The official nominees for the 2011 KBS Drama Awards were announced on December 9, much earlier than in previous years. I don’t see any sure-fire winner this year for the Daesang, and I predict it will be a three-way battle between three male stars.
Here are all the official nominees:
Daesang/Grand Prize: Same as the Top Excellence Award nominees below.
Top Excellence Award, Actor: Chun Jung Myung (Man of Honor), Kim Young Chul (The Princess’s Man), Lee Tae Gon (King Gwanggaeto the Great), Park Shi Hoo (The Princess’s Man), Shin Ha Kyun (Brain)
Top Excellence Award, Actress: Do Ji Won (Smile Donghae), Jang Nara (Baby-Faced Beauty), Kim Ja Ok (Ojakgyo Brothers), Moon Chae Won (The Princess’s Man), Park Min Young (Man of Honor)
Excellence Award (Miniseries), Actor: Choi Daniel (Baby-Faced Beauty), Jung Jin Young (Brain), Lee Sung Jae (Poseidon), Shin Ha Kyun (Brain), Song Il Gook (Crime Squad)
Excellence Award (Miniseries), Actress: Bae Suzy (Dream High), Choi Jung Won (Brain), Jang Nara (Baby-Faced Beauty), Lee Si Young (Poseidon), Song Ji Hyo (Crime Squad)
Excellence Award (Mid-length Series), Actor: Chun Jung Myung (Man of Honor), Joo Sang Wook (Thorn Birds), Jung Gyu Woon (Romance Town), Lee Min Woo (The Princess’s Man), Park Shi Hoo (The Princess’s Man)
Excellence Award (Mid-length Series), Actress: Han Hye Jin (Thorn Birds), Hong Soo Hyun (The Princess’s Man), Moon Chae Won (The Princess’s Man), Park Min Young (Man of Honor), Sung Yuri (Romance Town)
Excellence Award (Serial Drama), Actor: Gam Woo Sung (King Geunchogo), Lee Jae Ryong (Believe in Love), Lee Tae Gon (King Gwanggaeto the Great), Ryu Soo Young (Ojakgyo Brothers)
Excellence Award (Serial Drama), Actress: Choi Jung Yoon (Ojakgyo Brothers), Kim Ja Ok (Ojakgyo Brothers), Kim Ji Soo (King Geunchogo), Park Joo Mi (Believe in Love)
Excellence Award (Daily), Actor: Ji Chang Wook (Smile Donghae), Kang Nam Gil (The Women of Our House), Kang Suk Woo (Smile Donghae), Lee Hyo Jung (Bokhee Noona), Lee Jung Gil (Sweet Palpitations)
Excellence Award (Daily), Actress: Do Ji Won (Smile Donghae), Heo Young Ran (Sweet Palpitations), Jung Ae Ri (Only You, Smile Donghae), Lee Hye Sook (The Women of Our House), Oh Ji Eun (Smile Donghae)
One-Act Special Award, Actor: Choi Soo Jong (For the Sake of Son), Jung Jin Young (Crossing the Youngdo Bridge), Lee Hee Joon (Cupid Factory, Identical Criminals, Perfect Spy), Lee Jong Hyuk (Yeongdeok Women’s Wrestling Team), Son Hyun Joo (Perfect Spy, Special Crime Squad MSS)
One-Act Special Award, Actress: Baek Jin Hee (Hair Show), Eugene (Princess Hwapyung’s Weight Loss), Han Eun Jung (Dream of 400 Years), Hwang Soo Jung (For the Sake of Son), Yoo In Young (Perfect Spy)
Supporting Actor Award: Jo Sung Ha (Romance Town), Jung Woong In (King Geunchogo, Ojakgyo Brothers), Kim Kyu Chul (Baby-Faced Beauty, Crime Squad, King Gwanggaeto the Great), Kim Roi Ha (The Princess’s Man), Song Chang Min (Man of Honor)
Supporting Actress Award: Kim Min Seo (Baby-Faced Beauty), Lee Yoon Ji (Dream High), Min Hyo Rin (Romance Town), Moon Jung Hee (Believe in Love, Only You), Park Jung Ah (Only You, Smile Donghae)
