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Im Si-wan’s “One Man Show” for the Opening
At the 4th Blue Dragon Series Awards held on July 18 in Incheon, actor Im Si-wan delivered a showstopping opening that had both fans and fellow celebrities in stitches. The broadcast on KBS 2TV opened not with formal speeches but with a theatrical spectacle led by the versatile star himself.
Hosted by Jun Hyun-moo and YoonA, the awards ceremony kicked off with a nod to last year’s event, where Im Si-wan won Best Actor for his role in “Boyhood”. At the time, he jokingly promised, “If I get another chance, I’ll gladly come back and dance.” This year, he made good on that promise.
Im Si-wan began his performance by referring to the aforementioned quote and joking, “You really have to be careful with what you say in acceptance speeches, otherwise, you might end up dancing for real like me.” Then, he launched into a musical number, walking among the nominee seats and greeting stars like Choo Sung-hoon, Park Byung-eun, Lee Soo-ji, and others.
As he reached Lee Byung-hun, who starred alongside him in “Squid Game”, Im Si-wan pretended to be shocked, exclaiming, “Oh! Are we… the same?” At that moment, the *Squid Game* siren blared, dancers appeared in costume, and Si-wan transformed into a contestant from the show, cueing a surreal K-pop medley.
To the delight of the crowd, the performance featured snippets of iconic K-pop songs like U-KISS’s “Man Man Ha Ni”, M.I.L.K’s early-2000s hit (a nod to actress Seo Hyun-jin), Girls’ Generation’s “Genie”, and finally ZE:A’s “Aftermath”, bringing Im Si-wan back to his idol roots. YoonA even joined in on the “Genie” choreography, adding to the nostalgia.
Just when the audience thought it was over, Im Si-wan turned the spotlight onto none other than Lee Byung-hun, showing a vintage clip of him dancing on a past broadcast. The actor, visibly flustered, buried his face in his hands, laughing at the throwback.
Im Si-wan capped off the hilarious skit by mimicking Lee Byung-hun’s mime dance in the video, before ending his performance with the message, “Be careful with your acceptance speeches.”
After the stage, host Jun Hyun-moo declared, “That was easily the most legendary opening in the award’s history. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the Im Si-wan One-Man Show.”
Backlash for Disrespecting Lee Byung-hun?
However, Im Si-wan’s performance later sparked a wave of backlash, especially in relationship to his senior, actor Lee Byung-hun.
In particular, while the skit initially sparked laughter, when cameras cut to Lee Byung-hun in the front row, the actor offered a polite and subdued smile, which many viewers considered as a sign of discomfort.
Additionally, what truly ignited the backlash wasn’t just the performance, but the fact that Lee Byung-hun received no awards that evening, despite his contributions to global projects like “Squid Game”. This led netizens to question whether his presence was simply used for entertainment fodder.
Online forums erupted with angry comments, including, “You don’t turn a legend like Lee Byung-hun into a punchline and then give him nothing”, “There’s a line between comedy and disrespect”, and “He deserves much more recognition, not to be treated like a prop.” Some even accused the show’s producers of being tone-deaf, stating the moment felt like a “mockery” of Lee’s legacy and professionalism, leading to criticism targeting Im Si-wan.
However, it is important to note that right after his performance, Im Si-wan apologized to all the people he mentioned like Lee Jun-young and Yoona, and “especially senior Lee Byung-hun”.
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