title: Mickey Rourke

text: In 2001, Rourke appeared as the villain in Enrique Iglesias's music video for "Hero", which also featured Jennifer Love Hewitt. In 2002, he took the role of The Cook in Jonas Åkerlund's "Spun", teaming up once again with Eric Roberts. His first collaborations with directors Robert Rodriguez and Tony Scott, in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" and "Man on Fire", respectively, were in smaller roles. Nonetheless, these directors subsequently decided to cast Rourke in lead roles in their next films. In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role as Marv in Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's "Sin City". Rourke received awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the IFTA, and the Online Film Critics Society, as well as Man of the Year from "Total Film" magazine that year. Rourke followed "Sin City" with a supporting role in Tony Scott's "Domino" alongside Keira Knightley, in which he played a bounty hunter. Rourke played the role of "The Blackbird" in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Killshot", and appeared as Darrius Sayle in the adaptation of the Alex Rider novel "Stormbreaker".


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In addition, in 2004, Rourke provided the voice for "Jericho" in the third installment of the "Driver" video game series. Rourke also appeared in a 40-page story by photographer Bryan Adams for Berlin's "Zoo Magazine". In an article about Rourke's return to steady acting roles, entitled "Mickey Rourke Rising", Christopher Heard stated that actors Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, and Brad Pitt have "animated praise for Rourke and his work". During a roundtable session of Oscar-nominated actors held by "Newsweek", Brad Pitt cited Rourke as one of his early acting heroes along with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made films that he now sees as a creative "sellout" (the action film "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man"), Rourke stated that "all that I have been through ...[has] made me a better, more interesting actor". Rourke's renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that "my best work is still ahead of me".


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke had a role in the film version of "The Informers", playing Peter, an amoral former studio security guard who plots to kidnap a small child. In 2008, Rourke played the lead in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler", winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, about washed-up professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Regarding first reading the screenplay, he stated that he originally "didn't care for it".


title: Mickey Rourke

text: He also spoke on personal concern and hesitance of being in a film about wrestling, for he perceived it as being "pre-arranged and pre-choreographed". As he trained for the film, he developed an appreciation and respect for what real-life pro wrestlers do to prepare for the ring:


title: Mickey Rourke

text: He trained under former WWE wrestler Afa the Wild Samoan for the part, and has received a BAFTA award, a Golden Globe award, an Independent Spirit Award, and an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Rourke lost the Oscar to Sean Penn, while Penn did acknowledge Rourke in his acceptance speech.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke has written or co-written six scripts: "Homeboy", "The Last Ride", "Bullet", "Killer Moon", "Penance" and the latest, "Pain". Of these, the first three were produced as films between 1988 and 1996.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In 2010, Rourke played the role of the main villain Whiplash in the film "Iron Man 2". In an interview with "Rip It Up" magazine he revealed that he prepared for the role by visiting Russian jail inmates. In 2011, he portrayed the villainous King Hyperion in "Immortals" and received praise for his performance, while the film received mixed-to-positive reviews and became a box office success. He also had a minor role as Tool in Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables". Though he had little screen time, his performance was met with rave reviews and cited as one of the film's highlights.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Just before the end of the year, he confirmed on a British TV talk show that he would play Gareth Thomas in an upcoming film about the Welsh rugby star who came out as gay the previous year. As of February 2011, he began research on the film, but noted, "We're not going to make this movie until we've done all the proper research. We need to do our homework and I need to train for from nine to eleven months." In 2011, Rourke was cast in the film "Java Heat" as an American citizen shadowing terrorist groups in Java, Indonesia. The film was released in 2013. In 2014, he reprised his Marv role from "Sin City" in the sequel "".


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In 2020, Rourke competed on season four of "The Masked Singer" as "Gremlin" and sang "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King. After the performance, the Gremlin costume became too hot for him and he ended up unmasking himself before the audience could even vote.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In the 2021 film "Man of God", which is on the life of St Nectarios of Aegina, Mickey Rourke plays the role of a paralyzed man.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke provided the mid-song rap on the David Bowie song "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" on his album "Never Let Me Down" (1987).


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke made his stage debut in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge". He lent his voice to the video games "Driv3r" (2004) as Charles Jericho and "" (2005) as Terrence "Terry" Higgins, which was his fifth and last work with actor Christopher Walken. He also appeared in a Japanese TV commercial for Suntory Reserve (early '90s) and a commercial for Daihatsu and Lark cigarettes. In 2009, Rourke voiced the character of Dick Marcinko for the biographical video game "Rogue Warrior", which was released on December 1, 2009. Rourke's portrayal of Marcinko was a source of humorous praise from a few critics (although many others criticized Rourke's role to the same degree that they did every other aspect of the game).


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke appeared as a gangster in the music video for "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt also made an appearance in the clip.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke has been the subject of two extensive biographies on his life and career "Stand Alone: The Films of Mickey Rourke" and "Hollywood Outlaw: The Life of Mickey Rourke" both were written by British author Saurav Dutt. In 2014 Dutt announced he was producing and writing a novelization inspired by an undeveloped script for a movie that Rourke wrote titled "Wild Horses" which was eventually released in Fall 2015.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke has dated several celebrities, including Terry Farrell and Sasha Volkova. He has been married twice and does not have children. In 1981, he married Debra Feuer, whom he met on the set of and who co-starred with him in "Homeboy" (1988) as his love interest. The marriage ended in 1989, with Rourke subsequently commenting that making the film "9½ Weeks" "was not particularly considerate to my wife's needs." The two have remained good friends, according to an interview Feuer gave in 2009.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: "Wild Orchid" co-star Carré Otis was briefly a "cause célèbre" following the release of the film owing to rumors that she and then-lover Rourke filmed an unsimulated sex scene. Otis married Rourke on June 26, 1992. In 1994, Rourke was arrested on suspicion of spousal abuse. The charges were later dropped. The couple reconciled and also starred together in "Exit in Red", but their marriage ended in December 1998. Otis and writer Hugo Schwyzer co-wrote "", an autobiography that detailed Otis' marriage to Rourke that was published in October 2011 by HarperCollins. In November 2007, Rourke was arrested again, this time on DUI charges in Miami Beach.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In numerous TV and print interviews, he attributes his comeback after 14 years to his agent David A. Unger, weekly meetings with a psychiatrist, "Steve", and a Catholic priest, Father Peter Colapietro. Rourke has been described as a "real good Catholic" by friend Tom Sizemore.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: From 2009 to 2015, Rourke was in a relationship with Ukrainian-born German model Anastassija Makarenko.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Mickey stated during an interview with Piers Morgan on July 12, 2022, he has been single for the past 7 years.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In May 1989, Rourke revealed that he donated most of his £1.5 million earnings from the film "Francesco" to support Joe Doherty in his campaign for political asylum in the United States. Doherty, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member, was wanted by UK authorities for his part in an ambush using an M60 machine gun which killed a member of Britain's elite Special Air Service in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1980. Doherty was later arrested and charged for his part in the attack but escaped with seven other prisoners after holding a prison officer hostage and engaging in a shoot-out with members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Doherty was eventually imprisoned in the UK, but was later released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In June 2006, Rourke publicly gave his support to US President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. In January 2009, Rourke expressed admiration for Bush in an interview with "GQ" magazine. He also expressed his astonishment that Islamic fundamentalists were allowed to continue their activities in the UK after the 7 July 2005 London bombings.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In August 2014, Rourke came under scrutiny for purchasing and wearing a T-shirt bearing the likeness of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time when most of the Western world was criticizing and sanctioning Russia for its annexation of Crimea. When questioned by the press, Rourke explained: "If I didn't like him, I wouldn't buy the T-shirt, believe me. I met him a couple of times and he was a real gentleman. A very cool, regular guy. Looked me right in the eye. Good guy." However, Rourke has since denounced Putin for his involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and has urged Putin to end the conflict.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In 2015, Rourke expressed his support for Ben Carson for the Republican presidential nomination. He also denounced Republican frontrunner Donald Trump as a "bully". Rourke revealed that he has had a personal vendetta against Trump after an incident in which Trump sued both him and Tupac Shakur in the 1990s. Rourke has since been very vocal in his criticisms of Trump's presidency, referring to him as a "Garbage Can" president. In 2022, Rourke claimed that Trump had sent Secret Service to visit him as a result of his comments about the former president.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In July 2020, Rourke expressed support for Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election on his Instagram account, encouraging him to "Go get his fat ass Joe @joebiden" regarding his challenge against Trump. In August he expressed support for Kamala Harris following her nomination for vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election following previous approval of her earlier in July. In October, Rourke voted for Biden and Harris which he said was the first time he had ever voted.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: In addition to his faith, Rourke has publicly attributed his comeback to his dogs. He is well known as a pet lover, particularly fond of small-breed dogs. A spay/neuter advocate, Rourke participated in a protest outside a pet shop in 2007 and has done a public service announcement for PETA.


title: Mickey Rourke

text: His first little dog was reportedly a gift from his second wife. Though Rourke's dogs are generally referred to as "chihuahuas", some are not purebred. Loki, his most-publicized dog whom he described as "the love of my life", was a chihuahua-terrier mix. So reliant was Rourke on Loki's companionship, he spent US$5,400 to have her flown to England while he was on the set of the film "Stormbreaker".


