NU’EST confirms showcase in Singapore + fansign venue revealed

JNation Entertainment officially announces its plans to bring in ‘2013 NU’EST L.O.Λ.E TOUR’ to Singapore. Mark the date down, June 22, as it will be the group’s first ever full-fledged showcase in Singapore!

Pledis Entertainment’s one and only boy group, NU’EST, was formerly known as the Pledis Boys. Prior to debuting, the members were already exposed to the entertainment scene as backup dancers and featured in multiple live performances and music videos for labelmates After School.

Comprising of 5 members – JR (leader), Aron, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren, NU’EST made their official debut in March 2012 with title track Face. The debut song was made popular by its unique choreography which includes the chair-dance.

The group sets themselves apart from the saturated industry by injecting social messages into their songs. Aiming to be ‘the voice of teen generation’, their meaningful lyrics talk of issues such as school violence and bullying (1st single – Face), striving for freedom, individuality and dreams (1st mini album – Action). Their recent comeback veered away from the catchy electro tunes and highlights their vocals with an R&B ballad titled Hello.

NU’EST has been staging many overseas performances. Recent ones include K-Con 2012 in California, Korean Music Wave 2013 in Bangkok, and not forgetting their 2-day debut anniversary concert in Tokyo, Japan. This will be their second time in Singapore, since the mini-showcase held last year.

Expect to be electrified and blown away by this urban electro group with their talent, charms and visuals!

Showcase Information

Venue: Kallang Theatre

Date: 22 June 2013

Time: 7pm

Fansign Information

Venue: Bugis+ Atrium

Date: 23 June 2013

Time: 3pm

* You need to be a VVVIP/VVIP ticket holder to be entitled fansign from NU’EST.

Ticketing Information 

VVVIP- $228* (SOLD OUT) (Red Zone Ticket / High-touch / Autograph / Poster / Individual photo)

VVIP – $188* (Red Zone Ticket / High-touch / Autograph / Poster)

VIP – $148* (Red Zone Ticket / High-touch / Poster)

Cat 1 – $98* (Blue Zone Ticket / High-touch / Poster)

Cat 2 – $68* (Green Zone Ticket / High-touch / Poster )

Cat 3 – $48* (Purple/Circle Zone Ticket / Poster)

Ticket can be purchase online at Ticketbrite  or Call +65 9775 9169 You can also email to admin@jnationent.com, if you are unable to purchase it online.

Pr: JNation Entertainment

2013 NU’EST L.O.Λ.E Tour in Singapore

2013 NU’EST L.O.Λ.E Tour is coming to Singapore!

On 22 June, it will be the Pledis Entertainment’s one and only boy group, NU’EST, to hold their first ever full-fledged showcase in Singapore. Prior to debuting, the members were already exposed to the entertainment scene as backup dancers and featured in multiple live performances and music videos for labelmates – After School.

Short for Nu (New), Established, Style and Tempo, NU’EST calls themselves an urban electro group, with great influence on their music styles. Comprising of 5 members; JR (leader), Aron, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren, NU’EST made their official debut in March 2012 with title track Face. Their debut song was made popular by its unique choreography, which includes the chair-dance.

The group sets themselves apart from the saturated industry by injecting social messages into their songs. Aiming to be the ‘voice of teen generation’, their meaningful lyrics talk of issues such as school violence and bullying (1st single – Face), striving for freedom, individuality and dreams (1st mini album – Action). Their recent comeback veered away from the catchy electro tunes and highlights their vocals with an R&B ballad titled Hello.

NU’EST has been staging many overseas performances. Recent ones include K-CON 2012 in California, Korean Music Wave 2013 in Bangkok, and not forgetting their 2-day debut anniversary concert in Tokyo, Japan. This will be their second time in Singapore, since the mini showcase held last year.

Fans can expect to be electrified and blown away by this urban electro group with their talent, charms and visuals!

