I wanted more interaction than that to be quite honest.

But I guess we just have to settle for whatever we can get at this point.

(Ohhh...I don't think I've ever left the first comment. My javabeans fanaticism must have reached a new height. ;) )

^^ yeah i wanted more interaction too but i don't think rain's ready for that yet. he didnt talk at all, im sure since he couldn't really manage an interview or conversation

I'm Black and I'm developing quite a crush on Rain!! It's good to see him in American pop culture!! He's such a hottie hot hottie! =) And an amazing voice!

I gotta say Rain looks mighty hot! And the botty is delicious! And the interaction really funny..... Wow! Now I'm getting impressed.

good stuff

LMAO! HA HA HA Colbert is so funny!
Lol, I dunno but I got the impression that this segment was shot separately.... I mean I does not look like Colbert and Rain were shot together. :) Rain IS SO HOT! *sigh* Ok ok, now I'm In Day Dreaming Mode :0).....

ttyl guys.....

wow. i'm so impressed with colbert for being so accomodating to rain. that was hilarious and it showed rain in the best possible light. even his "i don't think so" didn't sound so fobbish! and he did look HOT!

This was hilarious! Now I hope that his die hard fans don't make too much of this. :-)

* mean, he frequently makes his guests appear silly and does his best to push their buttons with his obnoxious, self-described “willful ignorance.”*

This is kind of the one thing off about the review - acting the fool is Colbert's entire character and the entire point of the show. He's imitating Bill O'Reilly, an American Republican blowhard who has often been mocked on the Daily Show, where Colbert has come from. Colbert onlymakes his guests appear silly because it makes HIM look silly - by pushing their buttons and acting obnoxious, he makes HIMSELF the TRUE fool and thus simultaneously makes fun of Bill O'Reilly's alleged unrelenting arrogance (and if you've seen his show, you'll pretty much think it's not so alleged).

So really, Colbert letting Rain win is not strange IN THE SLIGHTEST. In the end, Colbert is ALWAYS lets his guests win in some way - the problem is the character he plays is so well thought out and over the top that the subtley of his PERFORMANCE passes by most people's heads. ;__;

So funny!! I hope there is more Rain/Colbert shenanigans!

Gosh, I was laughing my arse off watching the clips. I tot it's gonna be like Sarah Silverman's 'I'm fuc@#$in Matt Damon's style, with them singing together

This is the first time EVER responding on any site , but I really wanted to let you (Dramabeans) know that I LOVE your site.
I feel a little out of place considering that I'm closer to being an ahjumma than most of you younglings. My teenage daughter turned me on to KDramas with "Full House" about two years ago and I've been hooked ever since.

But back to the main subject, "Rain". Colbert is hilarious and has given Rain great exposure to a wider audience. This helps to create a curiosity for the Korean entertainment industry. I think its great, but a part of me wants to keep my Guilty Pleasure for myself (and true fans) and not a fad that will fade away in a few months.

Rain may be that cross over artist ,but the American palate can handle only so much. Hence, the translation of most lyrics to English. You know you can't hear the music if you don't understand what they're saying. Rain just might have that extra something that will appeal to this audience. Hell, I'm a Hispanic women from Texas and I love me some Rain. I've seen and heard many Korean artist and he has a sexy confidence that appeals to me. (maybe just lots of testosterone) Don't let me get started on the Korean actors......

Anyway, keep up the great work. Thanks

That was so funny!

I always wondered who Colbert was because you've often mentioned him.
Now I know.

The surprise for me was that Colbert actually had some decent dances moves. I certainly wouldn't have been able to pull it off, and he doesn't look like a young guy either.

Anyways, great way to start my day.

Oh that was so good! I love Colbert.
I think this was great for Rain, who hasn't gotten much publicity for Speed Racer and I think Colbert did it very sensitively. I agree with you Javabeans that he did let him off. I don't think any of his usual guests (whether in or out of the joke) are let off without atleast some ridiculing. And it could have gotten really uncomfortable for Rain, who's still not excellent at English and probably not so used to the Colbert brand, if Colbert had stuck to his usual self of steamrolling. Instead, I think he was quite gracious and clever at the same time, and did Rain a lot of good. Thanks for reviewing it!

the clip was pretty cool and all but I'd be curious to see how Se7en were to fare on his show - if he could get the chance - because he is also trying to make it in the US and the guy seems to be a little more comfortable with his English
oh and he can dance pretty well and on the spot too -- just watch taiwanese variety shows haha
thanks for sharing ^^

I'm surprised at how cute I thought he looked playing DDR, heh. I want an extended version!

Awww, that was pretty cute :)
A little more talking would've been great but this "man of few words" style also makes him seem pretty mysterious (hopefully in a sexy, non-ESL, way).

