Shi Hyun Ahn's TV Treat

Last December, Shi Hyun Ahn spent her time off in Korea appearing on several Korean television programs. One of them was a popular program called 'Happy Together' (which has no relation to either the song by the Turtles or the movie by Wong Kar-Wai, as far as I can tell). This program invites famous Korean stars to participate in all sorts of wacky games and challenges. The most famous segment of this show is called 'Chaengpan Noraebang', which loosely translates as 'Big Tray Karaoke'. In this game, the two hosts and several guests are presented with a song. Then each one of the panel, in turn, must sing a line from that song. If that person makes any kind of mistake, these giant metal trays, which are suspended over their heads, come crashing down with humorous impact. The fun comes in seeing these well known personages have to deal with this humiliating situation, as well as the arguments that inevitably arise as they try to figure out what the correct lyrics are or blame their fellow panel members for their pain.

In this sequence, you can see Se Ri Pak,
a guest on Happy Together in 2003,
deal with the dreaded falling tray

Shi Hyun was not the first LPGA golfer to guest star on this program. Se Ri Pak appeared on it in 2003, and had the task of learning the correct lyrics to 'Magic Princess Se Ri', the theme song from a Japanese cartoon of the 80's that happened to feature a character with her same name. Shi Hyun appeared on the Christmas 2004 edition of the program, and the song she and her fellow panelists had to learn was none other than 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' - in Korean!

I managed to tape the show, but missed the first five minutes. This is unfortunate, because apparently Shi Hyun caused a bit of a stir during this part. Apparently she appeared with her face covered, as if she were a robber, and when asked why, she made jokey comments about the fact she is often described in Korea as 'Beautiful Face', and so decided not to show her face on the show. The reason this caused a flap in Korea was that people there thought she was full of herself because she believed what everyone had been telling her about her face! Anyway, she apologized, and the controversy petered out thereafter.

By the time I tuned in, Shi Hyun had removed her mask, and the group was in the process of answering a few questions. Before the game starts, they usually ask a few questions about the stars' school days (the cast is always dressed in school kids' uniforms during the show) or just screw around. They asked Shi Hyun about what she was going to do on her holiday, and she replied she was going skiing. One of the hosts said she was on the 'LPG' tour, which caused the other one to tease him for screwing up the tour's name. They then asked Shi Hyun what she used to carry in her bag when she was in school. She replied she always kept a little money in there to pay off bullies; at least, I think that's what she said.

Then, one of the panelists was asked what he thought was Shi Hyun's best feature. He replied 'belly button', which puzzled her until they showed a montage of Shi Hyun's swings, all of which exposed her navel (it's one of the things she's famous for!). This embarrassed her plenty, which cracked the other stars up. They then asked this same guy (who I think was a pop singer) what his plans were for Christmas. He said he had none, after which Shi Hyun asked him if he wanted to go skiing with her! The other guys laughed, and several others volunteered to go skiing with her as well!

The next bit was a bit confusing. They all ordered food from Shi Hyun; I believe the joke was that they were confusing her with Grace Park, whose parents own a restaurant. They even mentioned 'Pak Ji Eun', Grace's Korean name.

Now the opening theme for the game played, and as they usually do, all the guests did silly dances to the tune. But this time, they had such a good time, that they did it again, with one of the guests standing up (they are seated usually) and striking poses like a rapper. This was such a gas for them that they did this over and over, each time a different star doing a weird dance to the music. Finally, they guilted Shi Hyun into doing one; she walked around a bit, and when the music ended, did a slow motion golf swing. The words 'Nice Shot!' (in English) were superimposed over her at this moment, and the group called this the 'Nice Shot Dance', much to her mortification. She turned bright red, clearly not used to dancing on national TV.

The silliness wasn't done. They did one more dance to the music. This time, the pop singer grabbed Shi Hyun as though he was dancing with her. She was more than a little confused.