Music Video: Face

Music Video: Hello 

Showcase Information

Venue: Kallang Theatre

Date: 22 June 2013

Time: 7pm

VVVIP- $228* (Red Zone Ticket / High-touch / Autograph / Poster / Individual photo)

VVIP – $188* (Red Zone Ticket / High-touch / Autograph / Poster)

VIP – $148* (Red Zone Ticket / High-touch / Poster)

Cat 1 – $98* (Blue Zone Ticket / High-touch / Poster)

Cat 2 – $68* (Green Zone Ticket / High-touch / Poster )

Cat 3 – $48* (Purple/Circle Zone Ticket / Poster)

Official Ticket Sales start from 17 April.

Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketbrite: www.NUEST.eventbrite.sg or by calling +65 9775 9169.

For more information, head over to JNation’s Facebook and Twitter page.

Pr: JNation Entertainment

NU’EST says Singapore girls are beautiful flowers

There is no lack of Korean pop boy groups these days, with new groups debuting under different labels and striving for fan attention everyday. One that really stands out – with its ‘New Established Style and Tempo’ is NU’EST, a 5-member group which consists of namely Minhyun, Ren, JR, Baekho and Aron.

On October 26, one of the prominent K-pop event organizers, KPOPGAGA, brought the boys right to the powerhouse of St. James Station for their first ever showcase in Singapore. To make NU’EST’s presence a memorable one not just for the boys but also for the fans, KPOPGAGA also offered the best fan deal ever in town – Limited Ambassador pass-holders where these exclusively privileged fans not only got to enjoy the concert in the premier area among the free goodies, they are entitled to a free CD, poster, autograph session, photography session, press conference entry and even dinner with the boy group, and follow-through from arrival to departure! A sweet deal considering the five members of NU’EST.

The showcase was held right after the media press conference where the boys had their first interactive Q & A session with the media representatives. From 2pm onwards, hordes of fans started to queue up to enter the St. James station patiently and eagerly. It’s not hard to tell that from all the fans’ expression, they just couldn’t wait any more to see their five NU’EST boys.

It was only slightly after 4pm, when a voice suddenly boomed out of nowhere surrounding the stage, “Are you ready Singapore?” At that instance, the only correct response was to scream out your lungs, and that’s how it was done too, both nicely and loudly.

Dance group Beyond Infinity opened the fan meet with a well-executed dance routine to After School’s Flashback. When the boys appeared on stage, it was indeed a powerhouse happening right in St. James Station. Screams, cheers and shouts, that’s all that everyone will have expected.  Following the introduction, the boys passionately performed their first song, Face.

The host of the event was DJ Ah-Ken from local radio station UFM100.3, who had a short Q & A session with the boys. They were asked to shout ‘sarang hae-yo’ (I Love You) to the fans, much to everyone’s delight. Later on, the host asked them questions about their hidden talents and habits.

Ah-Ken then threw out open questions for fans to ask the boys. One fan bravely asked the most crucial question of the day – what does NU’EST think of Singaporean girls. To that, the boyband together agreed that Singaporean girls are beautiful flowers! Another question that was thrown to the boys might really cause some trouble – would any of the NU’EST boys ever date Singaporean girls? To that, the boys said it will be a secret, and so be it.

Up next, NU’EST performed their song Not Over, and everyone was singing along to every word of the song with no exceptions. Despite the language barrier, fans that were present all seemed proficient in Korean! The boys also continued to perform the worldwide number one K-pop hit song, Psy’s Gangnam Style, together with the dance group Beyond Infinity.

After that, 3 lucky fans were specially picked to go on stage with the required special criteria – ability to dance to the whole audience in the house.  After they were specially selected by Ah-Ken, the three girls were asked to perform a short dance of NU’EST’s Face together with the boys! The three fans did it impressively and each got a special prize from NU’EST. Prizes included personal belongings of the members, such as T-shirts.

It was a close and engaging fan session with NU’EST on that day, for their first appearance in Singapore and as a rookie group, their artistic talents are evident to have won over many Singaporean fans. The atmosphere was overwhelming with cheers and screams, just like a large scale concert. With the deep impression left by Singaporean fans to NU’EST, it sure looks like the boys will be missing their Singaporean fans quite a bit, till they come for their next visit. Perhaps they will come back as an even stronger group by then.

