K-popped! Passionate about Korean pop culture: K-popped fanmeetings

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Zuno and Jay Park are coming to Malaysia!

For those still not in the know, Zuno's fanmeet and showcase tour in Malaysia has been postponed to Nov 5 (originally scheduled on Oct 13-15).

Currently organized by Absolutely Pop Resources (previously Chavez Events), the C-pop event will be held in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Johor, which was listed as one of his stops in the original schedule, has been dropped.

Ticket prices range from RM160 - RM360. Ticketing details are at http://absolutelypop.com/

There's also good news for Jay Park fans! The erstwhile leader of top boyband 2PM is coming to Malaysia after all. Absolutely Pop Resources has confirmed at its Facebook page that the fanmeet will be on Dec 4 while a Hi-5 session with Jay will be on Dec 5.

Redstar Presents wanted to bring Jay into Malaysia this year but plans fell through.

For the latest updates on these events, drop by Absolutely Pop's Facebook page and website. Are any of our readers attending the events? ;)

Related:
Zuno a.k.a Kim Junho in Malaysia for a promo tour
Jay Park's not coming to Malaysia, goes to Singapore

Keep reading >>

Friday, 10 September 2010

JYJ fan meeting in Malaysia, anyone?

A JYJ fan meeting is currently in the planning stages and its all up to you, fans, to make it happen.

Redstar Presents, the concert promoter that organized the Super Junior's Super Show 2 in March this year, originally set the JYJ fan meet date on Oct 16. However, they may postpone the event to Nov to fullfil the fans' requests.

JYJ: Get Ready! They might be heading to Malaysia real soon.
(l-r): Yoochun, Jaejoong & Junsu

JYJ consists of Junsu, Yoochun and Jaejoong. The trio was part of the hugely popular K-pop group TVXQ. The JYJ unit was formed under Japanese label Rhythm Zone after TVXQ got entangled in legal battles with SM Entertainment.

Both JYJ's The... single and Thanksgiving Live in Dome tour DVD are doing very well on Japan's Oricon daily charts, moving nicely into the top spots.

Junsu, Yoochun and Jaejoong have all been to Malaysia twice. They previously came when TVXQ held its concerts here.

If you'd like to see the trio in Malaysia again, head on over to Redstar's JYJ Fan Meeting Tour Event Page to confirm your attendance, and to offer your comments and suggestions for the organizers to consider.

Related:
TVXQ concert in Malaysia review
TVXQ stories

Keep reading >>

Wednesday, 4 August 2010

K-popped! readers meet the Wonder Girls

K-POPPED! EXCLUSIVE

Words & vids by Liz

Photos by Orchid

Four readers of K-popped! had the opportunity to get up close and personal with the Wonder Girls at Sunway Resort and Spa Hotel on Aug 1.

LUCKY FOUR: (left to right) Iman Atira, Nur Atiqah,

Nazwin & Siti Nur Fatehah

K-popped! had to keep the venue of the exclusive meet and greet a secret, so we asked our winners Iman Atira and Siti Nur Fatehah, along with their respective friends Nur Atiqah and Nazwin, to meet up at a Starbucks outlet in the adjoining shopping mall, Sunway Pyramid.

Call time for the meet and greet was 11:45am. We got to the hotel lobby five minutes early and the girls spotted VJ Sean (MTV Korea) outside the lobby. They quickly excused themselves for a photo opportunity while I made an important phone call for my next instruction.

SO HOT: VJ Sean of MTV Korea (center) has many girls falling

for him, including our winners :)

The MTV Asia contact said she would call back in a few minutes' time. While waiting, Orchid arrived and took pictures of the girls with their gifts for the Wonder Girls!

GIFTS: 'Our gifts for the Wonder Girls!

We hope they'll like them.'

A while later, my cell phone buzzed and the instructions were: “Come up to the 15th floor, Business Center 3.” When we arrived at the 15th floor, we were let into the holding room where the other lucky Wonderfuls were.

SHOW OF SUPPORT: Cheering on the Wonder Girls in

the holding room

NOBODY BUT WG!: Iman Atira (left) & Nur Atiqah show off

their handmade sign

WG, SARANGHAE!: Siti Nur Fatehah (left) & Nazwin

lurve the quintet

While waiting for the Wonder Girls to arrive, an MTV videographer got the group of fans (about 20 people) cheering into his camera for the Wonder Girls’ MTV show. Watch it below!

After that, selected fans were interviewed and asked to dance / sing to Wonder Girls’ songs. The Wonderfuls were so supportive of one another, and they sang for those who danced.

