Study on Insooni and Gak Huh

On April 7^th, the official song of the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 was released. Korean singers for this song were the famous Insooni and Gak Huh. We would like to give a brief introduction of two singers.

<Insooni profile>

Name: Insoon, KIM
Bithday: 5th Apr 1957
First debut as a lead singer of Hee sister in 1978

<Gak Huk profile>

Birthday: 5th Jan 1985

Award : ‘Superstar K 2’ winner
Debut : First single album “Always” in 2010

First, we will introduce the story of popular diva, Insooni who has fans that span both generations and the nation.  It’s been 33 years since she lived as a singer but she still has a wide range of fans.

Normally, entertainers over 50 years old are considered too old for success. But Insooni is still appearing in the major music shows right by the side of teenage singers. 

However, there were a lot of challenges she had to overcome to get where she is now. She was discriminated against and segregated because she was born as a biracial Korean. But she turned this into her advantage and embraced looks.  Soon, with her amazing vocal performances she achieved great success.

She is always trying different things, such as releasing a new song named “Dear Friend” with hip-pop singer and producer, Cho PD. The recent single album featured Supreme Team.  The performances showcased spectacular costumes. Even all junior singers regard her as a rival.

What about Mr. Huh?

He made his debut as a glorious winner in the cable programme “Superstar K season II,” but his past was not as beautiful as present.

He parted from his mother at the age of three and had to make a living with his father and twin brother. After graduating middle school, he had to earn his bread by installing ventilators and singing.

And he finally became the second ‘Super Star K’ and now he sings the official song of the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011.

The lyrics of the song ‘Let’s go together’ express the passion of the athletes, as they seek to overcome challenges to achieve their dreams.

We can see that both singers achieved their dreams by hard work, certainly a prevalent theme in the 2011 Daegu Games.

▶ Watch the 'Let's Go Together!' movie

University Student PR Team’s Performance

On March 30^th the national road show of the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 was hosted. After the ceremony, a song presentation and performance followed.

This was the unveiling of many promotional songs.

Songs inspired by athletes and inspired by the city of Daegu were presented at Dongdaegu station.   

The talented So Hee HONG was the host of the PR performance.

So Hee HONG

The PR band inaugurated the first stage with their own energetic cheer songs.

The other stage featured performances by four university students with the song inspired by the athletes. They wore cute outfits and gave an adorable dance routine.

B-boy with a vocal trio showed outstanding dance performance with the Insooni song, “Higher.”

  

▶ Watch Higher video clip

▶ University PR band video clip

After B-Boy’s performance, another university PR band sang a song with an impressive voice.

It was an impressive performance with a lot of passion.   

2011 Korea Baseball exhibition games - Daegu Citizen Stadium

On April 2^nd, 2011, the Korean baseball season began. We visited the Daegu Citizen Stadium to watch the exhibition match one month before the opening.

Lots of citizens visited the stadium in spite of the chilly weather.

Upon arrival, we found the stadium decorated in blue, symbolic color of the Daegu Samsung Lions.  There were fans who had gathered early in the morning.
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Daegu Station is nearby the stadium, so a lot of people transfer from there.  You can also take a taxi with a low fare.

We entered the stadium on a first-come first-served basis. Many people were there to get a better view even though it was very early.

We could see the popularity of baseball by seeing many gathered people in front of the stadium.

Some people were playing catch with a ball while standing in the entrance time. People brought gloves to the event in order to catch foul ball or home run ball.

We took a seat near the third base.  We noticed how diverse ages of the fans were.

On that day, there was a match with the away team Lotte Giants.  We could see full seats near the first base.

Of course, we took the seat in front of the third base in order to see Samsung Lions players more closely.

Luckily, we were able to see the pitcher, Yoo Chan Cha who was practicing pitch in the bullpen.

Even though the game was over with the Samsung Lions losing, the atmosphere inside the Daegu Stadium was still heated up and we enjoyed the game.

The weather will get warmer soon with the upcoming baseball season. What about visiting the nearby stadium with your bf or gf, friends or families to enjoy warm spring sunshine and cheering fun?

And don’t forget to cheer at the World Championships Daegu 2011 also!

The Hardest Track Event, the 400 meter

It is well known that the most difficult event in the competition is the 400 meter race. Because it takes around over 50 seconds to convert inhaled oxygen into energy, sprinters have to run to 100 meters with state of oxygen-depletion in the body.

Michael Johnson (USA) is a prominent athlete of this event. His world record of 42.18 seconds in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 is still not broken.  He was the only person to win in both the 200m and 400m over the course of the Olympics and World Championships history.  This amazing athlete won 54 consecutive times in the 400m until 1996.

He described his tactics for the 400m running as the “four Ps.” The first P stands for ‘Push’ where athletes run at their fastest speed from start to the 100m mark.  The second P is for ‘Pace’ controlling one’s rate of running until the 200m mark. The third P is for ‘Position’ with those around you.  The last P is ‘Pray’ eagerly for winning.  If even such a great athlete like Michael Johnson has to “pray,” then indeed this is a difficult event!

A lot of athletes will participate in the 400m during the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011. The women’s 400m final and men’s final will be held on the 29^th of August and 30^th of August, respectively.

