61st Baeksang Art Award Predictions

Sky
Apr 11
6 min read

The list of nominees for the 61st Baeksang Awards is out, and I thought this was a great opportunity to look through it and try to guess who would win.

Before the start, everyone on the list deserves to be there. It sucks that an actor or two didn't get nominated but there is a lot to choose from and we can't have everyone.

Here you will see the nominees and my little comment on who I think are the strongest to win. However, the winner is in bold if you want to just skim through. I'm also leaving some of the categories out because I have not seen any of the shows, and heard nothing about it. If you want to see the full list of the nominees Soompi has an article on it.

Awards will take place on May 5th!

Lovely Runner
The Tale of Lady Ok
Doubt
The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call
When Life Gives You Tangerines

It has to be either Lovely Runner or When Life Gives You Tangerines.

Both dramas were talked about so much in the community and they are great. WLGYT feels a bit stronger because of the storytelling. The camera work, how the script goes from one year to the other and also the drama is divided into four seasons. It feels more unique.

Doubt has memorable shots but everything seemed slow. You could feel they're looking to have a good shot rather than it being more natural. I also forgot I even watched the drama.

The Trauma Code was okay but did not have anything that memorable to call it the best.

I haven't The Tale of Lady Ok, so I can't comment on it much.

Iron Girls
Stage Fighter
Ajossi's Life
Punghyanggo
Culinary Class Wars

I'm not going to comment on it because I haven't seen any of them. However, the variety show that I heard about the most is Culinary Class Wars.

Kim Won Seok (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
Kim Hee Won (Light Shop)
Song Yeon Hwa (Doubt)
Lee Do Yoon (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call)
Jung Ji In (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born)

This is a hard decision to make... I talked about When Life Gives You Tangerines, Doubt and The Trauma Code, and I'm sticking to it.

It is hard to choose when we have Light Shop and Jeongnyeon as the other two dramas. I liked both of them but again I just feel like WLGYT is unique, going through pararells of generations. Not to say that other dramas don't deserve it but this is what stuck in my memory the most.

For Light Shop and Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born, I cared more about the writing, rather than the way it was filmed.

Kim Jung Min (Family Matters)
Park Ji Sook (The Tale of Lady Ok)
Lee Si Eun (Lovely Runner)
Im Sang Choon (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
Choi Yu Na (Good Partner)

Not sure how biased I am towards it, probably very but I want Lovely Runner to have this one.

The storyline was so well made and the way it leaves you on edge in almost every episode. It was an emotional rollercoaster. The drama has a few plot twists that I think are hard to tell even for a hardcore kdrama watcher.

Of course, WLGYT is a great story but as I read on reviews a lot of people have felt that this is just a usual slice-of-life story. Maybe, that could be the point why it doesn't win. As heartbreaking as it is it's nothing out of the ordinary.

Good Partner also has a good screenplay. It was interesting to see the characters and their development but there was something missing for me, especially when it came to secondary characters.

For Family Matters, I have only seen a bit of the first episode and didn't enjoy it. The Tale of Lady Ok, I haven't seen it, so maybe it could be the one too.

Lee Young Joo (Culinary Class Wars - art)
Lee Jin Suk, Lee Deok Hoon (Doubt - camera)
Jang Yeong Gyu (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born - music)
Jo Dong Hyuk (Study Group - stunt coordination)
Hong Jung Ho, Lee Seung Je, Kim Dae Joon, Kim Jung Min (Hellbound 2 - VFX)

Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born's soul was with music. Showing the traditional Korean singing/songs was what made it even more memorable. So much passion and emotion were put into it.

Park Bo Gum (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
Byeon Woo Seok (Lovely Runner)
Lee Jun Hyuk (Dongjae, The Good or the Bastard)
Ju Ji Hoon (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call)
Han Suk Kyu (Doubt)

Lovely Runner for Byeon Woo Seok was a career-changing moment. He became so successful with it and got so much appreciation. I feel like he also had to show a different side of him.

While others on the list are great actors and are very well-known in the industry, I don't think they brought as much commotion. It also didn't feel like they were going out of their way to play characters they never did before.

Go Min Si (The Frog)
Kim Tae Ri (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born)
Kim Hye Yoon (Lovely Runner)
IU (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
Jang Nara (Good Partner)

I'm not into historical dramas but combining the script and Kim Tae Ri being there made me stay and watch Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born. She did amazing with the singing parts and acting throughout the whole drama and I was just in awe watching her.

To be honest, this list is pretty strong and I would be happy with anyone winning.

Kim Jun Han (Good Partner)
Roh Jae Won (Squid Game 2)
Yoon Kyung Ho (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call)
Choi Dae Hoon (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
Hyeon Bong Sik (Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard)

If Yoon Kyung Ho wouldn't be in The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call it would have lost a lot of comedic scenes. Choi Dae Hoon is another good contender for him.

I haven't seen Squid Game 2 and Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard but they are great actors, so it might go to them too. However, Kim Jun Han felt forgettable. The drama was more female-focused maybe that's why his character didn't seem to do much.

Kim Guk Hee (Family Matters)
Kim Jae Hwa (The Tale of Lady Ok)
Yeom Hye Ran (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
Ok Kyung Hwa (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born)
Jung Eun Chae (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born)

Of these actresses and the drama Yeom Hye Ran was the most memorable. Ok Kyung Hwa and Jung Eun Chae were barely in the drama, not enough to make a lasting impression, at least on me.

Again, I have not seen Family Matters and The Tale of Lady Ok, though I did enjoy Kim Jae Hwa in her other dramas.

Kim Jung Jin (Doubt)
Song Geon Hee (Lovely Runner)
Cha Woo Min (Study Group)
Choo Young Woo (The Tale of Lady Ok)
Heo Nam Jun (Your Honor)

I went with Kim Jung Jin because he was quite prominent in Doubt. He did a good job there and I already remember his face from other dramas too.

Even if I didn't see Study Group, I feel like Cha Woo Min somehow ends up becoming a scene stealer.

But I'm surprised that Song Geon Hee and Choo Young Woo are still under the 'new actor' nomination. It feels like I've seen them quite a lot.

Kim Tae Yeon (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
Roh Jeong Eui (The Witch)
Jo Yoon Soo (The Tyrant)
Chae Woo Bin (Doubt)
Ha Young (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call)

Everyone did an amazing job with their roles and I don't want to discredit anyone. But Kim Tae Yeon as a young actress did such a great job with the role she was given - young Ae Sun.

Her scenes were not only heartbreaking but also very well done.

Another strong contender in my mind is Ha Young. She was very fun to watch as a nurse and I would tune in to a second season just to see her.

Next will be film categories. I have not watched anything but I just wanted to try and guess. There will be no comments as to why because I'm just going with the gut feeling.