K-popped!’s winners, Iman Atira and Nur Artiqah were asked to perform So Hot! They gamely danced for the camera :). Watch it below!

As the fans waited in the holding room, the organizers of the meet and greet were at the corridor, waiting for the Wonder Girls to arrive.

ARE THEY HERE YET?: 'Wonder Girls are on their way down,

folks. Look alive now :P'

Soon, the five beautiful talents walked past us along with their entourage. After the girls have settled down, the meet and greet started.

Fans were put into groups of 6 and each group was allowed FIVE minutes with the girls. They could present them with gifts and also ask for autographs and hugs (yay!).

K-popped! winners were called up first and the four girls, along with Orchid and I, were the first group to meet the Wonder Girls! Sweet.

Watch the video of our readers in their precious moment with the Wonder Girls.

IN WONDER: K-popped! readers with the Wonder Girls
From left; Yenny, Nazwin, Sohee, Nur Atiqah, Hyerim, Siti, Sun, Yubin & Iman.

Girls, we had a great time documenting the fantastic moment, we hope you had a good time too!

Much thanks to the MTV Asia crew for their support. We love ya, Wonder Girls...빨리 돌아와요!

MTV World Stage (VIP area)

Keep reading >>

Sunday, 11 July 2010

Brian Joo made the decision to come to Malaysia

Words by Liz
Photos by Orchid

“Malaysia’s the first country I actually came to to do a fan meeting,” Brian Joo tells the Malaysian press at The Opera, Sunway Pyramid on July 10.

Typically, decisions like these are made by the talent's company or label but Mr. Manifold said that he himself made the decision to come to Malaysia.

“Malaysia actually contacted us and asked if I was interested to do a show or fan meeting," the Korean American singer reveals. "I actually got the personal e-mail and I called my company and said, ‘This is a good opportunity. Let’s go to Malaysia and show people in Malaysia that I’m doing things on my own now."

APA KHABAR, MALAYSIA?: 'Saya cinta Malaysia.'

(Brian showed off his Bahasa Malaysia with "How are you?" and "I love Malaysia.")

Brian, who has been on hiatus from Fly To The Sky (FTTS) since 2009, is busy pursuing a solo career. The other FTTS member, Hwanhee, is also doing the same.

Things are looking good for Brian. The 29 year old has two solo albums under his belt - The Brian (2006) and Manifold (2009) - and is currently working on his third album, which is scheduled for an August 2010 release!

While in Malaysia, not only did the fans love and adore Brian, everyone who met him couldn’t stop gushing about what a great guy he was (except maybe Orchid :P).

KING BRIAN: 'Good afternoon, loyal subjects. Thanks for

waiting for me for more than an hour.'

Read on to find out about Brian’s take on Malaysian food and girls (heh, heh), missing Hwanhee and hooking up with American R&B singer Jason Derülo.

What was your first impression of Malaysia?
Very humid. I was warned that it was going to be really hot here. It is not as hot as I thought it would be so I’m enjoying it. It just feels like I’m in a tropical island. It’s a good getaway from Korea cos Korea’s a fast-paced city. I feel like I’m on vacation so it feels good to be here.

I think you had bak kut teh (Chinese herbal soup with pork ribs) last night, if I’m not mistaken? (pic left taken from Brian's Twitter, tweeted on July 9)

I don’t remember what I had but it was delicious.

What do you think of Malaysian food?

Well, yesterday was the first thing I had from Malaysia – foodwise, so I’m still looking forward to trying out other Malaysian foods. That’s the problem with me though, I love to eat.

How do you keep yourself toned and in shape then?
You have to do everything in moderation. Just because I love to eat, I can’t eat everything I want all the time. Sometimes I have to sacrifice and just starve myself and eat healthy foods like salad and stuff like that which I dread. But at the same time, if I do eat a lot that day, I’ll have to be at the gym for like an hour or two.

Now that you’re a solo act, how do you feel having the stage to yourself?

Actually back in 2006, I released my first solo album so I already had that experience of working by myself on stage so…it’s not that bad but there are times where I kinda wish that Hwanhee was right next to me, singing songs with me and stuff .

There are also songs that we perform as FTTS that I can’t do on my own. It doesn’t have the same feel and emotion when we sing it ourselves as to when we’re in a group and we can express it with our emotions together, so with those thoughts in mind, it’s both good and bad I guess.