Athletes will need all the cheering they can get in such a tough race. 

Merlene Ottey: A Superstar at Any Age

The IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 will be an event for the history books, not because of likes of super stars such as Usain BOLT (JAM) or Blanca Vlasik (CRO) but because of the possible return of athletics legend Merlene Ottey. The Jamaican born athlete who recently earned a spot on the 4x100m Relay Team looks forward to the chance to lead the team to Daegu “In case we will qualify I would be happy to be part of Slovenian relay in Daegu and London.”  

Though her best time for 2011 in the 100m is 12.07, .4 seconds slower than her best time last year, the 51 year old athlete is still in top form stating “I think when the season will progress I will be faster.”

Ottey’s accomplishments are nearly as long as her athletics history. Currently she holds the record for most number of medals at the indoor championships (6), the record for the longest career as a top level international sprinter, the most consecutive wins over 100m for a female athlete (57), the oldest ever woman to medal at the World Championships, and one of only two athletes ever to win over twenty medals at the Olympic Games and the World Championships combined (Carl Lewis is the only other).

In her prime she was an unstoppable force and at the age of 51 she is still a strong competitor. It is her passion for the sport that continues to lead her down this historical path. With her eyes set on the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 this athletics legend is sure to show the world that she is not quite finished.

Audition Program and Athletics

The reality TV program, called Survivor “I am the singer,” is making Korean excited.

This program format is based on the competition featured in the TV show Survivor.  Famous singers participate. 

Controversial programme “I am the Singer.”

This style of competition is popular because of the high amount of tension and competitiveness between the participants. 

In some ways this theme matches that of an athletic competition such as a race. Unlike group sports events such as baseball or football, individual athletes participate and compete among each other..

An athlete’s as he stands on the track might be similar to one’s feeling on stage in the entertainment program. In addition, these two kinds of competition are alike in that individuals take 100% responsibility of their result.  In this way, there only competitors are really themselves. 

National singer, Gun Mo KIM (Left), Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting 2010 (Right)

The singer on the stage in the spotlight and the athlete catching a breath on the start line are indeed much alike.

The most popular survival programme in U.K, ‘Britain’s got talent’

You might know the most famous “Survivor” themed reality show in the U.K, called ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. The famous YouTube stars Paul Potts and Susan Boyle are from this show. An ordinary mobile phone salesman, Paul Potts, became the most brilliant pop opera tenor through the show.  A middle-aged woman who went by the name of Susan Boyle blew audiences away.  These two competitors fulfilled their dreams.


[Link : Paul Potts' audition video clip]
[Link : Susan Boyle's audition video clip]

Korea’s Got Talent

The show, “Korea’s Got Talent,” held a qualifying round in Daegu on April 8^th.

Maybe we can have a Paul or Susan in Korea too.

Most popular survival show in last year, ‘Super Star K’

This show also produced a lot of stars including season II winner Gak Huh who recorded the official song of the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011.

Recently opened ‘Project Runway Korea season III’

The program is not only limited to singing. 

“Project Runway Korea,” is a program that looks for the best new designers in Korea. This program follows a designer’s from its initial creation to its display on the runway.

Original programme ‘Project Runway’ of America

In addition, there are several survival programs such as American Idol and Great Birth in Korea.

A challenger’s endurance through competition serves a popular theme in media and sports alike. Often it leads to amazing performances that no one could imagine.

Finding the World’s Greatest Athlete, Decathlon

Decathlon, as the name implies, is an athletic event consisting of ten distinct track and field events. The first day consists of a 100m race, a long jump, a shot put, a high jump and a 400m race.  For the second day, athletes participate in the 110 Hurdles, Discus throw, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 m race. The winner is determined by the combined performance in all 10 events. Decathlon’s scoring table is on 1,500 point scale.  In the past, 1,500 point is regarded as man’s limitation but that was broken and changed recently.

Roman Sebrle from Czech

In 2001 Sebrle became the first decathlete ever to achieve over 9,000 points setting the world record at 9,026 points. In general, the winner’s score for the Olympics and World Championships were around 8,500 since 1970.  So, you can really understand how great Sebrle’s score was. 

Dan O’Brien from USA

There are still other great athletes even though they didn't pass the 9,000 point mark. Dan O’Brien was deemed one of the best decathlon athletes winning an Olympic gold medal after winning three consecutive world titles from 1991 to 1995 World Championships. Tomas Dvorac won gold medals at the 1997, 1999 and 2001 World Championships.

Tomas Dvorac from Czech

These athletes are great not simply because they won three consecutive gold medals.

It is most important to maintain the body’s overall balance during the 4 track events and 6 field events in the decathlon. Athletes can not focus on training for a specific event because that breaks the balance and harmony of the body. So, two athletes mentioned above maintained a strong harmony in their body for six whole years. It is hard to imagine how much they trained. That’s the reason we can call decathlon athletes the world’s greatest.

Kun-Woo Kim from Korea

He set the current record for Koreans of 7,824 point in 2006.

The decathlon event of Championships 2011 will begin on Sat, the 27^th of August at 10AM.