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Rourke gave his dogs credit during his Golden Globe Best Actor acceptance speech January 11, 2009: "I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here, the ones that aren't here anymore because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog. And they've meant the world to me." The day of the 2009 Golden Globes, he told Barbara Walters that "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about 14 years ago or so ... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there." Asked by Walters if he had considered suicide, he responded:


title: Mickey Rourke

text: Beau Jack sired two of Rourke's later pets, Loki and her littermate Chocolate. Beau Jack died in 2002, although Rourke reportedly gave him 45 minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chocolate was the subject of a children's book, "Chocolate at the Four Seasons", about his temporary stay with producer Bonnie Timmermann. Chocolate returned to Rourke and died in 2006. In addition to those dogs and several other past pets, Rourke currently owns a chihuahua named Jaws who appeared with him in his 2009 PETA ad, as well as in the film "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". He has had as many as seven dogs at one time, back in 2005. Jaws originally was named "Little Mickey" and was originally slated to be euthanized. Rourke also believed Jaws was previously abused. At the time of his Golden Globes tribute to his pets, Rourke owned five chihuahuas: Loki, Jaws, Ruby Baby, La Negra and Bella Loca. About a month later, on February 16, 2009, Loki died in Rourke's arms at the age of 18.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Crash Landing on You () is a 2019–2020 South Korean television series written by Park Ji-eun, directed by Lee Jeong-hyo and starring Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Seo Ji-hye, and Kim Jung-hyun. It is about a successful South Korean businesswoman and chaebol heiress who, while paragliding near Seoul, South Korea, is swept up in a sudden storm, crash-lands in the North Korean portion of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and meets an army captain and son of the Director of the GBP in the Korean People's Army who decides he will help her hide. Over time, they fall in love, despite the divide and dispute between their respective countries.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The series aired on tvN in South Korea and on Netflix worldwide from December 14, 2019, to February 16, 2020. It is the highest-rated tvN drama and the fourth highest-rated South Korean TV drama in cable television history.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is a South Korean successful entrepreneur and a chaebol heiress. One day, while paragliding in Seoul, a tornado blows her off course. As a result, she crash-lands into the North Korean portion of the DMZ. Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin) is a member of the North Korean elite and a captain in the Korean People's Army. As he is patrolling, he meets Se-ri and saves her. Having decided to help her go back to the South, he hides her from other North Koreans, especially Cho Cheol-gang (Oh Man-seok) who is out to expose him. As they spend time together, they fall in love.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: "Crash Landing on You" tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin), a South Korean chaebol heiress to Queen's Group, and Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin), a member of the North Korean elite and a captain in Korean People's Army.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: One day, while Yoon Se-ri is paragliding in Seoul, South Korea, a sudden tornado knocks her out and blows her off course. She awakens to find that her paraglider has crashed into a tree in a forest in the North Korean portion of the DMZ, an area forbidden for South Koreans. She then meets Ri Jeong-hyeok, who eventually gives her shelter and develops plans to secretly help her return to South Korea. Over time, they fall in love, despite the divide and dispute between their respective countries.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Back in South Korea, Yoon Se-ri's family suppresses the news of her disappearance out of fear that it will depress the stock price of the chaebol. Just before Se-ri went missing, her retiring father informed his family that he intended to announce her as his successor based on her abilities as a businesswoman, as shown by her successfully building her own company, instead of her half-brothers, Se-jun and Se-hyung, who struggled managing the chaebol's subsidiaries. The brothers are supported by their equally-ambitious wives, Do Hye-ji (Hwang Woo-seul-hye) and Go Sang-ah (Yoon Ji-min), respectively. In Se-ri's absence, Se-hyung outmaneuvers his siblings through unscrupulous means to win the succession battle to lead the family firm, while Sang-ah attempts to take over Se-ri's company.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Se-ri and Jeong-hyeok's story is intertwined with that of Seo Dan (Seo Ji-hye) and Gu Seung-jun (Kim Jung-hyun). Dan is the sophisticated daughter of a wealthy North Korean department store owner. She has been studying the cello in Russia for several years but returns to marry Jeong-hyeok, to whom she is engaged through an arranged marriage even though they have only met a few times. As she returns to Pyongyang, she crosses paths more than once with Gu Seung-jun, who had fled to North Korea (under the protection of corrupt North Korean officers) in order to escape from the pursuit of Se-hyung, under whose incompetent watch he had embezzled large amounts of money.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The first half of the story follows Jeong-hyeok's attempts to hide Se-ri and help her get back to South Korea. They are impeded by Cho Cheol-gang (Oh Man-seok), a corrupt and ruthless officer from the State Security Department, who had previously arranged for the murder of Jeong-hyeok's older brother, an officer who tried to expose him for his traitorous deeds against the North Korean regime. Jeong-hyeok's attachment to Se-ri distresses not only Dan, his fiancée, but also his father, who is a high-ranking political figure, as the discovery of Jeong-hyeok harboring a South Korean citizen could be used by rival officials to ruin their families reputation.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: In the second half of the story, Se-ri is able to return to South Korea and resume leadership of her company, surprising her family and others who had thought she was dead. While Cheol-gang is initially convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes, he escapes custody through aide from his loyal soldiers and criminal network whereby he infiltrates South Korea to go after Se-ri. Despite opposition from his father who nevertheless reluctantly gives his support, Jeong-hyeok first arrived in South Korea discreetly before his soldiers was clandestinely sent to Seoul by Jeong-hyeok father to assist Jeong-hyeok in his aim to protect Se-ri from Cheol-gang's vengeance. Meanwhile, in North Korea, despite Seo Dan and Seung-jun's initial encounters being random and unpleasant, she shelters him when the corrupt officers betray him to Se-hyung's gangsters, and they eventually fall in love.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The series reunited Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin after first collaborated together in the 2018 film "The Negotiation".


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The premise of "Crash Landing on You" was inspired by a real event involving South Korean actress Jung Yang. In September 2008, Yang and three others had to be rescued after bad fog had caused their leisure boat to drift "into the maritime boundary between North and South Korea." Park Ji-eun, the drama's screenwriter, was introduced to North Korean defector turned film adviser and writer Kwak Moon-wan, who became part of the drama's writing team. Kwak, who studied film directing in Pyongyang and had also been a member of an elite security force protecting the Kims, helped in crafting the drama's plot and in conceptualizing the setting and scenes in the drama portraying North Korean life.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The production process proved to be "painstakingly meticulous", owing both to South Korea's relationship with North Korea (where most of the story's plot ensues), as well as to avoid any unintentional violations of the 1948 National Security Act which forbids public praise or propaganda of North Korea and the Kim Family. The script avoided use of the honorific "Chairman" to refer to North Korea's leaders, and visible propaganda signs avoid mentioning anything about Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il, or Kim Jong-Un (while their mandatory portraits were usually either blurred or obscured by the camera angles). In addition, the North Korean lapel pins used by North Korean characters were one third smaller than their actual size. Props manager Joo Dong-man said the crew did not have a "guidebook on multiple hurdles he had to hop over – skillfully and delicately – to accurately depict the country while dodging criticism" and, thus, had to be careful "not to misrepresent the state". Their research was also guided by North Koreans living in South Korea.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The first script reading took place on July 31, 2019, in Sangam-dong, Seoul, and filming overseas started at the end of August 2019. North Korean scenes were shot in South Korea and Mongolia. Scenes that took place in Switzerland were shot on location. The village of Iseltwald, one such location, experienced a tourism boom as a result.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The following is the official track list of "Crash Landing on You (Original Television Soundtrack)" album. The tracks with no indicated lyricists and composers are the drama's musical score; the artists indicated for these tracks are the tracks' composers themselves. Singles included on the album were released from December 15, 2019, to February 16, 2020.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: With 1.75 billion online views, "Crash Landing on You" outperformed the prior leader, Mr. Sunshine, for most viewed drama clips by 200 million views as of February 17, 2020. The success of the drama helped to boost brand items due to product placement. The lead characters portrayed by Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin ate Gold Olive Chicken, a product which had a 100% sales improvement due to the show. There was also an increase in sales of the Swarovski earrings worn by Son Ye-jin.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: It was a huge success in China. The hashtag for the drama's final episode has received over 460 million views on Weibo. The drama's main streaming website, which holds the copyright in China, crashed on the night it aired the final episode due to the enormous number of users. It was extremely popular in Japan during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic via Netflix. While the Korean Wave is a historically prominent component of media within Japan, "Crash Landing on You" has been uniquely influential there, in part due to its portrayal of daily life in North Korea. The series was also a hit in the Philippines, where many viewers noted similarities between the plot line and the political narrative of the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: In the United States, "Variety" named "Crash Landing on You" one of "The Best International Shows on Netflix", and one of the "Best International TV Series of 2020." "Time" also ranked it as one of the best Korean dramas on Netflix. "Elle" ranked it number 1 (out of 10) on the October 2020 "10 Best K-Dramas To Binge-Watch On Netflix" list, and "Vogue" listed it as one of "Netflix: 4 Korean dramas to discover this summer." Boy Genius Report ranked it #2 of the five "K-dramas you absolutely must watch on Netflix." BuzzFeed listed it as number 3 of the top 27 best K-dramas on Netflix. "Forbes" noted that it ranked number 1 out of the top 10 on a Netflix's Instagram list of its most romantic series, and Screen Rant ranked it as having the #2 (out of the top 10) "tear-jerking scenes in K-dramas." In addition, Jo Walker of "The Guardian"'s "Stream Team" called it "addictively off-the-wall, heartbreaking and hilarious." Adella Suliman and Stella Kim of NBC News also suggested that the drama "features all the ingredients a viewer could wish for" and has "drawn a global audience of millions, many no doubt searching for entertainment as they while away their time in coronavirus-related lockdowns." Wadzanai Mhute of "The Daily Beast" argues that "Crash Landing on You," "was a cultural phenomenon in its native South Korea, and it's gone criminally overlooked in the States, where it's available to stream on Netflix." Megan O'Keefe of Decider states that, ""Crash Landing on You" is a show unlike anything you've ever seen. It has insane action sequences, glorious montages of wealth porn, unblinking looks at the impoverished lives of everyday North Koreans, and one of the most heart-wrenching love stories in ages. With 16 90-minute-long episodes, it's truly a feast to be savored and the perfect antidote to the winter quarantine blues."


