Update as of November 2010.
There have been many changes to the show. At some point in 2010, they changed to "Season 2" of the show, and brought in a panel of foreign men who live in Korea. They added some new segments and many of the regulars were still in effect.
Many girls from the show have become proper celebrities. Guzal has been in a daytime tv drama. Akiba Rie has also done some acting (was in a two episode drama called "The Kimchi War" and is in a oft-running tv commercial as well). Bronwyn and Abigail are often hosts for traveling shows. A lot of the girls on the show are proper celebrities in Korea now. (This was actually a criticism by Korean audiences that the original theme of the show was for "normal, ordinary" foreign girls and their perspectives on Korea and Korean culture, but now they were "celebrities". I'm not sure what that criticism is supposed to mean, since it's Koreans themselves and their interest that has made the girls celebrities.
Here's the panelists, their pictures and mini-bios from the Korean website of the show:
http://www.kbs.co.kr/2tv/enter/suda/about/member_30.html#30_01
SOMEONE OUGHT TO UPLOAD EPISODES FROM KBS WORLD SINCE IT HAS ENGLISH SUBS!
Chit Chat of Beautiful Ladies (aka
Global Talk Show "Minyodurlae Suda"), aka
The Beauties' Chatterbox, aka
Talk with Beauties, aka
Beauty Talk Show is a Korean TV show on KBS that features alternating panels of 16 FOREIGN women living, working, studying in Korean who are all
FLUENT in Korean.
Also featured is a "guest" panel of 5-8 male (and lately all female) guests, usually actors, pop singers, rappers, comedians, and other Korean Celebrities. Past guest panelists have been: all members of Shinhwa (Andy from We Got Married, etc.), Super Junior, FT Island, Crown J, Alex (from Clazziquai), god, Hongki, Chun Myung Hoon (M.H. Chun) from NRG, ....etc.....
It is an ENDLESSLY fascinating and HILARIOUS show to see
foreigners give their perspectives on and relate
their experiences in Korea, while at the same time the audience is consistently taught
the latest Korean slang by the young ladies (as they have access to young Koreans who are using and inventing the latest slang, which are otherwise indecipherable to the general Korean audience!).
Many panelists have gained CONSIDERABLE fame from the show, using this new-found fame to make appearances (and even permanent positions) on other Variety shows in Korea. Some have developed successful careers in acting, music, etc. in the Korean Entertainment Industry. This turned out to be something of a controversy as this was presented as a show about "normal, everyday" foreigners' perspectives and reflections on Korea and Korean culture. However, of late, so many have become celebrities in their own right that critics argue the show can no longer present that "authentic" voice from the street. Personally, I don't see what can possibly be done about it, and those that have become famous have due to reasons beyond just their outward appearance, rather for their intelligence, insight, personalities, idiosyncracies, etc. Furthermore, appearing on the show is no automatic ticket to either celebrity or recognition. Lastly, there are quite a few panelists and new panelists are fairly frequently added.
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Here's the latest episode WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTMcHyUUPpg
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I started this page, hoping to attract folks who've seen the show and know a little about it, as I've never been able to find any information about this show in English. So please contribute by adding ANY information about the show or panelists, considering I have only seen a few shows that they occasionally broadcast in shorter, edited forms in the U.S. and the few shows that are online.
On the most recent show (as of 8/25/09) they added a superb new segment called "Hot Potato", where they have a "debate!" A controversial question is asked and the guests and panelists must vote on one side of the issue or the other. Of course they led off this new section with, "What do you think about the eating of dogmeat?" See forum discussion below.
Here's the
NEW opening credit roll with the new theme song
"Krazy" by Monotonik (featuring Gavy NJ):
LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br_Agor5kW0
To watch episodes (unfortunately only with Chinese subtitles) do the following:
Cut and Paste This Title in the search field on youtube to find episodes. (I will shortly be posting links to all COMPLETE episodes I have thus far found on youtube and veoh.)
异国佳丽话韩国试播篇0-1 中韩论坛制作
Below is a link to the first part of the first episode. (I don't know that there are ANY episodes or even clips with English subs. Even on TV in the States, where most dramas are subtitled, I've never seen this show subbed ever!) Please contact me, yella_fella, if you know where to get "clean" versions of the show, or if you know anyone who could help sub.
LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uwc4wUjcWY
Episodes also available on
veoh.com
LINK:
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v995570bKXghDzQ
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
It would be great if someone could
upload these episodes onto crunchy roll and then one day
add subs, since it's at times nearly impossible to understand if you're not up-to-date on contemporary Korean culture and slang.
Furthermore, I don't know the
names of all the different girls. If people could post those, then I can add them to this profile!
