Championships will be aired over the Korean Lunar New Year holiday, which runs from February 4th to February 6th, 2019.
By Anna Kim
Staff Writer
The Korean Lunar New Year is coming up and idol stars will show their athletic characteristics on the MBC’s special entertainment program during the holiday, which falls on Feb. 4th through Feb. 6th, 2019.
The Idol Star Athletics Championships was televised for the first time in 2010. The show featured celebrities, especially riding-high K-Pop idols, and has made it big time through the MBC TV station since its inception.
Last month, the MBC announced that Jun Hyun Moo, Super Junior’s Leeteuk, and TWICE would be serving as the main MCs for the upcoming 2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships. The TV station also announced that they would add a brand-new event this year and filming for the broadcast will be held at the Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on January 7th.
In order to showcase an idol’s soccer skills while minimizing the risk of physical injury, the Championships will feature a new penalty shootout event. In addition, Girl’s Day’s Yura, Super Junior’s Shindong, and comedian Kim Shin Young will host the bowling event, which will be held at a bowling alley in Seoul, separately from the other events on January 14th.
Some of the participating idols gave a sneak peek at their routines and talked about the effort and pain that went into preparing for the event.
(G)I-DLE’s Shuhua said, “I received a total of 19 lessons, and each lesson took about three hours. I had to take them after my scheduled work.”
LABOUM’s ZN delivered, “I slouch a lot, so my posture had to be fixed by my coaches. They tied me with a rope to practice my moves. My goal for this year is to sit straighter.”
MOMOLAND’s JooE said, “It was hard because I got stressed with trying out new things for the first time, which was on top of the muscle pain. I finally felt relieved after the event.”
However, GFRIEND’s Yuju sits out of the filming of 2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships due to health concerns. On January 7th, GFRIEND’s agency Source Music took to their staff account on Twitter to state, “GFRIEND member Yuju will not be able to participate in the show’s filming which will take place today, owing to being diagnosed with influenza. We ask for your understanding of the situation, and we can confirm that the other five members will be participating in the filming as scheduled.” GFRIEMD is scheduled to participate in the show’s archery competitions. Other categories include track and field, bowling, rhythmic gymnastics, and penalty shootouts. Stay tuned to hear more! It is just around the corner.
Jun Hyun Moo.
Super Junior’s Leeteuk.
The Idol Star Athletics Championships.