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Although the series is a work of fiction, it has received some positive reviews from North Korean defectors for its depiction of everyday life in North Korea. At the same time, some details, such as the availability of food, relatively warm behavior of the army and the ease with which the characters cross the border have been criticized. Kim Ara, one of the extras who portrayed a North Korean villager, is a writer and actress from North Korea who states that she felt "like [she] was actually back in a North Korean village." Kwak Moon-wan, a North Korean defector, who had served with the Supreme Guard Command (which protects the ruling Kim family) worked as an adviser for the series, providing the writers with details about life in North Korea as well as North Korean governmental agencies that added credibility to the show. He acknowledged some of the criticism, admitting that he has taken liberties with the depiction of North Korea (such as not mentioning food shortages), but rejected the claim that he was glamorizing the regime or drawing a false equivalence, saying that the show also depicted some of the darker aspect of life under the regime, such as the issue of kotjebi (child homelessness) and the frequent power cuts. Some North Korean refugees, such as Chun Hyo-jin, who defected from the border village of Hyesan at the age of nineteen, tend to agree: "Even if what they say, that it glamorizes North Korea, is true, would they choose to live there? I don't think so". Even though the drama leaves political matters aside, which are essential to the North Korea issue as she sees it, she says it still is of great significance: "Its depiction of North Korea is a bit far from reality, but it has made the people interested in North Korea". The drama's producer Lee Jung-hyo said during a press conference in Seoul in December: "I know some people are uncomfortable about our subject, North Korea, but we don't portray a wholly authentic North Korea in our drama. Most settings are closer to a fantasy, although some aspects do reflect real North Korean life".


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Kang Na-ra, a North Korean defector who advised the show's production team, stated that about 60% of North Korea's depiction in the show is accurate: "The richer families in North Korea like to show off their wealth by adding lace curtains to their windows. So that was pretty well portrayed". She also appreciated the detail about kimchi caves: "Since rural North Korea doesn't get electricity, they don't have refrigerators. They have kimchi caves where they store kimchi, and that was also recreated well". House checks are also a regular affair. She revealed that she once had to hide inside a furnace at the house of the broker who helped her to escape to avoid detection. In the drama, the heiress had to hide in the kimchi storage area when security forces came knocking one night. As depicted in the drama, North Koreans are allowed to choose only from a fixed list of hair styles - 18 for women and 28 for men. "There's a punishment for you if you don't comply" Kang said in an interview with YouTube channel DKDKTV. On the other hand, as she explained in a YouTube video, the characters were able to slip across the border much more easily than in real life: "I had to pay a broker 10 million won (US$8,400) to swim across the Yalu river [which borders North Korea and China] while being shot at from behind by soldiers [when I escaped]". Cartoonist Choi Seong-guk, who defected to the South in 2011, also said the drama set is 60% accurate. The portrayal of jangmadang, or local markets where all kinds of goods, including imports from South Korea, are sold is especially real, he told The Sunday Times. However, he felt that the drama "glamorized the soldiers too much, almost to an uncomfortable extent". He said North Korean men enter the military when they are 17 and serve for 10 to 13 years. "During this time, they are...ruthless and harsh, robbing homes and raping women at night". Still, he hopes the drama will make its way to North Korea and go viral: "I hope the North Koreans who see this drama will realize how positively the South Koreans think of them and learn to change".


title: Crash Landing on You

text: There were also critical responses to the themes of the drama in both regions. In January 2020, The Christian Liberal Party (CLP) filed a complaint in South Korea against tvN at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, accusing the network of glamorizing North Korea through this series, in violation of the National Security Law. Then, in March 2020, a few North Korean media outlets criticized unnamed South Korean programs and films that explored relations between North and South Korea. While "Crash Landing on You" was not directly mentioned by the media outlets, it was perceived to be among the referenced works. Another is the 2019 film, "Ashfall," although that film was also not directly cited in the articles.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Stephen Epstein (Victoria University of Wellington) and Christopher Green (Leiden University) suggest that while "Crash Landing on You" is formulaic, it also "is a crucial text for evaluating ongoing change in South Korean popular representations of its neighbour. Indeed, given the concerted use of North Korean backdrops in "Crash Landing on You" and the size and global extent of its audiences, the show is likely the most noteworthy South Korean popular culture representation of North Korea yet produced."


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Yun Suk-jin, a professor at Chungnam National University concurs, noting that the series "changed the stereotypes on North Korea and candidly showed that it too is a place where people live." Sarah A. Son, Lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield also agrees, noting that "Crash Landing on You" responds to the "socio-cultural divide" between the North and the South, which academic scholarship cites as one of the biggest obstacles to future unification. Son argues that "through the re-framing of stereotypes, albeit with some creative licence, "Crash Landing on You" arguably humanises the North for its audience in ways that inter-Korean dialogue has not in recent years. Despite its soft-focus romanticisation of the political situation, "Crash Landing on You" brings the pain of the division to a personal level for a generation of Koreans who, unlike their grandparents, have no memory of what it was like to be a single nation."


title: Crash Landing on You

text: Joanna Elfving-Hwang, Associate Professor of Korean Studies at the University of Western Australia notes that "North Korea tends to appear in our imagination as the 'axis of evil', we think of [negative things like] nuclear weapons and human rights abuses...this drama has dared to think about North Korean people differently and represented them as quite human and quite Korean." Steve Hung Lok-wai, a Korean Affairs expert from the Chinese University of Hong Kong states that the drama sidestepped larger political issues through a narrative that did not end with the male lead's defection: "Lots of people questioned whether the male lead, the North Korean soldier, would end up defecting to the South for love, but they were able to sidestep that scenario and gave it a plausible ending where the two would meet in Switzerland". Thus, he argues, it's "quite smart because they avoided all the real taboos but made it believable enough where it would make people think about these political problems." John Delury, a professor at Yonsei University, praised the series for its decision to draw parallels between powerful families in both the South and the North, and to humanize North Koreans beyond generic stereotypes.


title: Crash Landing on You

text: The series was a huge rating success in South-Korea. This series aired on tvN, a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS). "Crash Landing on You" is the fourth highest-rated South Korean TV drama in cable television history. Early in its run, "Crash Landing on You" was the fourth highest rated Korean cable drama. The final episode's ratings made it the second highest rated Korean drama in cable television history at that time, surpassing fellow tvN dramas "Reply 1988" and "", until It finally became the fourth highest rated drama, surpassed by both JTBC drama, The World of the Married and Reborn Rich .


title: Crash Landing on You

text: In May 2020 the show's scriptwriter, Park Ji-eun, was named "Person of the Year" by South Korea's Unification Ministry, for contributing to "unification education."


title: Crash Landing on You

text: On March 29, 2021, it was announced that "Crash Landing on You" would be adapted into a musical and the production companies Pop Music and T2N Media had completed a global copyright contract with Studio Dragon. The musical was performed at the Shinhan Card Artium, COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul from September 16 to November 13, 2022.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the second time that France staged the competition (the first was in 1938) and the ninth time that it was held in Europe. Spanning 32 days, it is the longest World Cup tournament ever held.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997. For the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums in 10 host cities, with the opening match and final staged at the newly built Stade de France in the Parisian commune of Saint-Denis.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The tournament was won by host country France, who beat defending champions Brazil 3–0 in the final. France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth (after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina) to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7. Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFA's requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively. France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938. England, who hosted the competition in 1966 and won it, were among the original applicants, but later withdrew their application in favour of an ultimately successful bid to host UEFA Euro 1996.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: On 4 June 2015, while co-operating with the FBI and the Swiss authorities, Chuck Blazer confirmed that he and other members of FIFA's executive committee were bribed during the 1998 and 2010 World Cups host selection process. Blazer stated that "we facilitated bribes in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup". Since France won the selection process it was initially thought the bribery came from its bid committee. It eventually transpired that the bribe payment was from the failed Moroccan bid.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, Paris on 12 December 1995. As tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was defending champion Brazil, but it was also France's first World Cup since 1986. 174 teams from six confederations participated, 24 more than in the previous round. Fourteen countries qualified from the European zone (in addition to hosts France). Ten were determined after group play – nine group winners and the best second-placed team; the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches with the winners qualifying for the finals as well. CONMEBOL (South America) and CAF (Africa) were each given five spots in the final tournament, while three spots were contested between 30 CONCACAF members in the North and Central America and the Caribbean zone. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, determined by the two best second-placed teams.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Four nations qualified for the first time: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a two-legged tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament. Chile qualified for the first time since 1982, after serving a ban that saw them miss out on the two previous tournaments. Paraguay and Denmark returned for the first time since 1986. Austria, England, Scotland and Yugoslavia returned after missing out on the 1994 tournament, with the Balkan team now appearing under the name of FR Yugoslavia. Among the teams who failed to qualify were two-time winners Uruguay (for the second successive tournament); Portugal (their last absence as of 2022); Sweden, who finished third in 1994; Russia (who failed to qualify for the first time since 1978 after losing to Italy in the play-off round); and the Republic of Ireland, who had qualified for the previous two tournaments. The highest-ranked team not to qualify was the UEFA Euro 1996 runners-up the Czech Republic (ranked 3rd), while the lowest-ranked team that did qualify was Nigeria (ranked 74th).


