Wednesday 3 May 2017
Thursday 13 April 2017
How EXO left the fans hyperventilating
EXO members said they are overwhelmed by the love and support of their Filipino fans
MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos’ adulation with K-Pop continues and nowhere is this more evident than in the recently sold-out and jam-packed two-day concert of Chinese-Korean band EXO, one of Korea’s hottest boy bands today.
The members, composed of Chanyeol, Sehun, Kai, Baekhyun, Suho, DO, Xiumin and Chen, outdid themselves, performing non-stop for three hours, dancing and singing to a total of 36 songs. The other member Lay was not able to join the concert because of previous commitments in Korea.
Thousands of hyperventilating teenagers and not-so teens alike swamped the Smart Araneta Coliseum to watch their idols dish out their brand of music.
After a short video clip depicting the members with superpowers, the heartthrobs opened the show with their debut song MAMA. Clad in a shiny red jacket and black overall outfit, they quickly segued to their current hit song Monster where they showed off their expert and intricate dance moves.
After the second song, the group moved on to dance to a remix of Wolf where all members once again danced in synchronized, power moves.
The boys then took a break onstage to greet their fans who they call EXO-Ls.
All sweaty and panting, the group’s leader Suho expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to perform once again in Manila. This is their third time to hold a concert in the Philippines and they said each year keeps getting better. The guys uttered Tagalog words “Mabuhay” and “Mahal kita,” eliciting the most deafening screams from the audience. Xiumin, one of the Chinese members of the group, said he was glad that he’s able to dance this time because last year, he was injured and was sidelined to the side of the stage while his fellow members were dancing.
Chanyeol, who studied English in the Philippines when he was in middle school, said he would always have deep affection for the country because of the time he stayed here. The members seem delighted at the ear-splitting scream of the fans and Kai, the dancing machine of the group, said he was not feeling well but feels energized by the screams of the fans.
After the greetings, the members eased into their soft and laidback tracks, starting with White Noise, Thunder, Playboy and Artificial Love. The next set was all about ballads as EXO first sang Unfair. Chanyeol then strapped his guitar and strummed while the members sang to a medley of laid-back songs My Lady, My Turn to Cry, Moonlight and Love, Love, Love while sitting on the stage.
The audience, who knew EXO’s songs by heart, sang along with the boys on the acoustic version of Call Me Baby. The Big Dome became a large karaoke jamfest.
The next set came and EXO members came back with powerful performances via Tender Love and Love Me Right. A dance interlude from Kai and Sehun delighted the crowd with One and Only, followed by DO, Baekhyun, Chen and Suho doing vocal histrionics on Stronger. An amusing video was shown, where members dressed as elves goofing around were seen. After the video, the group appeared wearing cone hats, tights and elf shoes as they sang Angel, XOXO, Girl x Friend and 3-6-5. Called the fan service portion, the members spread out to different areas in the stage to say hi to their fans.
You’ve got to give it to EXO members for their boundless energy on stage — a repertoire of 25 songs and almost two hours on the stage! Members hid their exhaustion and were always smiling and waving at fans. The next set came with EXO performing Overdose, Transformer and Light Saber.
What was highly commendable in the show was the grand production design. SM Entertainment did not scrimp on the lighting effects and pyrotechnics. In many song numbers, the boys’ performances were complemented by the spectacular and state-of-the-art lighting. Even the audience participated in the concert with their high-tech EXO glowsticks. Truly Korea is the leader in technology, even in staging concerts that are both spellbinding and magical.
The concert was down to the last half-hour and Chanyeol, Xiumin and Sehun performed an old school, hip-hop remix of Two Moons. One of the best portions was when Chanyeol moved to the center of the stage, strap an electric guitar, then moved to the tables to drop a mix of EDM and hip-hop beats as the rest of the EXO jumped and instructed the audience to jump as well. Then, they performed a remix of Let Out the Beast. At this point, the Big Dome was transformed into a pulsating club. The group finished the set with Lucky and Run.
