The queen who loves fantasy?

As the zombie dancers perform a jolting dance, she makes a V sign at the man who dumped her. Just like the chilling yet cute “V,” the name Lee Jung-hyun brings to mind unique stage performances. The motifs for such stages often start in her head.

“I am crazy about movies. I also watch a lot of old movies. Whenever I go abroad, I go to strange exhibitions, and go searching for rare books. So, these concepts come to me without much research, even when I am eating.”

The new album’s concept of the ghost of the woman who died on the night before her wedding came to be by combining her idea of “the ghost with princess syndrome” with the fact that she is at an age ripe for marriage.

She is said to have screamed with joy when the idea of painting eyes onto her eyelids so she blinks for eyes in the music video was pitched to her. 

A princess within a planned out story?

While singers usually fit their activities to the song, Lee Jung-hyun fits her music to the concept she has chosen. That’s how music unique to her is born. (However, this method is said to give a hard time to the songwriters).

“There are many people who do other things well. I want to do new things. I get a kick of endorphins when I show fun new visuals.”

Solo female singers have less time to show themselves than actresses. Lee Jung-hyun does not compete with anyone in that short time and concerns herself only with showing new things.

“My aim is to show something fresh, something that will make people go “wow.” Everything becomes more fun when you have expectations about yourself rather than thinking about beating someone. It is better to not do something if you don’t feel an ecstasy.”

Launching her career in China was the same way. China provided the stage for her to continue her transformations when her strong image became a barrier for her. She says that the secret to her long-running career in China – where she has now worked for 13 years – is her love of Chinese food.
“I really like Chinese food (laughs), and that led to me love the culture and the country. Many younger singers are going abroad. Wherever they go, I hope they first come to love that country.”

A woman like the spring?

There is the phrase “like Lee Jung-hyun” that replaces “cool” or “pretty.” Although it may not be in the dictionary, it is a phrase known to anyone who has ever seen her stage. She, however, introduced Lee Jung-hyun as “very usual.”

“I like Bernard Werber and British writers’ novels. Eating naengmyun in the summer and kalguksu in the winter is joy, and searching for a tteokbokki place is traveling.”

She says that due to her strong stage persona, many people are still surprised when they meet her off stage. She is optimistic and feminine to the point that she dreams of becoming the protagonist in a “romantic drama of falling in love with a handsome younger man in this life.”

“I would like to be “singer Lee Jung-hyun” when I am singing, and “actress Lee Jung-hyun” when I am acting. Adding modifiers to the name is forced or adds a burden. I don’t want to be defined.”

With these final works, she left nothing but the name “Lee Jung-hyun.” The three-hour long shoot left the editor with a new definition of the phrase “like Lee Jung-hyun.”

It is not being tired out by thanking the staff with both arms, it is opening making exclamations such as “wow it’s hot,” “wow, this is tasty,” and “wow that is beautiful.”

If I meet a woman who tells the story of her reading a good novel in a quiet café in Samcheong-dong while sipping on hand-drip coffee, I will tell her this. That she reminds me of the woman I met.

ㆍPhotographer｜Lee Kyoung-seobㆍAssistant｜J.J JeonㆍHair&Make up｜Ye-san&Oh Hee-jin(soonsoo beauty)ㆍSupport｜REX diamond