ZIG ZAG: 'Check out the intricate designs on my head, yo! Neat, huh? '

How did the partnership with Jason Derülo come about? Is he a personal friend?

Actually, before we did In My Head, we didn’t know each other that well. I was a big fan of Jason Derülo since he came out with Whatcha Say – that was one of my favourite songs that he released. He says he saw me on YouTube and he listened to a lot of stuff I did.

And then, Warner Music asked me to do the Korean version of In My Head and I was very happy. I’ve always wanted to do a pop song cover in Korean and being able to release In My Head was an honor.

When he came to Korea, we got to work together and we just hit it off, like, point blank when we first met each other. He said, ‘What’s up, Brian?’ and I said, ‘What’s up, Jason?’ and without any hesitation, we just went onstage and we just killed it and we still keep in touch until now.

Hit play to watch Brian Joo & Jason Derülo perform In My Head on Music Bank

How did you prepare for the Malaysian showcase?
I went on my Twitter (@Brianjoomuzik) and asked a lot of people what they preferred musically, what they wanted to hear…so basically I took that and cut down all the songs on the track list, and decided which songs I was going to perform here.

For the past two or three weeks, I’ve been in the studio practicing and just anticipating a good show.

WAITING: Brian waits for the next question

Will there be any solo concert in the near future?
That, I would love to do. It’s not really a decision (I can make) on my own. Hopefully in the future, if I get that opportunity and chance, if someone offers me a concert – any country – I would love to do it. Malaysia, wherever, Singapore – if they want me to do a concert in the country – yeah, as long as you guys contact my record label and work things out, I’d love to do it.

What would you like to tell your fans?
Worldwide, I tell my fans all the time that I’m very thankful because it’s true, a lot of artists, a lot of musicians say if it wasn’t for the fans we wouldn’t be here right now. And that’s totally true.

Five years ago, I did not see myself coming to Malaysia and now that I’m here, and it’s all really happening, it’s reality…it’s so overwhelming in a great way and I just think it’s awesome and I love the fans for that. I just hope that they’ll continue to support me and I’ll do my best to work hard and provide good music and entertainment for the fans.

What do you think of the girls in Malaysia?
The girls in Malaysia? Very sweet, very kind, very pretty, yes.

THUMBS UP: Brian (seen here at the after party) loves Malaysia :).

Keep reading >>

Videos of Brian Joo's 1st visit to Malaysia

Yo fellow K-popped! peeps. I know you love videos. Check out some of the vids of Brian Joo's first visit to our shores below.

Brian (left) with MC Baki Zainal: 'Hey dude, she wrote down her

phone number too! Oh snap!'

The Korean American singer, who is currently on hiatus from the duo Fly To The Sky, was in Malaysia for a fan meeting-cum-showcase on July 10. Before the main event, the 29 year old met the Malaysian media.

One of the questions asked was Brian's prediction of who will win the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Check out what he said below:

Brian's showcase started at about 3.15pm and the fans lapped up his performance. Apart from Malaysian fans, there were also fans from Indonesia, Japan, China, Korea, Thailand and Singapore at the showcase.

He kicked things off with his Korean cover of Jason Derulo's In My Head. But whoops, there was a minor glitch and the singer fessed up to it. Watch the video below to see what he said:

The talent capped his performance with the original English version of Jason Derulo's In My Head, and killed it. Check it below:

By that time, everyone's head was buzzing with In My Head :P. For everthing else that went on in between, read our review on Brian Joo's 1st Fan Meet / Showcase in Malaysia!

Related:
Brian Joo made the decision to come to Malaysia

Brian Joo’s 1st Fan Meeting in Malaysia

Keep reading >>

Brian Joo’s 1st Fan Meeting in Malaysia

Words & pics by Orchid

Fans of Brian Joo were delighted when just about a month ago, the 29-year old Korean-American singer announced that he would be visiting our shores for a showcase cum fan-meeting. The day has arrived and on July 10, 2010 Brian gave his fans a chance to catch him up close and personal at The Opera, Sunway Pyramid.

What did you say? WE LOVE YOU BRIAN. YOU'RE HOT!
Brian Joo a.k.a. Mr Manifold's first visit to Malaysia!
He performed at a club in Sunway Pyramid.

The Venue

Brian performed at The Opera – a three-storey club at Sunway Pyramid which has good acoustics, but a rather small stage. Organizers of the event Rhythmland chose a suitable venue as the dark and raunchy interior of The Opera reflected Brian’s style of urban R&B and club music perfectly.

