The 2010 FIFA World Cup had Paul the Octopus. (May he rest in peace). Well, there’s no need to be jealous because Korean drama fans have Blue… umm, the Human… ready to predict the winners of the upcoming 2011 MBC Drama Awards and 2011 SBS Drama Awards. (For the predicted winners of the KBS Drama Awards, go here.)
And I will one up the octopus by selecting the winners even before the official nominees are made public! Of course, this is personally not my preference, but after checking the news daily to see whether the nominees have been announced, I finally gave up on the wait, especially with the MBC Awards to be held tomorrow and the SBS Awards the day after.
But first, some changes.
Although all three networks’ awards are often translated as Drama Awards both on this blog and many others, in fact, the actual Korean titles for them have always been Acting Awards (연기대상). Which makes sense since the awards are given out to the actors and actresses. Well, that is, until now. MBC has announced a name change and its awards ceremony will no longer be called MBC Acting Awards. Starting this year, it will be officially called MBC Drama Awards.
What does this mean? In the past, the Daesang (also known as the Grand Prize) was awarded to an individual actor. That will no longer be the case. Instead, the Daesang will be awarded to any one of the MBC dramas that aired during the calendar year. (Sorry, Mr. Cha Seung Won!) All other awards, including the Excellence Awards and the Newcomer Awards, will be given to the individual actors and actresses. (Source: Star News)
Okay, now with that out of the way, here are my predictions. (Remember, these are only my guesses… although I must say, I think they’re pretty good!)
MBC Drama Awards
MBC has a history of having multiple winners. I’m going to assume that won’t change this year.
Daesang/Grand Prize: Hmm, not too different from last year, MBC did not have a very successful 2011. I think the serious contenders for the Daesang will be Best Love, Can You Hear My Heart, Indomitable Daughters-in-Law, Royal Family, and Twinkle Twinkle. And, I predict that Best Love will take the Grand Prize.
Top Excellence Award, Actor: Cha Seung Won (Best Love) – Until MBC changed its system this year, Cha Seung Won was the indisputable favorite to win the Daesang. Mr. Cha must probably feel some bitterness (and rightfully so, because he’s been robbed), and for that, I think he should be the sole winner of the Top Excellence Award. If MBC decides to have a second winner, though, it will be Kim Suk Hoon (Twinkle Twinkle).
Top Excellence Award, Actress: I’m so positive about this it’s not even funny. Yeom Jung Ah (Royal Family) and Kim Hyun Joo (Twinkle Twinkle) will both win. Mark my words!
Newcomer Award, Actor: Park Yoon Jae (Indomitable Daughters-in-Law) – Thanks to the pretty high TV ratings of his drama, I’m pretty sure he’s locked to get this award. If there’s a second winner, it will be Micky Yoochun (Miss Ripley).
Newcomer Award, Actress: Hmm, who are the relatively newish actresses this year? Maybe Yoo In Na (Best Love) and Hwang Jung Eum (Can You Hear My Heart).
Child Actor Award: Yang Han Yeol (Best Love) and Kim Yoo Bin (Hooray for Love)
Popularity Award: Cha Seung Won (Best Love) and Gong Hyo Jin (Best Love)
Best Couple Award: Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin (Best Love)
Okay, here are the remaining categories:
Excellence Awards
Golden Acting Award (Veteran Actor)
Golden Acting Award (Supporting Role)
Golden Acting Award (Serial Drama)
PD Award
I’m not sure how MBC will decide to distribute the awards, but here are my other predicted winners:
Lee Yuri (Twinkle Twinkle)
Go Doo Shim (Twinkle Twinkle)
Shin Ae Ra (Indomitable Daughters-in-Law)
Kim Young Ae (Royal Family)
Hwang Jung Eum (Can You Hear My Heart)
Kim Jae Won (Can You Hear My Heart)
Yoon Kye Sang (Best Love)
SBS Drama Awards
Unlike MBC, SBS had a very successful year. SBS has a tendency to come up with many categories in order to max out its awards to as many people as possible. But even for the “ever-so-generous” SBS, this year will be particularly tough.
