‘The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards with Gucci’. Photo courtesy of HLL.
What special stages will unfold at ‘Baeksang’ this year?
At 7:50 p.m. on the 8th at COEX D Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, ‘The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards with Gucci’ will welcome many of the prior year winners as presenters. It will be a feast of stars. The actors Jung Sung-il and Roh Yoon-seo, and Chu Young-woo and Chae Won-bin, who respectively took home the Newcomer Acting trophies in the film and television categories at the ‘61st Baeksang Arts Awards’, will take the stage to announce the new winners of the 62nd. Yoo Jae-myung and Soo Hyun, who moved audiences by winning the supporting awards in the film category, and Choi Dae-hoon and Yeom Hye-ran, who left a lasting impression by delivering acceptance speeches with iconic lines from Netflix ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’, will also reunite on stage after one year.
Variety award winners Shin Dong-yeob and Lee Su-ji will also present together. Lee Su-ji is again nominated for Best Female Variety Performer this year, drawing attention to whether she will make it a two-year streak. Actors Jeon Do-yeon and Jo Jung-suk, and Ju Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-ri, who have been even more active across diverse fields since their wins last year, will present the top acting awards in the film and television divisions, respectively.
Kwak Ji-suk, who broadened her acting spectrum into dramas after winning the acting award in the theater division at the 61st, returns to Baeksang to celebrate this year’s new honorees. Since the ‘Gucci Impact Award(GUCCI IMPACT AWARD)’ was newly established in the film category, actor Kim Shin-rok has continued ties through a range of efforts including voice talent donations and moderation, and will serve as a presenter for the third consecutive year. Director Park I-woong of the film ‘Achim-bada Galmaegineun’, last year’s winner, will take the stage together to announce the recipient of the ‘Gucci Impact Award’ trophy.
As the first-ever honorees in the prestigious musical division make their debut, leading actors who represent Korean musical theater will of course be there. Song Seung-hwan, an actor and producer dubbed a ‘master of the stage’, first-generation musical star Choi Jung-won, and Yoo Jun-sang and Cha Ji-yeon, who set an example for juniors and peers with exceptional passion for musicals, will serve as presenters in the newly launched musical division this year.
There is also a chance to glimpse the new works’ ‘chemistry’. Byun Yo-han and Noh Jae-won, leads of ‘Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub’, which will freshly showcase the essence of the ‘Tazza’ film series, will greet prospective audiences. Im Si-wan and Seol In-ah, leads of tvN ‘My Guilty Human’, a unique romance between a third-generation chaebol and a cross-dressing detective, are also set to reveal their ‘sweet and savage chemistry’ on stage. Seol In-ah, who was active on tvN ‘Iron Girl Squad 2’, is also nominated for Best Female Variety Performer in the television division.
Actor Ji Chang-wook, who is rolling out anticipated projects including the film ‘Gunche’ and JTBC ‘Human X Gumiho’, and Lee Hee-joon, who works widely across television·film·theater and has recently emerged as a thriller heavyweight with ENA ‘Scarecrow’, will take time out of busy schedules to step onto the stage to celebrate colleagues. Park Eun-bin, poised to demonstrate box-office prowess with Netflix ‘Wonderfuls’, is expected to add gravitas to the ceremony as the Grand Prize winner in the TV category at the 59th.
Some headliners are reconnecting with viewers after time away. Kim So-hyun, a ‘bankable star’ returning with ENA ‘Love Doctor’, will reunite on stage with Hwang Min-hyun, with whom she shared romance chemistry in the tvN drama ‘Useless Lies’ in September 2023. Having completed military service in December last year and now busy filming his comeback project ‘Study Group 2’, Hwang Min-hyun’s appearance will be another gift-like move following the recent news of Wanna One reuniting after seven years. Actor Song Kang, who is preparing the tvN drama ‘Four Hands’, has chosen the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards as his first awards show appearance since discharge last October, where he is expected to show off a sharp suit fit.
Known as a ‘hotspot for special stages’, the ‘Baeksang Arts Awards’ is again preparing exclusive stages you can see only at ‘Baeksang’. The keyword that defines the ceremony this year is ‘THE STAGE’. Through the process of actors and audiences, tradition and modernity, and the different divisions of television·film·theater·musicals blending within a single beat, it expresses the theme of ‘Baeksang’: ‘a stage everyone enjoys together’.
There will also be a meaningful moment to remember the master artists who left our side over the past year. In a year marked by especially heartbreaking farewells, juniors will craft a tribute filled with respect and longing to the footsteps of seniors who will never be forgotten in the hearts of the public.
A truly comprehensive arts awards that encompasses television·film·theater and, starting this year, musicals as well, ‘The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards with Gucci’ features the Italian luxury brand Gucci(Gucci) as partner for the fourth consecutive year. It will be broadcast live simultaneously on JTBC·JTBC2·JTBC4, and live-streamed digitally exclusively on Naver.
