Jung Yong-hwa (정용화; pronounced [tɕəːŋ joŋ hwa]; born on June 22, 1989) is a South Korean musician, singer, songwriter, producer and actor. His first name is also written as Yonghwa, Yong-Hwa, or Yong Hwa. Jung made his show business debut as "Kang Shin-woo" in the Korean drama You're Beautiful on October 7, 2009 and played the male lead as "Lee Shin" in the 2011 drama Heartstrings. Jung is the leader, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band CNBLUE.

Early life and pre-debut

Jung Yong-hwa was born June 22, 1989, in Seoul, South Korea.[1][2] His family consists of his parents and a brother, who is four years older. He moved to Busan in 1991 and lived there through high school, where he first began composing music.[1] After taking his college entrance,he moved back to Seoul, where he joined FNC Music. In 2009, Jung left for Japan to study music with his bandmates.[3] While there, they did street performances and released independent albums.[3]

Before joining the company and his subsequent debut in the entertainment industry, he was already known in Busan for his good looks and singing. He was also well-known on the Internet as an "Ulzzang."[4] In 2010, he was the first generation member in the BEST NINE SCHOOL ULZZANG (meaning #1 ulzzang), followed by another CNBLUE member Lee Jong-hyun, Block B's Jaehyo, MBLAQ's Lee Joon, and B.A.P's Himchan, who were the second, third, fourth and fifth generation members respectively.[5][6][7] He was scouted by a FNC casting agent, who happened to see the photos of Yong-hwa at the ski resort on the internet which were re-uploaded from his personal blog by an unknown netizen on an ulzzang cafe site and him being the first generation member of the Best Nine. The casting agent then contacted him, first before his college entrance exam. However, he didn't accept the company's casting offer as he didn't want to be an artist. Later, 50 days before his exam, the casting agent went directly to Yong-hwa's hometown to convince him. He then told his parents, who didn't know that Yong-hwa was approached by the company, regarding the company's request to audition to be an artist. His parents encouraged him to give it a try and return to his hometown to continue his studies, doubting that he would pass the auditions since they had not heard him sing before. He passed the auditions and decided to join the company to be the lead singer of a band after considering his lack of self-confidence in the business field, which he wanted to pursue, giving up his college entrance exam temporarily. He went to retake the exam at a later date.[8]
Music career
Jung Yong-hwa in 2011

Jung Yong-hwa's first album as a CNBLUE member is Now or Never, a mini album that was released in Japan on August 19, 2009 with an indie label AI Entertainment. Jung composed the third track Love Revolution and the fourth track Just Please.

Jung Yong-hwa made his singer debut with the rock band CNBLUE in Korea on January 14, 2010. Bluetory is CNBLUE's first mini album, and the title track I'm a loner (외톨이야) became an instant hit in Korea. I'm a loner (외톨이야) reached the top in all major online music stores,[9] and topped the KBS Music Bank chart in 14 days on January 29, 2012.[10][11] I'm a loner (외톨이야) still holds the record in Korea for reaching the 1st in the major TV network music charts in the shortest time.

On January 14, 2011, Jung released his first solo digital single, "For First Time Lovers." The song topped the charts for 2 consecutive weeks."[12]

On October 19, 2011, CNBLUE made their Japan major debut with Jung self-composed title song "In My Head" under the major label Warner Music Japan.[13][14] The song "In My Head" was also chosen as the ending song for the "Supernatural: The Animation".[15]

He also composed and wrote the CNBLUE's 2nd major single "Where You Are", which was released in Japan on February 1, 2012. The physical single debuted at number one in Oricon's Daily chart with 32,943 copies sold on the first day[16] and on the Weekly chart with 60,398 copies sold in the first week. This made CNBLUE the first foreign band to top the Oricon Singles Chart since January 18, 1971, when the Canadian band Mashmakhan released the single "Two in the Fog", and made CNBLUE the fourth South Korean male artist/group to rank number 1 in Oricon's Weekly singles chart, following Tohoshinki (TVXQ), JYJ members(Jaejoong & Yoochun) and Jang Geun Suk.[17]

