Comedian Cho Hye-lyeon watched the return of junior Lee Hwi-jae and volunteered to be the mood maker on Immortal Songs, saying, "If I can play that role as a senior, I'm very relieved," showing a humble attitude.
Cho Hye-lyeon said in a morning interview with OSEN on the 29th, "These days I've been doing the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" so my throat has been bad continuously and at first I thought I wouldn't be able to appear on 'Immortal Songs'," adding, "But the production team said they really wanted me to come out so I decided to appear, and I heard Hwi-jae was appearing too. So I was glad because it had been a long time since I last saw his face."
Lee Hwi-jae, who returned after four years through 'Immortal Songs,' was so nervous and unaccustomed that he could hardly lift his head. Then, thanks to the warm support of fellow seniors and juniors such as Cho Hye-lyeon, Hong Seok-cheon and Kim Shin-young, he gradually adapted, and before singing he shed tears of remorse.
Cho Hye-lyeon said, "I heard he took lessons and prepared earnestly to sing well and show a good stage," adding, "He appeared briefly on the broadcast, but he was really nervous from the camera rehearsal. I heard he cried a lot from then on, shedding tears. He was so nervous that it was regrettable that he couldn't show his true ability on stage."
In particular, Cho Hye-lyeon led by example to break the awkward atmosphere among performers meeting for the first time and to ease the nervous Lee Hwi-jae by performing the 'Banana Nalla' dance herself. When Cho Hye-lyeon took the lead and danced, Lee Hwi-jae, Song Il-gook and others stood up and joined in, and the heavy mood turned noticeably lighthearted. As the most senior and eldest, Cho Hye-lyeon volunteered to be the mood maker.
Cho Hye-lyeon said, "While watching him rehearse, I jokingly said to Hwi-jae, 'If you find yourself crying a lot, you can think of the 'Banana Nalla' you did earlier,' and I heard he actually did that when he choked up on stage. (laughs) So he sang amazingly well," adding, "Many people prayed and cheered for Lee Hwi-jae, and after finishing the stage he sincerely thanked everyone."
Finally, Cho Hye-lyeon added a humble remark, "If I can play that role as a senior, I'm very relieved."
Meanwhile, KBS2's entertainment show 'Immortal Songs,' which aired on the afternoon of the 28th, was themed '2026 entertainment industry king of kings.' A total of 10 teams appeared, including Lee Hwi-jae, who returned after four years, Cho Hye-lyeon, Hong Seok-cheon, Kim Shin-young and Chun Dan-bi, Lalala, Moon Seyoon, the Gag Concert 'Chatflix' team, Park Joonhyung, Song Il-gook and Oh Man-seok (the musical 'The Hague' team), and Lee Chan-seok.
The day after the broadcast, it recorded nationwide ratings of 4.8% (according to Nielsen Korea), defended its No. 1 spot in the same time slot for 147 consecutive weeks, and continued the power of the traditional Saturday entertainment stronghold. In addition, positive public opinion toward the comeback appears to be spreading clearly as reactions such as "I support him," "I cried along," and "I missed him" increased noticeably toward Lee Hwi-jae.
The standout performer on 'Immortal Songs' that day was undoubtedly Lee Hwi-jae. He returned after about four years since the end of MBN's 'Battle in the Box' in January 2022, and his wife and twin sons are currently living in Canada.
Lee Hwi-jae said, "It's been really long since I greeted you. Nice to see you," and about his recent life he said, "To say I've been well would honestly be a lie. Going back and forth between Korea and Canada with the kids and my wife gave me a lot of time to think personally. If I talk about the past four years it would be too long. I spent precious time with my family and I made many mistakes, so it was a time to look back on each one."
He chose Choi Ho-seop's "If Time Goes By" and on stage he showed tears during rehearsal, saying, "I was lacking and made mistakes in the past, and who knows that better than myself? Now there's no way to turn back time, so if I'm given something now I thought the only thing to do is to do my best with it," adding, "I feel grateful and sorry and many emotions cross. I never thought my name would be revived by coming to the broadcaster. I hope people will recognize that 'that friend must have thought a lot for four years and came out.'"
Lee Hwi-jae also said his twins, Seo-eon and Seo-jun, are already first-year middle school students, saying, "Actually, they're now at an age where they know exactly what their dad does. When they were young they didn't know. They said they thought I was a dad who went to exercise," adding, "During the four-year hiatus they came to understand the situations caused by my various mistakes. They didn't speak but wrote letters. They said they hoped I would work again," and he again shed tears.
[Photo] OSEN DB, 'Immortal Songs' screen capture
[OSEN]