and red colored lips ruled this year’s Paeksang Awards. Young actresses Park Shin-hye, Kim Min-hee, Park Se-young as well as middle-aged queens Kim Seong-ryeong, Cho Min-soo, Kim Hee-ae all went for the hot combination.

Hallyu princess Park Shin-hye, who scooped up her third popularity award last night, illuminated the red carpet with her gorgeous smile in a long one-shoulder black dress. She lighted up the dark piece with her refreshing charm.

Kim Min-hee and Kim Hee-ae, who each won the trophies for best actress in the film and TV category, respectively, also went for the black and red duo, but the former with the ribbon-trimmed backless dress matched with smoky make-up and the latter with a flattering mermaid-styled dress with light skin makeup.

 

 

 

Blame Your Stylist

However, it was a shame that some of our most beloved starlets failed to show how fascinating they are last night. Some went too far with their ‘actress’ title, and others chose to play it safe which made them look boring and unnoticeable on the red carpet.

Miss A’s Suzy, After School’s U-ie and A PINK’s Eunji were the three songstresses who did too much: U-ie’s long-sleeved pink dress, Suzy’s red body-tight dress and Eunji’s lace-covered dress should have all stayed locked in their closets for a possible use maybe a decade later.

In the meantime, “The Faith” and “School 2013” rising starlet Park Se-young went in the opposite direction, wearing a simple black dress with an updo, which made the 24-year-old actress look like a forty-something veteran. A little laced hat and she would have completed the look for a young widow.

 

 

 

 

Let’s Get Out Of the Black

Kim Beom’s shining white suit was the right choice for the actor who has marked a successful TV comeback with SBS series “That Winter, the Wind Blows.” He was unsuccessful at winning the prize for best new film actor with his thriller “The Gifted Hands,” but he was undoubtedly one of the most spotlighted names among male stars at last night’s event.

Comedian Kim Byung-man, the all-around chief of his celebrity tribe in SBS variety show “The Laws of the Jungle,” suited his gray jacket with check pattern. The ‘little giant’ looked more nervous than we have ever seen him and eventually, ran out onto stage to grab his trophy for best male TV personality.

We hope to see veteran actor Ahn Seong-gi’s with an out-of-the-box fashion rather than his ordinary black suit. He’s can pull off more than that from the looks of the firm body he flaunted in film “Unbowed.”

 

 

 

Girls Go Crazy

It is always the handsome young male stars that get the biggest screams on the red carpet. “Missing You” star Park Yuchun of K-pop band JYJ, “The Innocent Man” lead Song Joong-gi and “School 2013” super rookie Kim Woo-bin proved they are the hottest stars during the past year.

However, Eunji of girl group A-PINK was in for a surprise as female Japanese fans enthusiastically called out her name to catch a glimpse of the “Reply 1997” heroin.

 

 

 

Everyone Goes Crazy

The loud screams from onlookers reached its peak when the national favorite Yoo Jae-suk and Huh Gyeong-hwan took their steps on the red carpet.

Yoo Jae-suk, now one of Korean’s favorite figures in all generations, proved his popularity by winning the grand prize of the TV category last night. Huh Gyeong-hwan failed to claim the trophy for best TV personality but the rising comedy star, in his navy suit, looked satisfied enough to get to walk the carpet with his role model.

 

 

 

 

Surprising Cheering

Actors Don Lee, Oh Dal-soo and Son Hyun-joo were overjoyed after discovering their huge popularity amongst spectators.

The trainer-turned-actor Don Lee, whose Korean name is Mah Dong-seok, seemed happy to find out about his heightened popularity among the audience. This probably shows he was worthy of picking up his first-ever best supporting actor award with his terrifying suspect role in “The Neighbor.”

 

 

 

I Think I Saw Him Somewhere

There was a small fuss when a teenage actor set his foot onto the red carpet. He looked familiar but it seemed that people were having trouble saying his name. He was Seo Young-joo, who played the young Namgoong Min in “Can You Hear My Heart?” and the young Yu A-in in “Fashion King.”

The 15-year-old child actor was invited to the Paeksang Awards for the first time in his five-year career with critically acclaimed pic “Juvenile Offender,” which won him his first best actor award at the 25th Tokyo International Film Festival.

 

 

 

Heart-warming Moment

Actor Ryu Seung-ryong and child actress Kal So-won, the on-screen father and daughter in box office megahit “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” showed off their perfect harmony on the red carpet.

Both in black, the twosome gave an adorable performance of Kal polishing Ryu’s shoe. It might have been the luck the 6-year-old starlet’s kiss on Ryu’s cheek that brought him the award for best actor in film.

 

 

 

Good Job, Paeksang

Only female bodyguards took care of escorting the stars, which was probably the right choice give how an increasing number of starlets go for revealing dresses these days. The red carpet event and the awards ceremony moved forward smoothly, enabling the live broadcast to wrap up exactly on time.

Ugly Scene

It’s not hard to spot scalpers at big-scale K-pop concert or star-studded award ceremonies these days. But it was sad to see their territorial war last night amidst the presence of foreign Hallyu fans. One scalper even got into a physical fight with an official with Paeksang, which ended after a bodyguard was called. It may be a single ugly incident stemming from the fast growing Hallyu, but it sure is a bitter harvest.

Reporter. Lee Hye Ji hjlee@tenasia.co.kr
Photographer. Lee Jin Hyuk eleven@tenasia.co.kr
Editor. Jessica Kim

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