Newcomer Award, Actor: Jay (The Women of Our House), Joo Won (Ojakgyo Brothers), Kim Soo Hyun (Dream High), Lee Jang Woo (Smile Donghae), Park Jin Young (Dream High), Song Jong Ho (The Princess’s Man)
Newcomer Award, Actress: Bae Suzy (Dream High), Han Hye Rin (Only You), Hwang Woo-seul-hye (Believe in Love), IU (Dream High), Jung Eun Chae (The Women of Our House), Uee (Ojakgyo Brothers)
Youth Actor Award: Ahn Do Gyu (Man of Honor), Noh Tae Yub (The Princess’s Man), Oh Jae Moo (Believe in Love), Park Hee Gun (Ojakgyo Brothers)
Youth Actress Award: Ahn Seo Hyun (Baby-Faced Beauty, Dream High), Jung Ji In (Bokhee Noona), Kim Hwan Hee (Believe in Love, Only You), Kim Yoo Bin (The Princess’s Man)
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Blue’s Predictions:
Daesang: Unlike last year where Jang Hyuk was a shoo-in to win, I think this year’s Daesang is for anyone to grab. Okay, not anyone, but specifically three nominees – Kim Young Chul, Lee Tae Gon, and Shin Ha Kyun. Kim Young Chul delivered a solid performance (but really, did you expect anything less from him?), but he has won Daesang before and they don’t like giving it out to repeat winners, unless it’s absolutely necessary. And for what it is, his role in The Princess’s Man wasn’t particularly noteworthy (for him) nor did he have as big of a role (i.e. screen time).
I think Lee Tae Gon has the most likelihood of winning it, despite his win still being too premature for him as an actor. But he is playing the title character of an epic scale sageuk on KBS, and unless it flops pretty badly (like King Geunchogo), he is a serious contender. He got some criticism for being miscasted earlier on in the series, but he settled into the role and from the few episodes I’ve seen of his performance, I wouldn’t be offended if he ended up winning the Grand Prize.
Shin Ha Kyun is the dark horse in this category. His performance in Brain is getting the critical acclaim (and rightfully so), but it’s unfortunate that Brain started so late in the year. With the ratings in the solid mid-teens, it’s not a runaway hit either to push his chance just over the edge. However, if between now and the end of the year, his drama’s ratings go up, I wouldn’t dismiss him from winning the Daesang.
Top Excellence, Actor: Whoever doesn’t win the Daesang will bag the Top Excellence. There just might be two winners in this category this year!
Top Excellence, Actress: I think Kim Ja Ok will win it on behalf of the Ojakgyo Brothers’ team.
Excellence Award (Miniseries), Actor: If Shin Ha Kyun doesn’t win either the Daesang or the Top Excellence, well, they’ll comfort him with the Excellence Award. If that happens, he would have been robbed! Otherwise, I think his co-star Jung Jin Young will win here.
Excellence Award (Miniseries), Actress: Jang Nara (Baby-Faced Beauty) –> This is an easy one. She’s a definite shoo-in.
Excellence Award (Mid-length Series), Actor: Park Shi Hoo (The Princess’s Man) –> Another shoo-in. And I think he deserves it. No complaints.
Excellence Award (Mid-length Series), Actress: Yikes, this is a tough one. Hong Soo Hyun (The Princess’s Man) deserves it more, but I think Moon Chae Won (The Princess’s Man) will end up winning it. Unless, they give the award to both.
