Now that the 44th edition of the Korean award ceremony organised by Sports Chosun has concluded its showcase, it’s time to look back at some of the best moments of Blue Dragon Film Awards 2023 (제44회 청룡영화상). While the gathering of some of the greatest names from the Korean film industry was a glorious event worth watching out for, it also equally soon turned into an emotional affair as beloved actress Kim Hye-soo stepped down from her post as the long-standing MC of the acclaimed awards show that’s almost granted the same reputable regard in Korea as are the Academy Awards internationally.
The Juvenile Justice actress stepped up to host the event for the 30th and final time, showing up with the The Interest of Love actor Yoo Yeon-seok, marking a repeat of the same hosting lineup as that of last year’s cinematic convention. Conducted on November 24, 2023, the main show event kicked off at 8:30 PM KST, right after the Blue Dragon Film Awards Red Carpet event, which began at 7 PM KST.
Some of the most highly celebrated titles of the year, such as Concrete Utopia, Smugglers, Cobweb, The Night Owl and more got yet another chance to shine bright, while the cast and crew, and all contributions affiliated with each of these projects were recognised by being presented with radiant trophies and unquantifiable admiration. Such moments of victory and other memorable presentations made for some of the most striking Blue Dragon Film Awards 2023 highlights. Let’s reminisce and savour the sentimentality attached to them (numbers don’t indicate ranks).
Best Moments of Blue Dragon Film Awards 2023
1. 1MILLION Dance Performance
Opening the show on a high and adrenaline-driven, power-packed note, the Street Woman Fighter dance crew 1MILLION kicked off the live broadcast with their unmatched, invincible performance by tapping into Imagine Dragons’ fiercely raging music track Natural that fires up the intensity the minute we step into the main show. Talk about the surge of empowerment felt while watching this special presentation, especially with such a grand platform filled with women making art, as everyone’s attention is sharply focussed on their artistic expression.
2. Hosts Kim Hye-soo and Yoo Yeon-seok Walk Out for the First Time
Right after the aforementioned performance was wrapped up, the hosting duo stepped out onto the stage for the first time, and the deafening uproar of applause for them was quite something. While it can just be viewed as a simple introduction, you can’t forget that the audience’s seats were already filled by A-star celebs from the Hallyu industry, and you can’t just let go of the fact that they couldn’t stop cheering on Kim Hye-soo and Yoo Yeon-seok, expressing their mad respect for them, especially for Hye-soo, an industry veteran loved by all.
On top of that, Kim even went on to pull off her Queen behaviour yet again despite just having made our hearts race after her appearance on the red carpet, only moments before this. While she first came out on the carpet sporting the bronze Zuhair Murad lame pleated dress, the dress she wore for her first look during the main show was completely different. Changing into the Monique Lhuillier Off-the-Shoulder Column gown, she wowed us with her quick transformation, which was later again swiftly switched over as she flaunted her golden dress from the Romona Keveza Fall 2012 collection during the latter half of the awards ceremony.
3. Go Min-si Wins the Best New Actress Award
In all-iconic scene through and through, Kim Hye-yoon and Byeon Woo-seok presented Go Min-si her award, and the winning announcement left her too stunned to speak. Left tongue-tied, the awestruck actress was too moved on hearing her name as the Best New Actress Award victor that she could barely speak. Seeing her fumble, Kim Hye-soo backed her up by encouraging the crowd to cheer for her. This was clearly a triple queen moment with a queen presenting the award to another queen, while yet another queen helped her.
4. NewJeans Performance
Unlike Korean music awards shows where the performing lineup is endlessly decked with a never-ending list of artists gracing the stage with their esteemed presence, the film celebration festa only saw a few of these presentations, and they were all we could’ve asked for. The HYBE Labels girl group danced to their grand hits ETA and Super Shy and had the entire audience in the palm of their hands as they were left with no choice but to sing along, or in some cases even dance along whilst they were all firmly seated. Sparking the ceremony hall with a youthful vibe, the NewJeans girls brought their A-game and flair to the stage.
5. Moving Kdrama Cast Interactions
As one of the most significant and biggest premieres of this year, the Disney+ K-drama Moving has got the masses raving about its genre-fusion winning points in addition to the cast members now having become household names. With Zo In-sung already seated as one of the esteemed members in the audience, and also a Blue Dragon Film Award nominee (now a winner too), the show took an endearing turn when the younger lot of the K-drama came on stage to present an award.
Lee Jung-ha and Kim Do-hoon came up as a unit and while their smiling faces were enough to melt our hearts, Jung-ha further turned up the adorable interaction by saying, “I’m so nervous i could fly to the sky. Catch me.” Hearing that, Do-hoon firmly assured him, “Well, I’m very strong, I’ll catch you so that you don’t fly away.” And of course the camera panned to Zo In-sung at that moment, catching his wide smile, thus feeding us the bare minimum, yet wholesome Moving crumbs we needed to get by today.
