Eugene (actress)

Eugene
Eugene in 2011 Metrocity fashion show
Background information
Birth name	Kim Yoo-jin
Also known as	Eugene, Yoo-jin
Born	(1981-03-03) March 3, 1981 Seoul
Origin	Guam
Genres	K-pop
Occupations	Singer, actress
Years active	1999–present
Labels	PFull Entertainment
Associated acts	S.E.S.
Website	eugene.pfull.com

Kim Yoo-jin (born March 3, 1981), professionally known in English as Eugene, is a singer, actress, and emcee. She was a former member of a Korean female idol group called S.E.S., popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She has released two solo albums and has gone on to star in TV dramas and movies and work as an MC in various shows and programs.

Early life

Eugene was born in Seoul, South Korea, but spent her childhood in Guam after moving there after elementary school. She returned to Korea with her mother and younger sister sometime in high school, and eventually graduated from Korea Kent Foreign School.^{[citation needed]}

Career

With S.E.S.

By way of an audition tape, Eugene was able to be part of a music group for SM Entertainment in South Korea, even though she was still in Guam. Debuting in 1997, S.E.S. became one of the biggest Korean groups of all time, having the record for biggest selling album by a female group in Korea. While in S.E.S., Eugene became known for her beauty and was part of the reason why S.E.S. had many advertising contracts. In fact, for certain print campaigns (like for Korean cosmetics company Etude), Eugene had the leading role, being the focus of the advertisements.

Solo

After the split of S.E.S. in 2002, Kim starred in four Korean dramas: Loving You, Save The Last Dance for Me,^[1] Wonderful Life, and I Really, Really Like You. She also appeared in commercials and advertisements, notably for Korean cosmetics company Cathy Cat. In addition, she released two solo albums. My True Style, her first album, has sold nearly 65,000 records and had one hit ballad, "The Best". Her second album 810303 sold a disappointing 19,000 copies. Although sales were low, Eugene still had a very successful single with "Windy", mostly due to her new "sexy" image (compared to her previous girl next door image). This song was performed on all the music video programs in Korea for many months, in addition to her second single. Promotions were stopped near the end of the year.

Eugene made her theater debut in the musical adaptation of the film Innocent Steps,^[2] and her film debut in Unstoppable Marriage.^[3]

After taking on the lead roles in the dramas One Mom and Three Dads,^[4] and Creating Destiny,^[5] Eugene starred in the massive hit King of Baking, Kim Takgu.

In 2007 Eugene took over from Lee Hyori as one of the co-hosts of the KBS variety show Happy Together Friends, until the show was overhauled for a third season. After the success of her previous program Eugene's Makeup Diary, cable style network O'live again chose her as the host of new show Get It Beauty which began airing in July 2010.^[6]

Eugene has authored two books: Eugene's Beauty Secrets^[7] and Eugene's Get It Beauty.^[8] She is also the co-president of the clothing brand byMOMO.

In 2012 she became the host of season 3 of MBC's revamped flagship amateur singing competition show The Great Birth.^[9][10] Her next leading role was in the 2013 weekend family drama A Hundred Year Legacy, which reached ratings of over 30 percent.^[11][12]

Personal life

On May 11, 2011, Eugene announced on her fansite that after a year and a half of dating, she will be married to Ki Tae-young, her leading man in the 2009 TV series Creating Destiny.^[13][14][15] The couple later held a joint press conference to discuss further details about their relationship and wedding plans,^[16] then released their pre-nuptial pictorials a week before the actual wedding.^{[17][18][19][20]} Their wedding was held at the Seoul Central Church in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, on July 23, 2011.^[21][22][23]

They were the first couple featured on Super Couple Diary, a reality show filming the daily married life of celebrity couples.^[24]

Discography

Albums

Collaborations

Soundtrack contributions

As Featured Artist on other albums

Christmas tracks

Filmography

Musical theatre

Hosting (MC)

Variety shows

• 2002 SBS Saturday is Coming
• 2003 KBS Nam Hui-seok and Eugene's Love Story
• 2005 KBS Happy Together Friends
• 2009 O'live TV Living Beauty - Eugene's Makeup Diary, Season 1
• 2009 O'live TV Living Beauty - Eugene's Makeup Diary, Season 2
• 2012 MBC The Great Birth - Season 3
• 2010-2014 O'live TV Get It Beauty

Live events

• 2005 레인스톤 Live Annual Concert
• 2006 Eve of Seoul International Drama Awards
• 2007 MBC America 개국기념 축하쇼 We Are One
• 2007 Dream Concert
• 2007 Asia Song Festival
• 2008 Premiere Asia Rising Star Awards
• 2008 Seoul International Drama Awards
• 2010 Asia Song Festival

Books

• 2009 Eugene's Beauty Secrets
• 2011 Eugene's Get It Beauty

Appointed as Goodwill Ambassador

• 2004 '건치 연예인' 노인대상 치위생사 체험
• 2005 Study Group for Contraception
• 2006 Philippine Tourism
• 2007 한 알의 사랑 모으기 캠페인
• 2008 12th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival
• 2011 Wonju City

Awards

• 1999 Korea Best Dresser Awards: Best Dressed, Female Singer category
• 2002 KBS Drama Awards: Popularity Award (Loving You)
• 2002 KBS Drama Awards: Best New Actress (Loving You)
• 2004 Korea Visual Arts Festival: Photogenic Award, Singer category
• 2004 SBS Drama Awards: New Star Award (Save the Last Dance for Me)
• 2005 Mnet KM Music Festival: PD's Choice Special Award
• 2010 KBS Drama Awards: Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries (King of Baking, Kim Takgu)
• 2011 KBS Drama Awards: Excellence Award, Actress in a One-Act Drama/Special (Princess Hwapyung's Weight Loss)

References

External links

• Eugene on GG Entertainment (Korean)
• Eugene at Cyworld (Korean)
• Goddess of Beauty Kim Eugene at Daum Cafe (Korean)
• Eugene at HanCinema
• Eugene at the Internet Movie Database
• BYMOMO (Korean)