Lim Chang-jung on beating H.O.T. for the 1997 KBS Grand Prize: "I took all the hate of my lifetime"

Lim Chang-jung was a Golden Star guest on TV CHOSUN's 금타는 금요일 on July 17. He opened with a full performance of 소주 한 잔, his signature track, then told the story behind one of the late 1990s' most talked-about award wins.

In 1997, Lim took the Grand Prize (대상) at the KBS 가요대상, beating H.O.T. at the height of the idol group's popularity. "After receiving the Grand Prize in 1997, I received all the criticism I would eat in my lifetime at that time," he said. During his encore stage, fans of other artists walked out of the venue. "Still, we had a lot of fans."

Leeteuk, also on the program, called 소주 한 잔 a "national favorite song." Korean men have cried singing it over soju more times than they can count. The song almost never happened. When host Kim Sung-joo asked if Lim wrote the lyrics himself, Lim confirmed it. A communication breakdown with the original lyricist left him with no lyrics the week before broadcast, so he wrote them in a car on the way to the recording session.

Lim's career stretches back to 1990, when he debuted as an actor in the film 남부군. He crossed into music in 1995 with 이미 나에게로, establishing himself as a singer. He also revealed that he hosted the first two episodes of 슈퍼스타K before Kim Sung-joo was brought in. He delivered this fact with a straight face before joking, "Kim Sung-joo is a person I made." Kim Sung-joo was sitting right there.