As for Colbert being so "nice" to Rain - if Colbert is anything, he's a smart cookie. I'm pretty sure he is more than aware of how sensitive Koreans (and Asians) are about racism. I found it kind of odd from the very beginning how Colbert zoned in on Rain but honestly, I feel like Colbert would've done this with whatever Asian artist that topped him in that poll. Somehow, I feel like Colbert is the kind of guy who would support cross-over artists (true cross-over artists, not Asian-American ones born and bred in America).

In any case, I feel like Colbert is quite well-intentioned and doing a lot poke Rain into the limelight in subtle manner. Anyway, on the other hand....I'm sure Colbert also knew that "backing" one of Asia's big stars would win him more fans as well...rabid .fangirl-ism is more than transferrable and there are certainly more than enough of those in Rain's fan club :D

So everyone wins :)

oh man this was funny. i'm so glad Rain finally got on the show...i had been expecting it too.

i agree that Colbert did go easy on him, but i think it was really necessary, too. maybe he didn't want to offend the korean media anymore?

:D this was quite hilarious.. i'll be in stiches for days.. i also thought colbert was gracious in actually showing rain to his best advantage rather than making him look completely ridiculous.. was absolutely rolling at SC's dorky dance moves.. & yes.. despite the unfortunate hair & wardrobe.. bi still looked pretty hot.. nobody can beat that body.. now it'll be interesting if rain & se7en can actually cross-over here before any asian-american artist breaks through.. my theory as to why it hasn't happened yet? our asiatic looks & possibly numbers.. i hardly believe it's a question of talent..

Rain can ...barely... speak English. That's probably why the show was so accomodating. They hyped this up so much that they wanted him on the show and needed to meet his terms. Now where does the Rain-Colbert relationship go from here? Is he still gonna talk trash about him on the show to be funny?

lmao....i totally love Rain!

I may have missed something, in that case, my apologies, but where are the stills presented above from?

Now I like Rain, because he went to the Colbert Report.
Cool dance moves from both of them...

"I mean, he frequently makes his guests appear silly and does his best to push their buttons with his obnoxious, self-described “willful ignorance.”"

I don't think that's the case at all. In fact, one of the things I really like about Stephen is that he almost never makes his guests the butt of the joke, except in the rare cases that they really deserve to be the subject of mockery (like that creep Dinesh D'Souza, who essentially claimed that the liberals caused 9/11). He asks his guests to be themselves, to disabuse his character of his ignorance, and the humour comes from his character's stupidity and inability to see logic.

The same goes in the case of his celebrity feuds - he's usually the butt of the joke, not his opponent. Like his "Meta-Free-Phor-All" with Sean Penn, in which he was beaten by some ridiculously huge margin and promptly burst into tears. Or even the famous Guitarmageddon episode, in which the character chickened out by pretending to cut his hand and later attempted to bribe Eliot Spitzer into voting him as the winner.

His hair bothers me.

Anybody else disappointed that Rain wasn't crippin on the pad? How can he call him a real aZn!!! :D

Is it me or Rain has lost a lot of wait. He looks skinnier

I'm sure Stephen Colbert is well aware of how famous Rain is in Asia and has made it to Time's 100 Most Influential list many times.

If he did his regular round of obnoxious jokes/comments to the Western guests and made a fool out of Rain on his show, I'm sure there will be a wave of criticisms and racisms heading his way.

Lol, it's night and day of how each blog has different views on the same even. PopSeoul had this in the most negative way as possible. I like how neutral you're with it (and for all of the news bits you covered). Love your blog even more for that.

Hey i really wanna know wat the song is that they dance to, the actual dance off part before the dance dance revolution game? If anyone knows where i can find it, that'd be awesome

One of my friends actually said she doesn't know who Rain is... =O
She's Asian but she's not into any of these things... she's into American stuff and so yeah.
I thought Rain should at least say some other stuff not just one sentence: "I don't think so." lol that's funny.
The way he has his hair reminds me of BYJ as Damdeok in The Legend ^^;;

JavaBeans = Best recapper ever.

Colbert is really funny! I really laughed hard when I watched their dance show down :-) Rain is a good sport bec. he's not offended on Colbert. It's a good publicity for Rain, bec. Colbert is a well-known personality in the US. It might be Rain's chance to penetrate the US entertainment industry. Go Rain!!

Colbert is the hot one! He's got one sexy mind!

I actually agree with javabeans that this is the one case where Colbert let his guest off with a win. If you think about it, no matter what interview Colbert has, he always gets the last jab at the interviewee and the interviewee is always left having to laugh at himself. This is the first time Colbert's truly lost. And by losing, he won.

What I love is in one of the videos, Colbert talks about the Korean backlash. At one point he shows a quote that mentions the show as being some show of white supremacy. I loved Colbert's reaction: "White supremacy? The whole point of this is that I came in second! If anything, this is about Korean supremacy!"

Anyway, I compiled the three main videos dealing with this thing here: http://mystaples.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/rain-on-the-colbert-report/
so have a look :)