(G)I-DLE World Tour (Idol) in Bangkok 2024 - 19th October 2024 at Impact Arena

In 2022, due to personal obligations, I had to scrap my plans of watching (G)I-dle inaugural world tour, “Just Me.”  Malaysia was snubbed during last year’s “I am Free-ty” concert leg and it occurred again for their latest tour,  “I-dol” !! Well, this time around, I quickly bought my next flight to Bangkok to catch the talented girls in action ! I bet many fans have the same concern  as I do - could this spell the last outing for (G)I-Dle since leader Jeon So-yeon’s contract renewal is still a huge question mark (at the time of writing).  It would be devastating news for fans should So-yeon (being literally the backbone/mastermind of (G)I-Dle) decided to part ways with Cube Entertainment for greener pasture.  It’s no secret that things are not too rosy right now between So-yeon and Cube. Everyone knows that Cube probably needs Soyeon more than she does.  With her versatile skills in numerous areas (producing, composing, rapper, styling, vocal and leadership), it is no secret that many agencies are eyeing this music prodigy!

 

With their immense popularity, it is not surprising that the tickets were sold out in HK, Macau and Taiwan. I am a little taken aback that Bangkok only had one show (considering Taipei, HK and Macau had at least 3 shows).  Afterall, it is Minnie’s home country.  I’m so glad the organizer changed the venue to Impact Arena, which I personally feel is even better than our own indoor stadium, Axiata.  Seating arrangements are just perfect, with marvelous view. As with all K-pop concerts, it is a norm to see audience from all over the world.  The organizer even provided (G)I-DLE plastic ticket and poster keepsake (that’s better than our local/Malaysia organisers).  The concert took off at 6 pm when Soyeon’s powerful vocal echoed in the stadium - “I am the top, Super lady !”, invoking deafening cheers (some fans came in blue wig , emulating “Wife” mv). The 5 ladies in white garb and head gear stood on the elevated stage, all ready to enthrall fans with their badass polished  performance. They certainly live up to the hype and I would have kicked myself had I missed this concert of a lifetime. I simply love their energy and the camaraderie really added to the stage charisma. I have to commend the organizer for coming up with the “I” shaped stage too, whereby audience could get a closer view of them.

 During the solo segment, each of them really shine.  I still couldn’t get our certified freak, Yuqi’s “Radio (dum dum)” melody out of my head! The dance break demonstrated her nifty footwork.  Shuhua’s sensual gyrating must have cause some bad nose bleed ! Truth be truth, despite clearly lacking in the vocal and creative department compared to other members, she has quite a large following of fanboys and as expected, Taiwanese supporters.  Then again, many fans still find it a little hard to warm up to her.  Minnie dressed in school uniform performed the “Lovely Runner” drama OST called “Like  A Dream”.  Soyeon, in leopard print bodysuit lights up the stage with “Is this bad b****** number?”.  Her stage presence is spell binding ! It’s no wonder that she’s the soul of (G)I-Dle and truly a gifted all rounder K pop artiste.  Yuqi, Minnie and Soyeon have pretty unique voices.  Minyeon is also such a stunner and treated the fans with self- composed track “Sky Walking” (unreleased song). She wrote the lyrics, too. This is what sets (G)I-Dle apart from their peers, they are very involved in composing and coming-up with the lyrics.

 After “Wife”, (G)I-Dle wowed attendees with songs from “I Sway” EP.  Crowd favourite is the latest hit, “Klaxon”.  The five piece-act delivers 25 songs rundown, including a soothing Thai number พบรัก. Roars of excitement continued when (G)I-Idle performed a sequence of uptempo tracks such as,  “My Bag,” “Queencard” and “Tomboy”. The quintet were engaged in numerous banters and the girls attempted to converse in halting Thai.  However, attending the concert in Bangkok means there is no English subs on the screen.  That’s the downside of watching concerts in Bangkok, as opposed to Spore, Taiwan, HK or Macau. I hope the gals will come together again next year for a fourth world tour. There’s a saying most band would not survive the 7 years timespan, hopefully (G)I-Dle is an exception.

Rundown :-

Super Lady

Revenge

Latata

Oh My God

Doll

Villain Dies

Shuhua's solo dance (Tyla's "Water")

Yuqi solo "Radio (dum dum)"

Minnie solo "Like A Dream"

Soyeon solo "Is this Bad B******* Number ?"

Miyeon solo "Sky Walking" (unreleased)

Wife 

Uh- Oh

Klaxon

Fate

Allergy

Never Stop Me

Lion

Pop/Stars

My Bag

Queencard

Tomboy

I'm The Trend

พบรัก (Ink Waruntorn cover - Thai Song)

Bloom 

Neverland

 

Hong Kong Film Gala Presentation 2024 - Kay Tse and Ling Man Lung at The Starling Mall (20th September 2024)

 

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 3^rd 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. 

Lee Joon Gi fan meeting "Festival" in Malaysia - Mega Star Arena on 22nd Sept 2024

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