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: As of 2022, this was the last time Austria, Bulgaria, Norway, Romania and Scotland qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, and the only time Jamaica have qualified.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, qualified for the final tournament.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: France's bid to host the World Cup centered on a national stadium with 80,000 seats and nine other stadiums located across the country. When the finals were originally awarded in July 1992, none of the regional club grounds were of a capacity meeting FIFA's requirements – namely being able to safely seat 40,000. The proposed national stadium, colloquially referred to as the 'Grand stade', met with controversy at every stage of planning; the stadium's location was determined by politics, finance and national symbolism. As Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac successfully negotiated a deal with Prime Minister Édouard Balladur to bring the Stade de France, as it was now called, to the commune of Saint-Denis just north of the capital city. Construction on the stadium started in December 1995 and was completed after 26 months of work in November 1997 at a cost of ₣2.67 billion.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The choice of stadium locations was drafted from an original list of 14 cities. FIFA and CFO monitored the progress and quality of preparations, culminating in the former providing final checks of the grounds weeks before the tournament commenced. Montpellier was the surprise inclusion from the final list of cities because of its low urban hierarchy in comparison to Strasbourg, who boasted a better hierarchy and success from its local football team, having been taken over by a consortium. Montpellier however was considered ambitious by the selecting panel to host World Cup matches. The local city and regional authorities in particular had invested heavily into football the previous two decades and were able to measure economic effects, in terms of jobs as early as in 1997. Some of the venues used for this tournament were also used for the previous World Cup in France in 1938. The Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, the Stade Municipal in Toulouse, the Gerland in Lyon, the Parc Lescure in Bordeaux and the Parc des Princes in Paris received the honour of hosting World Cup matches once again in 1998 as they had all done in 1938.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: 10 stadiums in total were used for the finals; in addition to nine matches being played at the Stade de France (the most used stadium in the tournament), a further six matches took place in Paris Saint-Germain's Parc des Princes, bringing Paris's total matches hosted to 15. France played four of their seven matches in the national stadium; they also played in the country's second and third largest cities, Marseille (hosting 7 total matches) and Lyon (hosting 6 total matches), as well as a Round of 16 knockout match in the northern city of Lens (also hosting 6 total matches). Nantes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Saint-Etienne also hosted 6 matches in total; all of the stadiums used also hosted knockout round matches.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: This was the first FIFA World Cup where fourth officials used electronic boards, instead of cardboard.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: This was the first World Cup since the introduction of golden goals, banning of tackles from behind that endanger the safety of an opponent and allowance of three substitutions per game.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: 34 referees and 33 assistants officiated in the 1998 World Cup. As a result of the extension to 32 teams in the finals, there was an increase of 10 referees and 11 officials from the 1994 World Cup.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The FIFA Organising Committee announced the eight seeded teams on 3 December 1997. The historic tradition to seed the hosts (France) and holders (Brazil) was upheld; while the remaining six seeds were granted for the other top7-ranked teams, based on their results obtained in the last three FIFA World Cups (ratio 3:2:1, counting in total 60%) and their FIFA World Ranking position in the last month of the past three years (equal ratio, counting in total 40%).


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: For the draw, the 32 teams were allocated into four pots. The eight top-seeded teams were allocated in pot A and would be drawn/selected into the first position of the eight groups playing in the group stage. The remaining 24 unseeded teams were allocated into three pots based on geographical sections, with the: Nine European teams in pot B; four Asian teams and three South American teams in pot C; five African teams and three North American teams in pot D.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The general principle was to draw one team from each pot into the eight groups, although with special combined procedures for pot B and pot C, due to comprising more/less than eight teams - but sixteen teams in total. At the same time, the draw also needed to respect the geographical limitation, that each group could not feature more than one team from each confederation, except for the European teams where the limitation was maximum two per group.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: For the first time in history, the draw event took place in a football stadium, with 38,000 spectators and an estimated 1 billion TV viewers. The draw was officiated by FIFA secretary general Sepp Blatter. Teams were drawn by football legends Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto Parreira, George Weah and Raymond Kopa.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Organiser Michel Platini, who later became president of UEFA, admitted in 2018 that the draw for the group stage of the competition had been fixed so that France and Brazil were kept apart until the final, telling France Bleu Sport: "We did a bit of trickery. When we were organising the schedule. We did not spend six years organising the World Cup to not do some little shenanigans".


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The statement from Platini referred to the fact that, shortly before the World Cup finals draw took place, the FIFA Organising Committee had met to finalise the draw process. At this meeting, the committee had approved the proposal to assign host nation France to group position C1 and defending champions Brazil to group position A1 ahead of the draw. As the tournament structure was also predetermined so that the winners of Groups A, D, E and H, and the runners-up of Groups B, C, F and G would be kept apart from the group winners of B, C, F and G, and the runners-up of Group A, D, E and H until the final; thus, France and Brazil could avoid meeting each other until the final if both teams finished in the same position in the top two of their respective groups.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: In each group, the teams played three matches, one against each of the other teams. Three points were awarded for each win, while a draw was worth one point. After completion of the group stage, the two teams with the most points in each group would advance to the knockout stage, with each group winner facing the runner-up from one of the other groups in the round of 16. This was a new format for the World Cup, following the expansion from 24 teams in 1994. A total of 64 games were played, including the final and a third-place play-off between the losers of the two semi-finals.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: As with the preceding tournament, each team's squad for the 1998 World Cup finals consisted of 22 players. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 22-player squad by 1 June 1998.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Out of the 704 players participating in the 1998 World Cup, 447 were signed up with a European club; 90 in Asia, 67 in South America, 61 in Northern and Central America and 37 in Africa. 75 played their club football in England – five more than Italy and Spain. Barcelona of Spain was the club contributing to the most players in the tournament with 13 players on their side.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The average age of all teams was 27 years, 8 months – five months older than the previous tournament. Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon was the youngest player selected in the competition at 17 years, 3 months, while the oldest was Jim Leighton of Scotland at 39 years, 11 months.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Defending champions Brazil won Group A after only two matches as the nation achieved victories over Scotland (2–1) and Morocco (3–0). Heading into the third game, Brazil had nothing to play for but still started its regulars against Norway, who was looking to upset Brazil once again. Needing a victory, Norway overturned a 1–0 deficit with 12 minutes remaining to defeat Brazil 2–1, with Kjetil Rekdal scoring the winning penalty to send Norway into the knockout stage for the first time.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Norway's victory denied Morocco a chance at the Round of 16, despite winning 3–0 against Scotland. It was only Morocco's second ever victory at a World Cup, having recorded its first previous win 12 years earlier on 11 June 1986.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Scotland managed only one point, coming in a 1–1 draw against Norway, and failed to get out of the first round for an eighth time in the FIFA World Cup, a record that stands to this date.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Italy and Chile progressed to the second round, while Austria failed to win for the first time since 1958 and Cameroon failed to get out of the group stage for the second time in a row.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: France, the host nation, swept Group C when the start of their path to their first FIFA World Cup trophy culminated with their 2–1 win over Denmark, who despite their loss, progressed to the second round. Saudi Arabia, after a good performance four years earlier, finished bottom with only one point. Debutant South Africa grabbed two points and also exited at the group stage.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Nigeria and Paraguay advanced to the Round of 16 after a surprise elimination of top seed Spain, while Bulgaria failed to repeat their surprise performance from the previous tournament.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The Netherlands and Mexico advanced with the same record (The Netherlands placed first on goal difference); Belgium and eventual 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosts South Korea failed to advance.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Germany and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia advanced, each with 7 points (Germany took 1st through goal differential tiebreak). Iran and 1994 host United States failed to advance.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Romania and England became Group G top finishers as Colombia and Tunisia were unable to reach the last 16, despite Colombia having one win.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Argentina finished at the top of Group H against three debutants. Croatia took the runners up spot while Jamaica and Japan failed to advance.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The knockout stage comprised the 16 teams that advanced from the group stage of the tournament. For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes was followed by 30 minutes of extra time; if scores were still level, there was a penalty shoot-out to determine who progressed to the next round. Golden goal comes into play if a team scores during extra time, thus becoming the winner which concludes the game.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Croatia beat the Netherlands to earn third place in the competition. Davor Šuker scored the winner in the 36th minute to secure the golden boot.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The final was held on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. France defeated holders Brazil 3–0, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and a stoppage time strike from Emmanuel Petit. The win gave France their first World Cup title, becoming the sixth national team after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina to win the tournament on their home soil. They also inflicted the second-heaviest World Cup defeat on Brazil, later to be topped by Brazil's 7–1 defeat by Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The pre-match build up was dominated by the omission of Brazilian striker Ronaldo from the starting lineup only to be reinstated 45 minutes before kick-off. He managed to create the first open chance for Brazil in the 22nd minute, dribbling past defender Thuram before sending a cross out on the left side that goalkeeper Fabien Barthez struggled to hold onto. France however took the lead after Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos conceded a corner from which Zidane scored via a header. Three minutes before half-time, Zidane scored his second goal of the match, similarly another header from a corner. The tournament hosts went down to ten men in the 68th minute as Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second bookable offence. Brazil reacted to this by making an attacking substitution and although they applied pressure France sealed the win with a third goal: substitute Patrick Vieira set up his club teammate Petit in a counterattack to shoot low past goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: French president Jacques Chirac was in attendance to congratulate and commiserate the winners and runners-up respectively after the match. Several days after the victory, winning manager Aimé Jacquet announced his resignation from the French team with immediate effect.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Davor Šuker received the Golden Boot for scoring six goals. In total, 171 goals were scored by 112 players:


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The All-star team is a squad consisting of the 16 most impressive players at the 1998 World Cup, as selected by FIFA's Technical Study Group.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: After the tournament, FIFA published a ranking of all teams that competed in the 1998 World Cup finals based on progress in the competition and overall results.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: FIFA, through several companies, sold the broadcasting rights for the 1998 FIFA World Cup to many broadcasters. In the UK BBC and ITV had the broadcasting rights.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The pictures and audio of the competition were supplied to the TV and radio channels by the company TVRS 98, the broadcaster of the tournament.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The World Cup matches were broadcast in 200 countries. 818 photographers were credited for the tournament. In every match, a stand was reserved for the press. The number of places granted to them reached its maximum in the final, when 1,750 reporters and 110 TV commentators were present in the stand.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The sponsors of the 1998 FIFA World Cup are divided into two categories: FIFA World Cup Sponsors and France Supporters.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The absence of Budweiser (which was one of the sponsors in the previous two World Cups) is notable due to the Evin law, which forbids alcohol-related sponsorship in France, including in sports events (and thus, being replaced by Casio).


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: In most of the world, the official video game was, "World Cup 98" released by EA Sports on 13 March 1998 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and the Game Boy. It was the first international football game developed by Electronic Arts since obtaining the rights from FIFA in 1997 and received mostly favourable reviews.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: In Japan, Konami was granted the FIFA World Cup licence and produced two distinct video games: "Jikkyou World Soccer: World Cup France 98" by KCEO for the Nintendo 64, and "World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 3: World Cup France '98" by KCET for the PlayStation. These games were released in the rest of the world as "International Superstar Soccer '98" and "International Superstar Soccer Pro '98", without the official FIFA World Cup licence, branding or real player names.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Also in Japan, Sega was granted the FIFA World Cup licence to produce the Saturn video game "World Cup '98 France: Road to Win".


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Many other video games, including "World League Soccer 98", "Actua Soccer 2" and "" were released in the buildup to the 1998 World Cup and evidently were based on the tournament. "", also by EA Sports focused on the qualification stage.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The official mascot was "Footix", a rooster first presented in May 1996. It was created by graphic designer Fabrice Pialot and selected from a shortlist of five mascots. Research carried out about the choice of having a cockerel as a mascot was greatly received: 91% associated it immediately with France, the traditional symbol of the nation. Footix, the name chosen by French television viewers, is a portmanteau of "football" and the ending "-ix" from the popular "Astérix" comic strip. The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's flag and home strip – blue for the jump suit, a red crest and with the words 'France 98' coloured in white.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The official match ball for the 1998 World Cup, manufactured by Adidas was named the "Tricolore", meaning 'three-coloured' in French. It was the eighth World Cup match ball made for the tournament by the German company and was the first in the series to be multi-coloured. The tricolour flag and cockerel, traditional symbols of France, were used as inspiration for the design.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup was "The Cup of Life", also known as "La Copa de la Vida", recorded by Ricky Martin.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: The official anthem was "La Cour des Grands (Do You Mind If I Play)" by Youssou N'Dour and Axelle Red.


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Honorary FIFA President João Havelange praised France's hosting of the World Cup, describing the tournament as one that would "remain with me forever, as I am sure they will remain with everyone who witnessed this unforgettable competition". Lennart Johansson, the chairman of the organising committee for the World Cup and President of UEFA added that France provided "subject matter of a quality that made the world hold its breath".


title: 1998 FIFA World Cup

text: Cour des Comptes, the quasi-judicial body of the French government, released its report on the organisation of the 1998 World Cup in 2000.


title: Six (musical)

text: Six (stylised in all uppercase) is a British musical comedy with book, music, and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. The musical is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII presented as a pop concert, as the Queens take turns singing and telling their story to see who suffered the most due to Henry and should, therefore, become the group's lead singer.


title: Six (musical)

text: The musical was first presented by Cambridge University students at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. It has since gone on to professional productions in the West End, on Broadway and internationally.


title: Six (musical)

text: The six Queens introduce themselves performing at a pop concert, telling the audience that the position of the band's lead singer will be the prize for whoever they determine had the worst experience at the hands of their common husband, Henry VIII ("Ex-Wives"). Catherine of Aragon recounts how Henry wished to annul their marriage and place her in a nunnery when he began lusting after Anne Boleyn despite being loyal to him during their marriage, much to her anger ("No Way"). In turn, Anne mocks Catherine about how Henry wanted her instead but then complains of the infidelity Henry partook in, which led to Anne flirting with other men to make him jealous and ending up beheaded ("Don't Lose Ur Head"). Jane Seymour steps up to take her turn, but is ridiculed for having had an easy time with Henry. However, while admitting she may have been the only wife Henry truly loved, Jane claims that his love was conditional on her having produced a male heir, and that she stood by him despite his many faults ("Heart of Stone").


title: Six (musical)

text: Themes relating to ideas of female beauty are explored in Hans Holbein's portrait studio, where the Queens parody a dating app by presenting a choice of three potential brides for Henry ("Haus of Holbein"). He chooses Anna of Cleves, but soon rejects her and annuls the marriage, suggesting she failed to resemble her portrait. She makes a show of complaining about living in a beautiful palace in Richmond with an enormous fortune and no man to tell her what to do, but in reality, ends up bragging about it ("Get Down"). The Queens question this, and Anna admits her lavish lifestyle lacked actual tragedy. The Queens then belittle Katherine Howard for being "the least relevant Catherine", but in retaliation she enumerates flaws in the others' claims to winning. She then recounts her romantic history, having had many suitors even as a child, and at first relishes her attractiveness; however, she soon reveals the emotional trauma and abuse she faced in each of these relationships ("All You Wanna Do").


title: Six (musical)

text: As the Queens continue to fight over who is the true winner, Catherine Parr questions the point of the competition, which defines them by their connection to Henry rather than as individuals. The Queens nonetheless continue to argue. Frustrated, Parr recalls her separation from her lover, Sir Thomas Seymour, and arranged marriage with Henry, but instead of lamenting, she acknowledges her accomplishments independent of Henry ("I Don't Need Your Love"). The other Queens, realising they have been robbed of their individuality, abandon the contest and declare that they don't need Henry's love to feel validated as people. They use their remaining moments onstage to rewrite their stories, singing together as a group rather than as solo artists, and writing their own 'happily ever afters', had Henry never been involved ("Six"). They then perform a mashup of songs that appeared earlier in the show (excluding "Haus of Holbein") in which the audience have their permission to record ("Megasix").


title: Six (musical)

text: A studio album featuring the original Off-West End cast was released digitally and on CD on August 31, 2018 through 6 Music, Loudmouth Music, and Ex-Wives Ltd. The recording peaked at number four on the UK Soundtracks chart, ten on the UK Compilation Chart, 65 on the UK Album Downloads Chart, and number two on the US Cast Albums chart. It was certified Gold in the UK in November 2021 and "Don't Lose Ur Head" was certified Silver in 2022. An instrumental "sing-along" version was released on July 30, 2019. The studio cast recording was released on vinyl for the first time on March 11, 2022.


title: Six (musical)

text: A live album recorded on the original Broadway production's opening night was released on May 6, 2022. It debuted at number six on the UK Soundtracks chart, 23 on the UK Album Downloads Chart, 72 on the UK Album Sales Chart, and number one the US Cast Albums chart.


title: Six (musical)

text: Toby Marlow was selected in late 2016 by Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society to write a new musical to be performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe the next summer. The idea for what became "Six" came to Marlow while studying in his final year at Cambridge University. The initial six wives' concert concept occurred to him in a poetry class, and Marlow decided to get his friend Lucy Moss involved. Despite uncertainties, the pair wrote part of the show while studying for their final exams. Marlow researched by reading Antonia Fraser's "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", while Moss viewed a documentary series, "Six Wives" by Lucy Worsley. At their first writing session together, they watched a 2011 Beyoncé concert and story-telling performance, "". Over the course of approximately 10 nonconsecutive days, Marlow and Moss established the foundation for the show.


title: Six (musical)

text: Marlow and Moss lamented the lack of gender diversity within the theatre industry, which caused them to focus on themes of queerness while developing the show. They wanted a cast that was predominantly female or non-binary and the story itself to feature queer narratives in a space which normally didn't.


title: Six (musical)

text: The world premiere production of "Six" took place at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017, presented by Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society. Although the production did not win any major awards, it was well-received and sold out of tickets at the festival. Its popularity led to "Six" being invited back to Edinburgh Fringe the next summer, this time in one of the festival's larger venues.


title: Six (musical)

text: The Edinburgh production and a subsequent showing back in Cambridge attracted the attention of producers Kenny Wax and Global Musicals . The show was initially booked for four performances at the Arts Theatre in the West End of London, making its professional debut on 18 December 2017, and appeared in Monday-night only weekly slots. The production was eventually increased to six performances. A studio recording was released on 13 September 2018 featuring the original Arts Theatre cast.


