SBS’s You’re Beautiful is putting up a good fight against the blockbuster in the same time period, IRIS.

You’re Beautiful got off to a start on October 7 with a 9.2% rating (ABG Nielsen Media). However, when KBS’s IRIS premiered on the 14th, its numbers dropped to 7.5%. Considering IRIS’s hype and that its first episode rating was over 20%, this could have been predicted. As IRIS looks toward the 30% ratings mark, one suspected that You’re Beautiful would face falling ratings.

But a strange phenomenon occurred. Even with IRIS’s swift onslaught, You’re Beautiful’s ratings steadily grew. Its episode on October 29 rose to a 9% as it faced off against IRIS, which had received a top rating of 27.7%. Where did You’re Beautiful’s latent force come from?

You’re Beautiful’s secret for maintaining a safe level of popularity can be found in its solid mania viewership. As befits a drama about the growth of an idol group, the drama has plenty of appeal through casting young stars like Jang Geun-seok and Lee Hong-ki, as well as fresh faces like Jung Yong-hwa. From the makeup of the cast, mania status was understandable.

Park Shin-hye also attracted notice for her crossdressing role. As members of the fictional band A.N.JELL who sing the songs themselves, they are creating their own fandom phenomenon that resembles a real idol group. As such, it created a passionate viewer fanbase that was heavily populated by teenagers and young twentysomething women.

Also helping is the way that even with the drama’s strong sensibilities, it also has a solid structure. Writers Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran of Fantasy Couple, My Girl and other dramas have captured the new generation with their characteristic lighthearted style. On top of that, PD Hong Sung-chang directs with a witty touch. They were able to charm the young generation with trendy-drama features that haven’t been seen much in Korean dramas for a while.

In the early part of the broadcast, these parts were also detriments. Viewers weren’t able to easily adapt to the artistic style and editing, which recalled Japanese dramas. At the time, one rep from the production of You’re Beautiful said, “Until Episode 2 aired, there were a lot of viewers who felt that the drama’s style was awkward. However, after Episode 3 when the story settled in, those concerns were alleviated.”

One can easily see the fandom phenomenon for the drama when looking online at the forums. From the afternoon of the drama’s first broadcast, viewers posted messages in anticipation. Comments like “Today is a happy Wednesday, I can meet Jeremy [Lee Hong-ki]” and “Finally I can see Shin-woo [Jung Yong-hwa]” flooded the board. One poster who watched IRIS but transferred her interest to You’re Beautiful was met with a rash of welcome messages.

Discussion arose online regarding what fans could do to raise the ratings. After every episode airs, there’s a clear comparison between the online forum’s debate about the story development and IRIS’s forums. Seeing them in action, they seem less like earnest drama fans and more like the fan club of a real idol group. Ultimately, the fandom of You’re Beautiful doesn’t convey the feeling of merely “watching” the show, but can be understood better with the word “enthusing.”

The recent rise in the ratings corresponds to the drama’s melodramatic storyline coming into full swing. Chief producer Jo Nam-kook expressed his confidence: “Our drama has fierce support among female teenage students. Thanks to them, we’re better off than I’d feared and continuing to fight. If I could get my wish, I’d like to raise the ratings to about 13%, but in order to achieve that, we’ll need the support of thirtysomething women viewers, too. With the recent introduction of the melodramatic line, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable wish.”

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Cr: dramabeans
repost : adel@ftisland_indoensia

*oke, mungkin article ini lebih ke jang geun seuk nya..
tapi aku mau ngasih info aja, soal nya serial ini kan juga serial nya hongki..
pengen kasih info, gimana kemajuan serial nya hongki ^^

Fan support has been ardent, to say the least, for the SBS drama You’re Beautiful and its young cast. The drama’s lead, Jang Geun-seok, had expressed feeling disappointment that the ratings remain lower than hoped for and that he’d felt responsible as the main cast member. In reaction, fans to jump into action to show their love of the drama.

As you may know by now, he’d written a message to that effect on the drama’s homepage last week, saying, “I wonder whether the reason for the ratings being lower than we thought may be because I’m not portraying the Hwang Tae-kyung character as fully as I could be. If not, maybe the drama isn’t receiving more love because of me as Jang Geun-seok.”

After learning this, Jang Geun-seok’s fan club mobilized both on- and offline in full force to show their overwhelming support. His fan club forum is overrun with supportive messages. Fans also got together and delivered the cast and crew a buffet meal on their film set, which served 100 people. (The photos above and below are from that buffet lunch on October 30.) They’ve also sent presents like vitamins and letters rooting on the production.