Fans waiting for Brian to appear...
Venue suited Brian's style of music, but the giant pillars
blocked the view of the stage somewhat

There were fans upstairs too!

The repertoire

Host for the event Baki Zainal did a good job warming up the crowd (which consisted of 99% females) before Brian kicked things off with his high- energy, Korean version of Jason Derulo’s In My Head. The fans went wild and Brian encouraged everyone to let their hair down and dance.

With cameras flashing every few seconds, Brian went on to sing Don’t Go (가지마), his first single. Brian was accompanied by two male dancers from South Korea and the crowd clearly enjoyed the performance

Malaysia, you're In My Head...

Brian brought along two of his male Korean dancers for more eye candy

Host Baki Zainal & Brian got along famously

Brian talked quite a bit and interacted with the fans in-between songs. He tried to communicate and asked what the fans were all screaming to him…and eventually interpreted it as “Please take off your clothes”. When in actual fact, they said “You’re hot!”. Brian kept his clothes on, but continued with the slow number – Even Though My Heart Breaks from his Fly to the Sky days.

Interaction with the fans

In any Kpop fan meeting, the star would typically fulfill his/her fans' desires or make their "dreams come true". A lucky draw was conducted and four names were selected. Brian would then have to do the following :

1. Do a sexy dance for her
2. Hug her from behind
3. Give her a hug
4. Act cute – just for her!

Brian selects the lucky fans

Four lucky ladies - Brian will do ANYTHING they ask him to

The one with the SEXY DANCE

Hug me from behind

The Hug

Awww....so cute!

Towards the end of the session, Brian felt a bit sheepish with all the hugging, kissing(?) and seducing. Fans on the 1st floor were screaming “andwae” (Noooooo!) when Brian hugged his lucky fans on stage.

Brian also took time to present the autographed poster of the Design A Poster contest to the deserving winner. She was really happy to receive her framed poster with Brian’s signature and stamp of approval on it.

Brian and his poster girl

Brian continued on with the second half of the showcase with Tears Run Dry, a medley from his album Manifold and a new remix of My Girl.

Lastly, Brian performed Jason Derulo’s version of In My Head (yeah the English version) as an encore. It was a crowd pleaser and everyone got onto their feet to dance! What an uplifting end to the hour long showcase.

Brian came on stage with red & orange hair and
painted "Brian Manifold" on his right arm

Brian Joo’s fan-meeting didn’t quite feel like the typical Korean pop star fan meeting. Except for the fact that there was a session where Brian fulfilled the dreams of four lucky fans, it felt more like a showcase, with Brian talking in-between songs.

Generally Brian comes across as a genuinely nice guy. K-popped! wishes him all the best in his solo career! FIGHTING!

Brian is such a sweet guy he obliged to take photos
with fans in the VVIP and VIP zone (he hugged them too!)

All the best Brian, we hope to see you again soon!

Here i leave you with a video clip of Brian singing My Girl (the new remix). I apologize for the video quality. It was really dark in the club. Enjoy!

Coming soon: Brain Joo meets the Malaysian press

For more videos of the showcase, pics of the press conference and Brian's fav team to win the 2010 World Cup, go to http://www.facebook.com/kpopped

Photo album on Facebook

Videos of Brian Joo's 1st visit to Malaysia

Keep reading >>

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

SHINee to hold fan meeting in Malaysia on May 25

Note to readers: We just received news that this could only be a rumour.

Mmm hmm, our local K-pop scene is looking pretty healthy these days.

Shortly after the memorable Super Show 2 by Super Junior on March 20, there’s news that boyband SHINee, along with Zhang Li Yin, will be making their way to Malaysia.

Coming right at ya: The SHINee boys will meet their fans on May 25

The SM Entertainment artists will hold their first fan meet in Batu Pahat, Johor – a southern state in Malaysia. Hey, our Singaporean friends can come over for the event...if you're not already tired of the boys :-P.

The fan meet will be held at The Summit on May 25 from 3pm – 4:30pm.

Will you be there?

Source: Daily Dose of SHINee & K-popped! reader Wawa

Related:
SHINee to perform in Singapore (again) on March 13
SHINee, Bobby Kim & Mario in Singapore in February
SHINee goes Ring Ding Dong for 2009, Year of Us

Keep reading >>

Monday, 28 September 2009

Hyun Bin celebrates birthday with fans in Japan

Hyun Bin celebrated his 27th birthday with his Japanese fans on 25 September at the National Hall in Yokohama, Japan. 5,000 fans attended the birthday party cum fan meeting.

