You're Beautiful (TV series)


You're Beautiful is a 2009 South Korean television series, starring Jang Keun-suk, Park Shin-hye, Jung Yong-hwa of CN Blue and Lee Hong-gi of F.T. Island. The series follows fictional musician band, A.N.JELL and how the relationship between its members changes when a girl posing as her twin brother joins the band. It aired on SBS from October 7 to November 26, for 16 episodes.
A Japanese remake of this drama aired in Japan in 2011 with the title Ikemen desu ne, and included a cameo appearance by Jang Keun-suk in episode 8 as himself. A Taiwanese remake, Fabulous Boys was broadcast in 2013, which included a cameo by Park Shin-hye in the first episode as Go Mi-nyeo.

Synopsis

Ko Mi-nyeo has lived at an orphanage with her twin brother, Ko Mi-nam, since childhood after their father died. Years later, Mi-nam becomes a music idol and Mi-nyeo lives in a junior nun dorm to fulfill her dream of becoming a nun. One day, Mi-nam successfully auditions for and wins the "A.N Entertainment" vocal auditions to join the musical band A.N.Jell. However, he must leave for the United States in order to correct his botched plastic surgery. Mi-nam's manager, Ma Hoon-yi approaches Mi-nyeo and requests her to pose as Mi-nam for a month till he recovers. Mi-nyeo is against it at first, but eventually agrees, as a path to fame would give the twins an opportunity to find their mother. Thus, Mi-nyeo poses as her brother and joins the band A.N.Jell, where she meets its members: the arrogant Hwang Tae-kyung, the gentle Kang Shin-woo and the bubbly Jeremy.
At first, Tae-kyung is against Mi-nam's addition and makes her life hard, while Shin-woo and Jeremy are friendly to her. Eventually, Tae-kyung discovers that Mi-nam is a girl and threatens to reveal it, but Mi-nam manages to win him over. Through their interactions, Tae-kyung began to develop feelings for Mi-nam. Shin-woo and Jeremy also developed feelings for her, even though the latter thinks that Mi-nam is a boy. As Mi-nyeo struggles to hide her secret from the media while performing with A.N.JELL, she discovers her mother's past, which is somehow connected with Tae-kyung.

Cast

Main

Part 1

Production

Jang Keun-suk and Park Shin-hye were both cast first, with director Hong Sung-chang stating that the two were well-suited to convey the "fresh" idol stars concept he wanted. Lee Hong-gi had been a child actor, and this was his acting comeback after a five-year break. Jung Yong-hwa made his acting debut with this role, which he auditioned for whilst preparing to debut with his band CNBLUE in Japan.

Cultural impact

During its run, several car companies offered to have their cars be used on the drama for promotional purposes. The latest car from the German automaker Audi introduced their Audi S4 on the miniseries, with Jang Keun-suk driving it.
Although the drama achieved mediocre ratings for broadcast, it managed to gain a cult following with many fans watching the drama online.
Due to the popularity of the show, the soundtrack album of the miniseries sold 20,000 copies within its first seven days of release. The album became a top seller on various music sites, such as MelOn, Dosirak, and Mnet. At the end of 2011, the album amassed a total of 57,000 copies in South Korea. The album was written and produced by Han Sung-ho, who also worked on the dramas Lovers, On Air, and Brilliant Legacy.
Because the drama features a concert footage of A.N.JELL in it, the cast members actually performed a mini-concert, where it was reported that as many 25,000 fans showed up. The group performed the songs "Promise" and "Still". Jang Keun-suk also sang "Good Bye" and "What Should I Do", the latter is the track Tae-kyung remakes for his mother in the drama. Park Shin-hye sang her character's theme song, "Lovely Day".
The series was also broadcast throughout Asia. It aired on channels such as Fuji TV in Japan, CCTV in China, BBTV in Thailand, 8TV in Malaysia on 2010, Channel U in Singapore, Indosiar in Indonesia, Mbc4 in UAE and ABS-CBN in Philippines When the series was broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV, it scored very high ratings beating out all of its competitors in its timeslot. The series became so popular in Japan it is believed to have overtaken the popularity of Winter Sonata, another popular Korean drama in Japan.

Ratings

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Awards and nominations

International broadcast