Jang expressed his gratitude, saying that he was cheered by all the support by fans who are “like eels who give me energy.” (Eels are relatively expensive and eaten with the belief that they give added energy and stamina.) He added, “I’ll do my best through the end with a grateful heart.” His co-stars Park Shin-hye, Lee Hong-ki, and Jung Yong-hwa said, “Thank you for loving our Geun-seok hyung.”

Meanwhile, on November 2, Lee Hong-ki wrote his own message which he posted on the drama’s website, asking for fans’ continued support. His message read, “Our You’re Beautiful team filmed on the weekend from morning till night. We began filming in September, and already two months have passed and the drama is half over. I feel the difficulty of the actors and staff as we see the drama air scenes we had shot the day before. Even with the tough schedule, as I see the staff who are always smiling and our truly praiseworthy lead actors Jang Geun-seok hyung, Shin-hye, and Yong-hwa, I feel really secure, and coming to the set is a lot of fun.”

He added, “After I finish shooting the drama as Jeremy, I will return to FT Island as Hong-ki, and I’m busy preparing for our concert on the 14th and 15th. I’m working hard on the drama too. Everyone, please give a lot of support to You’re Beautiful through the end.”

The drama has confirmed that it will end on the 26th with Episode 16. Note that this is NOT a cut-down of episodes, and I think the number is probably appropriate for this story. The production had left the door open in the beginning to extend the episodes to 20, but that was always going to be an option only if the drama proved to be a ratings hit.

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source: AF
repost : adel@ftisland_indonesia

You’re Beautiful’s Passionate Cult Following

Why You’re Beautiful isn’t crumbling against IRIS

SBS’s You’re Beautiful is putting up a good fight against the blockbuster in the same time period, IRIS.

You’re Beautiful got off to a start on October 7 with a 9.2% rating (ABG Nielsen Media). However, when KBS’s IRIS premiered on the 14th, its numbers dropped to 7.5%. Considering IRIS’s hype and that its first episode rating was over 20%, this could have been predicted. As IRIS looks toward the 30% ratings mark, one suspected that You’re Beautiful would face falling ratings.

But a strange phenomenon occurred. Even with IRIS’s swift onslaught, You’re Beautiful’s ratings steadily grew. Its episode on October 29 rose to a 9% as it faced off against IRIS, which had received a top rating of 27.7%. Where did You’re Beautiful’s latent force come from?

Maintaining popularity with mania viewers (i.e., a cult following)

You’re Beautiful’s secret for maintaining a safe level of popularity can be found in its solid mania viewership. As befits a drama about the growth of an idol group, the drama has plenty of appeal through casting young stars like Jang Geun-seok and Lee Hong-ki, as well as fresh faces like Jung Yong-hwa. From the makeup of the cast, mania status was understandable.

Park Shin-hye also attracted notice for her crossdressing role. As members of the fictional band A.N.JELL who sing the songs themselves, they are creating their own fandom phenomenon that resembles a real idol group. As such, it created a passionate viewer fanbase that was heavily populated by teenagers and young twentysomething women.

Also helping is the way that even with the drama’s strong sensibilities, it also has a solid structure. Writers Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran of Fantasy Couple, My Girl and other dramas have captured the new generation with their characteristic lighthearted style. On top of that, PD Hong Sung-chang directs with a witty touch. They were able to charm the young generation with trendy-drama features that haven’t been seen much in Korean dramas for a while.

In the early part of the broadcast, these parts were also detriments. Viewers weren’t able to easily adapt to the artistic style and editing, which recalled Japanese dramas. At the time, one rep from the production of You’re Beautiful said, “Until Episode 2 aired, there were a lot of viewers who felt that the drama’s style was awkward. However, after Episode 3 when the story settled in, those concerns were alleviated.”

Fandom phenomenon on the online forums

One can easily see the fandom phenomenon for the drama when looking online at the forums. From the afternoon of the drama’s first broadcast, viewers posted messages in anticipation. Comments like “Today is a happy Wednesday, I can meet Jeremy [Lee Hong-ki]” and “Finally I can see Shin-woo [Jung Yong-hwa]” flooded the board. One poster who watched IRIS but transferred her interest to You’re Beautiful was met with a rash of welcome messages.

