Tasty Crushie Tuesday: Im Seulong (Kpop group, 2AM)

Lim Seul Ong (Hangul: 임슬옹; aka Im Seulong, Seulong) is a South Korean idol singer, actor and the 2nd oldest member of boy band 2AM.

Seulong was born on May 11, 1987 in South Korea.

In 2008, he 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 JYP Entertainment. After going through several elimination processes, Seulong was chosen to become a member of the 4-member ballad group 2AM.

* More info and photos after break...

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. 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, doing his Master of Business Administration.

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.

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 March 5, Seulong was confirmed on February 25, 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 April 15, 2013.

Acting

In March 31, 2010 Seulong debuted as an actor through television drama Personal Taste with Korean actor Lee Min Ho. In Personal Taste, Seulong was cast as Kim Tae Hoon. He also co-star with Korea actress Lee Min Jung as lovers in MBC Sunday drama, “Dosirak” (or “Lunch”), where he took a role of a young man dreaming of romantic love. He also proved his capability of acting through the film, Acoustic.

In 2011, he played himself in SBS‘s sitcom, 'Welcome to the SHOW', where he become the MCs of “Inkigayo" with Nichkhun and Sulli.

In 2012, Seulong was cast in the film 26 Years, where he plays the role of policeman Kwon Jung Hyuk. 26 Years opens in theaters on November 29, 2012 KST. It’s reported that 15,000 people around the country participated in the film and production costs reached 26 billion Won (~$23,897,068)

For his role in the film 26 Years, Seulong became the third idol group member to win the rookie award for a film debut, following Big Bang′s T.O.P. and Miss A′s Suzy. He was awarded Marie Claire Rookie Award at the opening ceremony of Marie Claire Film & Music Festival held on February 20, 2013.[8] He was also nominated for 2013 Baeksang Arts Awards - Best New Movie Actor and Most Popular - Actor (Movie).

On February 27, 2013, Seulong's agency confirmed he was taking on the role of crown prince in the upcoming KBS2 drama The Fugitive of Joseon. He was one of the main characters and the drama first broadcast on April 24, 2013 after IRIS II ended. This was his first attempt at historical drama and his return almost 3 years after debuted as an actor through drama Personal Taste. The Fugitive of Joseon, which was scheduled to aired on April 24, 2013, was a Joseon version of a Chaser about a medical practitioner who struggled to save his daughter from a terminal illness.

Lim Seulong and Kim Seul Gi have been cast as the leading roles in the remake of the webtoon series "Infinite Power" on Naver. Filming had started since September 25, 2013, in Seoul. "Infinite Power" has been picked up by Samsung, and will be produced by Apollo Pictures, who worked on SBS drama "Sign" and Korea's first SNS drama "Love in Memory." It is set to release online in November 2013.

Solo Career (2013)

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 May 9, 2013. 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.

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 September 17, 2013.

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.

On July 15, 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 will begin on August 14 and it will continue for six days until August 19, 2013. This is Seulong's second appointment as ambassador for film festival.

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