By Chung Ah-young
Singer Yim Jae-beom is likely to stop appearing on the popular television “I Am a Singer” due to health reasons.
“Yim is considering whether to leave the program temporarily or permanently. It’s inevitable that he will quit the program for now as he couldn’t attend today’s episode. Also he will not be able to participate in the following heats which continue for the next three weeks,” his agency said.
Yim underwent an appendectomy on May 16 and was discharged from the hospital on May 18 but couldn’t sing at the program which was taped Monday when a new round of the competition began.
“He is trying to recover but his one-day absence might derail the whole round of the competition. He is consulting with the staff about his standing,” the agency said.
Recently, the singer began gaining explosive popularity for his powerful vocals and charismatic stage manner.
He garnered the largest number of votes from the audience judges in Sunday’s competition after singing “You,” a song originally sung by Yoon Bok-hee.
The program premiered in March featuring seven top singers ― Kim Gun-mo, Baek Ji-young, Yoon Do-hyun, Kim Bum-soo, Lee So-ra, Lena Park and Jung Yub ― to compete through their singing talent. However, the show was not aired for a month after it drew a serious backlash from the viewers when Kim Gun-mo who came in last was given another chance by altering the rules. The show resumed on May 1 after the producer was replaced with a new rule to have two contests for three weeks and eliminate one participant by adding the scores of the two competitions. Rock singer Yim, jazz singer BMK and singer-songwriter Kim Yeon-woo were newly added to the show. Kim was eliminated in Sunday’s episode after receiving the lowest score of the two competitions.
MBC ‘우리들의 일밤-나는 가수다(이하 나가수)’에 출연중인 임재범이 결국 ‘나가수’에서 하차 한다.
23일(오늘) 경기도 일산 MBC드림센터에서 진행되는 ‘나가수’녹화에 참여하는 임재범은 프로그램 하차의 뜻을 밝히고 고별인사를 찍은 것으로 알려졌다.
임재범은 지난 16일 급성맹장염 수술을 받아 ‘나가수’에 출연이 불투명한 상태였고, ‘나가수’제작진과 임재범 측은 그동안 가수의 건강이 우선이라는 입장을 고수해왔다.
임재범은 수술 후 4주간 노래를 해선 안 된다는 의사의 진단을 받았고, 미션으로 받은 곡을 연습하지 못해 ‘나가수’에서 하차를 결정할 수 밖에 없었던 것으로 보인다.
임재범의 녹화 참여는 시청자들과 팬들에게 양해를 구하고 그동안 받은 폭발적인 관심과 사랑에 대해 감사의 뜻을 전하기 위해서다.
어제(22일) 오전 임재범은 “수많은 이유로 회원 탈퇴합니다”라는 글을 남기고 팬 카페를 탈퇴한 상황이다.
이 같은 사실이 알려지자 네티즌들은 “임재범 빠지면 누구를 섭외 하냐”, “임재범 급의 가수가 또 어디 있을까”, “임재범의 목소리가 벌써 그립다”, “사실이 아니길 바란다”등 임재범의 하차를 아쉬워했다.
한편 임재범은 충분한 휴식을 취한 후 다음달 25일과 26일 서울 올림픽공원 체조경기장에서 ‘다시 깨어난 거인’이라는 타이틀로 열리는 단독콘서트 준비에 몰두할 예정이다.