South Korean singer-songwriter and actor Jung Ji-hoon, popularly known by his stage name Rain, is coming back to the world of variety shows with Flower Crew. Actress Chae Soo Bin and Girl's Day's Yura will also appear as guests alongside him.
The website Soompi says the singer's agency R.A.I.N. Company revealed to the media on December 27 that Rain is at the moment filming for Flower Crew in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. The episode where he makes his appearance will air in January, on the 8 and 15 of the month. The news comes in the heels of Rain's comeback on stage as a singer. Rain will also be appearing on another variety show Ask Us Anything.
Allkpop, in an earlier article, reported that Rain will make a comeback with a single on 15 January. Rain Company, the singer's label had released a poster featuring the singer with release date. The project is said to be secret for the delight of the fans. The music video that will be released online has already been filmed and Rain, who majored in music, has been practising for his comeback.
Flower Crew is not the first variety show for Rain. He has previously appeared seven such programs. They are Music Bank, Soulmate, Rainy Day Japan, 'Running Man, 2 Days & 1 Night and Hurry Up, Brother. Out of these seven he has been a host in Music Bank and Soulmate.
Rain came into prominence with his third album, It's Raining, in the year 2004. This was also the first time Jung Ji-hoon used the English name Rain, which is Bi in Korean; the name his South Korean fans called him with. The hip-hop single It's Raining included in the album topped the charts throughout Southeast Asia and sold millions of copies. He embarked on a world tour and travelled to Singapore, Seoul, China, Japan and the US and became one of the most popular Southeast Asian singers.
Rain has also been part of some Hollywood films as an actor. His first appearance in a Hollywood movie was the 2008 film Speed Racer, written and directed by The Wachowskis, who were so inspired by his performance during the Ninja scenes in the movie that they cast him as the lead in their next production, Ninja Assassin. His performance in the James Mc Teigue directed martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin was praised by Hollywood fraternity, even though reactions to the film itself was mixed. He was given the 'Biggest Badass Award' at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.