We reported earlier that actress Song Ji Hyo was the guest family member on Family Outing for the fortnight. I had reservations about whether Song Ji Hyo had that variety x-factor because she has never appeared in any variety shows before. My worries were laid to rest as Song Ji Hyo (and the rest too) really made her mark on the show, which was full of laughters from start to finish. I have never laughed so much in weeks for a Family Outing episode.

Song Ji Hyo had an enjoyable day, harvesting barley in the fields, etc and even defeated the “invincible” Lee Hyori in a game, showing her hidden potential. But Ji Hyo’s charisma really shone while she was with Park Hae Jin, Yoon Jong Shin and Yoo Jae Suk preparing dinner. Song Ji Hyo performed the Hot Issue dance from 4minute and said that she had learnt it in 30 minutes, heightening the family members’ anticipation.

But when Hot Issue started playing, Song Ji Hyo exclaimed that she didn’t learn this part and again as the song played, totally destroying the anticipation mood of the members, especially Yoo Jae Suk especially. When Ji Hyo finally got to performing the dance when Hot Issue got to the chorus part, her extreme stiffness in executing the moves while looking extremely goofy left the trio hugely disappointed and tickled. Song Ji Hyo was just enjoying the moment even though she was kind of embarassed and shy.Ji Hyo then did it again when the other family members, Hyori, Jong Kook, Daesung and Shi Yeon made their way back from collecting ingredients and there was a slight improvement. Ji Hyo then did it for the third and final time for Suro who was last to return, and her dance although still looking stiff, felt much better than her 1st time. When Hyori asked what other dance moves does Ji Hyo know, she immediately stood up and did the leg movement from SNSD’s Genie dance briefly before sitting down again.That actually didn’t happen out of the blue. Earlier on, while everyone was out in the fields harvesting barley, they suddenly talk about girl groups (starts at 6:54) and you get a mix of SNSD’s Genie, 2NE1′s I Don’t Care and 4minute’s Hot Issue playing in the background. Daesung ended it off best when he starts (7:45) singing Hot Issue and imitating 4minute’s Ji Yoon dance part to great effect. Daesung was really missed last time so it was great to see him back and contribute laughter once again.
Even though Park Shi Yeon has had a month experience, Song Ji Hyo felt like a better fit for Family Outing than her despite her short appearance time. But luckily for Shi Yeon, she is a permanent family member, not Ji Hyo, and hopefully Shi Yeon will improve. Can’t wait for next week to come! Rating was only 18.2% this week though.