Lim Seul-ong

Seulong
Seulong at Horror Stories 3 VIP Premiere
Native name	임슬옹
Born	Lim Seul-ong (1987-05-11) May 11, 1987 Seoul, South Korea
Other names	Im Seul-ong
Occupation	Singer-songwriter Actor MC
Musical career
Genres	K-pop R&B Soul Korean hip hop Progressive house
Instruments	Vocals Piano Keyboards
Years active	2008–present
Labels	JYP Entertainment (2008–2015) SidusHQ[1] (2015–present)
Associated acts	2AM 2PM JYP Nation One Day IU Swings Shin Jimin

Lim Seul-ong, (born 11 May 1987), most often credited in short as Seulong, is a South Korean idol singer, actor and MC. He is known as the second oldest member of the boy band 2AM and renowned for his singing abilities using falsetto.^[2]

Biography

In 2008, Seulong took part in Mnet's "Hot Blood". The program showed the intense physical training that thirteen male trainees had to go through to compete for the opportunity to debut in either a 4-member ballad group or a 7-member dance group under the label JYP Entertainment.^[3] After going through several elimination processes, Seulong was chosen to become a member of the 4-member ballad group 2AM.

On a talk show, SBS "Night After Night", in 2009, Seulong revealed that he had turned down an initial offer from his current agency JYP Entertainment (JYPE) to join YG Entertainment.^[4] But he ended up not making it into YG and got another call from JYP. He had studied at Daejin University, Dept. of Theatre and Visual Arts and is currently a student at Kyunghee University Graduate School of Arts, Culture & Arts Management,^[5] doing his Master of Business Administration.

Career

2AM

2AM's first single "This Song" released on July 21, 2008. It debuted on July 11, 2008, performing "이 노래" ("This Song").^[6] In March 2015, Seulong decided to switch agencies, joining SidusHQ.^[7] Fellow 2AM member Jinwoon also signed to another management agency while the remaining members remained with JYP Entertainment. JYP Entertainment assured that the departures did not imply that 2AM was going to be disbanded. However, the scenario has put 2AM on temporary break from any group activities at the moment.^[8]

Television and collaboration

In 2009, Seulong and Jo Kwon were part of "Dirty Eyed Girls" on an episode of 2PM's variety show "Wild Bunny", performing a parody of popular Brown Eyed Girls song Abracadabra. The music video became extremely popular.^[9]

In 2010, he collaborated with IU for the song "잔소리" (Nagging/Scolded) for TV show We Got Married, which reached No.1 on several online music charts. They won an award for "Nagging" on SBS Inkigayo and KBS Music Bank K-Chart respectively. Seulong and Jinwoon make regular appearances as commentators for We Got Married Season II.

While preparing for 2AM's 2013 comeback on 5 March, Seulong was confirmed on 25 February 2013 that he would be one of the emcees for the new season XTM Homme. XTM Homme is Korea's first male style variety show, providing latest fashion trend information and tech news. It is currently in its 5th season. XTM Homme 5.0 was scheduled to broadcast on 15 April 2013. ^[10][11]

Acting

On 31 March 2010, he made his acting debut as a supporting actor in the television drama Personal Taste. He also starred opposite Lee Min-jung in Lunch Box on the single-episode anthology MBC Best Theater, followed by omnibus film, Acoustic. In 2011, he appeared in the sitcom Welcome to the Show, and hosted the music program Inkigayo with Nickhun and Sulli.

In 2012, Seulong was cast in the film 26 Years, in which he played a policeman who wants to assassinate a former president. 26 Years was released through crowdfunding, with 15,000 people contributing to its ₩26 billion (US$23,897,068) budget. For his role in the film, Seulong became the third idol group member to win a rookie award for his or her film debut, following Big Bang's T.O.P and Miss A's Bae Suzy. He won Best New Actor at the opening ceremony of the Marie Claire Film & Music Festival in 2013.^[12] He received a nomination at the 49th Baeksang Arts Awards.