Singapore fans, are you looking forward to their next visit?

Browse below for more photos of the showcase:

Special thanks to KPOPGAGA for the opportunity to cover the showcase

Covered by Adrian@hellokpop,

Photos by Kenny@hellokpop

NU’EST reveals themselves in first Singapore press conference

(L to R: Minhyun, Ren, JR, Baekho and Aron)

Rookie group NU’EST made their very first appearance in Singapore on October 26.

The boys arrived in the early morning and though without good rest, they were still able to put up their best performance during the event. It started in the early afternoon with NU’EST doing their signature greeting to the floor of media before the press conference began.

Q.What can fans anticipate in the future?

Baekho: Not just in Korea, we will hope to venture out intentionally as well. We would like to show all of our development and evolvement of NU’EST in the near future.

With much confident, leader JR said : “In 5 years time, NU’EST would be at the top and on the Billboard charts, not only Singapore, we will be touring around the world as well.”

Q.How did NU’EST join Pledis Entertainment? Was it through casting or auditions?

Aron: For me, I auditioned for the 2010 Pledis USA Auditions and I got first place. So after the audition, I came into the company and became a part of NU`EST.

Baekho: I was playing with my friends in my hometown (Jeju Island) and I was casted by the Music Director.

JR: I was heading home from school and at first I thought that it was a scam as I was not interested in the entertainment industry. Eventually, my interest grew and made me who I am today.

Ren: I went to the audition held by Pledis Entertainment when I was in ninth grade because my dream was to be a singer.

Minhyun:  I was also casted when I was heading home from school but I was different from the leader JR. I was interested to become a star so I didn’t think that as a scam and I was very happy to become part of Pledis Entertainment.

Q.With an average age of 17.4, all of you must have been still schooling. How do you juggle your schedule? With singing, dancing and practicing on top of all these curriculum?

Baekho: Since we are attending an entertainment related school, the school and the management adjust the schedules to allow us to concentrate on our studies.

Q.Having starred in several of your senior’s Music Videos, do you have plans to pursue in the acting scene or is there something else that you would like to try out?

JR: Yes, a few of us have starred in our senior’s Music Videos but they have no plans yet. If there are opportunities, we would like to be actor too.

Q.This is NU’EST’s first visit to Singapore. What is your impression of Singapore and your Singapore fans?

Aron: Singapore is definitely one of the cleanest country I have ever been to. And the people are really nice. I’m really glad to meet you guys and it’s definitely a pleasure to be here.

Q.NU’EST made their debut with FACE, a powerful track that discusses societal problems of bullying in schools. What are your personal thoughts on this social issue?

Baekho: We cannot change the whole world and we cannot fix all the problems out there but at least through this song, it will allow us to rethink about this issue.

Q.What is your favourite food in Singapore?

Aron: Actually,we just arrived today so we haven’t eaten much but I heard about Chili Crab so I really want to try it out.

Baekho: Singapore-Chinese style dumplings?

JR: It is my first time in Singapore so I will try anything that anyone recommends me.

Ren: I like everything about Singapore food.

Minhyun: I’ve not tried anything yet as we just arrived today, but I would like to try as much as I can.

Q.What were your first impressions of each other when you guys first met?

Baekho: Aron was really cute and funny cause he was from the United States and Korea was really cold during that time so he wore long coats and big pants which made him looked really funny.

Aron: I was from LA and there was no snow in LA and it was not really cold in LA as it is warm most of the time and when I went to Korea it was like snowing blizzards and I almost died last year.

JR: Aron is the funniest guy.

Q. The music video ”Not Over You” portrayed the boys in a relaxed mood doing leisure activities. What does each member do when they are free?

Baekho: We enjoy our free time by playing the play station or any games that are available together.

Recently, we are all obsessed with watching dramas. Whenever one of us say that this drama is really good, the rest of us will be addicted to it too.

Baekho: The Innocent Man/Nice Guy , Reply 1997/Response 1997.

