Seo Tai-Ji, singer and former leader of the iconic Korean boy band “Seo Tai-Ji And The Boys” has announced that he will be making an appearance in one of Korea’s most famous talk shows, “Happy Together” (KBS) and hosted by Korea’s number one MC, Jae-suk Yu. This is the first time Seo has decided to appear in a talk show in many years.
KBS producers of “Happy Together” announced that unlike previous episodes, this “Seo Tai-Ji” special will start with Seo having a 1 on 1 interview with the MC Jae-suk Yu. In all other previous episodes of “Happy Together” Season 3 which is filmed in a set that is designed to look like a traditional Korean spa, they usually had several guests who had something in common, and were interviewed by a panel that included Yu, and comedians Myeongsu Park, Misun Park and Bong-seon Shin.
The second half of the show takes the cast and panel of guests to another set that is designed to look like a nostalgic cafeteria or snack bar, where the guests of that particular episode will show the MCs the food they like to enjoy eating that they never showed other people before. The main MCs, Jae-suk Yu and Myeongsu Park sample each guest’s dish (which they cook themselves) and ask the rest of the cast to rank them.
Though many of his old fans are showing great excitement to see the legendary pop star back on TV, Star News reported that KBS has received a great deal of criticism for the sudden change in format for the “Seo Tai-Ji” special. Gwang-su Kim, the executive producer of the show announced that the only reason they had decided to have the first half of this episode as a 1 on 1 interview with the main MC was for Seo. He brought up the possibility that Seo might feel pressured that if he is bombarded with questions from 4 MCs since he is the only guest who will be participating in the episode.
Seo Tai-Ji (Hyeon-chul Jung) originally started his music career as a member of a rock band called “Shinawi” in 1989. Seo did not become popular however until he formed “Seo Tai-Ji And The Boys” in (1991) with Juno Lee and Hyun-seok Lee (current CEO of YG Entertainment). Until they were disbanded in 1996, the boy band that focused heavily on dance music started a sensation in Korea in the 1990s winning the Golden Disk award in their debut year with their first album “I Know”. They retired in 1996, but Seo continued his music career as a solo singer after he immigrated to the United States.
In 1995 however, the boy band created a scandal when some fans played their tapes backward and heard a voice that sounded as if it was praising the Devil. For the longest time Seo was suspected to be a Satan worshipper during the 1990s.
The Seo Tai-Ji special for “Happy Together” Season 3 will be broadcast on the 9th of October.