In 2013, he took on the role of the Crown Prince in The Fugitive of Joseon, in which a doctor struggles to save his daughter from a terminal illness.^[13] Later that year, Seulong and Kim Seul-gie were cast in the leading roles in a remake of the webtoon series Infinite Power. It was released online on Naver and Samsung smart phones.^[14]

Seulong was cast in Hotel King (2014), where he played a hotelier with a positive attitude and a loud personality who falls for the hotel heiress.^[15]

On 2 January 2015, Seulong's agency announced that he had been confirmed for new tvN's upcoming drama Hogu's Love. He will be acting as lawyer Byun Kang Chul, who has never experienced failure in his life. Byun Kang Chul is a perfect man who grew up in the top 1 percent of Korea. He has been superior since birth to the point where he doesn't need dating skills. "Hogu's Love" is a drama based on the original webtoon series with the same title by writer Yoo Hyun Sook, who wrote the original webtoon series of tvN's Flower Boys Next Door.^[16]

Singer actor Seulong has been cast as the lead for the upcoming movie, "Horror Stories 3".^[17] "Horror Stories" is a horror movie series in omnibus format. 'Horror Stories 3' plays a role as a bridge between the first and second sequels, thus talks about past, present as well as future. The story of the third sequel is delivered in a unique setting borrowing the scientific fiction genre.

Music

2013: Solo

Seulong collaborates with Swedish DJ Avicii for a Korean remake of the hit song "Levels". For the newest version with Seulong, James's vocals are replaced with an autotuned verse in Korean. According to a spokesman for Universal Music Korea, Avicii's agency decided on Seulong for the Korean version "after monitoring various artists because they found his voice the most suitable and beautiful." The single named "Levels with Seulong from 2AM" was released on 9 May 2013.^[18] The latest version with Seulong was second place on the Daily Pop Chart of Korea's biggest online music website MelOn's Top 100 Chart.^[19]

Seulong teamed up with Epitone Project for a song to close off the summer season, titled "Summer, Night". The song was created in an effort to return the favor, Epitone Project had performed for 2AM when they wrote and composed one of the songs on 2AM's previous album, "One Spring Day". The release of the digital single was on 17 September 2013.^[20]

2014: Collaborations and first self-composed song "U Don't Know"

In May, Seulong lent his voice for Yoon Jong Shin's "New You" as part of his monthly new single project. A ballad song titled "New You", a song about cherishing the current moment and the present love a couple may have for one another, without thinking about the past or worrying about the future.^[21]

On 4 August, Swings teamed up with female soloist G.NA, 2AM's Seulong, and producer/singer Yoon Jong Shin to release Summer Song "Pool Party".^[22]

In the same month at "2014 JYP NATION ONE MIC" concerts in Korea, Seulong and 2 pm member's Taecyeon's collaboration stage, they performed an unreleased new song titled "U Don't Know", which was co-written by both of them, for the first time. The live recording of this song, together with a studio version, was later released in the live album featuring the recording from the concert in November.^[23]

2015: "It's cold", "Good Start 2015" Collaborations

Singer-songwriter Shim Hyun Bo released his fourth album with a new single "It's Cold" in collaboration with Seulong on 2 February 2015. It is one of two title songs from Shin Hyun Bo's new album.^[24]

Mnet "Unpretty Rapstar" released Track 2 "Good Start 2015″ featuring AOA's Jimin and Seulong on 27 February 2015. Within just nine hours of its release, the track reached the top spot on major charts including Mnet, Melon, Daum, Genie, Olleh Music, Bugs, Soribada, Monkey3, Cyworld and Naver Music.^[25]

Others

Seulong was selected as ambassador for the "2012 Jeonju International Film Festival" along with actress Son Eun Seo. In 2012, Seulong and Jinwoon were selected as Brand Ambassadors for Galaxy Note Day held in Busan and Gwangju.^[26]

On 15 July 2013, JIMFF announced that 2AM Lim Seulong and Korean actress Nam Bo-ra were appointed to be honorary ambassadors for 9th Jechon International Music & Film Festival. The festival began on 14 August and continued until 19 August. This is Seulong's second appointment as ambassador for film festival.^[27]

Filmography

Film

Television series

Variety/Lifestyle show

Music video appearances

Albums

Single albums

Soundtrack

Collaborations

Awards and nominations

2AM

Solo artist

Inkigayo

Note: An artist may only win three times for one track on Inkigayo before they are taken off the 'Take 7' nominees list.

Music Bank

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Im Seulong.

• Lim Seul-ong on Twitter