Excellence Award (Serial Drama), Actor: Ryu Soo Young (Ojakgyo Brothers)
Excellence Award (Serial Drama), Actress: Park Joo Mi (Believe in Love)
Excellence Award (Daily), Actor: Ji Chang Wook (Smile Donghae)
Excellence Award (Daily), Actress: Do Ji Won (Smile Donghae) or Jung Ae Ri (Only You, Smile Donghae)
One-Act Special Award, Actor: Lee Hee Joon (Cupid Factory, Identical Criminals, Perfect Spy) –> I don’t know, but gut feeling?
One-Act Special Award, Actress: Eugene (Princess Hwapyung’s Weight Loss) –> I actually think she’s a shoo-in for this.
Supporting Actor Award: Jo Sung Ha (Romance Town) or Son Chang Min (Man of Honor)
Supporting Actress Award: Moon Jung Hee (Believe in Love, Only You) or Park Jung Ah (Only You, Smile Donghae) –> I’m really not sure.
Newcomer Award, Actor: Joo Won (Ojakgyo Brothers) –> I think he’s a shoo-in.
Newcomer Award, Actress: Uee (Ojakgyo Brothers) –> Definite shoo-in.
Youth Actor Award: Oh Jae Moo (Believe in Love)
Youth Actress Award: Ahn Seo Hyun (Baby-Faced Beauty, Dream High)
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Was I right? Was I close? We’ll find out when the 2011 KBS Drama Awards airs live at 9 PM on December 31.
Via SSTV
12 comments
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Grinchmas!
December 15, 2011 at 5:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Love your predictions! There are a lot of mentions for The Princess’s Man (love that drama) but also a lot for Ojakgyo Brothers… may have to add that to my drama watching list.
Out of curiosity, why is it that all of your Daesang contenders are male? I thought the final award was gender-neutral.
blue
December 15, 2011 at 5:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hi Grinchmas, and welcome to Electric Ground!
Keep in mind that my predictions are who I think will win, and not on who I think deserve to win. Sometimes they coincide, and other times, they do not.
Although Daesang is gender-neutral, there really wasn’t any strong female contenders this year, not only for KBS but for other networks as well. For one thing, actors from romance dramas rarely win the Daesang. It happens sometimes, but the drama must have been a smash hit and/or there weren’t any actors from other epic scale dramas to win it.
Epic scale dramas tend to have one top lead, and they are usually male. Queen Seon Deok and Daemul were the exceptions.
On that note, I’m almost 100% sure that Han Suk Kyu (Tree With Deep Roots) will win the Daesang for SBS and Cha Seung Won (Best Love) for MBC. If Best Love didn’t do so well, an actress (Yeom Jung Ah from Royal Family) would have won, but I think Cha Seung Won edged her out by just an inch.
nayong
December 15, 2011 at 9:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Totally agree with you Blue
I am so for Lee Tae Gon winning the Daesang, honestly KBS did not produce any great dramas this year.
Big fan of PSH but not theDaesang for him I’m afraid
I actually did not like Princess Man and fast forwarded most of the time when watching it. All the hype I read on almost every blog, I felt a big letdown.
Only watched it for PSH really
Why is Joo Won nominated for New Comer again when he was nominated laready last year? jeez is he still new??
Looking forward to the winners a\nnouncement.
Will you be doing a prediction for SBS and MBC too??
Hope you will
blue
December 15, 2011 at 11:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Whether an actor is “new” enough to be nominated for the newcomer award is always a fluke. It differs by the award, but generally, if you’re within 3 years of having been in a project that helped you get your name out without having won any award, you’re still eligible for the newcomer award. So Joo Won being nominated fits right around the ballpark.
I’d like to do predictions for SBS and MBC. I’m going to wait until the official nominations get released so that I could work off that list, but if not, I’ll just come up with my own predicted list. =)
diorama
December 16, 2011 at 2:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Good lord, Bae Suzy for an acting award? I did love the girl, but she was frankly flat a lot of the time. IU would be a much more well-deserved win for the Newcomer award, imo.
