Most recent TV performance on IS2

As always, he does his best. He is an epic ballad singer. And he is a lovely rocker, when he wants to be. This was on Immortal Song, November 12, 2016.

He is still THE KING !

What a great run in that  singing contest on TV.  Jung Dong Ha is the winner four times in a row. It's very well deserved, with every performance just fascinating! Contrary to the circulating rumors, he was not de-throned after three times on the show - he won the 4th time, and is still THE KING.

He is The King now

FROM SMART PRINCE,

TO  MASKED KING:

The question is: will Jung Dong Ha be de-throned soon, or not that soon? Wishing him the best, since he is always the King to me.                               

July 29th,11th Anniversary of his stage debut.

Fans honor Jung Dong Ha, by ordering a special cake. One day, I will have to post pictures of all the cakes that were send to him, to celebrate various special occasions.

Why be a fan? What is a fan?

I always ponder this question. Why am I a fan of Jung Dong Ha? How did that happen? What motivates me to continue to be his fan, despite of an uneasy feeling  that this is maybe somewhat unreasonable, absurd, foolish, considering my age? Am I being weird? Is it juvenile of me to be a fan to such a degree, that I feel the need to write a blog dedicated to him?

Let's think about it logically. Being a fan is not the same as being in love with someone, although for some people it's very close, or the difference is blurred. When I wrote "people" I was actually thinking about other women. I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that women in particular are often struck with this affliction  of  "loving" this or that male public figure. From what I have seen  with my own eyes, as a past member of  certain fandom (I won't mention the name, it's too embarrassing), the affliction is independent of  the age, marital situation, education level, personality type, or social status. This means, that there is some kind of universal, emotional need inside women, to find a "prince" to love and cherish, and maybe to fantasize about these feelings being reciprocated. This seems to be like a small  fantasy world, outside of the family, job, marriage, children, hobbies, etc., that women are capable of  cultivating. This little secret world  exist in parallel with their real every day lives, and usually they do not interfere with each other. Sometimes the woman may become obsessed, but I am not talking about sick-minded women, but just about perfectly mentally healthy and reasonable women. This is what I consider myself. I don't think men ever are in love with a public figure females, like actresses, or sports stars. If they are, they become stalkers.

Going back to "perfectly reasonable women", who are fans of  singers, or actors, and are "in love" with them, I often think about the men who are the objects of  such affection. Depending on the celebrity status, there can be hundreds, or thousands (maybe millions?) of women who declare their love for  him.

I often think of Jung Dong Ha in this context. He is not a huge celebrity, but he definitely has his faithful group of women fans who let him know they adore him, and who can't get enough of him. What does he think of it?  How does it make him feel? Does he understand this kind of devotion?

Or, perhaps he thinks that these women are deranged, or something is missing from their lives, so they turn to celebrity worshiping as means of escape from problems?

Or, perhaps, he doesn't think about it at all - they are his fans, they pay for his stuff, so everything is OK, he can make a living. Right?

That would be the best.

As for myself, nothing is missing in my life. I'm generally satisfied with what I have. Well, maybe I would like to have a ton of money, to be able to travel all over the world. :)
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A couple of days ago I finished watching a new Korean drama  "Madame Antoine". As usual, in addition of the main story, there were a couple of  secondary, or side stories. They were all positive, lighthearted, optimistic. But one of the stories was a little bittersweet.  It resonated with me a lot.

There is this single older woman psychologist, in her late 50-ties (it helps that she looks really good for her age). She is diagnosed with cancer, and even though the doctors strongly recommend that she undergoes surgery, and radiation therapy, she decides not to get treated, but instead to live her remaining time doing things that she really enjoys. She even makes a bucket list.

Around that  time, she meets a young man in his early 20-ties, who is very cute.He is vibrant, confident, always smiling and saying nice things to her, very cheerful and friendly. He is like that with everyone, that's his personality. Unlike others around him, the lady is able o appreciate what a treasure this young man is. She finds herself  being attracted to him, wanting to be around him, and wanting to spend time with him.

