After a long-anticipated wait, the two-day festival – HallyuPopFest is back again after less than a year, opening its doors to enthusiastic fans at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 25th May 2019.
Kicking off the afternoon showcase, GWSN and A.C.E rocked the stage at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, hyping and preparing fans for more long hours of fun that awaited them with songs such as “Puzzle Moon” and “Yolowa” by GWSN and A.C.E’s latest comeback “Under Cover”. Missions were also prepared for the artistes as they worked hard to complete a Random Play Dance mission and an Aegyo Battle halfway through the showcase.
Besides an exciting showcase happening within the walls of the Singapore Indoor Stadium, fans who did not manage to get tickets to the festival could catch a glimpse of their favourite artistes on the red carpet. Filled with fans passionately screaming at the mention of their favourites, the OCBC square was heated up long before Day 1’s artistes – WINNER, Hyolyn, NU’EST, OH MY GIRL, N.Flying, A.C.E and GWSN, appeared on the red carpet in beautifully and carefully styled outfits such as A.C.E’s Byeongkwan in a top that could easily reveal his abs. It was great wasn’t it?
The red carpet ended with fans wanting more as they brought their never-ending energy into the Singapore Indoor Stadium together with them as N.Flying got the ball rolling with their hit songs “How R U Today”, “Leave It” and “Rooftop”. Followed by a short surprise performance by GWSN, the rookie girl group performed songs Pinky Star and Yolowa before passing the stage over to the lovely girls from Oh My Girl, who got male fans screaming at the top of their lungs as they serenaded them with “Love Speed” and more of their popular tracks, “Liar Liar” and “The Fifth Season” from their latest comeback album.
Instantly filling the stadium with excited cheers and screams, NU’EST finally emerged on stage as five with “Hello”, “Love Paint”, “Bet Bet” and many more, even promising L.O.ㅅ.Es that they will be back as soon as possible in the same venue. NU’EST then ended their segment with “Segno” and “LOOK” before handing the stage over to Hyolyn, showing off her amazing vocal and dance skills with songs “See Sea”, “Dally” and “Goodbye”. To fan’s delight, Hyolyn even included a short medley of SISTAR’s songs, bringing us back to the good old days.
Last but not the least, WINNER charismatically appeared on stage from below and ever so quickly turned the entire stadium into a club as they got fans jumping and singing along eagerly to the beats of popular tracks “Love Me Love Me”, “Millions”, “Really Really” and “Ah Yeah” from their latest album.
Before we knew it, day 1 quickly drew to a close and day 2 started.
As the countdown for the last 10 hours of HallyuPopFest 2019 began, fans were not one bit fatigued from the scorching hot weather; but instead seemed to reflect and intensify the heat with their burning passion for their favourite stars.
Kicking off its afternoon showcase were up-and-coming stars VERIVERY, Kanto and TREI. Hyped fans were treated to a special photo-taking time featuring the sexy boys of TREI and fan gifts brought personally from Korea, as well as an aegyo by Kanto who cutely said, “Singapore”. As if these weren’t enough, fans were definitely captivated by all their stages which included fan-favourite songs like “Deep” by TREI, “What You Want” by KANTO and “RING RING RING” by VERIVERY.
After a mind-blowing afternoon showcase, the OCBC Square was engulfed by hordes of fans pressed against the barricades as the red carpet saw a stylishly dressed array of stars which included TREI, Kanto, VERIVERY, (G)-IDLE, K.A.R.D, PENTAGON, MONSTA X and Super Junior.
The final night concert commenced with an explosive opening performance by the ladies of (G)-IDLE with their latest comeback, “Senorita”, which was returned with a deafening fan chant from Singapore Neverlands. Not once did the energy of Singapore Neverlands fade as (G)-IDLE delivered more of their hits like “HANN (Alone)” and “LATATA”.
This mega festival continued on with the K-pop hit machine group, K.A.R.D, as their upbeat stages of “Oh Na Na”, “Don’t Recall”, “You in Me”, “Ride on the Wind”, “Hola Hola” and “Bomb Bomb” got fans wild and waving their lightsticks along with the beat as member Jiwoo promised to make the atmosphere even hotter! Yes please.
The stage was then passed on to the dynamic songwriting and song-producing Pentagon who brought down the house with their opening of their recent comeback, “Sha La La”. And of course, fans were all swoon as these boys unleashed their charms and sexiness with “Runaway” as Yeo One even took off his jacket. As leader Hui said right after the performance, “It’s too hot”. Oh boy, we know right.
With Singapore Monbebes’ cheers engulfing the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Monsta X unleashed their power by delivering an uninitiated with the boys nailing the full-body-vibrate choreography to one of their many hits, “Jealousy”, to an attention-demanding introduction. The charismatic boys of Monsta X decked in tight black leather pants, and with Wonho wearing a see-through shirt, made fans swoon and wild for the rest of their performance as they performed more songs like “Need U” and “Party Time”. Their entire effect was dazzling and distracting – probably explaining the piercing and reverential screams from their loyal Monbebes.
As the last hour of the festival dawned upon those present at the evening concert, the stage was finally handed over to none other than one of the biggest names in K-Pop and the headliner for the final day, Super Junior. Prior to their grand entrance, the entire Singapore Indoor Stadium turned into a sea of sapphire blue lightsticks while the boys opened their stage with their 2009 hit, “Sorry, Sorry” which launched them to fame.
Super Junior took E.L.Fs on a trip down memory lane as they performed a special rock version of “Bonamana” and “Miracle” as the boys ran around the stage interacting with their fans. As the boys performed “One More Chance”, a starlit sea filled the stadium and continued on as Yesung performed his solo, “It Has to be You” and Ryeowook with “취해 (Drunk in the Morning)”. With Eunhyuk and Donghae performing “‘Bout You”, it felt like a Super Show we’ve been longing for! And while the members cracked us all up with Leeteuk and Ryeowook failing the Shoot Dance which is a key choreography in the D&E song, the boys announced that they’re working on a new album! (E.L.Fs rejoice!)
2 days, 15 K-Pop acts, 1 gargantuan venue and hundreds of energetic fans. While we all don’t want these 2 days to end, HallyuPopFest 2019 was no doubt, yet another amazing festival, and surely we look forward to next year!
Article by: Vanessa & Zan
Official Photography: HallyuPopFest