title: Six (musical)

text: "Six" began its first UK tour on 11 July at the Norwich Playhouse with a mix of new and returning cast members from the original Arts Theatre production. It returned to the Edinburgh Fringe on 1 August 2018. The production briefly transferred back to London to the Arts Theatre, opening on 30 August 2018 before closing on 14 October and continuing its UK tour. The UK tour ended on 30 December 2018 in Glasgow.


title: Six (musical)

text: The musical re-opened for an initial 16-week run at the Arts Theatre on 17 January 2019. Directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage with choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, set design by Emma Bailey, and musical supervision by Joe Beighton, the initial run was planned to be extended until January 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the production was paused starting in March 2020.


title: Six (musical)

text: The show became one of the first to reopen on the West End. It reopened briefly at the Lyric Theatre on 5 December 2020, with plans to return to the Arts Theatre the following year. Due to the ongoing pandemic, audiences were socially distanced, with capacity limited to 50%, face coverings and temperature checks required, and contact tracing rules in place. In mid-December, all London theatres were again required to close. The show reopened for the second time since its initial closure at the Lyric on 21 May 2021 with the above measures still in place. The production finished its residency at the Lyric Theatre on 29 August 2021, and reopened at the nearby Vaudeville Theatre on 29 September.


title: Six (musical)

text: On 14 November 2021, the full West End cast, including all principal actresses, alternates, and swings, departed. They were replaced by Amy Di Bartolomeo (Aragon), Amanda Lindgren (Boleyn), Claudia Kariuki (Seymour), Dionne Ward-Anderson (Cleves), Tsemaye Bob-Egbe (Howard), Meesha Turner (Parr), as well as Paisley Billings, Roxanne Couch, and Danielle Rose as alternates, plus Esme Rothero and Rachel Rawlinson as "super swings."


title: Six (musical)

text: After three performances at Hampton Court Palace on 19 and 20 June 2022, the full original cast returned to the West End to record a professionally filmed version of the show. Tapings took place on 29 and 30 June 2022 and were followed by a public performance on 01 July 2022. Tickets were sold via a virtual lottery, and the recording will be released in the near future.


title: Six (musical)

text: "Six" had its North American premiere at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) in May 2019. Directed by Jamie Armitage and Lucy Moss, the Chicago premiere was produced by "Six"'s London producers with the addition of Broadway producer Kevin McCollum. According to Chris Jones, the Chicago production was a likely Broadway tryout. The production broke box office records for CST and its run at the theatre was eventually extended and a Broadway booking set for 2020. The musical moved to the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts in late August and made its Canadian premiere at Edmonton's Citadel Theatre in November before finishing its tour at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota on 22 December 2019, prior to its Broadway debut.


title: Six (musical)

text: On 6 August 2019, Norwegian Cruise Line announced that they would be showing performances of "Six" on three of their ships. The first production began in September 2019 on the "Norwegian Bliss", with a second production on the "Norwegian Breakaway" beginning in November 2019. A third production was scheduled to begin on the "Norwegian Breakaway" in April 2020. The productions were put on pause in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The "Norwegian Breakaway" and "Norwegian Bliss" productions restarted in September 2021 and October 2021, respectively.


title: Six (musical)

text: A second UK tour was officially announced on 5 September 2019. The production opened on 24 October 2019 at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, starring Lauren Drew, Maddison Bulleyment, Lauren Byrne, Shekinah McFarlane, Jodie Steele, and Athena Collins. The tour was scheduled to run until 25 July 2020, concluding its run at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down theaters however, a deal was struck between the Society of London Theatre and U.K. actors union Equity; ensuring that West End and touring performers who are currently under contract will be able to continue on those preexisting terms and restart rehearsals or performances with revised dates once the shutdown ends.


title: Six (musical)

text: In June 2020, a drive-in-style tour production was planned. It was later cancelled before opening due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Six (musical)

text: In April 2021, it was announced that the tour would resume starting on 8 June in Canterbury. Drew, Bulleyment, McFarlane, and the alternates returned for the production. They were joined by Caitlin Tipping (Bliss 1.0), Vicki Manser, Elèna Gyasi, and Natalie Pilkington as Jane Seymour, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr, and as swing, respectively. The cast change date for UK tour had been set as 6 March 2022, and would take place in Guildford, with the new cast announced on 1 February 2022. The cast will star Chloe Hart (Aragon), Jennifer Caldwell (previous Tour alt.) (Boleyn), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Seymour), Aiesha Pease (Cleves), Jaina Brock-Patel (Howard), and Alana M Robinson (Parr). Caldwell previously understudied the role of Anne Boleyn as well as Katherine Howard in the previous cast of the UK tour. The cast change was delayed until the tenth March due to outbreaks of COVID-19 in the replacement cast. Pease stepped down from the role of Cleves after the tour concluded its time in Guildford. She was replaced by Jessica Niles (NCL Breakaway 1/2.0 Cleves) respectively. More recently, it was announced that the show will take a two week stop in Amsterdam in September 2023. Patel stepped down from the role of Howard towards the tour concluding its time in Blackpool. She was replaced by Rebecca Wickes (Bliss 2.0 Howard) respectively.


title: Six (musical)

text: "Six" had its Australian premiere at the Sydney Opera House, in January 2020, starring Chloé Zuel (Aragon), Kala Gare (Boleyn), Loren Hunter (Seymour), Kiana Daniele (Cleves), Courtney Monsma (Howard), and Vidya Makan (Parr) with Ella Burns, Karis Oka and Shannen Alyce Quan as swings. The production was originally planned to tour to Melbourne's Comedy Theatre in mid 2020 and Adelaide's Her Majesty's Theatre in late 2020 as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival but the performances were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian production is produced by Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Linda Bewick. The production reopened on December 19, 2021, at the Sydney Opera House and ran through to April 2, 2022. Gare, Hunter, Daniele, Makan, Oka and Quan returned to the show, and joined by Phoenix Jackson Mendoza and Chelsea Dawson, replacing Zuel and Monsoma as Aragon and Howard respectively, as well as swing Chiara Assetta. It then continued its Australian tour in Canberra, with stops in Adelaide and Melbourne, before returning to Sydney again, with Perth, Brisbane and New Zealand to follow.


title: Six (musical)

text: "Six" began Broadway previews on 13 February 2020 at the Lena Horne Theatre (then known as the Brooks Atkinson Theatre). On the day of its scheduled Broadway opening, 12 March 2020, all Broadway theatres were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2021, it was announced that "Six" would resume Broadway preview performances starting on 17 September 2021, and it officially opened on 3 October. The first new musical to open on Broadway since the beginning of the pandemic, according to "Variety" its opening night was both a celebration for Broadway theatre and a testament to the show's novel use of social media to propel it to international sensation pre-Broadway, especially among young people. Moss and Armitage directed the production, with choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, set design by Emma Bailey, costumes by Gabriella Slade, sound by Paul Gatehouse, lighting by Tim Deiling, and orchestrations by Tom Curran. The original Broadway cast was the same as the 2019 North American tour cast with the addition of two swings. In promotion of the show, the cast performed at the 2021 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.


title: Six (musical)

text: A cast album of the original Broadway production was announced for 2022. The live recording from the opening night was released May 6, 2022.


title: Six (musical)

text: At the original Chicago production's final show on 4 August 2019, it was announced that "Six" would return to the city at the Broadway Playhouse. It was scheduled to begin 5 October 2021, after two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The production was then rescheduled for the larger CIBC Theatre and ran from 29 March to 3 July 2022, the start of a new US Tour - referred to as the "Aragon" tour. The cast consisted of Khaila Wilcoxon (Aragon), Storm Lever (Boleyn), Jasmine Forsberg (Seymour), Olivia Donaldson (Cleves), Didi Romero (Howard), and Gabriela Carrillo (Parr).


title: Six (musical)

text: A second US tour – called the "Boleyn" tour – was announced on 28 February 2022, and launched at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on 20 September 2022.


title: Six (musical)

text: A South Korean production will play the COEX Artium in Seoul from March to June 2023. Casting is yet to be announced.


title: Six (musical)

text: Polish production will be play at Teatr Syrena in Warsaw from September 2023 directed by Ewelina Adamska-Porczyk. Casting was announced in October: Olga Szomańska (Aragon), Izabela Pawletko (Boleyn), Marta Burdynowicz (Seymour), Małgorzata Chruściel (Cleves), Anna Terpiłowska (Howard), Natalia Kujawa (Parr) with three understudies: Agnieszka Rose (Aragon/Seymour), Marta Skrzypczyńska (Cleves/Parr) and Aleksandra Gotowicka (Boleyn/Howard).


title: Six (musical)

text: Show co-creator Toby Marlow filled in as Catherine Parr for two West End performances on 28 July 2019 due to a cast-wide illness.


title: Six (musical)

text: Included on-stage are the back-up band, known as "The Ladies in Waiting". The band provides part the accompaniment and are costumed and assume the persona of a "historical" lady-in-waiting. According to "Playbill", the on-stage band members, "execute a myriad of musical cues, acting choices, and subtle choreography that further immerse the audience into the concert experience and underscore the razor-sharp wit of the show’s libretto."


title: Six (musical)

text: In a review of the Arts Theatre production, Dominic Cavendish of "The Telegraph" called the show "gloriously – persuasively – coherent, confident and inventive". Lyn Gardner of "The Guardian" wrote, "It may be cloaked in silliness, but "Six" makes some serious points about female victimhood and survival."