Soon everyone, but him, notices this situation. His friends tell him that the old lady "likes him". He is shocked by this news, and he doesn't know how to handle it, so he is avoiding her. Especially, that one of  his younger friends comments:  "That's gross, she is 38 years older!".

However, Ms. Antoine, who is a very sensible, and compassionate woman, puts them straight:  "You think that when you grow old, your heart grows cold, and you cannot love?! There is nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a blessing to be liked by someone". 

Meanwhile, the old lady finds out everybody knows her "secret", and runs away in shame, to her house on Jeju Island. The young man actually misses her, and is shaken by the news that she has cancer. He asks his older brother whether he should go and bring her back. Hyung tells him: "Don't go, if you think she is pitiful. Don't do this out of pity. If you pity her, don't go."

The story has a positive conclusion. This young man makes a mature decision, to bring the old lady back, and he wants to convince her to get treatment. He simply realizes, that he enjoys their relationship, and he finds it in his heart to not reject her affection, but rather continue it, the way it was before.  He considers  her a mentor, and does not feel awkward that she has somewhat romantic feelings towards him. Because he took to heart that "it's a blessing to be liked by someone".

I was actually stunned that Koreans would even  discuss the subject of friendship/affection between an old woman, and a very young man.  The way it was depicted did not seem weird at all, and came out to look quite natural. It was shown in a heartwarming way. I was impressed.
                                                                           
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 Hmm, why am I writing about it? Not sure.

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Another award

Yesterday, July 11th, there was an Award Ceremony for  Daegu International Musical Festival - DIMF.
Dongha was unexpectedly honored with a Popular Artist of The Year award, and appeared to be very happy about it.

This is the same DIMF Award Ceremony, where he received his Debut of The Year  award in 2014, for his role of  The Poet (Gringoire) in "Notre Dame De Paris, the Musical".
This time, he couldn't of course  receive  Rookie Award any more, so he got Artist of the Year, probably because of his big success in Musical Turandot, where he played the role of Prince Calaf.
During the ceremony in Daegu, he and Ali even performed a duet from Turandot, and Dongha sounded great in my opinion, while Ali actually tried  to out-sing him, and sounded too loud.

Was this latest award the fans doing? Did they somehow place his nomination, and voted for him in full force?  Or has he truly received the recognition by music professionals?
I wonder.
He definitely deserved it, but the string of successes he has had last year, and this year, seem almost too good to be true. What is wrong with me? Why am I so suspicious?
                

              Anyway, it was good to see him in public again, well dressed, and in a very good vocal form.

PS. Just to set records straight; I have received  an explanation that the winners of the DIMF were chosen by the organizers of the festival.  It wasn't based on public votes. OK.

Some 2016 cuteness

The "Dream" tour started with a concert in Busan, on March 26. It looks that JDH was enjoying himself.

                                                                         
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Dong Ha is learning a new "love" sign. It was during Kim Kwang Seok special tribute show, in May.
   
                                            
                                                                          
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And below, a few pictures  from a few days ago. Dong Ha is meeting fans waiting outside either some concert venue or maybe outside a radio station. Fans always take the best pictures of him!

Thanks to Joyce for artistically modified picture above.

OH! LOVE! - the new song

Dong Ha continues to promote his newest mini-album, with the title song "Oh! Love!". Here is a video of him singing it live in a radio station, on 6-20-2016. Actually, the album has a couple of other good songs too.I hope he will sing them in concerts as well. The next concert is this Sunday, June 26th!

                         

                                                                                          

OMG! Notre Dame de Paris!!!!

