The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards nominees were revealed, and questions continue as Yu Jae-seok, who has been active across broadcasting and YouTube, did not make the list of nominees for major institutional sector awards.
The Baeksang Arts Awards secretariat announced this year's nominees on the 13th through its official channel. The works under review were films, broadcasts and plays released from April of last year through March 31 of this year, and a musical institutional sector was newly added this year.
The nominees for the entertainment program award included MBC's '극한84', 'The Wonder Coach', SBS's 'The Ballad of Us', Netflix's 'Culinary Class Wars: cooking class wars 2', and Coupang Play's 'Office Workers season 2'. Male entertainer nominees included Kwak Beom, Kian84, Kim Jun-Ho and Choo Sung Hoon.
But the biggest topic immediately after the announcement was undoubtedly Yu Jae-seok's "absence." Although he continued to be active on tvN's You Quiz on the Block, MBC's Hangout With Yoo, SBS's '틈만 나면', YouTube's '핑계고' and '풍향고2', he was excluded not only from the program award but also from the male entertainer nominees.
In particular, Yu Jae-seok was a nominee for the program award last year with '풍향GO' season 1 and also showed presence with '핑계고', so this result is seen as more surprising. Recently, '풍향고2' surpassed 10 million views, and '핑계고' also proved its popularity with its 100th episode special video surpassing 12 million views.
Netizens have raised questions such as "Given his current form, there is no reason he should be left out," "It's hard to understand that someone of award level doesn't even have a nomination," and "His activity is actually better, so why was he excluded?" On the other hand, some offered the view that "it could be a trend of giving opportunities to juniors," and mixed reactions continued.
Not only Yu Jae-seok but the "omission of names" of some actors also drew attention. Kim You Jung, who showed a dramatic acting transformation in TVING's Dear X, and Park Shin-hye of Undercover Miss Hong also failed to make the nominees, drawing fans' disappointment. Both saw their names omitted despite their works' publicity and praise for their acting, prompting regret.
Of course, because Baeksang Arts Awards nominee selections comprehensively consider not only publicity but also artistic merit and completeness, simple comparisons are difficult.
Meanwhile, the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards will be held on May 8 at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.<
[Photo] OSEN DB
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