The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 450

On 11 May 2014, G.O stepped into the role of the gentle and innocent Prince Hodong in 바람의나라 [The Kingdom of the Winds] for the first performance of the show’s run, marking another first: this was the first time an artist from Korean popular music had set foot on the Seoul Arts Center stage with the prestigious Seoul Arts Group in a musical theater production. I recall waiting for the pics and cams – but more importantly, wanted to hear about his performance which of course grew accolades from his adoring A+ in the audience that evening. I want to celebrate that night of firsts for G.O with a short fan cam of his first curtain call on the Seoul Arts Center stage that evening.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 449

It was three years ago this very day when G.O would once again step upon the Korean musical theater stage and make history by way of his poignant portrayal of the young and innocent Prince Ho Dong in the Seoul Arts production of 바람의나라 [The Kingdom of the Winds]. Inasmuch as I truly feel his role as Dong Ho in Seopyeonje was the pivotal moment in his career that made fans and critics alike sit up and take notice of his ability to command an important role in a masterpiece musical, his work in Kingdom sealed it. For today’s G.O One Shot, I honor him on the anniversary of his first performance as the delicate Ho Dong.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 448

It’s Wednesday and sometimes the middle of the week requires a pick-me-up to push us over the hump and into the back end of the week so that the stretch towards the weekend seems less distant. Come Wednesday, I am aching for the final days of the work week to arrive quickly so I can enjoy the freedom and relaxation of the weekend. Also, as each week completes, we get closer to discharge. Believe it or not, the finish line is closer than you think! To give this Wednesday a bit of a push, I thought we could collectively join G.O in a nine second dance break.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 446

With spring comes the desire to go back to when G.O attended the Scentlier store opening in Seoul. Now, if I paid more attention to detail, I could have written this post sooner to coincide with the actual anniversary date of this appearance which was 29 April 2015. Can you believe it has been two years? My point being, look how fast those two years have gone by. This should ease some hearts out there who are impatiently waiting for G.O to complete his military service! But let’s not focus on that, let’s just breathe in the scent of the stylish and soft look he brought to the event that lovely spring evening.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 445

I bet you are probably wondering . . . ‘will she make it through the entire alphabet before G.O is discharged?‘ Yeah, I wonder about that too, especially since he has a little over nine months remaining in his service and the way time is moving, I may lose track and not see my way through all 26 letters. But I like a challenge, as trite and ridiculous as this one may seem. Building vocabulary is great exercise for the mind, and seeking out ways to describe G.O is just another way of keeping fit!

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 444

One of my favorite things about doing this countdown series is that I get to revisit G.O’s musicals over and over. Every time he steps onto a stage to sing, it is magical. This is true. But that magic has been magnified for me in three very distinct instances: his time on the Immortal Song 2 stage, his time on the King of Mask Singer stage and especially, his time on the musical stage. Each of those moments G.O spent on any one of those stages constitutes a Vocal Virtuosity moment. And there are many to choose from. Today, a very short clip from Gwanghwamun Sonata. Ah…but even in the brevity of one stanza, a Lee Young Hoon ballad surrounded by G.O’s honeyed vocals is a soothing symphony to the ears.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 441

I have to be honest, I am finding it difficult to concentrate on what I want to write about for this post because that picture up there is mesmerizing me to the point of distraction. For me, there is so much perfect going on in that picture from G.O’s gorgeous profile, elegant and graceful hand, to the black suit jacket and tie (I don’t know what it is about G.O in a suit that just unhinges me, but it does). Framed by the glow of the stage lights, he looked so at ease as he moved through the choreography of 전쟁이야 [This Is War] back on 17 May 2013 during MBLAQ’s Japan Mona Lisa Event. Today, I open The J-Files treasure chest to look back on the short and oh-so-sweet promotion of the release of MBLAQ’s Japanese version of Mona Lisa.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 440

For awhile there in the early days of this series, I was pummeling the Countdown with lots of posts about the various endorsements G.O was involved in which were primarily clothes and accessories. Today it hit me that I have not done one in a really long time. I am pretty sure there are more floating out there than I have touched on here thus far. Today, just a quick flashback to when he gave clothing and accessory brand Codes Combine some love. The jacket above is a Codes Combine piece that he wore during the broadcast of his final visit to Immortal Song 2.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 439

The premise was simple – complete an athletic task and the crowd (which was predominately, if not all, comprised of your fan base) would be rewarded for your success. Seems easy, right? Well, it proved to be somewhat challenging ~ albeit entertaining ~ for our fit and fab main vocal man when he had to become a rhythmic gymnast for the day as part of KBS2’s athletic variety program Let’s Go! Dream Team.

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The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 438

The more I dig into the background of the music that shaped the story of 광화문 연가 [Gwanghwamun Sonata], the more I understand the level of reverence paid to composer/writer Lee Young Hoon. Gwanghwamun Sonata fascinates me because of the unique way in which the musical was born. To build a story around well-established ballads made popular by singer Lee Moon Sae and turn it into a musical was brilliant. Today, I want to revisit a moment from the Gwanghwamun stage where G.O’s rebellious and charismatic Kang Hyun Woo sings an excerpt from the incredibly poetic, 시를위한시 [A Poem for a Poem].

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