Lee Seung Gi (Hangul: 이승기, Hanja: 李昇基), born 13 January 1987, is a South Korean singer, actor and MC. Lee is well known as a member of the first season of weekend variety show 1 Night 2 Days from November 2007 to February 2012, and the MC of talk showStrong Heart from October 2009 to April 2012.
Singer (2004–present)
Scouted by singer Lee Sun Hee, Lee Seung Gi trained for 2 years before debuting on 5 June 2004 at the age of 17.
Because You're My Girl, his debut song from his first album
The Dream Of A Moth, was a popular ballad which created a "liking older women" syndrome in South Korea. With this song, he won the "Best Newcomer" award in various music awards ceremonies in 2004 such as the
M.net KM Music Festival and
Seoul Music Awards. In 2007, he also won the "Best Male Solo Artist" award in the
M.net KM Music Festival with his song
White Lie from his third album
Story Of Separation.
Lee released a digital single
Will You Marry Me in 2009, which became a big hit in South Korea although there was no official promotion. With this single, he received the "Digital Single Bonsang" award in the 24th
Golden Disk Awards. In 2010, he recorded a duet version of his 2007 song
Smile Boy with South Korean
figure skater Kim Yuna, and the song was the official
2010 FIFA World Cup commercial song in South Korea. He also received the "Digital Single Bonsang" award for the second consecutive time in the 25th
Golden Disk Awards with his song
Love Taught Me To Drink even though it was not promoted actively.
On 6 March 2012, Lee Seung Gi officially debuted in Japan by releasing his First Japan Debut Album Time for Love (also translated as Alone in Love, Generation of Love, and Era of Love) and a single of the same title which was ranked number one on Oricon Daily Chart. He held a concert at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, on 1 June 2012, three months after his debut and became the fastest singer who holds a concert there after debuting.
On 22 November 2012, Lee Seung Gi released his 5.5 Mini Album
Forest. The songs dominated the music charts right after their release. The title song
Return (also translated as
Looking Back) became number one in music charts, such as Instiz,
Gaon Chart, and Billboard
Korea K-Pop Hot 100 for weeks. It was number one for the month of December on
Gaon Chart and it even set a record for being number one for sixth straight week on Billboard
Korea K-Pop Hot 100.
[9][10]
[edit]Actor (2006–present)
In 2008, he was offered the lead role in
MBC's historical drama
The Return of Iljimae, but was forced to turn down the offer due to his tight schedule.
He was cast as the main male character in
SBS's weekend drama
Brilliant Legacy in 2009, starring with Korean actresses
Han Hyo Joo and
Moon Chae Won. The drama maintained its top spot in viewer ratings for ten consecutive weeks and ended on 26 July 2009 with its 28th episode attaining a high viewer rating of 47.1%.
[11] The huge success boosted Lee's popularity as an actor both locally and internationally. With this drama, he received the "Excellence in Acting" award, the "Top 10 Stars" award and the "Best Couple" award with
Han Hyo Joo in the 2009
SBS Drama Awards.
[12]
In October 2012, Lee's agency announced that he will star in a fantasy historical drama tentatively titled
The Gu Family Book (구가의 서), which is slated for an early 2013 broadcast.
[14]
[edit]MC (2007–present)
Lee took up another MC role in
SBS’s Tuesday night talk show
Strong Heart in October 2009, co-hosting with
Kang Ho Dong, who is one of the top MCs in South Korea. Although it was a relatively new variety show on
SBS,
Strong Heart was recognized as the "Best Program" at the 2009
SBS Entertainment Awards and Lee was awarded the "Netizens’ Popularity" award
[17] after receiving the most number of votes in the online poll. After the departure of
Kang Ho Dong from the show in September 2011, Lee took on sole MC responsibility and his performance earned positive comments from the viewers.
[18] Lee was recognized for his talent as an MC and received the "Top Excellence MC" award for two consecutive years in the 2010
[19] and 2011
[20] SBS Entertainment Awards. In March 2012, Lee announced his departure from
Strong Heart in order to focus on his singing career. He recorded his last episode on 15 March, which was broadcast on 3 April.
[21]
[edit]Other Activities
Being a popular and versatile entertainer with a clean and positive image, Lee Seung Gi is one of the most likable commercial models and celebrity endorsers in South Korea. He currently endorses a wide variety of products and services, from banking services (
KB Group), clothing (Heritory), food (
Pizza Hut) and household electronics (
Samsung Zipel refrigerators). He has also been ranked number one
[22][23] in the monthly CF (Commercial Film) Model Preference Ranking survey of the Korea Advertisers Association numerous times in recent years.
On 23 June 2012, Lee Seung Gi was one of the torchbearers in the
2012 London Summer Olympics Torch Relay chosen by
Samsung, one of the worldwide partners of thesaid event.
[1]. He carried the torch from Rochdale Stratford Avenue to Manchester Road.
[24][25]
On 30 October 2012, the National Election Commission of South Korea appointed Lee as the Honorary Online Ambassador of the nation's campaign for a fair and clean presidential election.
[26]
