Jo Hyun Jae

Many of you will have seen the one and only Guardian video still in existence (which Jo Hyun-Jae says makes him a little embarrassed.)  He has no need to be embarrassed – he acquits himself very well at 18, even though his voice sounds somewhat boyish.  We love JHJ in Guardian, so here is another version (exclusively of JHJ — you can’t see the other members of the band, only hear them.)

For the original video, please go to our Category “JHJ in Guardian.”

(Credit: Param of CarpeDiemJAPAN.  Thanks!)

Here is a clearer version of what you saw yesterday.  We’re sure you don’t mind watching the very young Jo Hyun-Jae and his band mates in Guardian going through the motions one more time.  JHJ at 18 is so cute!

The first CD is the real thing.  The other two featuring JHJ exclusively are “produced” by his fans.

(Credit: http://cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove.jp; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

Some of you may have seen the video of Jo Hyun-Jae in Guardian before.  Unfortunately the quality of these videos is not very good, rather blurry.  JHJ himself said he’s very surprised these videos are still around. 

The first video has clips from other videos, so it is the most comprehensive.  It mostly shows the boys performing in their white uniform.

The second video (very short) shows the boys in black, again doing the same song (probably the only song that was promoted.)

The third video (even shorter) is supposed to highlight discovery of former profession (singer in boy band) of the now famous JHJ.

We are glad JHJ successfully made the transition from singer to actor.  It is not easy, and not many artists make it.  I read somewhere that managers often mistreat and bully the artists under their control, and beatings and other physical abuses are common.  Andy (of the group Shinhwa) who entered the military last week once had to wear a mask to perform on stage because his face was all swollen from the beatings he took.  There are many more such “horror stories” that are supposed to be common knowledge in the Korean entertainment world.  Sometimes we wonder how JHJ could have survived, given his temperament and personality.

(Credit: Param of carpediemJAPAN; cafe,daum.net; hyunjaelove.jp.  Thanks!)

You do know Jo Hyun-Jae was a singer before he was an actor, don’t you? Rather, he was a member of a boy band called “Guardian” when he was 18. The group obviously didn’t do very well because it soon disbanded. We think their manager chose the wrong lead singer! But then if “Guardian” had made it big, we would not have the actor Jo Hyun-Jae.

This 1998 video is a great discovery and shows a very young, very sweet JHJ who sings pretty well, to our biased ears. He looks even better (definitely shouldn’t be dancing at the back!) It’s fun watching the boys going through their motions.

This is the “white” video; there’s another “black” version (the boys dressed in black.) We’ll see if we can locate that.

(Photos courtesy of Param of carpediemJapan. Thanks!)