Singer and actor star Rain was the only Korean artist honored at the 19th China Music Awards, which took place on April 16 at the Venetian Maco Cotai Arena. The awards ceremony is China's biggest music awards ceremony and was broadcast live in 54 cities.
Rain won the Most Influential Korean Artist Award.
"I want to thank my fans and the China Music Awards for bringing me here," said Rain at the awards ceremony. "I will continue to work hard and show you all my best efforts."
During the ceremony he performed "LA Song" and "30 Sexy," demonstrating the singing talent and dance moves that made him so popular in Korea and throughout Asia.
Rain, who started performing at age 16 in the group Fanclub, has slowly transitioned into acting. He debuted as a solo singer in 2002 and made his acting debut in 2003. His early drama "Full House" with actress Song Hye Kyo won him an award and helped expand his international fan base. And when he finished his most recent k-drama, "My Lovely Girl," with co-star Krystal Jung, he decided to film his next drama in China.
He took a part in the Chinese series "Diamond Lover" which co-starred Tiffany Tang. His role as an aloof perfectionist in the 2015 drama earned him over $5 million. "Diamond Lover" was China's most expensive, non-historical TV production to date. Rain also filmed a 2014 Chinese romantic film "For Love or Money" with actress Liu Yifei.
In an interview about "Diamond Lover" with Chinese media outlet CCTV, the actor said that the experience was great and he learned a lot, but mastering the language was hard.
"Learning Chinese is difficult so I speak a little bit of it in the drama," said Rain. "People sometimes think certain Korean and Chinese words sound similar so it shouldn't be that hard. But to speak with the right tone and emotions is difficult in either languages."
He learned enough Chinese to say thank you when he received his award. He said thank you in Chinese and then proceeded to give the rest of his short acceptance speech in English.
Rain was recently considering a role in the k-drama "The Time I Loved You, 7,000 Days," with Ha Ji Won, but he declined the role which is now being filled by Lee Jin Wook.
