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Rain Bi
Name: Bi aka Rain
Real name: Jung Ji-hoon
Nickname: Puppy
Date of birth: June 25, 1982.
Physical stats: 184 cm in height, 74 kg in weight
Blood Type: O
Favorite Color: White, Black
Education: Post modern music department, Kyung Hee University
Favorite Actor: Charlie Chaplin, Hahn Suk-kyu
Favorite Genre: R&B, hip-hop, funk
Favorite Sport: Basketball, swimming
Favorite Artist: Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Usher
Hobby: Movies, music, collecting shoes and clothes
Special skills: Sing, dancing, acting
Jung Ji Hoon, born on the 25th of June 1982 is a well known actor and
singer in South Korea.. He uses his stage name, Bi (pronounced: “Bee”
which means Rain in Korean), when he performs as a singer and dancer.
His real name is Jung Ji Hoon, which he uses when he performs as an actor.
His surname is Jung and his given name is Ji Hoon (also spelled as Ji
Hun)
He discovered his passion for dancing ever since he was in the 6th grade.
As a teenager, he was part of the boyband group called “fanclub”
and years after the group ended, Park Jin Young (Korean producer/singer
who worked with American singers Will Smith, Mase, Lil’ Kim, 3LW,
Tyrese) took Bi under his wings after he auditioned for JYP entertainment
and trained him for years in dancing and singing. Bi was a back-dancer
for a famous Korean singer named Park Ji Yoon and Park Jin Young himself.
During those training years, Bi was not at home much and would lie to
his parents telling them he was gonna study in the library while in fact
he went to the dance studio. He struggled financially and at times had
to go without meals. Nevertheless, he continued to focus on his dance
and singing even though he was anxiously waiting for his debut.
Finally in 2002 he debuted with the song “nappun namja (bad guy)”
charming fans with his singing and powerful choreography. After the 1st
album, he starred in the drama “Sangdoo Hakyo Gaja (sangdoo let’s
go to school)”; many people were impressed by his acting skills regardless
that it was his first time acting in a drama. Following the success of
his debut, he came back with a new set of style in his 2nd album and hit
song “how to avoid the sun”.
In 2004, he starred in another successful drama called “Full House”
which has aired in other Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia,
Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan
and was one of the highest rating Korean drama which has won the hearts
of many fans across Asia. His performance in Full House has won him the
Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting Awards
His 3rd album “it’s raining” has been released in Japan,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and has top the
foreign music charts in those countries; the album has sold more than
1 million in Asia and it is still in the process of being released in
other Asian countries as well (soon to be in the Philippines). His concert
called “Rainy day” which was held in Korea and Japan had concert
tickets sold out on the first day. Jung Ji Hoon (Bi / Rain)
The American hip hop singer Lil’ Kim has offered Bi to work with
her on her new album, the group 3LW also collaborated with Bi on their
album. The Korean Pop sensation, Bi received the 2004 “KBS Daesang
Award” in Korea (Daesang is the highest Korean music award) and he
has won the MTV Asia Grand Slam; a series of awards in the Asian countries
that broadcast MTV Asia. He won the “Favorite Artist of Korea”
from the 2005 MTV Asia Aid held in Bangkok and the “Popular Asian
Artist Award” from Channel [V] Thailand, he also won the “Best
Buzz Asia Award” during the MTV Japan Video Music Award 2005 and
in Beijing he won the “Best Korean Singer” award in the MTV-CCTV
Mandarin Music Honors. He is invited to perform in the American MTV Video
Music Awards 2005 held in Miami and also at the MTV Latin Video Music
Awards 2005 in Mexico. Since his debut in 2002, the 23 year old has been
one of the most popular Korean artists in Asia. The success he achieved
through his hard work is a promise that he made to his late mother.
In 2005, Bi clinched the Best Buzz Asia from Korea at the MTV Video Music
Awards Japan 2005. He also won the best Korean singer award 2005 at the
Mandarin Music Honors in Taiwan. Having been voted as the best Asian singer
by the Taiwanese media, Bi is positioning himself as one of the most admired
Asian stars this year. Wherever he goes, he generates huge public interest
and becomes a hot topic of conversation. His every move is monitored by
the media and draws keen attention from music fans. Bi is currently on
an Asian music tour which started in Seoul and will travel to Tokyo and
Hong Kong. He is creating and showcasing fresh new spectacles at every
single concert, and tickets are selling out quickly as a result. His first
solo concert in Japan last summer, entitled "Rainy Day Japan"
and held at the Tokyo International Forum, was so popular that all the
tickets were sold out 30 seconds after going on sale. And the tickets
for another of his concerts in Taiwan were sold out the moment they became
available. Bi continues to set records in Asia. Now planning to go beyond
Japan and Hong Kong, Bi will make a foray into China by giving a concert
in Beijing.
Rain Bi's personality and charm sweeping Asia
The Japanese pronounce Bi as "Pi," and they also describe the
singer with another term as well. During one of his concerts in Japan,
Bi enthralled his fans with a powerful and masculine performance onstage.
But when he chatted with fans after the concert, he surprised his fans
by displaying a boyish and playful demeanor, earning him the label "Kawai,"
which means "cute" in Japanese. He is known as a powerful man
onstage and a "cute" persona offstage. It is this characteristic
that makes his fans crazy about him. Bi is famous for trying his best
in whatever he does. He is arguably the best dancer in the nation, because
he learned to dance onstage as a backup dancer for an already-established
singer before his own debut. It is hard to define his dancing with simple
words because it is a mixture of so many diverse elements. He has created
a whole new style of his own by integrating diverse genres of dance over
the course of his long dancing career.
Singer Park Jin-young, who heads the entertainer management company to
which Bi belongs, once told a radio show that "I was always wondering
whether [Bi] understood what I told him because he never replied even
when I scolded him. One day I entered Bi's room, and ended up breaking
into tears." Bi, who was then an aspiring singer, was poor at expressing
his emotions verbally to his older colleague. But what Park discovered
in Bi's room was a wall covered with "post-it" stickers. Every
single sticker was filled with notes of what Park had told and advised
him. Bi had written down every single piece of advice his older friend
had given him, and had been doing his utmost to correct his mistakes and
improve his skills.
It can be said that this latent passion for excellence is what made Bi
what he is today. And Bi has great potential for further development because
he always tries his best to sharpen his current skills through ceaseless
practice. He is truly a believer in the saying, "Opportunity visits
those who make great efforts." There is no doubt that Bi will reach
beyond Asia to become a global star someday because of his enormous talent
and tireless work ethic. The success he achieved through his hard work
is a promise that he made to his late mother.
In 2008 he played Racer Taejo Togokahn in The Wachowski Brothers film
Speed Racer. In 2009 Rain stars in the movie Ninja
Assassin as the main character Raizo, which was released on November
25, 2009.
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