On January 14, 2013, CNBLUE made a comeback with title track "I'm Sorry" which is co-composed and co-written by Yong-hwa himself. I'm Sorry depicts the feelings experienced after a breakup. The song immediately takes the #1 spots in various music charts upon release, pushing Girls' Generation, Baek Ji-young, and Jung Hyung-don down.,[18] achieving an all-kill.[19] Talking about the title track, Yong-hwa commented, “The title track ‘I’m Sorry’ is a song with burden. The style is different than what we’ve done before so we were worried whether the fans will like it while we were working on it. I tried to put in a lot of pop in the song.”[20] Not to mention, the other 4 tracks in the album Re:Blue composed by Yong-hwa have also received good responses from the general public, as seen from the comments given by Super Junior's Ryeowook and Sungmin,[21] and the reviews made from all around the world. These songs were also performed all-live in music shows on their comeback stages.[22]
Songwriting
Main article: Jung Yong Hwa writing and production credits

Besides producing music for CNBLUE, Jung have also written many tracks for other artistes or other purposes such as commercial filming or OSTs. The following are his most notable works:

He composed and produced "Fool" ["Babo" (Japanese version of "Fool")] as a gift for the debut album of Juniel, who is also under the same agency as Jung.[23] He also composed and produced "Love is Only You" for another FNC artist, girl group AOA.[24] Jung released 17 compositions for the first half of the year in 2012.[25]

For his drama Heartstrings, he composed "Because I Miss You" as one of the original soundtracks. This song peaked at #14 in Korean Gaon chart. He has also produced "Casting Love" by Jeon Gunhwa of FNC duo M Signal for the OST of his own drama Marry Him If You Dare.

He has also produced the "School Song" as a gift for the CNBLUE School in Burkina Faso, Africa.[26]

The Samsung Galaxy's brand song "Feel Good", which was released officially on YouTube on August 23, 2013, was also penned by Yong-hwa.[27]

His songwriting skills are widely acknowledged by the public. He has been continuously ranked top 10 by fellow idols in the Weekly Idol (variety show) rankings, which are determined from idols' votes. He is ranked #1 in the "Top 15 Multi-talented Idols" for his singing-songwriting ability, rapping ability, as well as his capability in the entertainment field apart from the music industry.[28] He has also been ranked #3 in "Top 7 Next Psy World Star",[29] and #3 in "Top 10 Idols Who Would Be Successful as a Producer".[30]
Acting career

Jung Yong-hwa had debuted before his group did, becoming the first member of CNBLUE to appear on the television screen. In 2009, Jung Yong-hwa landed his first acting role as Kang Shin-woo in the SBS drama You're Beautiful, which aired from October 7 to November 26, 2009. As the series revolves around the life of a musical group, he played the role of the lead guitarist in the faux idol band A.N.Jell.

Nearly two years after his acting debut, Jung was chosen as the male lead of the MBC drama Heartstrings, along with fellow band member Kang Min-hyuk. The drama is a South Korean youthful melodrama about the main characters' love and dreams, which was first aired on June 29, 2011.

Jung also sang three songs on the soundtrack of Heartstrings, "You've Fallen For Me", "Because I Miss You" (composed by himself), and "Comfort Song." "You've Fallen For Me" topped the yearly ringtone chart of 2012 in Japan.[31]

In 2013, Jung joined Marry Him If You Dare as the second lead with Han Chae-ah.