Q.What can Singapore fans expect from Singapore’s showcase seeing that it is their first time performing in Singapore.

JR: NU’EST will show everything that we’ve got.

Minhyun: And in between songs, there will be games and we would really want to have interactions with the fans.

Q.If you didn’t debut as singers, what will you be?

Aron: I would be a college student.

Baekho: I’m 18 years old so I will probably still be schooling.

JR: Maybe I would just remain as a normal student.

Ren: I am interested in fashion designing so I might be a fashion designer.

Minhyun: My dream is to be a singer so while I am studying, I might join the Superstar K for audition.

Q.What is the boys’ definition of a perfect day?

JR: A perfect day will be to show the fans what NU`EST is going to perform on the stage today.

Minhyun: I have nothing to say because JR has the best answer.

Q.Christmas is coming. What present would you like to receive the most?

Aron: Your love.

Minhyun & Baekho: A new album.

JR: We do not want anything, instead we want to give you all something.

Q.One last thing you would like to say out to everyone on the floor.

Aron: We would like to thank you guys for coming here and supporting us. It’s definitely an honour and pleasure and we hope you guys enjoy the day today. Thank you.

NU’EST: Thank you!

The autograph and photo-taking session took place right after the press conference ended. Fans began streaming in, taking the queue line, waiting eagerly to see their idols up close for the first time. Some lucky fans were able to receive handshakes and hugs from the friendly boys too.

Check out the photos taken during the events below:

Special thanks to KPOPGAGA for giving us the opportunity to cover this event.

For more updates and information, follow KPOPGAGA on twitter and Facebook.

Press conference & photos by: Kenny@hellokpop

The Hallyu Wave Crests at KCON 2012

On Saturday, 18 October 2012, hellokpop had the privilege to attend KCON 2012, at the Verizon Ampitheatre in Irvine, California.

KCON 2012 was the first North American convention about everything Korean: the food, the make-up (BB Cream anyone?), the culture, and of course, the Hallyu wave.  There were a variety of booths for many different vendors, such as make-up booths, an Asiana Airlines booth, fan club booths (DBSKnights, Code EXO, Soshified, etc.), a CGV cinemas booth, and many more.

The majority of my time was spent in the Artist booth, where VIXX, NU’EST, B.A.P, EXO-M, G.Na, and 4Minute held their autograph and Q & A sessions. The first group to hold their signing and Q&A was NU’EST. They were as cute as we see them in photos and videos.  NU’EST is a five-member group, made up of Aron, JR, Baekho, Minhyun, and Ren. One of the members, Aron, is from Los Angeles, so he spoke about how happy he was to be back in California. The artists answered some questions and then were whisked away to rehearse for the concert later that day. The fans were cleared out of the tent, and then the waiting for the VIXX autograph session began.

VIXX is a six-member group, made up of N, Leo, Ken, Ravi, HongBin and Hyuk. At 12:10 PM, the VIXX autograph session along with the Q&A commenced! During VIXX’s autograph session, their music was playing, so during some intervals, some of the members got up and did the choreography to their songs. VIXX did something different than the rest of the artists, they got actually sang Rock Your Body live, and did the choreography to it as well. Ravi spoke the most English out of the VIXX members, which made the K-Pop fan girls and some fan boys scream even louder than usual. The leader of VIXX, N, did a bit of aegyo, which led to his members face-palming and head-desking. Then like all of the other artists, VIXX was whisked away to rehearsal.

The next group that held a fan-signing was B.A.P, a six-member group made up of Bang Yongguk, Zelo, Him chan, Jongup, Daehyun, and Young Jae. The B.A.P fan-signing and Q&A was held a bit later than scheduled, because there were too many people crowding the Artist Tent. There were lots of Baby’s in attendance during this fan-signing, and the day was really hot.  So, the boys of B.A.P had KCON volunteers fanning them from behind.

