Actor Rowoon has been at the center of various controversies since the beginning of the year. Although Rowoon hosted the '2023 KBS Drama Awards' and received three awards, he became embroiled in controversies due to verbal mistakes and qualification issues.
On December 31st of the previous year, Rowoon hosted the '2023 KBS Drama Awards' held at the KBS New Building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, alongside broadcaster Jang Sung-kyu and actress Seol In-ah.
On that day, due to nervousness, Rowoon was seen reading the prompter in a robotic manner without showing any laughter or reactions. Jang Sung-kyu, who was co-hosting, also seemed uncomfortable.
Jang Sung-kyu jokingly remarked, "Can I borrow your soul?" pointing out Rowoon's awkwardness. Unlike the other two MCs who had familiarized themselves with the script in advance and hosted naturally, Rowoon seemed to be solely focused on the prompter.
Despite having appeared as an MC about ten times since his debut and even appearing as a fixed MC on recent audition programs, it was hard to find his skills or efforts.
Moreover, on that day, Rowoon won the Best Actor Award, surpassing Jang Dong-yoon who won an Excellence Award for 'Oasis.' 'Oasis' had recorded a high viewer rating of 9.7%, making it the top-rated KBS mini-series.
However, controversies arose over Rowoon winning the award for Best Actor despite his relatively lower profile and popularity as an MC compared to Jang Dong-yoon.
Another issue was Rowoon's acceptance speech. After saying, "As someone who loves acting and wants to do well, I will continue to work hard," he added, "Please watch over me with blurry eyes."
The phrase "watch over with blurry eyes" typically implies knowingly ignoring something wrong and pretending not to know. While only Rowoon knows his true intentions behind the statement, it can be interpreted as him asking for understanding regarding his limited acting skills.
Rowoon has damaged his own image. The goodwill he had built through his activities with SF9 and various acting roles quickly eroded.
-There's a difference between being incapable and showing no effort. Koreans really hate it when people don't show effort. If he's not feeling well, he should take a break. Why try to do everything?
-"Blurry eyes"? Even on a rewatch, the acceptance speech was so awkward. I wish they hadn't chosen him as an MC; it was so uncomfortable to watch.
-He deserves criticism. If he messed up the hosting that badly, he deserves to be criticized.
-Forget about other things, but don't make him an MC again. It seemed like he was forced into doing it. It looked like he was dragged there against his will. He didn't leave his group on good terms, and now he's added this image to himself.
-Those calling everything a controversy must not have watched the awards. His attitude was really off. I hope he realizes after reading this article.
-"Watch over with blurry eyes" LOL Seriously, this is hilarious. Crazy.
-Who uses "blurry eyes" in a positive context?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Also, he's bad at MCing... (I watched the year-end KBS show or some Music Bank Global Festival, and his style was so different from other MCs that I thought he was deliberately acting poorly with a concept.)
-Even if he meant it as a plea due to a misunderstanding of the meaning, it's still not good. He's getting paid to work. If he's lacking in some areas, he should make up for it with effort. What's with hoping for leniency? If it was just his solo album, he would be the only one affected, but among dozens of other actors, it's embarrassing to act poorly. With that attitude, he'll never improve.
-Is he going through a tough time lately? He should reduce his workload. MCing like that is just damaging his reputation.
-He really can't host. I don't know if he's good at acting, but he just can't host, they had to cut and restart multiple times.