It has been announced that he will join the cast of "The Three Musketeers" drama as part of the main cast. Filming starts in June 2014.
Variety shows

After his successful acting debut, Jung Yong-hwa's next TV contract was for MBC's Sunday Sunday Night program Korea Ecosystem Rescue Centre: Hunters, which featured seven celebrity MCs, including Kim Hyun Joong, going out to capture wild boars. The show premiered on December 6, 2009 but was forced to prematurely cease its run in mid-January 2010 due to protests by animal-rights groups.[32] He subsequently continued as one of the MCs on the replacement program Eco House, which deals with global climate change. In February 2010, he was paired with Seohyun of Girls' Generation as part of a virtually wedded couple, YongSeo Couple (Hangul: 용서커플), for MBC's popular TV show We Got Married. They filmed their final episode of We Got Married on March 15, 2011. He has also made several guest appearances on SBS's Running Man, becoming the most appeared guest.
Emcee participation

Jung Yong-hwa was an MC at the first-ever Melon Music Awards held on December 16, 2009 together with actress Lee In-hye. Alongside Kim Heechul and Park Shin-hye, Jung was an MC for the 2009 SBS Gayo Daejeon award ceremony which was held on December 29, 2009.[33] Jung temporarily replaced Tiffany & Yuri of Girls' Generation as co-host MC's for MBC's Show! Music Core episode to be aired on May 29, 2010 together with Min Sun-ye and Kim Yoo-bin of the Wonder Girls. In June 2010, he was also a co-host MC for Music Core alongside Yuri and Seohyun of Girls' Generation. Finally on July 18, 2010, he officially started as one of the new hosts of SBS's Inkigayo together with f(x)'s Sulli and 2AM's Jo Kwon. He ended being a host of Inkigayo March 13, 2011 due to his tight schedule. He also appeared as an MC for 2010 SBS Gayo Daejun which was held on December 29 along with Jo Kwon, Kim Heechul and Hwang Jung-eum . On April 7, 2012, he and Hyoyeon was filled in as one-day MCs in MBC's Music Core and hosted the programme with Girls' Generation's Seohyun, replacing Tiffany and Taeyeon. He also hosted KBS' Music Bank on November 2, 2012, which was held in Chile, with Super Junior's Kyuhyun and After School's Uee. The program was broadcast later on the 17th. On November 10, he hosted the SBS' K-Pop Super Concert in America with Girls' Generation's Tiffany and Beast's Lee Gi-kwang. He and Beast's Gi-kwang hosted as special MCs in SBS' Inkigayo, alongside regular host IU, which aired on December 9.

CN Blue’s Lee Jung Shin Praises Jung Yong Hwa’s Acting Three Stars

CN Blue’s Lee Jung Shin revealed that he began monitoring the fellow CN Blue member Jung Yong Hwa’s drama.

Lee Jung Shin attended the press conference for SBS’s drama Temptation on August 18 in SBS Ilsan production center and shared that he has been closely watching Jung Yong Hwa’s new project.

Lee Jung Shin jokingly said, “Actually, the CN Blue members have stopped monitoring each other’s projects recently. So I decided not to watch the members’ dramas,” and added, “But as you know, Jung Yong Hwa’s new drama The Three Musketeers began airing yesterday. I ended up beginning to monitor the drama.”
He shared, “The CN Blue members all pretend like they don’t watch each other’s dramas but we actually do. One member even took a picture of himself watching the drama on air and sent it through messenger," and said, "I think Jung Yong Hwa is good at acting.”

CN Blue′s Jung Yong Hwa Makes a Huge Transformation for ′Three Musketeers′

CN Blue′s Jung Yong Hwa stated that he′ll be going through an acting transformation.

On August 12, Jung Yong Hwa attended the press conference for tvN′s Three Musketeers at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Gangnam, where he shared about his character, Park Dal Hyang.

"During the first reading, the director told me not to act with my head and to act with my heart. I decided that I would throw myself away at that point," said Jung Yong Hwa. "I really thought about just taking a plunge and living inside this drama. Since I′ve done a lot of cool characters in the past, I decided to just enjoy it this time around."

"Maybe it′s because of that, but being on the filming set has become very enjoyable. Before the broadcast, we′re filming all night long and ending the outdoor scenes when the sun rises, but even if we′re filming like that, there′s a sense of fullness in my heart," said Jung Yong Hwa. "I′m not struggling through it, but the excitement is growing."

On Jung Yong Hwa′s thoughts, writer Song Jae Jung added, making everyone laugh "This person will mainly focus on comedy. Don′t you think it will be refreshing?"