The next artist to hold her autograph session and Q & A was G.Na which I did not manage to attend because I was looking for the illusive  EXO-M vouchers.  I was very unsuccessful.  The biggest problem with KCON was perhaps the voucher system, which everyone I spoke to agreed.  In order to get the KCON artist(s) to sign their official merchandise, one needed to have a voucher. Many people (at least the ones that I spoke with) really wanted the EXO-M vouchers, or the B.A.P vouchers, but the vouchers were given out randomly, and only about 100 people were allowed vouchers for each artist-signing event.  So, only approximately 600 people received vouchers and were allowed to attend the signing events, which left a lot of people out of the process.  Also, some people ended up not even using the vouchers they received, because they weren’t fans of those artists.  Some suggested that in the future, perhaps KCON could consider something like a raffle, or even a voucher exchange, so that fans could exchange vouchers they didn’t want to use for vouchers they actually wanted. Nevertheless, it was already an amazing opportunity where the fans could actually get up close to their favorite artistes!

Crowd control was another little issue that caused some minor discomfort to the fans.  At 3:30 PM, EXO-M was scheduled to hold their autograph and Q & A session.  Their fan-signing was super crazy though, because the people from G.Na’s prior fan-signing couldn’t leave the tent due to the large number of EXO-M fans outside of the tent. The emcee asked EXO-M fans to step back multiple times, but few fans responded until Kris got the microphone and asked all of the fans to take a few steps back.

The screams for EXO-M exceeded all of the previous autograph sessions. All six of the members, Kris, Lay, Lu Han, Xiumin, Chen and Tao, looked surprised that so many of their fans had shown up. During the Q & A, Kris spoke in English, Lay spoke a bit in Chinese, and Kris looked surprised when there was cheering. Kris asked the audience:

“You guys can understand Chinese?”

To which many of the fans replied:

“YES!”

Lay did a heart sign in the middle of the autograph signing, and all of the fans cheered.  After EXO-M had their fan-signing, it was discovered that one of the metal barricade poles had been broken, due to so many fans pushing and shoving.  The 4Minute autograph and Q & A started at 5:00 PM, but it was already crowded even before it began!

After all of the Q &As were finished, there were still about 2 hours until the actual concert was to begin. I met up with a few of my friends who, as it turned out, had won the Kollaboration portion of KCON, which meant that they would be performing onstage during the concert.

By 5:30 PM, people were already waiting in front of the concert venue, for the gates to open, so that they could rest their tired feet for a bit and then dance the night away to awesome acts.  At 7:00 PM, the gates opened and people rushed in and at 7:30 PM, the concert officially started, with a two-song performance by AJ Rafael, and a performance by Dumbfoundead. KCON concert-goers were surprised with a special collaboration effort between Daze47, which is a Korean Electronic Dance Music Group, and the winners of Korea’s Got Talent; a duo that are experts at ‘pop’ dancing.

After the opening acts, it was time for the concert to start!  B.A.P opened with No Mercy, followed by What My Heart Tells Me to Do and Crash. It was cute, because after No Mercy, they apologized and said that the other songs that they were performing were not as active as No Mercy. G.Na was next, and she performed 2Hot, the English version of I’ll Back Off so You Can Live Better, and lastly, Black and White. After her performance, she emceed the rest of the KCON concert with Danny from 1TYM or Im Taebin.

VIXX was next with Rock Your Body, U, and Super Hero. NU’EST played Face, Not Over You, and Action. There was a little break in between, where the Kollaboration contest winners at KCON, Andy Le, Brian Le, and Geran Simpson put on a show with their masterful use of tricking and wushu. After the Kollaboration winners performed, EXO-M started off with History, and then performed Angel, What is Love and finally Mama. The last, but certainly not the least, 4Minute, performed Volume Up, Mirror Mirror, HuH, Heart to Heart, and lastly, Hot Issue.

Check out the photos of the event below:

KCON was truly a wonderful one-of-the-kind event that a K-pop fan would want so much badly to attend. All attendees would have agree that they are sure looking forward to more KCON events in the coming years!

Special thanks to MNET for giving hellokpop the opportunity to cover KCON 2012.

Event covered by Carolyn@hellokpop
Photos edited by Seckvoon@hellokpop

Sources: kconusa