Click on this link for a page full of pictures and names of panelists:
LINK:
http://xarsrima.tistory.com/431
Also check out this page seems to have a bunch of pictures of them. It's in Korean. If there's enough demand I might actually put in the effort to translate all the mini-bios on the panelists. However, my whole point of starting this page was the hopes that someone much more motivated than me would go ahead and do the scut work....!
http://www.kbs.co.kr/2tv/enter/suda/about/member_21.html#21_03
If anyone knows any other sources for their photos please post them, I'm really not good at this internet stuff!
I AM CURRENTLY TRYING PUTTING TOGETHER A SUBBING TEAM TO SUB THIS SHOW!!! IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW IS FLUENT IN KOREAN PLEASE CONTACT ME. HERE IS THE SUBBING GROUP called DYSM (Deadly Yet Sexy Maniac Subbers:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/group/DYSM?src=topbar
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FEATURED PANELISTS:
Leslie Benfield, (African-)American. The first "honorary" Korean, her Korean is so sophisticated I can't understand a lot of what she says! The extent of her "korean-ness" is really quite alarming. I think Koreans were really shocked by her initially, then came to see that some foreigners could really become quite familiar with our peculiar culture and customs, which even our neighbors find quite inscrutable!

Eva Popiel, UK (mixed Japanese-Polish? raised in Japan and the UK). One of the most recognized and popular of the ladies, she has even used her stardom to land a gig on a long-running daytime drama!
Djamilya Abdullaeva, Uzbekhistan. Notorious for her "sexiness," she gets a little hated on by the girls for overduing the whole sultry bit. I just saw (Aug. 09) she'll be starring in a new reality show, where guys will live in the same house as her and two other sexy foreigners. She's even taken a shot at a dance number, see link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29qZELbb9OY&NR=1
Guzal Tursunova Saidahmedovna, Uzbekhistan (ethnically Russian?). Teased for her beauty and at times a seemingly false modesty, she has since died her hair black. Her Korean is really good and also cute how she sort of purses her lips when she talks.
Abigail Ahinoam Alderete Cancian, Ecuador (Happa mixed?) b. 1987. Gets teased by panelists for being quite a party-ier instead of buckling down on her studies. She has a korean boyfriend.
Saori Chang, Japan (Korean-Japanese). Her father is Korean. Has since been on numerous shows, most famously as the hapless victim of the Hyung Don on "We Got Married" (a reality show). She's known for referring to herself in the third person, "Saori-nun"!
Bronwyn Mullen, (Afrikaaner) South Africa. Famous for her distinct accent, her and Cristina may have Korea's most well-recognized and oft-copied accents! Equally famous is her love of Korean Miso (fermented soybean paste, called Daenjang, known to prevent stomach cancer) that it spawned an HILARIOUS single, a duet with the other comdienne of the panel, Sayuri (link below to youtube video of their MV). Recently I've seen her as one of four "reporters" for a Food show on MBC called "Good Eats TV" (not to be mistake with "food-wonk" Alton Brown's "Good Eats" on The Food Network).
Dominique Noel, (French)-Canadian. She's the resident Karaoke Queen of the show as she seems to be a veritable walking-singing-dancing encyclopedia of Korean pop music! Apparently, she's one of the panelists that came to Korea for her love of Korean culture, as she seems to have been a part of the Karaoke scene in her native Quebec. She's got the most WONDERFUL set of choppers! Also claims to have been teased for her name, some French song: "Dominic-inicini," (or something or other).
Kirsty Reynolds, Australian (married to a Korean). Recently announced she will be moving with her husband back to Australia. On the last show, she said her goodbyes (early August 2009). Hopefully she will come back to visit. She stated that she has made some of her closest friends as a result of the show and hopes to stay in touch with them for the rest of her life. Best of luck to her and her man!
Cristina Confalonieri, Italian (married a Korean man) b. 1981. One of the coolest, funniest, and most genuine women on the panel, she exudes a kind of confidence and sincerity about her that's unmistakeable in spite of her nearly comically bad Korean! By now, nearly all Koreans can recognize (and mimic!) her very distinct way of speaking Korean. It's adorable, awkward, but clear and insightful in spite of its simplistic formulation. She met her husband (an opera singer) in Italy, as she was his Italian-language teacher. Apparently, he conveniently forgot his book for class everytime and had to share with her! (That's GAME!)
Taru Salminen, Finnish. Perhaps one of the most "koreanized" of all the panelists, she REGULARLY uses Korean proverbs & colloquialisms they way a native would. She almost always is able to explain Korean history, culture, and pop culture references, frequently drawing "awes" from the studio audience for her depth and breadth of knowledge of Korea. Koreans think that the closest living relatives to themselves are the members of the Finno-Ugrish language family (Hungary, Finland, Latvia, etc.) She's notorious for somehow relating almost every conversation topic to some anecdote involving alcohol!
Dina Lebedeva, Azerbaijan. Tall and gorgeous, I think I remember her being teased for coming from a well-to-do family...