Three Musketeers is a fusion sageuk based on Alexandre Dumas′ Three Musketeers. With the Chosun era as its background, the drama stars Jung Yong Hwa, Lee Jin Wook, Yang Dong Geun, Jung Hae In, Seo Hyun Jin, Yoon in Young, and more.

The drama will begin airing on August 17.

CN Blue’s Jung Yong Hwa and Fans Donate 5,000 Kg of Rice to Cambodian Children in Poverty

CN Blue’s Jung Yong Hwa and his fans on DCinside’s Jung Yong Hwa gallery donated 5,000 kilograms of rice to help out children in poverty in Cambodia.

Jung Yong Hwa’s gallery and societal organization Nanum Store, who organized the project, held an event to hand out the rice on July 10 in Holt Dream Center located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The event also gave out free meals to children, made with the rice donated by Jung Yong Hwa and his fans.

Jung Yong Hwa’s gallery will also be sending additional rice wreaths to Jung Yong Hwa, who is currently filming tvN’s grand scale drama The Three Musketeers, to participate actively in resolving the problem of starving children in Cambodia.

Photo credit: Nanum Store

Ryu Hyun Jin to Release Official Theme Song Written by Jung Yong Hwa

LA Dodger’s Ryu Hyun Jin’s official theme song Ryu Can Do It will be released on May 28.

Ryu Can Do It is a song written by Jung Yong Hwa and was adapted from the lyrics to CN Blue’s One Time, which Ryu Hyun Jin enjoyed listening to. The song has played each time Ryu Hyun Jin took the mound at home games since April.

Ryu Can Do It starts off with a melody from the Korean traditional song Arirang and continues with guitar riff that reminds one of the song. ‘Mr. Monster’ mentioned in the lyrics represents Ryu Hyun Jin.

About his theme song, Ryu Hyun Jin said, “I really like it. I’ve been listening to it in the car and singing along during my commute to work.”

The song will be played every time Ryu Hyun Jin takes the mound at LA Dodgers stadium all throughout this season.

Meanwhile, Jung Yong Hwa will be singing the Korean anthem at ‘Korea Night’ taking place on May 27 in LA Dodgers Baseball stadium, attended by Park Chan Ho and Ryu Hyun Jin.

Photo credit: FNC Entertainment

CN Blue′s Jung Yong Hwa to Sing National Anthem at Dodgers Stadium Today (05/27)

CN Blue′s Jung Yong Hwa will sing the Korean national anthem at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.

On May 27 (PST), Jung Yong Hwa will be participating in Korea Night along with Park Chan Ho and Ryu Hyun Jin.



On this day, Jung Yong Hwa will sing the Korean national anthem in LA Dodgers versus Cincinati Reds with a Korean flag waving in the large LED screen in the background.

Ahead of this game, Jung Yong Hwa went to watch May 26(KST)′s LA Dodger′s game to cheer on Ryu Hyun Jin. He later posted a picture with the baseball player, who pitched the season′s first win.

It′s also been revealed that Jung Yong Hwa composed and wrote Ryu Hyun Jin′s theme song for the season, Ryu Can Do It. Ryu Can Do It is a remake with new lyrics of CN Blue′s song One Time, a song that Ryu Hyun Jin like listening to.

Meanwhile, Ryu Can Do It will be released on May 28 (KST) in Korea.

Photo Credit: FNC Entertainment.

CN Blue’s Jung Yong Hwa to Go Solo in Second Half of 2014

Bringing good news to Jung Yong Hwa fans, the CN Blue member will be releasing a solo album in the second half of 2014.On March 25, FNC Entertainment CEO, Han Sung Ho, left a message on the company website, thanking fans for all the love and support they’ve sent to his artists.

“In the midst of all your love and interest, CN Blue will wrap up promotions for Can’t Stop this week. With the end of these promotions, we would like to share one new to everyone,” read the statement.

“For the second half of this year, we are preparing various projects with the release of a solo album as a goal, produced personally by Jung Yong Hwa. We’ll share the details once they’ve been set.”