title: Six (musical)

text: In a review of the Chicago production, Chris Jones of "The Chicago Tribune" praised the show as "dynamic" and a "blast", with a "sense of humor and spirited radicalism." Marlow and Moss are "gifted comic writers", he said, and he praised the "musical force of the intensely committed and talented actresses" in the Chicago cast. Jones suggested the show could use 10 more minutes of material that gets away from the plot's singing contest conceit, and toward the emotional center of the characters. He also thought the orchestration of the songs could be more substantial. Jones said "Six" has an audience that is ready for it, in part because it gets to a complex historical paradox and treats it with verve, the memories of women in history being tied to the life of a man.


title: Six (musical)

text: Hedy Weiss of "WTTW" praised the musical as "sensational", singling out each performer in the Chicago cast. Weiss also thought the show makes a convincing case for each character, and in addition to praising the writers, noted the "dynamite direction by Moss and Jamie Armitage, and powerhouse music direction by Roberta Duchak" as well as, "Gabriella Slade’s glittering costumes . . . and Tim Deiling’s arena-style lighting". According to Rachel Weinberg of "Broadway World", ""Six" carries out [a] joyful and anachronistic takedown of the patriarchy" through the performances of a "brilliant" cast and a book and score with an inventive and sensational compositional method. Jesse Green of "The New York Times" wrote that the musical is "pure entertainment", the writing is "wickedly smart", the "terrific singers" of the Chicago cast sell the show "unstintingly", and the production values "befit a splashy North American premiere with Broadway backing."


title: Six (musical)

text: The reviews for the 2021 Broadway production were positive. Green's "New York Times" review of the Broadway production labeled it a "Critic's Pick", calling it a "rollicking, reverberant blast from the past". Frank Rizzo of "Variety" said, "It may not be "Masterpiece Theatre", but this 'Six' is a solid '10' for joy." Johnny Oleksinski of "New York Post" gave the show three stars out of a possible four calling the songs "whip-smart and catchy".


title: Six (musical)

text: The original Broadway production was in preview shows starting 13 February 2020, which made it eligible for the 2020 Drama League Awards, but its scheduled March 2020 opening night was cancelled due to the stay-at-home order announced in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its official 2021 opening made it eligible for the 2022 Tony Awards.


title: Six (musical)

text: The show is based on historical figures with varying degrees of accuracy. Generally, the show is quite sympathetic towards its characters: for instance, it portrays Katherine Howard as a survivor of rape, which is debated amongst historians. Researchers and writers such as Suzannah Lipscomb and Gareth Russell have identified themselves as fans of the show.


title: Six (musical)

text: After being in the Original West End cast for "Six", Aimie Atkinson, Alexia McIntosh, Jarnéia Richard-Noel, Millie O'Connell, Maiya Quansah-Breed and Natalie May Paris teamed up with cast understudy Grace Mouat to launch a girl group called SVN (pronounced seven), with the band releasing singles such as "Woman" and "Free" in 2022.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Kim Seok-jin (; born December 4, 1992), also known professionally as Jin, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and member of the South Korean boy band BTS. Kim has co-written and released three solo tracks with BTS: "Awake" in 2016, "Epiphany" in 2018, and "Moon" in 2020, all of which have charted on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart. In 2019, Kim released his first independent song, the digital track "Tonight". He made his official debut as a solo artist in October 2022, with the release of the single "The Astronaut".


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Apart from singing, Kim appeared as a host on multiple South Korean music programs from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, he was awarded the fifth-class Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit by the President of South Korea along with his bandmates, for his contributions to Korean culture.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Kim Seok-jin was born on December 4, 1992, in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. His family consists of his mother, father, and older brother. In 2007, he went to a study camp in Australia to learn English.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Kim originally wanted to be a journalist but decided to pursue acting after watching Kim Nam-gil in "Queen Seondeok". While in junior high school, he was scouted by South Korean K-pop agency SM Entertainment off the street but rejected the offer at the time. Initially intending to be an actor, Kim attended Konkuk University and graduated with a degree in Film Studies on February 22, 2017. He later enrolled in graduate school at Hanyang Cyber University, to pursue studies in areas other than music.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Kim was scouted by Big Hit Entertainment for his looks while walking down the street. At the time Kim was studying acting and had no background in music. Subsequently, he auditioned for Big Hit as an actor before becoming an idol trainee. On June 13, 2013, Kim made his debut as one of the four vocalists in BTS with their debut single album "2 Cool 4 Skool". Kim released his first co-produced track, a solo single from the album "Wings" titled "Awake", in 2016. The song peaked at number 31 on the Gaon Digital Chart and number six on the "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart in the United States. In December 2016, he released a Christmas version of "Awake" on SoundCloud.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: On August 9, 2018, the second solo by Kim, "Epiphany", was released as a trailer for BTS' then-upcoming compilation album "". The song was described as a "building pop-rock melody" by "Billboard" and contains lyrics discussing self-acceptance and self-love. The full version of the song was eventually released as a track on "Answer", peaking at number 30 on the Gaon Digital Chart and number four on the US World Digital Song Sales chart. In October, he was awarded the fifth-class Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit by South Korean president Moon Jae-in along with other members of the group.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: He released his third solo song with BTS, "Moon", on the 2020 studio album "". "Variety" writer Jae-Ha Kim described "Moon" as a power pop song addressed to BTS fans. "Moon" peaked at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart and number two on the World Digital Song Sales chart.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: In July 2021, Kim was appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture by President Moon Jae-in, alongside his bandmates, to help "lead the global agenda for future generations, such as sustainable growth" and "expand South Korea's diplomatic efforts and global standing" in the international community.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: In 2016, Kim collaborated with bandmate V on the single "It's Definitely You", released as part of the "" original soundtrack, and later received a co-nomination for Best at the 2017 Melon Music Awards. In June 2018, Kim featured on an alternate version of "So Far Away"—a song from bandmate Suga's debut mixtape "Agust D" (2016)—alongside bandmate Jungkook, which was released during the band's fifth anniversary celebrations. Kim's solo covers include "Mom" by Ra.D, "I Love You" by Mate, and "In Front Of The Post Office In Autumn", originally by Yoon Do-hyun in 1994. They were released on SoundCloud on May 7, 2015, December 3, 2015, and June 7, 2018, respectively. He has also made several appearances as a co-host for Korean music award shows, such as "Music Bank" and "Inkigayo".


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: On June 4, 2019, Kim released his first independent song "Tonight" as part of BTS' sixth anniversary celebrations. The acoustic ballad was composed by Kim and Big Hit record producers Slow Rabbit and Hiss Noise. Written by Kim and bandmate RM, the song's lyrics are inspired by Kim's relationship with his pets. The track was met with a generally positive reception, with praise for Kim's vocals and the song's calming atmosphere.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Kim released his second solo song "Abyss" on December 3, 2020. An acoustic ballad inspired by his feelings of anxiety, doubt, and burnout, Kim co-wrote and co-composed the track with RM and record producers Bumzu and Pdogg—the first two were also co-writers on the song. In a post on the official BTS blog, Kim spoke about his insecurities regarding music and how those darker emotions drove him to write and release the song.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: In October 2021, Kim sang the main theme for the TvN drama series "Jirisan". Titled "Yours", the single's release was accompanied by a music video featuring footage from the show. On December 4, Kim released the short song "Super Tuna" as a gift to fans in celebration of his 29th birthday. It quickly became viral after an accompanying performance video was posted on the BTS YouTube channel that same day. The video ranked first on YouTube's World Popular Music Video for eight consecutive days and trended in 56 countries, including Korea, Peru, and Singapore. A subsequent dance challenge arose on TikTok, with videos using the sound receiving over 141.8 million cumulative views in 10 days.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: In August 2022, Kim collaborated with Nexon as a special game developer for "MapleStory". The project was chronicled in the form of a 2-episode mini web series, "Office Warrior Kim Seok Jin", published to MapleStory Korea's YouTube channel. On October 15, during the BTS Yet to Come in Busan free concert, Kim announced that his debut solo single was forthcoming. Titled "The Astronaut", and co-written by Kim and British rock band Coldplay, the single and its accompanying music video were released on October 28. Later that same day, Kim performed the song live with Coldplay during their concert in Buenos Aires as part of their Music of the Spheres World Tour—the show was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide in over 70 countries. On October 21, Big Hit made "Tonight", "Abyss", and "Super Tuna" available on streaming services worldwide as official singles under Kim's name—all three songs were originally released for free on SoundCloud and YouTube only.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Kim is a tenor and can play the guitar. In Kim Young-dae's 2019 novel "BTS: The Review", members of the Grammy panel stated that his voice has stable breath control and a strong falsetto, calling it a "silver voice". Journalist Choi Song-hye, writing for "Aju News", wrote that BTS singles such as "Spring Day" and "Fake Love" displayed Kim's vocal stability, while the b-side "" did so for his emotional range. Hong Hye-min of "The Korea Times" described Kim's voice as "tender, sorrowful, [and] free-spirited" and considered it to be the "standout element" on the solo ballad "Epiphany". Critic Park Hee-a, when discussing "Epiphany", stated that Kim "sings the most sentimental emotions" of the solo tracks on "Love Yourself: Answer" (2018). In a review of "Fake Love", Park said that Kim's belting "prove[d] [the song's] effectiveness".