Lu-vada Dunford, Canadian. She was nicknamed "Class President Lu" as her skill at Korean and her charisma has since launched her to appear on numerous variety shows. Like Dominique, she also seems to know quite a lot of Korean pop songs!
Sayuri Fujita, Japanese b. 1979. Easily the strangest girl on the show (and apparently in all of Japan!), this quirky veteran regularly gets the biggest laughs, often at her own expense! Her self-deprecating and random humor has made her one of the most popular amongst Korean men polled as to which of the panelists they'd most like to have as wifey.


Ngyuen Thi Thu Huong, Vietnamese
Catherine Baillie, New Zealand (English) b. 1982. She lives in Taegu (where the U.S. Army is based) in the southern part of the penninsula and has picked up their distinctive country twang (called "ssatoree").
Erica Sewell, (African-) American. Quiet, beautiful girl from Baltimore. I think she initially came to Korea due to her Korean-American boyfriend.
Monica Samal, India. She left the show last year to get married in India, but she seems to have recently returned. When she first left the show, she bid quite a tearful farewell.
Ha Hwang Haiyen, Vietnamese. I believe she's featured (using her real name) in a new daytime drama about a Daenjang recipe. Has actively pursued an acting career.
Anna Maria Warsiela, Polish
Krista Kamga Yuen, Cameroon. See youtube link below.
Punam Neupane, Nepal
Mirja Maletzki, German. Often bemoaning her status as one of the oldest "onni's" (sisters) on the show, she is MUCH more representative of Germans than the quirky Vera! Serious, intelligent, empowered... the signs of a liberal society. German girls don't do the whole "acting girly" thing-- and the corresponding disempowered helpless BS, that so many of the oppressed fairer sex seem to fall prey to. Having lived there, you have NO IDEA how refreshing it is to be around women who don't try to act weak and dumb themselves down to be eaten up by Patricarchy!
Fleischander Bernadette, Austria
Sophia Ridza, Malaysia (Muslim). A very popular panelist, she is known for her husky voice and "accusations" that she is the player of the group! Apparently she has all sorts of dudes on her team, ready to do her bidding!
Cai Lina, Mainland China (PRC). Her Korean language skills are uncanny, in that, she speaks with basically no discernable accent, and her speaking is so fluid, that she elicits "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the audience.
Sun Yao, Mainland China. At times controversial for her outspokenness, she is respected for her empowered and bold forthrightness. She has a longtime Korean-American boyfriend.
Akiba Rie, Japanese. A sort of "Queen of Apgujongdong" of the group (the Beverly Hills of Seoul), she is actually more tom-boyish and doesn't fall into the cutsy image of Japanese girls.
Diana Kwon, Ecuador (Korean-?)
Anais Julienne, French. This stunner makes you feel like, "Maybe the French really are just classier, saavier, and more sophisticated than us earthlings!" Was teased for her ENORMOUS shoe collection. The French and their fashions!
Elyzaveta Vialova, Ukrainian. Famous for her shiny, golden hair, her barely fluent Korean was seen as intoxicatingly sexy by the male audience.
Yelena Troyeglazova, Kazakhstan.
Alida Moussavou, Gabon
Euphracia Ndinda, Kenya. Known for her distinctive speaking voice that seems to crack at the funniest of times, this adorable East African has endeared herself to the ajummas that work in her neighborhood outdoor market (a testament to how charming and attractive she is).
Meaza Eshetu, Ethiopia. Yet another gorgeous Ethiopian girl (living out here in Cali, there's a buttload of Ethiopians and Eretrians and they are just such BEAUTIFUL people), yet her greatest contribution was what she had to say, as she related with tear-filled eyes the often
blatant descrimination that Blacks still have to face in Korea simply for being black! I'm sure (and hope) that her anecdote must've had a profound impact on raising the issue of racial discrimination against Blacks in Korea, something of a fairly nascent issue there.
Chanoknun Suriyamongkol, Thai. This ambitious young girl recently introduced her Korean boyfriend (artsy type) on the show-- seems to have her eyes set on an entertainment career in Korea.
Bianca Mobley, USA (Mother is Korean from Pusan) b. 1989. Even though her Korean is quite good, the audience almost always laughs whenever she talks, because she speaks with a distinctively Pusan "sattoree" or country slang. Her mother is a Po-Po in the NYPD! She has one older sister.
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
She's become somewhat notorious as the panel's newest resident party-er and for not always maintaining the proper honorifics in her speech (싸가지없는- "ssa-gah-jee-uhb-nun). Her "spunky" (if not SNARKY) attitude has earned her the nickname "Green Monster" as she always seems to be spoiling for a fight. Perhaps it's the whole New York thing....?