Hmm, I really want Kim Roi Ha to win the Supporting Actor, much as I love Jo Sung Ha, just because he was fantastic in Princess’ Man. Same for Hong Soo Hyun – objectively speaking, she was better than Moon Chae Won. We’ll see!
Hamster428
December 20, 2011 at 2:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
To see Suzy for Best Actress category while KSH is only nominated for Newcomer? Hard to take these awards seriously if the list looks like this.
blue
December 20, 2011 at 2:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
To play the devil’s advocate, there really were many more standout male actors compared to female actresses this year, and so it was much more competitive for males to even get a nomination nod.
It looks like all the female leads from KBS dramas have been nominated in one category or another, with the exception of Spy Myungwol and President. It was expected that Han Ye Seul wouldn’t be nominated with all the fiasco surrounding her, whereas President was completely snubbed. But if, say, Ha Hee Ra were to have been nominated, she would have had to be nominated under the “Excellence Award (Mid-length Series)” and not for minseries.
And no, neither Suzy nor IU will win the Newcomer Award. They’ll at best win the Popularity Award or the Best Couple Award.
soo bin
December 16, 2011 at 6:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
for me,i think it’s a race for park si hoo,kim young chul,and kim ja ok for daesang.for the male excellence it’s definitely park shi hoo.for the female excellence either of the 2 princesses although hong shoo hyun has outshone moon chae won.moon chae won was outstanding in brilliant legacy,even better than han hyo joo.lee tae gon is alright except that between si hoo and him i would choose si hoo who has sustained a restrained yet intense acting till the end.the prison scene with chae won is a classic!and also the royal lesson scenes with chae won and the “real identity scene” with shoo hyun work for si hoo.he has many shining moments in that drama.tae gon although i admit that he has grown into his role finally after just midway of the long drama!and he has had many over-acting facial expressions sorry to say.this is just my opinion.anyway what is disappointing in the list of nominees is the inclusion of suzy and IU!!no offense!i like these 2 charming girls but whoa!their acting in dream high are totally forgettable.two actors who actually have given better performance but are snubbed by the awards committee are taecyon and eunjung!well,i just wish all the nominees good luck and keep my fingers crossed for my choices.
Shoeshe
December 16, 2011 at 11:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I think moon chaewon for sure can get some award from
that one of the category and of cours mcw and psh get the best couple,their chemistry in tpm is so amazing and no one can beat them.for the early episode maybe mcw acting is leaked but after the story goes her character as seryeong is strong even she win the best character award for her acting as seryeong in 19th republic of korean cultural entertainment art award two day ago.and for daesang im not sure if shin ha kyun won that award because his drama is still new and early episode in kbs.righ now his get first place in voting for daesang but the final decision its not just from the voting only, but from the judge of kbs itself so we dont know what its the result.just wait and see .
from kuala lumpur to seoul
December 18, 2011 at 6:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I really hope that Shin Ha Kyun wins the Daesang award and Brain brings home the best drama for 2011. It is the best KBS Drama that I have ever watched. Every single episode of Brain really captured your attention without fail.
jo3773
December 21, 2011 at 7:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m rooting for Shin Ha Kyun! Brain is a great drama and Shin Ha Kyun plays his role really well– even if I couldn’t understand the words in Korean, his expressions and actuations made me feel the emotions and message he was conveying. Captivating actor…go go go SHK!
doraemon
December 29, 2011 at 11:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I agreed that Shin Ha Kyun is a good actor but in some scenes he has overacted – as someone accurately pointed out, some scenes made you felt that he was doing a stage play. He is particularly good in explosive and angry expressions but when it comes to inner emotional struggles, I felt that his co-star Jung Jin Young is overall more natural and convincing. Brain’s script has quite a number of flaws but Shin’s and Jung’s acting did help to fill those gaps. It has not even finished airing so how can one rate it as Best Drama of the Year? As of now, it is a drama with two strong actors as pillars for the weak writing.