Korean Music Discussion - Page 3853

Lim tried pretty hard to screw up shots =P

I'd like to start this by pulling a Tebow. I'd like to thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ for blessing me with this opportunity. It's really the only way I can explain how I blessed I have been lately.

I first found about the iHeart Radio concert through Facebook and Twitter posts from the Wonder Girls. I uploaded a picture of me making a W with my hands. I didn't think this would be enough but sure enough I found a few other ways to enter. Z100, the top pop station in the area, was giving away a pair of tickets to 20 people. After 4 days of filling stuff out and 500 points per contest entry, I managed to put in 186 entries. This took me 4 days of filling stuff out. Some stuff was easy like naming the song at 3 times of the day at 2,500 points per correct answer. Other stuff was even easier like all I had to do was visit websites for 1,000 points per visit, capped at one visit per day. Did it take some effort? Sure but it was doable while still being able to go out. I wasn’t content with my total amount of entries. Surely there would be bigger and more dedicated wonderful s that would have had close to 1k entries. The weird part was that I just had this inner peace though that I would find a way into that concert….


Email came in at midnight Sunday night. I won! Hysterics ensued!! Well not so much but I had the biggest smile on my face! Was perfect timing since I was in the midst of an awful losing streak playing Dota. My record had dropped below .500 but all was right in the world as far as I was concerned.

Wednesday morning was all about getting ready to go. I made sure I got a work out in, ate a nice breakfast, and lunch to avoid being hungry later, calling around 1pm to see if there was a line yet, there was none, and then driving out around 130. Parking wasn’t as simple as I had hoped. I drove around the block and found a lot but the guy wanted $50 to just park it there and an extra $20 for me to keep it there past 7pm. I was in such a rush to get a good spot in line that I paid it anyway and ran to the studio.

I get to the place and there is already a small line forming. I was about the 25th person in line so I felt good about finding a good spot to watch the show. About 2 minutes later the Wonder Girls walked in! I spazzed! I caught myself in mid stride about to run to them. Was an awful moment being reduced to a 12 year old girl at a One Direction concert. Thankfully I grabbed a hold of myself before anyone outside of my little foster sister saw. She did proceed to laugh her ass off at me though!

They started giving out the bracelets to get in a little bit after 5 pm. They were running a little bit late on letting people in but not much. Some guy from kpop starz was going around getting interviews. He got one from me too. He was asking why I liked the Wonder Girls and who my favorite was and why. I said it was Sun Ye because I feel she is the heart and soul of the group. She is the quiet leader with zero diva in her. She steps aside so the other girls can get more spotlights. She has the best voice out all of them but she shows time and time again that the group is more important than her. The reporter in closing asked where I get all my kpop news. He was obviously pushing his website but I quickly said I get all my kpop news from Team Liquid's KMD thread, the best kpop foreigner site!

It was getting close to the time for letting us in. My little sister was wearing red and all of a sudden a staff member walks by and points at her and says, “You and your guest come go to the front.” They were using the people who wore red to take promo pictures for some kind of coffee thing. I really didn’t care because they were letting us in first! Got to be the first one let in and we found ourselves at the very front and center of the studio! Oh happy day!!!!

I start priming my camera to get all my settings ready. A security guy walks up to me and tells me I can't use my camera. Not a good moment but I started to think of a way on how I could still use it. The same security guy proceeds to tell anyone with a fancy looking camera to put it away. People start getting upset and I politely start chatting up the man. I asked him to explain to me why some cameras were allowed and why other were not and what he had been specifically told. This confuses him and he goes to check with someone. He comes back and then says it is ok but NO videos! He ends up hawking me all night but at least it gave me more time to take pictures.
Some thoughts on the performance:

Wonder girls come out!!!! They came out full of energy and the crowd was very charged up. It would seem they purposely filled the place with die hard wonderfuls to get the most energetic crowd. It worked. This could be seen with the crowd sing along to Nu Shoes to the singing of Happy Birthday to Lim.

The new songs were great, especially Ouch. It has top 40 US potential and it presents a different style to their music. It's more of a pop sound as opposed to their predominately r&b sound. It is also very encouraging to see that Yenny wrote Stay Together. I don't think it's an overwhelming success but it's a start. That they are being allowed to work on their artistic side will go a long way if they want to be taken seriously in the US market.

The fan service was amazing. As promised the guests were given a private intimate venue that allowed for great interactions between the girls and the crowd. GO YUBIN GO YUBIN GO YUBIN dance part during Tell me was awesome. It was reminiscent of a fun house party dance circle. Girls posed for pictures consistently while always keeping a smile on their lips.

Akon less Like Money was great. I really hope this gets released with the US album. What I don't hope happens is that this US album will consist of English versions of "Be my Baby" and other old hits. Why JYP insists on recycling songs just to fill an album is beyond me. I understand that they are songs with a proven track record but they are trying to enter a market that rewards originality. New is always better than a repeat. Here was the set list for the night


1. The DJ is Mine
2. Nu Shoes
3. Like This
4. Be My Baby (English Version)
5. Girls, Girls
6. Ouch
7. Stay Together
8. Wake Up
9. Tell Me (Korean Version)
10. So Hot (Korean Version)
11. Nobody (English Version)
12. 2 Different Tears (English Version)
13. Like Money

The concert only lasted an hour but time went by very slow for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. I got to give them a present at the end. Yenny and Sun Ye low fived me and the rest of the crowd. One by one they all walked out until Sun was the only one left. Like the cutie that she is, she gave the crowd a deep bow with an ear to ear smile on her face as if she had just finished performing at a Broadway play.

I start walking back to my car feeling like I am on a cloud. I turn the corner from the front of the building and it happens to pass a door to the stage side of the building. I notice people are just starting to line up and I quickly realize this must be the exit the girls are coming out of. I get out my camera and you can see what happened in my video after that.



The management wanted no part of them signing autographs but the girls did it anyway. Lim was rushed to the car without even being given a chance to sign. The other girls signed as much as they could. It could tell that Sun Ye was getting aggravated that they were being rushed and felt bad for not being able to sign more. They really appreciate their fans and how can you not love that?

I started this off by thanking God. It is the only way I can rationalize how everything worked out so well for me, everything from winning the tickets, bringing along someone who happened to be wearing the right color, to parking in the direction of the artist exit. Everything just fell into the right place at the right time. The lesson being here is, if you want something then go for it. You never know how things are going to play out.

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