Daesang/Grand Prize: Han Suk Kyu (Tree With Deep Roots)
Top Excellence Awards:
- Drama Special, Actor: Park Shin Yang (Sign) & Jang Hyuk (Tree With Deep Roots)
- Drama Special, Actress: Lee Yo Won (49 Days)
- Special Production, Actor: Kim Rae Won (Thousand Day Promise)
- Special Production, Actress: Soo Ae (Thousand Day Promise)
- Weekend/Daily Drama, Actor: Lee Dong Wook (Scent of a Woman)
- Weekend/Daily Drama, Actress: Kim Sun Ah (Scent of a Woman)
Excellence Awards:
- Drama Special, Actor: Lee Min Ho (City Hunter)… and maybe Ji Sung (Protect the Boss). But SBS may opt to give either one of them the Producers Award instead.
- Drama Special, Actress: Choi Kang Hee (Protect the Boss)
- Special Production, Actor: Choi Min Soo and/or Jeon Gwang Ryul (Warrior Baek Dong-soo)
- Special Production, Actress: Kim Hee Ae and/or Lee Min Jung (Midas)
- Weekend/Daily Drama, Actor: Some cast member from Live in Style… either Son Hyun Joo or Oh Dae Gyu
- Weekend/Daily Drama, Actress: Lee So Yeon (My Love By My Side)
Supporting Roles:
- Drama Special, Supporting Actor: Yoon Je Moon (Tree With Deep Roots)
- Drama Special, Supporting Actress: Hmm, not many serious contenders here. Maybe Eom Ji Won (Sign)?
- Special Production, Supporting Actor: Choi Min Soo and/or Jeon Gwang Ryul (Warrior Baek Dong-soo). But if they win the Excellence Award instead (above), then my vote goes to Kim Min Jong for his role in Athena: Goddess of War.
- Special Production, Supporting Actress: Lee Mi Sook (Thousand Day Promise)
- Weekend/Daily Drama, Supporting Actor: ?
- Weekend/Daily Drama, Supporting Actress: Lee Hwi Hyang (My Love By My Side)
Netizen Popularity Award: Lee Min Ho (City Hunter) & Soo Ae (Thousand Day Promise)
Best Couple: Lee Min Ho & Park Min Young (City Hunter), Lee Dong Wook & Kim Sun Ah (Scent of a Woman)
Producers Award: Between Lee Min Ho and Ji Sung, whoever didn’t win the Excellence Award (above). Less likely, but possibly Jo Hyun Jae (49 Days). Kim Ah Joong (Sign) will likely bag it in the actress category.
Top 10 Stars: Lee Yo Won (49 Days), Lee Min Ho (City Hunter), Kim Sun Ah (Scent of a Woman), Lee Dong Wook (Scent of a Woman), Park Shin Yang (Sign), Kim Rae Won (Thousand Day Promise), Soo Ae (Thousand Day Promise), Han Suk Kyu (Tree With Deep Roots), Jang Hyuk (Midas/Tree With Deep Roots) + one more (possibly Choi Kang Hee)
New Star Awards: Han Hye Rin (New Gisaeng Story), Im Soo Hyang (New Gisaeng Story), Jaejoong (Protect the Boss), Ji Chang Wook (Warrior Baek Dong-soo), Lee Jae Yoon (My Love By My Side), Shin Se Kyung (Tree With Deep Roots), Sung Hoon (New Gisaeng Story), Yoo Seung Ho (Warrior Baek Dong-soo)
Final Thoughts
Do you agree? Disagree?
These awards shows are often criticized for merely being a popularity contest. One thing is for sure. They’re definitely not based on acting talents alone. But honestly, if they were, the same people would win the awards year after year. Is there any doubt that the older veteran actors like Go Doo Shim, Kim Hae Sook, and Kim Young Ae would crush their younger peers, even those who are often lauded for being pretty decent actors?
