Cho Yong-pil reclaims his crown

“The King of Music” Cho Yong-pil won first place in a television music program for the first time in 23 years.

Although he did not make a personal appearance on Wednesday’s live broadcast show, Cho’s title song “Hello” was ranked first in MBC’s “Show Champion.”

Cho had last won first place in a TV music program in 1990, on MBC’s “Show Network” for his hit song “Reunion in Memory.” 

After winning a number of awards with his single “Dream,” the legendary singer retired from the public eye and rarely appeared on television shows, though continued to hold concerts.

Meanwhile, there was a controversy about Cho’s “Bounce” receiving zero SNS votes on another music program. He was ranked second after Psy at “SBS Popular Song” which aired live on April 28. The program’s producer Kim Yong-kwon has explained that there was no problem with fairness.

“A crucial reason is YouTube,” he said.

“Also, the final results were collected on April 22 so his showcase on April 24 did not count toward the aggregate,” Kim added.

Cho’s newly released 19th official album “Hello” sold 70,000 copies by April 30 and an extra 20,000 copies were supplied on May 2. Sales are expected to break the 100,000 mark this week.

By Suh Hye-rim (sheren6735@heraldcorp.com)