June 11, 2016, first show. The person who recorded this - thank you so much!
The come-back show already started yesterday, and the first secret recording appeared online. My heart swelled, when I heard this voice in the morning. How can I not love this singer, when his voice moves me to the core. Listening to his a-capella singing at the curtain call of the first performance, I hear something in his voice that makes me think that Dongha is very moved, filled with emotions, almost about to cry. Especially in the first few lines, his voice is trembling. Then he seems to pull himself together.

A video posted by @y.j.j.c on Jun 11, 2016 at 9:58pm PDT

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So now, below, I finally will post the past performance of "Les Temps des Cathedrales", from October 2013 KBS TV show. I think I had intention to post this video at least 2 times on my blog, but I ended not doing this, who knows why. This performance from 3 years ago, was crucial for me, when I was slowly becoming his fan. It simply enchanted me, and sealed my fate. I'm such a happy fan now!


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There is another song from this musical that I really love. I love how Dongha sings it, in a bit of the gypsy music style. He performs it in a less formal scenery, simply in one of his concerts in December 2014. I love it so much. The name of the song is "Door of Paris".

"The Lovely Rocker"

During recent recording at a talk show, the host of the show said that JDH will now have a new nick name,
The Lovely Rocker. Ha, ha! Probably referring to his recent hit "Oh! Love".
Here is Dongha captured yesterday going to KBS studio for rehearsals (or maybe coming out, after the rehearsals).

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06-04-2016, PS!!!! WHEEE!!!!  The song Jung Dong Ha performed yesterday on Immortal Song 2! I decided to add it here, since the song fits well the definition of "lovely rocker".  This song suits him so well, since it's playful, and light hearted. I hope he will sing it at concerts from now on. The gentleman in the yellow jacket is apparently the writer of the song. He seems to be very pleased with the performance. The audience is delighted, which was reflected in a very high score Dongha received, although it wasn't a winning score. Of course, that doesn't matter - whether he won or not, the program is so popular in Korea and other Far East countries. like Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and to be invited to sing is a fantastic promotion. Opportunity  to gain new fans.

New song "Oh! Love!"

The song is form the new  mini-album "DREAM",  released yesterday. There seems to be a lot of buzz about it on the internet. Among many updates, fans are enjoying this "behind the scenes" of making the music video for the song. Whee!!!
                                                                   

Schedule for June 2016

                    Big thanks to Summer Yu who translated Jung Dongha's busy June 2016 schedule.
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New mini-album DREAM announced

Track list has been posted, and Music Video is recorded. Both will be released on June 2nd, 2016. From what I can tell, Dong Ha has contributed to lyrics (track 1, 3, 4, 5, 6), and  composed tracks 3, 4, 5. Wow, so unexpected to me. What a sweet surprise. Track number 2, written entirely by someone else, is also offered as instrumental version, in track number 7. I hope the music is worthy the instrumental recording only. Anyway, I'm very excited!

             

May 2016

So far, seemingly, May 2016 has  not been that busy for Dong Ha.
Just a few performances here and there, which I think is beneficial for him, to use his voice gently, but continuously. However, news is, that he has started recording his second album, and as far as I can understand, it will also include a DVD from one of his concerts! That's fantastic! There are also official reports about him recording a new music video (MV). He's been also likely rehearsing for this "Notre Dame de Paris" come back, too. Another concert of the "Dream" tour is coming up on June 2nd. Now, the most recent news is, he may be on IS2 again? I'm feeling a little melancholic in past few days, so here are some lovely pictures of Dong Ha, taken by fans at his May appearances. Of course, I'm happy with the long sweater. Pretty cool. Thanks to Yellowbigmoon, and Janabee for taking such great pictures at concerts.

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 The video below, from today, or maybe yesterday, brightened my mood a little. He was on a KBS1-TV, singing and talking. The concert was called Feel, and it was in open air. Looks like there was a wet weather. Even if I don't understand, I really like him talking. This time he speaks really fast.

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And another one! Desperado! This is strange/funny to me that he likes to sing this song so often. Maybe he knows his audience likes it, too.