There are definitely those who may “deserve” the awards more, but are constantly snubbed because of lack of star power or lower drama ratings. An actor needs some combination of all three (at least some degree of acting displayed… enough not to be too criticized, certain degree of star power, and decently successful drama) to bag the Daesang. Ideally, the winner would have all three qualities, whether or not the drama itself was critically acclaimed. It’s easier said than done.
But if the winners get played out as I predict, I must say this wouldn’t be a bad awards year at all.
The MBC Drama Awards will be held on Friday, December 30 at 9:55 P.M., hosted by Jung Joon Ho (Queen of Reversals) and Lee Honey (Indomitable Daughters-in-Law). The SBS Drama Awards will be held the day after on New Year’s Eve, hosted by Protect the Boss’s two leads, Ji Sung and Choi Kang Hee.
16 comments
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muchadoboutlove
December 29, 2011 at 5:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
reading this made me realize that I’m being devoted to SBS this year…and I agree with most of your predictions, blue. I’m hoping they’ll open up more places for receivers of best couple because I think Ji Sung and Choi Kang Hee did well in PTB. can’t wait to see them MC-ing the award..and looking forward to who will get the awards!
Nayong
December 30, 2011 at 1:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hi Blue, been waiting for this:)
Well I do agree you are as good as Paul the octopus, hehhe
One thing for sure SBS has the best dramas this year and the only thing I dislike about MBC compared to KBS was their habit of having actors share an award!!
I don’t believe one actor can be as good as another to haver the same “score” so they have to share.
Eventhough I want Micky to win an award, I really doubt he can get it with Ms Ripley, the drama was so meh I watched it bcos of Micky, and Jaejoong should win since he did so well in PTB, ( hah die hard JYJ fan here,lol )
I do hope Mr Cha wins an award, after watching him on Win Win and to hear him say he hasn’t won one yet is just so sad
( Actually found Best Love & Scent of a woman meh only )
I actually enjoyed I need Romance & vampire Prosecutor on the cable channels more this time, actually more refreshing haha
Here’s to the Awards and hoping for a better year of Kdramas in 2012
Nadia
December 30, 2011 at 3:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hi Blue, Thanks for predictions and i agree with almost all of them.
And one question, What is the difference between Drama Special(49 Days,TWDR) and Special Production(Thousand day Promise)? Both 49 Days and TDP were on weekdays and 20 episodes each.How they are in different categories?
blue
December 30, 2011 at 1:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yeah, these categories don’t really make much sense but those are the names that SBS came up with to categorize their dramas.
All SBS’s Wed/Thurs dramas are categorized as “Drama Special.” SBS’s Monday/Tues dramas and some weekend dramas are called “Special Production.” At their network awards, they change the award categories every year. For instance, SBS separated their awards last year into “Drama Special,” “Special Production,” and “Serial” (long-running dramas). So some of the shorter-running weekend dramas fell under “Special Production.”
This year, SBS separated their awards pretty much by the days of the week. So all Monday/Tuesday dramas became categorized as “Special Production,” Wed/Thurs dramas as “Drama Special” and weekend and serial became categorized together. Hence, Scent of a Woman, which is technically a “Special Production” weekend drama because it is a shorter show, falls under the weekend category this year.
It’s really all at SBS’s whim!
Grinchmas!
December 30, 2011 at 7:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hi! I think your predictions will be right (you might be channeling Paul the Octopus’s spirit here) and this list makes me realize how SBS really dominated my drama watching this year. They’ve had a wonderful year and I can’t wait to see who finally wins the awards.
