Lim Young-woong wins 'Mr. Trot'

Lim Young-woong has enjoyed nationwide popularity thanks to his offbeat style blending ballad and trot. Capture from TV Chosun

By Dong Sun-hwa

Lim Young-woong has won TV Chosun's smash-hit audition show “Mr. Trot” to become a trot star in Korea. Trot is a Korean music genre characterized by vocal inflections and repetitive rhythm.

“March 12 was my father's death anniversary,” Lim said during tearful remarks after the winner was announced on the cable channel, Saturday. “I think my dad gave me the victory to say sorry for leaving my mother alone. I appreciate him, my mom and grandmother, the viewers and the judges for their support.”

Lim will receive 100 million ($82,000) cash, a song written by acclaimed composer Cho Young-soo and a SUV among others.

Since the premiere of “Mr. Trot” on Jan. 2, he has enjoyed nationwide popularity thanks to his offbeat style blending ballad and trot.

Lim was chosen based on aggregated scores from 10 judges of the program (50 percent), previous voting from the show's fans (20 percent) and real-time voting from the audience (30 percent).

TV Chosun was to unveil the winner on its last episode aired Thursday, but delayed the announcement after failing to count viewers' real-time votes on time. The crew revealed it had received more than 7.7 million votes as text messages.

Lim's score was 3890. Second-placed Young Tak garnered 3525.3 points.

Saturday's episode of “Mr. Trot” recorded 28.7 percent viewership. The program hit 35.7 percent rating on Thursday ― an all-time high for a cable channel program in Korea.

Lim and other contestants will give concerts nationwide beginning from April 18. Seoul is the first leg of the tour.