Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend

Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend

Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend (Korean: 불후의 명곡: 전설을 노래하다), also known as Immortal Songs 2 (불후의 명곡 2), is a South Korean television music competition program presented by Shin Dong-yup. It is a revival of Immortal Songs (2007–2009), and each episode features singers who perform their reinterpreted versions of songs.

The program airs a new episode every Saturday on KBS2, and re-airs it with English subtitles on KBS World a week or two later in the same time frame.

Synopsis

Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend

Originally broadcast as Immortal Songs 2 as a part of KBS Saturday Freedom, each episode featured six idol singers who would perform songs by the singer of the episode. After restructuring in 2012, the show returned on April 7 as an independent program and rebranded as Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend. Each episode now features seven singers or groups from diverse backgrounds and years of experience, ranging from members of popular K-pop idol groups to legendary solo artists. As before, they each perform their own reinterpreted versions of famous songs by the legendary singer of the episode. A noted feature of the new format is the "special episodes" which revolve around specific themes, such as festive or commemorate events.

Guest singers are seated in a waiting room with the three hosts, where they introduce themselves to viewers. The order of performances is decided randomly by presenter Shin Dong-yup drawing a ball containing the performer's name, and the 500-member audience vote after each round for their favorite performance. The performer with the most votes on the episode wins. Starting February 15, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the votes were done by 20 special judges (mostly KBS employees). They scored the artist, but the score was not shown on screen and instead a light was used to indicate the winner.

Starting August 22, 2020, the show was re-branded as Immortal Songs. Moon Hee-joon & Jung Jae-hyung both left the program after being part of it for 9 & 8 years respectively and it was announced that Kim Jun-hyun and Kim Shin-young would be replacing them. The show's third waiting room host, Kim Tae-woo, left in June 2021 after 3 years. He was replaced by trot singer Shin Yu in July 2021 but he left the show in October and was replaced by a series of guest hosts (see below). Kim Shin-young also left the show in November and Lee Chan-won was named as a permanent host on November 20, 2021.

On November 4, 2021, KBS announced that it will reopen their music shows to a live audience for the first time since January 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Immortal Songs began taping episodes with a reduced live audience in late November and episode 536 was the first episode to air with an audience on December 11, 2021, with the light system remaining as the method to indicate a winner.

Crossover quartet Forestella holds the unique record of most consecutive wins on the King of Kings special in the show's history, with 6 overall wins. They also had 27 consecutive matches with no losses in their 1st selection round. They are also the group with more trophies in the show, with 14 victories total in the general count sharing the top three with solo singers Jung Dong-Ha and Ali.

Cast

Main MC

• Shin Dong-yup (2011–present)

Guest MC

• Lee Geum-hee (March 19 & 26, 2022)

Waiting Room Hosts

• Kim Jun-hyun (2020–present) • Lee Chan-won (2021–present)

• Tei (Jul. 21, 2018) • Na Tae-ju (Sept. 18, 2021) • Park Ji-won (Oct. 9-23, Nov. 6, Nov. 27, Dec. 4, 2021) • Lee Chan-won (Oct. 30, 2021, later named permanent host) • Young Tak (Nov. 13, 2021) • Jang Minho (Nov. 20, 2021, July 9, 2022) • Ravi (Dec. 11, 2021) • Jo Woo-jong (Jan. 1, 2022) • Hoshi (Seventeen) (May 28, 2022) • Hwang Chi-yeul (June 25, October 8 & 15, 2022) • Kim Hee-jae (January 21, 2023) • Jo Min-gyu (Forestella) (July 15 & 22, 2023) • Park Hyun-bin (August 26, 2023; January 25, 2025) • Lee Do-hyun (October 5, 2024) • Park Kyung-lim (March 8, 2025)

• Kim Gu-ra (2011–2012) • Jun Hyun-moo (2012) • Lee Soo-geun (2012) • Park Hyun-bin (2013) • Eun Ji-won (2013–2014) • Yoon Min-soo (2015–2016) • Hwang Chi-yeul (2017–2018) • Moon Hee-joon (2011–2020) • Jung Jae-hyung (2012–2020) • Kim Tae-woo (2018–2021) • Shin Yu (2021) • Kim Shin-young (2020–2021)

Awards and nominations

Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Award</th><th>Category</th><th>Recipient</th><th>Result</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2016</td><td>15th KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Talk/Show Category)</td><td>Jung Jae-hyung</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>Excellence Award (Talk/Show Category)</td><td>Moon Hee-joon</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>No 2017 KBS Entertainment Awards due to the labor union strike</td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>16th KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Grand Award (Daesang)</td><td>Shin Dong-yup</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Talk/Show Category)</td><td>Moon Hee-joon</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>17th KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Best Couple Award</td><td>Kim Tae-woo and Moon Hee-joon</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Producers' Special Award</td><td>Shin Dong-yup</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>Excellence Award (Entertainment Category)</td><td>Kim Tae-woo</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>18th KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Hong Kyung-min</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Kim Tae-woo</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Reality Category)</td><td>Poppin' Hyun Joon and Park Ae-ri</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Kim Shin-young</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Kim Jun-hyun</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Rookie Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Na Tae-ju</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>19th KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rookie Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Lee Chan-won</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>20th KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Won</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Grand Award (Daesang)</td><td>Shin Dong-yup</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Kim Jun-hyun</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Lee Chan-won</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>Popularity Award</td><td>Jannabi</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>2023</td><td>21st KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Won</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Grand Award (Daesang)</td><td>Shin Dong-yup</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Kim Jun-hyun</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>2024</td><td>22nd KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Won</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Grand Award (Daesang)</td><td>Lee Chan-won</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Kim Jun-hyun</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Entertainer of the Year</td><td>Lee Chan-won</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>2025</td><td>23rd KBS Entertainment Awards</td><td>Viewers' Choice Best Program Award</td><td>Immortal Songs</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Grand Award (Daesang)</td><td>Lee Chan-won</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Top Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Kim Jun-hyun</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Excellence Award (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Forestella</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Rookie of the Year (Show/Variety Category)</td><td>Zo Zazz</td><td>Nominated</td></tr><tr><td>Popularity Award</td><td>Forestella</td><td>Won</td></tr><tr><td>Entertainer of the Year</td><td>Lee Chan-won</td><td>Won</td></tr></tbody></table>