Out of curiosity, why are all of the awards here given to actors and actresses? Maybe my context is off, but I’ve always thought of the Korean award shows as a broadcaster-specific Emmy. Are lighting, sound, writing, cinematography, directing, and “best drama” addressed in another awards show or are they just not given recognition?
blue
December 30, 2011 at 8:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
They give awards for lighting, sound, writing, etc for film awards and to a lesser extent, Baeksang Awards, but not at network drama awards. At most, network drama awards give out Best Writing and Best Drama awards, but that’s about it. Well, with MBC changing its name from Acting Awards to Drama Awards, that may change. We’ll see!
Jennifer
December 30, 2011 at 12:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Huh… I wonder if the quality of dramas would increase, then, if a) real acting talent was rewarded and b) the drama crews got awards. Watching movies, I’ve noticed that the production quality is often better, and have always assumed that difference is just due to a lack of live-shoots and more time for polishing.
Honestly, though, what’s the point of having 20 awards for acting (Daesang, Top Excellence, Excellence, Supporting Roles, and Producer’s Award for SBS) when those could be given to other parts of a drama production that deserve the recognition? There are some middling dramas out there with terrific visuals, music, and/or writing which goes unrecognized.
blue
December 30, 2011 at 1:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I totally agree with you that the crew should get more recognition, and it doesn’t make sense to give out awards to practically every actor out there who played a lead in a decently rated drama.
I hear that there are internal awards given by networks, but it does not have any lavish award ceremony. It’s more like companies giving awards and bonuses to its employees. Oh, and crew (especially directors) do get huge bonuses if their shows bring in high ratings. For instance, Na PD of 1 Night 2 Days get huge bonuses because his show is so popular.
skiipper
December 30, 2011 at 8:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
To be honest, I thought City Hunter was the best drama of the year…personally I think Lee min ho really deserves the top excellence award for his role as the City Hunter.It isn’t an easy task to carry the whole drama on his back as he was the major factor of all the plot, twists and the center of the whole drama.It’s just me though…
arvie
December 30, 2011 at 10:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Agree or Disagree? Yoon Eunhye excluded in the nomination lists for SBS best couple and netizen award or popularity award?
LIE TO ME have a mediocre ratings in Korea BUT has been purchased by many countries. VERY as in VERY POPULAR in Asian countries such as Japan, Philippinez, Taiwan.
SBS is bias??
lovepark
December 30, 2011 at 10:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
You are amazing Blue! I wouldn’t have even been able to keep all the drama titles straight, let alone rank and predict who will receive what.
I feel a bit cheated that MBC got rid of the individual Daesang (both for acting and variety programs) but can understand why they went that route since 2011 was a bit of a rough year for them.
supah
December 30, 2011 at 2:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nice predictions, blue. I’m usually quite passionate about the worthier actors reaping their just rewards at these awards shows, but this year? Meh. I think the last couple of award ceremonies have burnt me, so I’ll try not to be so invested this year…
Oh… Who am I kidding? Han Seok-kyu for the Daesang!
Wooo!
Purple Lee
December 30, 2011 at 3:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Before I read everything, I scanned the post and looked straight to the BEST COUPLE AWARD!!! Hihi . . . I am a certified MIN-MIN shipper so knowing that you predict my OTP will win the award makes me so giddy!!! I HOPE IT HAPPENS!!! ^^ *fingerscross*
Though I’m still sad because the two will not come together, the best couple award will surely console my fangirl heart
kcomments
December 31, 2011 at 10:25 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh boy, watched a little of SBS Awards, got a little tired of each thanking speech, so I turned it off. Better wait for the summary. Anyway, hereby to say to you gals, Happy New Year!
blue
January 1, 2012 at 4:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Aww, thanks! Happy New Year to you, too!
Belle
January 1, 2012 at 8:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Acting, star power, & successful drama…even though I agree w/ you, it’s unfortunate to see that even w/ these three elements some actors are not being recognized. Case in point: Yoo Seung Ho… who is quite talented and has successfully transitioned into more mature roles (his character development …WBDS’s Yeo Woon) was apparently not even considered by SBS. Well, at least Choi Min Soo was a contender even though he didn’t win.
Thanks for your insight.