6. Audience Fully Enjoying Chang Kiha’s Performance
Singer-songwriter Chang Kiha was even nominated in the Best Music category for his contribution to the movie Smugglers, which he also bagged victoriously in the end. Coming up with his trophy, Kiha got the whole gathering to get up on their feet and groove along to his tunes as if it were a concert. Even Kim Hye-soo couldn’t stop herself from dancing along from behind the podium. Eventually, everyone joined him in a sing-along session, and it was everything and more!
7. Zo In-sung Wins the Best Supporting Actor Award
In yet another heartwarmingly chaotic winning moment, Zo In-sung, who was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor Award category for his role in the Smugglers movie, beat his fellow co-actor Park Jeong-min to clinch this title. As he walked up to the stage to collect his award, he warmly apologised to Jeong-min, who couldn’t be any happier for In-sung. Once on the stage, he opened his acceptance speech, which was yet another rollercoaster of emotions.
In the same breath, he regarded his senior artists and co-stars, Yum Jung-ah and Kim Hye-soo, with the utmost respect, and also went on to hilariously make a note of Jung-ah’s sikhye drink, which he recently sold on the reality show, Unexpected Business. In the end, Hye-soo even left the MC podium to embrace and congratulate him for his well-deserved win, and she even praised him and his efforts, looking forward to his colourful future as an artist.
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8. JY Park’s Performance
K-pop fans are already well aware of the The Asiansoul’s quirky artistic avatar and we all got to witness it all again in his jaw-dropping performance at the Blue Dragon Film Awards 2023. First showing up in a white suit followed by a larger-than-life trail, the singer compelled the audience to pay attention to him. Soon enough, he stepped out of his theatrical dress to reveal a purple body suit.
Taking Kim Hye-soo’s (like one of his former performances at the same awards show back in the day) hand, he went on to show people how to disco and then continued to complete his medley of songs (Sweet Dreams + When We Disco + Take On Me + Changed Man) with everyone’s eyes locked on him. The mixed reactions that followed from the audience were like waves going up and down, and made for yet another dramatically entertaining moment.
9. Tang Wei and Park Bo-gum
The former winner of the Blue Dragon Film Awards – Best Actress category made it a point to humbly express her gratitude to the platform for having recognised her talents last year whenever she got the chance to. Addressing the audience in English, half way into her speech as a presenter, the Chinese actress known for her role in the Park Chan-wook directorial Decision to Leave, reminded everyone of her upcoming film Wonderland. This Korean sci-fi movie will star Park Bo-gum and Bae Suzy in lead roles, and if the acting talents of Tang Wei couldn’t stop gushing about her co-stars’ onscreen chemistry, then surely, we won’t be able to handle it either.
10. Lee Sung-min and Suzy as Presenters
As one of the most memorable presenters of the night, Bae Suzy and industry veteran Lee Sung-min had the audience going gaga over the latter’s jokes and inter-fictional-multiverse references from across Korean content the Shadow Detective actor has starred in. With several of his onscreen sons or grandsons sitting in the audience, Lee Sung-min made the most of the opportunity. He went on to allude to his Reborn Rich co-star Song Joong-ki’s character and urged him to tell him who’d be winning the next award since he could foresee the future. His little wholesome comments had Joong-ki laughing his heart out.
After the cherished onscreen grandfather-grandson interaction, Sung-min even proudly named his other “many sons” sitting in the audience, Doh Kyung-soo, Hong Xa-bin, even Yoo Yeon-seok, aka his A Bloody Lucky Day co-star, who’s now been declared his son, who’s been “pointing the knife a lot lately”, given Yeon-seok’s unhinged portrayal of a serial killer character. The seasoned actor’s loving antics have now become a common habit and fans have especially come to enjoy his endless mentions of Song Joong-ki in such situations ever since they worked together in the 2022 revenge fantasy K-drama series.
11. Blue Dragon Film Awards Honour Kim Hye-soo’s Legacy
At the young age of 23, Kim Hye-soo first started hosting the awards series in 1993, also the year when she became the youngest actress to clinch the Best Actress award. Now, after having hosted the ceremony for 3 decades, she’s ready to hang up her cape as the show’s MC. As she took her final bow, the multitalented actress was honoured with a special award for her contribution to the Blue Dragon Film Awards legacy and history. Actor Jung Woo-sung presented her with the trophy. As the entire gathering of actors gave her a standing ovation, a special video montage was also played that fondly looked back at the past 30 years she helmed the ceremony elegantly with poise.
Blue Dragon Film Awards 2023 Red Carpet event and the main show were live streamed on KBS YouTube channels – KBS Kpop and KBS Entertain – at 7 PM and 8:30 PM KST respectively.
Did you watch the 44th Blue Dragon Film Awards? Let us know your favourite moments from the ceremony in the comments section.