The heartthrob flashed his famous dimples and proceeded to serenaded his fans by singing Steve Barakatt's "No Regret" and "Misty" while on the piano. He spent one entire month practicing to get the songs just right for his beloved fans. Talk about dedication. Hyun Bin also sang a song from his latest drama project Friend, Our Legend and lastly, performed "This is the Moment" from the stage musical Jekyll and Hyde.

On a sad note, Hyun Bin's going away for military service next year. Oppa, bogoshipoyo! We will miss you! And so will his girlfriend, Song Hye Kyo!

Sources: Newsen, mk, Joynews

Also check out:
Song Hye Kyo & Hyun Bin a couple!
Hyun Bin reveals beauty secrets in Cosmopolitan
Hyun Bin at Japanese Fan Club bash (2007 fan meeting)

Get this:
From the sketchpad: Hyun Bin (wallpaper by Rooster)

Keep reading >>

Saturday, 5 September 2009

SS501 meet their fans in Malaysia

Korean boy band SS501 were in Kota Kinabalu (KK), East Malaysia for 4 days, 3 nights. They were at Gayana Resort in KK, filming a special DVD for fans. As an additional gift to their Malaysian fans, they decided to stop by Kuala Lumpur (West Malaysia) to have a meet-the-fans session!

The fan meet was a huge surprise and it was only a few days before the event that we received news of it. But nevertheless, hoardes of delighted fans turned up to support the event! At last, Korean celebrities decide to come to our shores, instead of going to Singapore or Thailand!

Triple-S Malaysia welcomes their idol group with a huge banner!
And as a special gift, Triple-S prepared a Baju Melayu
(Malay traditional attire) for each of the boys, gift wrapped nicely in a box.

So on 3rd September 2009 - everyone was excited! Although the fan meeting was at 6pm, fans started arriving early and by 2pm, there was a long queue at One World Hotel. Your ticket to the fan meeting? You had to purchase a SS501 CD which is on sale at the event. At around 4pm, CD sales started and each CD cost a whopping RM70! Never mind the hefty price, the CDs sold like hot cakes and before you knew it, they were all sold out.

Two CDs were on sale (by Warner Music i presume):

SS501 Solo Collection
SS501 Taiwan SuperHits

ss501 leader Kim Hyun Joong meeting Malaysian fans!

Those who purchased the CDs could go in to meet their idols. But each fan is only allowed to get one autograph (from only one of the boys). I thought of attending the event after work, but then i am glad i didn't go, after reading the fan accounts. Getting to the venue after work would mean i would have gotten there rather late, and all CDs would have been sold out!

Many were disappointed when the CDs were sold out. That means, they didn't get to go into the fan meeting area. Also, some who bought the CD and managed to get it, complained that they didn't even get to see the boys. I guess there were just too many excited fans waiting to meet their idols.

SS501, please come again!

SS501 at Kota Kinabalu International airport

For more fan videos and pics, go to K-popped! page on Facebook

Pics credit: tirablurb.blogspot.com

Also check out:
SS501 fan meeting in Kuala Lumpur confirmed
SS501 fan meeting in Kuala Lumpur on September 3rd, 2009

Keep reading >>

Monday, 27 July 2009

Rain Theater : 7th Global Fan Meeting

It was a relaxed time of chit chat from the heart at Rain's Global fan meeting.
Rain's good buddy Kim Jae Dong played host at the event.

Rain (real name Jung Ji -hoon) met with his fans on July 26 at 3pm at Kyung Hee University in Seoul for his 7th Global Fan Meeting : Rain Theater. Rain's long time friend Kim Jae-dong was emcee for the day.

Bi started off the fan meeting by performing the song Fresh Woman. Then it was chit chat time with Kim Jae-dong and Rain talked about his up and coming movie Ninja Assassin and Asia tour "Legend of Rainism" among other things.

On Ninja Assassin, Rain said that he is confident the movie will make him known in America. He said, "I do not wish to be humble about this movie. I trained hard and pushed myself to the limit. I am proud of this film. I don't know how well it will do in the boxoffice, but I'm honoured to have a role in such a production."

Rain also shared the concept of his Asia tour "Legend of Rainism". The tour kicks off in Japan on August 29 and fans can expect Rain's unparalleled powerful and sexy performance in concert. The concert stage will be emphasizing the theme "fantasy".

The fan meeting ended with Rain singing I Do, Rainism and My Girl. Former G.O.D. member Kim Tae-woo appeared as a special guest.