Discussion arose online regarding what fans could do to raise the ratings. After every episode airs, there’s a clear comparison between the online forum’s debate about the story development and IRIS’s forums. Seeing them in action, they seem less like earnest drama fans and more like the fan club of a real idol group. Ultimately, the fandom of You’re Beautiful doesn’t convey the feeling of merely “watching” the show, but can be understood better with the word “enthusing.”

The recent rise in the ratings corresponds to the drama’s melodramatic storyline coming into full swing. Chief producer Jo Nam-kook expressed his confidence: “Our drama has fierce support among female teenage students. Thanks to them, we’re better off than I’d feared and continuing to fight. If I could get my wish, I’d like to raise the ratings to about 13%, but in order to achieve that, we’ll need the support of thirtysomething women viewers, too. With the recent introduction of the melodramatic line, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable wish.”

Javabeans’ take:

A couple things: The article gives too much credence to the whole demographics issue, in my opinion, because I resist the whole rationale that you can market something to an entire category of people on the sole basis of a few criteria like “idols” and “young actors.” I understand the need to classify viewership into definable groups for the purpose of articles like this, in analyzing drama trends, and I’m sure the overall tendency of youngsters to prefer one type of drama over another is true. I just draw the line at overly simplistic arguments about why something appeals to a person purely based on age or gender.

Frankly, I think that You’re Beautiful’s main appeal is NOT actually its youthful subject matter or hot young stars, but the fact that it’s just well-written, period. If anything, I think that the subject of idols and pop stars may actually be turning people off the drama before giving the writing a chance. Those who recognize the drama’s strengths may skew young because those are the people who would give an idol drama a chance in the first place, but I seriously doubt that the cast or idol setting are the main reasons fans are so passionate. (I’ve read lots of comments (here and elsewhere) about why this drama is similar to stuff like Boys Before Flowers or My Fair Lady, but personally, I think this drama is nothing like those two — not in tone or humor or story. Those two had appeal despite bad writing; You’re Beautiful’s charm is enhanced by solid writing.)

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Credits: Joins + Dramabeans + primanoona
re post : resha_rin @ ft island indonesia

FT Island’s 3-member unit band FT.triple made their appearance.

FT.triple made a comeback on KBS 2TV Music Bank on 30th October, with their title song “Love Letter“.

In FT.triple, Lee Jaejin, who has been in charge of bass and vocal all along, will now be in charge of guitar and vocal. Choi Jonghoon also has new challenges in playing the piano instead of the guitar. Choi Minhwan will be playing the drums, something which cannot be left out from a band. The unit group will portray a different image of FT Island.

Lee Jaejin revealed his sturdy vocals earlier through a musical and there is a favourable comparison made between him and FT Island’s vocal Lee Hongki. This time, FT.triple is coming back with a Peter Pan-like youthful image and soulful vocals, bringing a different charm to their fans.

Their title song “Love Letter”, by hit composers, Kim Dohoon and Kim Kibum, is a song that expresses the worries and concern for an ex-lover, written in the form of a letter. With the beats from the melody, together with the realistical lyrics, it will be a touching song.

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Credits: newsen + ying1005 @ primanoona (translation)
repost : adel@ftisland_indonesia

FT.triple members, who started their unit group’s activities recently, were unable to hide their awkwardness and burden feel.

FT.triple met up with a reporter at KBS 2TV Music Bank on 30th October and said that, “We’re doing activities with only 3 members. We feel that something is lacking and we’re awkward. Without the team’s most cheerful member Lee Hongki and Song Seunghyun, we feel even much that way.”

FT.triple is a unit group formed by FT Island members Choi Jonghoon, Choi Minhwan and Lee Jaejin. Lee Hongki is currently busy with the filming of SBS Wed-Thu drama “You’re Beautiful” and Song Seunghyun is also making lots of appearance on various variety programmes.

FT.triple expressed that, “We have different parts now and our individual loads are heavier, so we feel the burden. Without having to worry for Lee Hongki and Song Seunghyun who are doing well in their own activities right now, FT.triple will work harder too.”

FT.triple is currently promoting “Love Letter“.

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Credits: spn edaily + ying1005 @ primanoona (translation)
repost : adel@ftisland_indonesia

FT Island – Primadonna
Meaning: FT Island’s first album’s song title is called ‘prima donna’.
It also means that the fans are the heroines of their life.
Official balloon colour: They don’t have a balloon, but a yellow flag.