Tiffany Young and Lyn Lead Begin Again's Spring Busking

JTBC has dropped a teaser for the upcoming spring episode of its beloved busking program "Begin Again Open Mic" (비긴어게인 오픈마이크), and the lineup is already generating significant anticipation. The one-minute clip, uploaded to JTBC Entertainment's official YouTube channel, previews a spring outing featuring an eclectic group of five musicians: veteran ballad singer Lyn (린), Girls' Generation member Tiffany Young (티파니 영), indie singer-songwriter Yoon Marc (윤마치/MRCH), and rising artists RORA and CHIQUITA.

The full episode arrives on JTBC television on May 16, 2026 at 10:50 AM, with the YouTube release dropping five days earlier on May 11, 2026 at 6 PM KST. The teaser gives viewers a first look at the group's spring setting — a location already familiar to Korean travel fans for its extraordinary seasonal beauty.

A Lineup That Bridges Generations and Genres

Few Korean variety music programs have built the kind of emotional shorthand that "Begin Again" carries. Since its first season, the franchise has built a reputation for placing musicians — often from very different generations and genres — in intimate, informal settings and letting the music speak without the scaffolding of a studio environment. The "Open Mic" format distills that approach even further: artists perform outdoors, for real audiences, with the cameras following wherever the music leads.

The spring lineup is a case study in contrast made coherent. Lyn (린), who debuted in 2003, is one of Korea's most enduring vocal presences. Her career has been built on an ability to locate the emotional center of a song and hold it — a quality that has made her the go-to artist for some of Korean television's most iconic drama soundtracks, including tracks for the hit series "My Love from the Star" (별에서 온 그대). She brings a seasoned, grounded vocal authority to any stage she shares.

Tiffany Young (티파니 영) sits in a different but equally significant position in Korean pop culture. As a member of Girls' Generation — the 2nd generation idol group that helped define the global K-pop wave — she carries a legacy that spans nearly two decades. More recently, Tiffany has been active on several fronts simultaneously: she married Korean actor Byun Yo-han in early 2025, and has been building a busy portfolio of hosting and performance work. Her appearance on Begin Again's outdoor stage represents a more unguarded, stripped-back side of an artist who is usually associated with high-production K-pop formats.

Yoon Marc (윤마치), performing under the alias MRCH, occupies a space that Begin Again has often highlighted effectively — the indie singer-songwriter whose emotional and musical depth is better appreciated in a live, informal context than on a chart. RORA and CHIQUITA, while less widely known to mainstream audiences, add energy and unpredictability to a lineup that might otherwise feel too established to generate surprise.

Hwangmaesan in Full Bloom — The Perfect Spring Stage

The choice of filming location is as deliberate as the casting. Hwangmaesan County Park (황매산군립공원) in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, is one of Korea's most celebrated spring destinations — known especially for the azalea (철쭉) bloom that covers its mountain slopes each spring in dense, vivid pink. The flowers typically peak between late April and mid-May, meaning the filming schedule was coordinated to capture the mountain at its most dramatic.

The teaser footage confirms the location fully delivered on that promise. The visual combination of spring blossoms, open mountain air, and live music performed by artists of this caliber creates exactly the kind of atmosphere that has made Begin Again's outdoor episodes some of the series' most-watched content. The production is supported by the Korea Tourism Organization (한국관광공사), which has been a consistent partner in the show's effort to spotlight Korea's natural landscapes for domestic and international audiences.

Previous episodes of Begin Again have turned their locations into minor viral destinations among fans who trek to filming spots after watching the show. Hwangmaesan already draws tens of thousands of visitors during azalea season; the added visibility from a JTBC broadcast reaches an audience well beyond existing nature enthusiasts.

What to Expect When the Full Episode Drops

The 64-second teaser is deliberately spare — a few glimpses of the lineup in spring scenery, enough to confirm the musical chemistry without revealing the full program. That restraint is itself a signal: Begin Again\s appeal has always been in the unscripted, often emotionally surprising moments that emerge when capable musicians share a stage without a tightly controlled setlist.

A lineup with this range — from Lyn's ballad authority to Tiffany Young's pop-idol background to Yoon Marc's indie songwriting sensibility — creates significant potential for unexpected collaborations and genre crossover moments. Begin Again's track record includes exactly these kinds of outcomes: previous seasons saw pairings like Seventeen's Seungkwan and BTOB's Sungjae producing a performance of "나를 떠나가는 것들" that was discussed for weeks after airing. Seungkwan later cited his Begin Again experience as a formative influence on his subsequent musical projects.

The spring setting and the open-air format also tend to produce a different quality of performance from the artists involved. Outdoor busking strips away the perfectionism that studio recordings demand and replaces it with presence — the ability to hold an audience in an unpredictable environment. For Tiffany Young and Lyn in particular, this is a format that plays directly to their live vocal strengths.

The episode airs May 16 on JTBC at 10:50 AM and becomes available on YouTube via the JTBC Entertainment channel on May 11 at 6 PM KST. For international viewers, the YouTube release is the primary access point. Subtitles availability will depend on JTBC's regional distribution agreements, though the Begin Again franchise has historically attracted sufficient international viewership to receive fan-subbed versions within hours of release.

Spring busking in Korea's most beautiful mountain season, with a lineup that could go in almost any musical direction: that's the promise of the teaser. May 11 will confirm whether it delivers.

The broader context makes the episode feel timely. As Korean variety music content continues to gain international audiences through YouTube — with Begin Again among the shows most frequently shared by overseas K-pop fans — the spring episode's combination of a globally recognized name like Tiffany Young with Korea-rooted talent like Lyn and Yoon Marc is a lineup designed to travel well beyond its domestic broadcast slot.