Well, THAT was unexpected!  Many of us Ji Chang Wook fans were merely waiting for his appearance as a presenter at the 2019 Asia Artist Awards held on 26 November.  Instead, we have a two-time award winner to brag about!

For those of you unfamiliar about the Asia Artist Awards, here’s a bit of background.  The AAA is an awards ceremony organized by South Korea-based business newspaper Money Today and its global media brands StarNews and MTN.  The show honors outstanding achievements and international contributions regarding a nominee’s body of work in television, film and music, and awards are not contingent upon a specific timeframe for consideration.  The 2019 ceremony is its 4th year since its inception in 2016, and the first year of its being held outside of South Korea.

Winners at the AAA are chosen by a voting bloc consisting of members of the aforementioned three media companies, and are the only awards not voted on by fans, with the exception being a paid-per-vote process for Best Popularity Awards.  Wook’s fans tried the best to vote for him in the Best Actor Popularity Award category, but we came up a bit short in the final results (see here for the final result).

The AAA show started off on a sour note, as hundreds of fans waiting behind a temporary fence suddenly breached the barrier and stampeded past the security guards stationed at the entrance to My Dinh Stadium.  Fortunately, no attendees sustained any injuries and the show went forward as scheduled…

… sort of.  For some unknown and unannounced reason, the Red Carpet photowall start time was pushed from 5:00pm to 6:40pm, leaving the the AAA emcees no choice but to rush through their star introductions with only 60 seconds available for each star or music group.

But once all the invitees took their turns at the photowall, the main broadcast was finally able to begin shortly after 7:00pm.  As in years past, many of us were looking forward to the AAA livestream in order to see our favourites.  But being held overseas for the first time in its history, this 2019 AAA was limited to a livestream only able to be viewed in Vietnam, leaving international fans basically in the dark or viewing a pixilated mess through pirated streams.

The AAA is also an award show where the nominees are not divulged before the broadcast, but one can fairly assume that if you see your favourites in the audience, they have either won an award or are presenting an award during the broadcast.  So it was quite a thrill to see that Ji Chang Wook was nominated in both the “Best Actor” and “Best Celebrity (Actor)” categories for his body of work to date, eventually winning in both.

And look at this star power!  Wook was placed at the same table with his “Healer” co-star Park Min Young (nominated in several categories herself), along with actor Jang Dong Gun (most recently seen in tvN drama “Arthdal Chronicles”) and actress Lee Jung Eun (most recently seen in the Korean movie “Parasite”).

Ji Chang Wook accepted his Best Celebrity (Actor) award along with his “Healer” co-star Park Min Young, who won for Best Celebrity (Actor) as well.  (The AAA went to gender-neutral pronouns with its 2018 broadcast.)

But that’s not all!  After a few more group performances and idol awards, Ji Chang Wook’s name was read by presenter Choi Siwon for his win for Best Actor Award!

During his acceptance speech, Wook stated that by receiving the Best Actor Award, it makes him feel responsible but grateful.  When he joins a project and starts acting, he feels like he is greatly lacking while faced with his limitations.  He thanked everyone who keeps supporting him with praise, and promises to keep working harder at his craft.  He ended with more thanks and hopes everyone will continue their support of him.

Of course, that handsome look needed a touch-up prior to Wook taking the stage.  Many thanks to CEO Jung Mi Young and Stylist Eun for their perfect make-up and hair stylings!

Congratulations again to Ji Chang Wook for two more awards to add to his ever-growing collection!

Credits:  Photos as watermarked; Star News; ALUU Instagram