TV
Park Jeong-hyun "Drops out of UCLA and graduates from Columbia University"
In the 7th episode of the E Channel/Channel S entertainment show 'Playing with Sister 2', which aired on the 23rd, 'R&B fairy' Park Jung-hyun appeared as a guest and formed a consensus as singers with Chae Rina, Ji-hye Lee, Young-hyun Lee, Ivy, Narsha and Choa.
At the appearance of Park Jeong-hyun on this day, the sisters cheered, saying, “‘Park’ and ‘Lee’ of Korea’s representative female vocalist ‘Park Soiger’ have gathered in one place.” Next, through the 'Choa Wiki' corner, Park Jung-hyun's super elite side was revealed on a different level. After graduating from Columbia University, an Ivy League school, Park Jung-hyun was selected as a member of Phi Beta Kappa (PBK), an elite club that includes past U.S. presidents and Warren Buffett, but since he mainly works in Korea, he only received an honorary pin.
In addition, Park Jung-hyun said, “I also attended UCLA before entering Columbia University,” and “I took a leave of absence midway and dropped out while debuting as a singer in Korea.” He continued, “I debuted at the age of 22, but at the time in Korea, I heard the saying, ‘You are done as a female singer when you turn 30, and you retire when you get married.’ “I enrolled at Columbia University in case I quit being a singer and go back,” he explained. In response, Chae Ri-na was once again surprised by the different level of elites, saying, “You can go anywhere if you just put your mind to it?”
He also revealed the story behind singing the national anthem at the opening game of the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Tour, which has recently become a hot topic. Park Jung-hyun, who impressed people by singing the American national anthem and the national anthem without accompaniment at the time, said, “I deliberately raised my voice when singing the national anthem,” adding, “The American national anthem is relatively long and has many changes. “I thought about how I could highlight the national anthem, so I set the key high,” he explained.
Next, in response to Ivy's question, “How do you catch the first note without accompaniment?”, he re-enacted the song himself, saying, “I catch the first note with the piano app and keep playing that note while walking.” The sisters burst into laughter, saying, “I thought you had amazing know-how.”
After a flurry of conversation, Park Jung-hyun showed off her cooking skills by making T-bone steak, cowboy caviar salad, and homemade nachos with her sisters. Lee Ji-hye started the housewife talk by putting on a dialect and performing a kimchi situation drama.
Park Jung-hyun, who has been married for 7 years, mentioned the ‘Power J’ aspect, saying, “My husband sets the alarm for everything from waking up to eating time,” and dissed her by saying, “My husband wears the same baseball cap and t-shirt every day.” Whenever something important happens, he transforms into something cool. “I want to see that for a longer time, but when I get home, it’s back to its original state,” he said, showing off his affection.
At the dinner that followed, Lee Young-hyun asked Park Jeong-hyun, “Has there ever been a time when you wanted to quit music?” Park Jung-hyun answered, “Almost every day.” He said, “My relationship with music has changed since music became my job. “I got married while I was dating,” he said. However, he confessed, “I always worry about how I can continue to sing.”
During the intermission, Choa mentioned, “I have seen senior Park Jung-hyun perform a jazz R&B version of AOA’s ‘Heart Attack’ without a chorus.” Park Jeong-hyun said, “It was a song designated for broadcast, so I prepared it in a hurry. “I studied by cramming, but I didn’t know what the lyrics meant,” he said, making people laugh. Lee Young-hyun recalled, “When I saw her enjoying the stage during ‘I Am a Singer,’ I said, ‘I don’t think she knows how to be nervous.’ The arrangement is also not standardized.” Park Jeong-hyeon said, “You shouldn’t try to do everything alone. “I ask everyone around me what they think and then choose the best one,” he said, expressing his musical beliefs.
An ‘English Speed Quiz’ tailored to Park Jung-hyun was also held. The Ivy team did well thanks to the extraordinary performance of Narsha, who described tripe with two words: cow and window, but Team Chae-rina took the victory by 'all-killing' 10 questions thanks to Ji-hye Lee's excellent English skills, who studied abroad in Australia. Afterwards, it was time for ‘Playing Sister’s’ proprietary ‘Yardang Oke’. Here, Ivy heated up the atmosphere by passionately singing Park Jung-hyun's 'I'll Write You'. Meanwhile, Chae Rina asked Park Jung-hyun, “Is there a singer you want to collaborate with?” and Park Jung-hyun said, “If I’m greedy, it’s BTS’s Jimin.” In addition, when the story about Park Seul-gi, who is famous for her impersonation, came up, Park Jung-hyun said, “Thank you for letting me know,” and in response to the passionate request of her sisters, she passionately imitated ‘Park Seul-gi imitating Park Jung-hyun’ and brought a lot of laughter.
Finally, Park Jung-hyun expressed her gratitude by saying, “I thought I wasn’t good at performing arts, but I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t even think it was filming an entertainment show,” and ended the meeting with the sisters beautifully by singing ‘In a Dream’ passionately. All of the sisters who watched the legendary diva's live performance were all moved, especially Choa, who watched her favorite song in the first row, shedding tears.
Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr
