Kay Tse and Ling Man Lung (along with directors Dickson
Leung and Kwan Man Hing) officiated the grand opening of the “Hong Kong Film
Gala Presentation and Exhibition” at The Starling mall in Malaysia. This event
is in-collaboration with GSC cinema chain.A few new Hong Kong movies will be screened (at very affordable ticket
price – priced at only RM5.00) and the exhibition runs from 20 Sept to 3rd
October.“Out of Shadow” was shown
during the launch and lead actress, Kay Tse, promoted this movie to the
audience and media members.It is also
Ling Man Lung’s maiden visit to Malaysia and he brings his latest flick, “The
Remnant” (which also has Philip Keung in the cast). In recent years, Ling is a
regular in the HK movie scene and also appeared in Viu TV’s hit series, “In
Geek We Trust”.Ling is well-known in
the industry as a versatile character actor and has won rave reviews from
veterans such as Candice Yu and Teresa Mo.Despite his age (38), he still retains his boyish appearance.In total, seven feature films will be shown
over several days during the gala.These
are Out of Shadow, For Alice, Love Lies, Once in a Blue Moon, One Night At
School, The Remnant and YUM investigation.Out of these 7 flicks, my top pick is “Love Lies”, with singer MC
playing Sandra Ng’s love interest in an intricate dating scam.
The wait is finally over for diehard supporters of Korean
actor, Lee Joon Gi. Local fans were elated when Joon Gi announced that Kuala
Lumpur will be the first stop of “Joongi’s Day :Festival” Asia tour. A fan’s letter to Lee Joon Gi (which he read to the audience) really echoed our sentiment - “I have always prayed for
you to come and visit my country”. This sentence is definitely not an overstatement and our prayers came true! Many K-pop singers and actors have
snubbed KL for fan meeting/concerts, preferring to head to Jakarta instead.
Hence, a big shout out to the local organizer for bringing our heartthrob to
Malaysia. His last fan meeting was back in 2019, prior to the pandemic. It’s no
wonder that 2000 strong fans from Taiwan, Turkey, Italy, Russia, China, Korea,
Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China turned up for his debut appearance in
KL.
This is no ordinary fan meeting when it comes to Lee Joon
Gi. It’s a 3-hour full-scale adrenaline rush concert, with fan benefits to
boot. If you include the “sound check” and “good bye” segments, it’s 4 hours
of Lee Joon Gi bliss. The ticket is definitely worth every penny. His entourage
is made-up of a four-piece live band and a team of back-up dancers. Joon Gi made his grand entrance with his 2016
smash hit, “Thank You”. Fans erupted in
appreciative loud howling and cheers.
Obviously, bursting with excitement to see him right before their very
eyes and breathing the same air as their idol ! This was followed by more songs
such as “Now” , “Can’t be slow”, “My Lady, “For A While” and “Tonight”. Joon Gi really lives up to the title of being
a multifaceted artiste. He is not merely an outstanding actor, his phenomenal
dancing and singing aptitude easily put any k-pop stars to shame ! He’s
just that good ! His footwork are flawless when he gyrated to upbeat songs
such as Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”, Jungkook “Standing Next To You” and PSY’s
“That That”. He is definitely in his element when performing before his beloved
fans and making hearts flutter when he addressed us as “my loves”. Omigosh
…..oppa, how do you expect us to move on after the concert??!!
Joon Gi attempted to interact with the audience in Malay.
Aside from swooning fans with Korean tracks, he also sang in English (Jason
Mraz’s “I’m Yours & Bruno Mars’ “Marry You” and “Uptown Funk”). The
startling moment is when he suddenly burst into a Malay tune “Rasa Sayang”,
joined by the crowd. Initially, I was baffled with the change in some of the lyrics. After the show, I found out he had performed the Indonesian version.
Some disgruntled fans commented in social media that the organizer
should have pointed this out to Joon Gi and ask him to sing the correct Malay
rendition. Prior to the concert, the organizer encouraged fans to submit their
requests to Joon Gi. One such plea is for him to devise five cute poses and
another, to show off his martial art skills.
He also shared a touching letter from a Malaysian fan and expressed that
he should have come sooner to Malaysia, particularly after experiencing such a
“warm reception” at KLIA earlier. Well,
it’s actually a stampede at the airport because the fans just went berserk upon
seeing him. A few shoes were strewn on
the floor and someone even shouted “where is my shoe ?” after Joon Gi boarded
the vehicle.
Fan meeting is never complete without the compulsory OST
(Original Sound Track) portion. Looking dapper in cool brown leather jacket,
Joon Gi captivated fans with his smooth vocals, performing “In My Heart”
(Flowers of Evil ), “Chosen One” (Arthdal Chronicles 2), “Fate” (The King and
The Clown), “Higher Plane” (Criminal Minds) and “For You” (Moon Lovers). That
said, I wished he would put on some weight.
It pains me to see his skinny frame.
He also introduced a new composition called “Delete” and humorously
reminded us not to erase the song from our minds despite the title. "Dancing In the Moonlight" is another brand new catchy track that was specially composed for the "Festival" tour. The lively atmosphere cranks up a few notches
when encore session sets in. Everyone was on their feet, moving along to the
fast-paced rousing encore medley. Joon Gi promised fans that he will be back
and thanked everyone for their love and support throughout the years. Next up is the good bye session, where
everyone had a chance to walk pass Joon Gi, to bid him farewell. In general, it is an entertaining concert, plus the security/staff were really polite and
helpful. There are several cons though, for example disjointed
information/instruction as the ushers seemed to be clueless about some
arrangements. Time management is pretty messy, too. Case in point, two different staff confirmed
that we should seat according to our ticket numbers during soundcheck. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the scenario. It
was free for all. The staff should have communicated this to the fans when
distributing the soundcheck wrist bands. By the time we made our way into the
hall after the time-consuming bag check, soundcheck was already in-progress
when fans are still trickling into the auditorium. Clearly, lack of time organization. The
show really measured up to the concert theme, “Festival”, as it is truly a
heart-felt celebration between his loyal fans and the humble, affable and
talented superstar, Lee Joon Gi. I’ve been to countless concerts and it is
indeed rare to see (and feel) an artiste with such profound sincerity and
conviction to his craft.
Concert Rundown :-
1. THANK YOU 2. NOW 3. CAN'T BE SLOW 4. MA LADY 5. 아낌없이 주는 나무 6. 사랑을 몰라 + FOR A WHILE 7. 칭찬해줘 8. TONIGHT 9. DELETE 10. CHOSEN ONE 11. 인연 12. RUN 13. 미련한 가슴아 14. 너를 위해 15. IN MY HEART 16. I'M YOURS + MARRY YOU 17. RASA SAYANG 18. DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT 19. FOR US 20. LOST FRAME 21. STANDING NEXT TO YOU 22. BRING DA BEAT + 바보사랑 + UPTOWN FUNK 23. TOGETHER