Dara McKenzie, Canada. Known for her gi-normous puppy dog eyes, but perhaps even more for her self-professed penchant to throw down multiple bottles of Soju (~30% "rice" wine-- usually actually made with potatos). More than once when a new panelist (minyo) joins the show, she will ask (or challenge!) her how many bottles of soju she can drink. She seems to take pride in her relatively high acohol tolerance, after all she IS Canadian!
Vera Hohleiter, Germany b. 1979. Known for her cheerful (and somewhat incessant!) smiling. She came to Korea merely on vacation, then met (her now) long-time korean boyfriend, so ended up staying on. He recently came out on the show (early August 2009), and was really popular with the ladies.
Polina Lipina, New Zealand (ethnically Polish??)
Jeannie Aevermann,Guam (Mother is Korean, she was Miss Guam Runner-Up)
Alecia Widgiz, Canada (She's 1/2 Polish & 1/2 Ukranian
straight from the horse's mouth!) height: 180cm. b: 1982?
Angela Araujo, Columbia
Zolzaya Turbat, Mongolia
Petlada Sathitalada, Thailand
Winter Raymond, USA. From Boston. She is studying Law in Korea to help other foreigners.
Tatia Managadze, Georgia. Known for her somewhat aloof, rarified air she carries about her!
Nguyen Hong Hanh, Vietnam
Sagawa Junko, Japan
Tsevegmed Narmandakh, Mongolian
Hsu Yi Ling, Taiwan b. 1979. They nicknamed her "Professor" cuz she's so good at explaining things in Korean and that the things she says are always smart and interesting.
Shang Fang, Mainland China (Manchurian but from Tibet!). (note: Manchuria is just North of Korea, and was the area that established the Qing Dynasty in China (1644-1909), this longest of all chinese dyansties had a land area GREATER than even the PRC of today! Though numerically a minority, these "Mandarins" came to rule China, despite massive opposition especially in the South, which is why they were always the villians in Hong Kong cinema. Another famous Manchu is Kung Fu Master/ Movie Star Wu Jing.
Jane Turner, USA (UC Berkeley Graduate!! Go Bears!)
Inna Maslovea, Russia. She moved to Korea in 1996 and so speaks completely fluent, accent-free Korean.
Ying Dongling, China
Clara, USA
Anabele Ambrose, UK
Elizabeth Brady, UK
Vivian Ho, Singapore (Chinese)
Asada Emi, Japan (Her Grandfather is Korean)
Sagawa Junko, Japan
Vladislava Mazana, Czech Republic
Ida Karpysh, Russian
Na-rhee Scherfling, Korean-German??
Gisele Luna Araujo Silva , Brazil
Ekatarina Popova, Russian
La Risa, Russian. Often teased for having bought a boyfriend a car and for having lousy choice in men in general!!!
Yuliya Kolyada, Russian. This beauty has straight GAME! She has the sexiest of all attributes a woman can have: CONFIDENCE!
Kostina Natalya, Kazakhstan
Lenakz, Kazakhstan
Daniela Schlick, German
Tatiyana Goyes, Columbia
Lilian Behrendt, German
Daria Baskina, Russia b. 1984
Asli Sariipek, Turkey
Helen Cave, New Zealand
Isabelle Maccari, France (From Paris, currently teaching Tibetan Yoga in Korea.)
Maria Minkina, St. Petersburg, Russia. Student at Koryo University. (---> sidenote, St. Petersburg is the Cultural Capital of Russia featuring numerous palaces, one of them The Hermitage is one of the largest museums in the world. A groundbreaking, single-take film was shot there called
Russian Ark.
Tachapon Wigasath, Thailand (Ewha Women's University- now technically coed)
Jessica Abrego, USA (Yale University) Last week in Summer Special Part 2 (Sept 09) she bid a very tearful farewell. Having joined the show while in country for only a couple of months and in spite of her limited Korean skills, she became quickly admired for her animated and outspoken personality. On the Summer Special Part 2 with Girls Generation, she started a new "trend" by saying "It doesn't matter!" ("sangwan upsuyo!") when talking about a woman's figure. The members of Girls Generation just loved it and repeated it several times as they loved the humorous and animated way she kept on insisting that "it didn't matter!"
Nouf Al mufleh, Jordan. Arabic?.
A graceful, soft-spoken panelist, she is able to share aspects of her culture, experiences, and perspectives of a region much too misunderstood and "monolithicized". She notably DOES NOT wear a hajib, so may actually even be a non-Muslim (or a so-called "liberal" Muslim...)
and many more, pleast post names and countries and ethnicity if relevant, like half Korean or something.
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See Djamilya's
Music Video "Oppa meewuh" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29qZELbb9OY&NR=1
This is Dominique Noel's
UNCANNY impersonation of Djamilya:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Q9iLR1k5U
Lu-vada Dunford
singing in Korean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trw67rObDI4&NR=1
Cameroonian woman speaking fluent korean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVsX5vEK0fc