Meanwhile, CN Blue will head to Busan and Daegu in April and May for its exclusive concerts, 2014 CN Blue Love – Can’t Stop.

Photo Credit: FNC Entertainment.

Jung Yong Hwa Still Tugging At Our 'Heartstrings' 3 Years After The Drama's Premiere


After spending quite a bit of time trying to decide which drama to review this week, I came to the sudden realization that, despite my undying love for Jung Yong Hwa, I had somehow missed writing any sort of review for Heartstrings. Appalled by my own negligence, I vowed to feature Yong Hwa's second drama as this weekend's drama to marathon.

Originally airing on MBC from June to August, 2011, Heartstrings is a romantic melodramady all about the love, friendship and dreams of a group of students at a performing arts college. While the story involves multiple characters, it focuses particularly on Lee Shin (Jung Yong Hwa) and Lee Gyu Won (Park Shin Hye). Lee Shin, a Western music major known around campus for his good looks, cold personality and undying passion for music.

The lead singer/guitarist of one of the school's most well-known bands, The Stupid, Lee Shin is the object of many girls' desire but his prickly personality keeps most of them at bay. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Lee Gyu Won is a bubbly, outgoing major in Traditional music who, being born into a prestigious family with a grand legacy in traditional music, is forced to try to live up to the ridiculously high expectations of her grandfather.

As one would expect from a K-Drama rom-com, Lee Shin and Gyu Won butt heads on multiple occasions before they realize their dislike of each other is actually an act to hide their growing attraction. As the story progresses, the ups and downs of college life, combined with a fair amount of crazy jealousy from others, force Lee Shin and Gyu Won into some pretty tough spots but their trials only help to focus their priorities and drive them to achieve their dreams.

As far as feel-good tales of youth go, Heartstrings is a really good one. The story is entertaining and moves along at a decent pace, the protagonist characters are sweet and likable and fellow CNBLUE member, Kang Min Hyuk is absolutely adorable, while the antagonistic characters are about as spoiled, selfish and unlikable as they come. There's enough conflict to keep things interesting without trapping you in the unhappy land of constant table flipping and the reunification of Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye was for many (myself included), the lovely pairing we'd all hoped for, but never got, in You're Beautiful.

To add to the list of positives, the music in Heartstrings is absolutely fantastic and the modern/traditional rendition of "Habanera" from Georges Bizet's opera, Carmen, is one of my all-time favorite pieces to come from a musically themed drama.

Being a fan of both Yong Hwa and sappy, feel-good dramas, I enjoyed Heartstrings but I cannot, in good conscience, give this drama the rave reviews I'd like to give it because there is one point where this drama left me sadly disappointed. If you're reading this and you've already watched this drama, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm about to say but for those of you who haven't taken the time to watch Heartstrings yet, let me tell you here and now, the final kiss in this drama is absolutely, without a doubt, hands-down the WORST kiss ever in the history of Drama Land and I'm not even exaggerating. (To give you some point of reference, this kiss makes the final kiss in Pretty Man look like a burning kiss of passion and we all know how lame-sauce that kiss was!)

After watching fifteen episodes of Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye being all cutesie and lovey-dovey, you expect this series to end on a final kiss, it's kind of Drama Land law, but this kiss is so depressingly disappointing you almost wish Lee Shin and Gyu Won would break up. Seriously, it's that bad.

Though the final kiss of Heartstrings may leave you throwing things at your computer, the rest of the drama is enjoyable enough and certainly worth your time. Of course there's always the possibility that I enjoyed this drama simply because it gave me fifteen hours to drool over Yong Hwa so I want to know what you think. Did you enjoy Heartstrings or was it just too fluffy for you? What about that final kiss? Was it really as bad as I say it was or am I being a bit melodramatic? I'd love to know what you're thinking so be sure to leave me a comment below!

Omo..
new interesting thread.


Komawo...

I saw at the Facebook
#ParkDalHyang #JungYongHwa ‘s Healing smile during shooting tvN drama #TheThreeMuseteers !
Don’t miss out upcoming episode of the drama on Sep 28th :-]



anyone watch his drama?