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: In December 2018, Kim donated various supplies to the Korean Animal Welfare Association to celebrate his birthday, purchasing food, blankets, and dishes for the organization. He also donated 321 kilograms of food to the Korea Animal Rights Advocates (KARA), another Korean animal welfare non-profit organization.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: Since May 2018, Kim has been a monthly donor to UNICEF Korea, requesting that his donations be kept private at the time. They were eventually publicized following his induction into the UNICEF Honors Club in May 2019 for donating over ₩100 million (about US$84,000).


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: In 2019, Kim was ranked as the overall 13th most popular idol and 6th among girls aged 13–19 in South Korea, via data collected by analytics company Gallup Korea.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: As of 2018, Kim lives in Hannam-dong, Seoul, South Korea. Additionally, he and his older brother opened a Japanese-style restaurant in Seoul called Ossu Seiromushi in 2018.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: In March 2022, Kim injured his left hand and underwent surgery to correct it, following which he abstained from certain performances during BTS' Permission to Dance on Stage concerts in Las Vegas, withdrew from some group events, and sang while seated for most of the band's performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: On October 17, 2022, Big Hit announced that following the release of Kim's debut solo single and the completion of its subsequent promotional activities at the end of that month, the singer would begin the enlistment process and carry out his mandatory military service. Kim was previously granted an automatic postponement in 2021 until the end of 2022, following revisions made to the Military Service Act in December 2020. On November 4, 2022, Kim filed paperwork with the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) requesting a termination of that postponement in order to proceed with his conscription. He enlisted as an active duty soldier on December 13.


title: Kim Seok-jin

text: All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.


The 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman won his first term in office, defeating Republican surgeon Mehmet Oz. Fetterman will succeed incumbent Republican senator Pat Toomey, who did not seek re-election after two terms. The election marked the only U.S. Senate seat to flip parties in the 2022 midterms.


title: 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

text: In the May 17 primary, Fetterman won the Democratic nomination with 59% of the vote. Oz finished with a 0.1% difference ahead of businessman David McCormick in the Republican primary, triggering an automatic recount. McCormick conceded the nomination on June 3, making Oz the first Muslim candidate to be nominated by either major party for U.S. Senate.


text: The general election was among the most competitive of the 2022 midterms and characterized as highly contentious. Fetterman framed Oz as a carpetbagger with a radical anti-abortion stance in the wake of "Roe v. Wade" being overturned, while Oz framed Fetterman as a socialist insufficiently committed to fighting crime. Fetterman's health was also a major issue due to him suffering a stroke days before his primary victory. Although Fetterman led most pre-election polls, concerns towards his health and a scrutinized debate performance helped Oz take a narrow lead before the election.


text: Despite Oz's polling lead, Fetterman won by a 4.92% margin, helping provide Senate Democrats a net gain of one seat and their first outright majority since 2015. Fetterman's victory also gave Democrats control of both Pennsylvania Senate seats for the first time since 1947.


text: The first two major Democratic candidates were Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania John Fetterman and state representative Malcolm Kenyatta. Both Fetterman and Kenyatta were considered to be staunchly progressive Democrats, but the two men were felt to appeal to different demographics. By July 2021, Fetterman was considered the frontrunner as a result of his high name recognition and strong fundraising. U.S. Representative Conor Lamb, a political moderate, entered the race on August 6, 2021.


text: As the campaign progressed, Lamb and Fetterman became the two most prominent candidates, with Kenyatta and Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh also receiving media attention. Fetterman had maintained his frontrunner status as of December, and the other three contenders were viewed as mainly competing with each other in order to claim the anti-Fetterman mantle. On February 4, 2022, Arkoosh withdrew from the race, her campaign having previously suffered from poor poll results and low support from party activists, leaving Kenyatta as the only major candidate from the Philadelphia region. Both Kenyatta and Lamb were considered to have a good chance at picking up voters who had previously supported Arkoosh, Lamb for ideological reasons and Kenyatta for geographical ones.


text: In addition to Fetterman, Kenyatta, and Lamb, two minor candidates also made the Democratic primary ballot, namely Kevin Baumlin, a hospital physician, and Alexandra Khalil, a municipal official. Baumlin withdrew from the race on March 31, leaving only Khalil in addition to the three major candidates.


text: Lamb received the assistance of the “Penn Progress” Super PAC, which spent the entirety of its funds in support of Lamb's campaign. Lamb worked closely with the Super PAC, and participated in donor calls it arranged. The Penn Progress Super PAC bankrolled TV ads which sought to portray Fetterman as a "self-described democratic socialist." Within a day of airing, PolitiFact and Factcheck.org called the attack ad false, "The Philadelphia Inquirer" commented that Fetterman had never actually described himself that way, the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia stopped broadcasting the ad, and Senator Elizabeth Warren called on Lamb to disavow it.


text: Fetterman won the Democratic primary by a landslide, winning all 67 counties in Pennsylvania, with Lamb in second place. Lamb's loss was attributed by "Vanity Fair" to numerous reasons, such as his not being known to voters in Eastern Pennsylvania, where the majority of Democratic voters were located, while in contrast Fetterman's position as Lieutenant Governor gave him statewide name recognition. In addition, the far more contested Republican primary had consumed media attention that Lamb might have otherwise used to gain more name recognition. Fetterman was also widely considered to have run an effective populist campaign, with "The Atlantic" noting that his campaign focused on the issues of "workers, wages and weed".


text: In October 2020, incumbent Republican senator Pat Toomey decided not to run for re-election, stating that he wished to return to the private sector.


text: By October 2021, businessman Jeff Bartos, who had posted strong fund-raising totals, and veteran Sean Parnell, who had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, emerged as the race's front-runners. However, Parnell's campaign faced a large scandal in November 2021, after his ex-wife, Laurie Snell, testified in court during a custody hearing for the couple's children that Parnell strangled and spit on her, abused their children, and told her to "go get an abortion." Even prior to these allegations doubts had arisen among Republicans regarding Parnell's fundraising ability, and it became widely assumed that he would suspend his campaign if he did not win custody of his children. On November 22, 2021, Snell was given custody of the children and Parnell subsequently suspended his campaign.


text: On November 30, with Parnell out of the race, Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor and television personality, announced his candidacy. Oz's campaign entered an immediate controversy over whether Oz himself was a resident of Pennsylvania, as he had lived in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, for most of his life and had only registered to vote in Pennsylvania in October 2020. The January 2022 entrance of David McCormick, a businessman, into the race prompted attacks for McCormick's past detraction of Trump and criticism of "America First" economic policies from Oz allies. Super PACs allied to McCormick hit back with a spate of highly funded television advertisements, accusing Oz of being a "Hollywood liberal."


text: Republican straw polls in January 2022 indicated strong support for Bartos and political commentator Kathy Barnette among party activists as the campaign started to escalate. Bartos won the Republican State Committee Central Caucus's straw poll, placing first with 49 votes, while Barnette finished in second place with 30 votes. McCormick and Sands trailed at third and fourth place; and Oz and former Boxing Commissioner George Bochetto performed poorly, each receiving only one vote. Despite this, political commentators largely considered Oz and McCormick to be the frontrunners, with the other candidates trailing them.


text: The McCormick campaign targeted Oz's ties to Turkey and called on him to renounce his Turkish citizenship, accusing Oz of harboring dual loyalties. Oz later stated that if he were elected to the Senate, he would renounce his Turkish citizenship. Former President Trump endorsed Oz on April 10, citing the popularity of his television show and perceived appeal to female voters. Oz frequently highlighted this endorsement, it becoming one of his major talking points during the campaign.


text: Oz had been ahead of the other candidates in the polls since the start of his campaign, with McCormick soon rising quickly in the polls to challenge Oz, both men polling the low 20s. Barnette had also begun to rise in the polls at this point after a string of attention-getting debate performances and an ad spend in support of her by the Club for Growth, and her late surge prompted a change in tactics from the two frontrunners, who had largely ignored her as irrelevant until then. Pro-Oz Super PAC American Leadership Action launched an ad campaign accusing Barnette of supporting Black Lives Matter, while McCormick stated that Barnette was unelectable, citing her heavy loss in a U.S. House race the previous election cycle. Oz himself also accused Barnette of Islamophobia, pointing to a 2015 tweet in which she stated, "Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam."


text: Following the first night of results, it became clear that Oz and McCormick were the top two vote-getters in the election; however, the margin between them was too close to declare a victor. A mandatory recount then began. Former President Trump encouraged Oz to declare victory on election night, stating that Oz would only be defeated as a result of election fraud; these claims were noted by "Politico" as echoing Trump's baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. With McCormick having done better with mail-in ballots, Oz opposed counting ballots which were received by election offices before election day but were missing dates on the envelopes. A state court later required counties to count undated ballots as valid.


text: Fetterman's campaign framed Oz as a wealthy outsider who lived outside of Pennsylvania before 2020, including by airing ads that note his past residency in New Jersey. Fetterman also flew banners and published social media posts described by "The Hill" and "The Washington Post" as "trolling" his opponent. In one post, Fetterman started a petition to get Oz inducted to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In response to the carpetbagging criticisms, Oz said during the primary debate that Pennsylvanians "care much more about what I stand for than where I'm from".


text: Oz's campaign criticized Fetterman for being inactive since he suffered a stroke in May and made an issue of Fetterman's health. In September, Oz published his medical records, which prompted Fetterman to state he was medically cleared to serve in the Senate. Oz's campaign also framed Fetterman as a socialist, highlighting his endorsement of Bernie Sanders in 2016. Fetterman countered that he has differences in policy proposals with Sanders in issues such as fracking.