Singer Choi Baek-ho grants an appearance on "Kim Ju-ha's Day and Night" and proved the dignified romantic singer of 50 years of pop music who turned the talk stage upside down.
The 8th episode of MBN's "Kim Ju-ha's Day and Night" (abbreviated Day and Night), which aired on the 17th, recorded a nationwide peak of 3.0% according to the ratings research firm Nielsen Korea. The troubadour of the music world, Choi Baek-ho, appeared and gifted a time of pure romance with candid wit, surprising charm and ear-pleasing performances.
That day's broadcast opened with a segment in which the show went directly to where fans were and posed live questions. Among them, in response to the question "About romance: what is the taste of bellflower root whiskey?" Choi Baek-ho gave a brief answer that it tasted like "low-quality whiskey," then said that because "bellflower root whiskey" had been discontinued, after confirming with the liquor association he was able to put it into the lyrics. When asked "How is your health?" Choi Baek-ho revealed that he lost 15 kilograms from nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease that developed five years ago, bringing his weight to 55 kilograms, and that even now after being cured his weight has not recovered.
He went on to say that his debut song, "My heart lost its place to go," which marked the beginning of his singing career, was written with his mother in mind, who died when he was 20. After his father died when he was five months old and then his mother also died, he poured that great sense of loss and sorrow into music. Choi Baek-ho performed his debut song himself, illuminating the melancholic emotion and earning everyone's applause. Moon Seyoon, overwhelmed, said, "It's sad even just to listen, but seeing those scenes makes it feel even sadder," and shed hot tears.
However, Choi Baek-ho said he went through a slump as albums released after three successful albums failed to gain popularity, saying at the time he felt "like someone grabbed the back of my neck and dropped me off a cliff." He later left Korea and while overcoming hardships hosting a Korean-language radio program in Los Angeles, he returned to Korea after a remark from Bae Chul-soo, who had come to the U.S.
Choi Baek-ho also revealed a surprising behind-the-scenes story about the legendary hit "About Romance." After returning to Korea, while he happened to be looking at his wife doing the dishes, he suddenly thought, "My ex-girlfriends must be doing the dishes and living the same way, right?" That thought gave him the hint to write "About Romance." He said the song, which got no response for about a year and a half after its release, exploded in popularity after being featured in the popular drama "The Men of the Bathhouse," and he expressed gratitude, saying, "Kim Soo-hyun is a lifesaver for me." After singing "About Romance" live and receiving high praise from Jo Jjaeje, he joked, "Why didn't I come on such a great program sooner?" showing his hidden sense of humor.
Choi Baek-ho said he has been writing a lot of songs lately and has written about 50 to 60 songs, making Jo Jjaeje's eyes sparkle, and Moon Seyoon jokingly asked, "Do you have to sing all of them yourself, teacher?" which drew laughter. On the spot Choi Baek-ho picked up a guitar and sang an unreleased song called "Applause" in his characteristic calm voice, and Kim Ju-ha, listening, said, "This is my dreamlike lyric," and cried. Choi Baek-ho said, "As you get older, death becomes a reality," and added, "I wanted to sing a song that could receive applause even after I die," evoking deep emotion.
On the other hand, Choi Baek-ho shared the anecdote that during a celebratory stage he found it difficult to perform the OST of "When Life Gives You Tangerines," which became a topic of conversation because of IU's tears, because it was not suited to his disposition. Hardcore fan Jo Jjaeje sang "Moment" as a tribute to Choi Baek-ho, and when Choi Baek-ho praised her, saying, "It was really good. It made me think I should have sung like that," she was moved to tears.
Choi Baek-ho also shared a fate-like love story with his wife. He said that after first meeting her as an acquaintance's sister-in-law, the coincidences continued and he felt it was fate, but his father-in-law fiercely opposed the relationship, saying, "If you keep seeing her I will make it so you can't have a social life anymore." Eventually Choi Baek-ho held the wedding without his father-in-law, and after his daughter was born he was able to restore the relationship with his father-in-law. He confessed he was able to live until now because of his wife, showing himself to be a devoted husband.
Finally, defining "romance" as "for the younger generation the life itself is romantic, and for older people living every day is romantic," Choi Baek-ho confessed he was happy to have spent time with "Day and Night," completing a warm ending.<
[Photo] Provided by MBN.
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