They said their goodbyes but came back for the encore. Clad in jerseys, they appeared more relaxed and playful as they sang the last four songs: Cloud 9, Growl, Lucky and Angel. A CNN article recently debated that K-pop is past its prime what with the disbanding of major K-Pop groups. But in Manila, K-Pop remains a phenomenon and boy bands are still considered demigods. When EXO members promised to come back on an earlier date, the crowd grew wild, screaming and chanting, “We will wait for you.”
Exo, Korea’s No. 1 idols, here for Big Dome shows
Lady guest makes a scene at a dinner
The VDPA (Very Deep Penetration Agent) gave Funfare the go-signal to have this story published on condition that the date (“Sometime ago”) and venue (“Somewhere in Metro Manila”) of the dinner won’t be mentioned and no tell-tale clues are included. Go!
Here’s how the VDPA related what she described as “a very embarrassing” situation involving a lady guest who, added the VDPA, “acted as if she was in a teleserye; parang shooting,” and guests wanted to shout “Cut!” but the “actress” went on and on and on.
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“She must have drunk at another event where she came from and she grabbed the microphone from the guest singer,” the VDPA said. “She told the stunned guests that she was close to two men present, and that she knew their sexcapades, short of naming the dozens of women involved. Some of the guests tried, in vain, to snatch the microphone from her and ordered her to shut up already because the two men’s wives were around and already reddening in embarrassment,” but “actress” was unstoppable.
Added the VDPA, “Unable to take it any longer, one of the wives walked out followed by her children, retreated to an adjoining room and cried…”
Anyway, when she became sober the next day, the “actress” texted the hurting wife an apology and the wife texted back, giving her a huge piece of her mind that the “actress” must have found much too big to swallow.
Here for the Exo’rdium in Manila concert at the Araneta Coliseum tonight and tomorrow (Feb. 26) night is Exo, Korea’s No. 1 idols. Good news for K-Pop fans.
If you are clueless about K-Pop, here’s a backgrounder on Exo.
According to a bulletin furnished Funfare by Pulp Live World Productions, Exo (stylized as EXO), the South Korean-Chinese boy group based in Seoul was formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2011. The group had its debut in 2012 with 12 members divided into two subgroups, Exo-K (Korean) and Exo-M (Mandarin), performing in both languages, respectively. Exo’s debut album XOXO was released in 2013 carrying the hit Growl which won Disk Daeseng at the 28th Golden Disk Awards and Album of the Year at the 15th Mnet Asian Music Awards. Having sold more than one million copies, Growl catapulted Exo as the best-selling Korean artists in 12 years and ranked the group as the most influential celebrity by Forbes Korea for 2014 and 2015.
Also, Exo has been named the biggest boy band in the world by several media groups, dominating the music scene “with knife-point choreography seamlessly gelled to songs crafted by some of the world’s most gifted writers and producers.”
Performing at the Big Dome are the nine members known simply by their first names (Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai and Sehun).
Exo will be doing a three-and-a-half hours of music extravaganza in the two shows (tonight’s starts at 7:30 and tomorrow afternoon’s at 5:30, promptly), powered by PLDT Home Fibr (with EDSA Shangri-La as official residence). Tickets are selling fast at the venue.
EXO’s Chen’s Fans Plant Third Forest In His Name In Honor Of 5th Debut Anniversary
Fans of EXO’s Chen have planted a forest for the third time in his name in honor of EXO’s recent 5th debut anniversary.
The project, titled “EXO Chen Forest No.3” was a collaboration between Chen’s Korean fanclub (Kim Jong Dae University) and his Chinese fan club (CHENbar) as part of the larger “Star Forest” project from the tree-planting company “Tree Planet.”
The project aims to transform Seoul’s 7017 Street from an urban road into a natural oasis by lining it with trees that protect against smog and fine dust. Through Tree Planet’s official website, citizens can apply for trees in their or their families’ names.
Chen’s Korean fan club, Kim Jong Dae University, stated, “We hope that Chen can continue to grow like these trees and become a bigger world star. We are proud to participate again in this opportunity to add green spaces to urban areas.”
Tree Planet’s representative, Kim Hyung Soo, said, “In this project to transform this historical space into a place for the people, we are happy to work with Kim Jong Dae University and CHENbar. We hope that many more citizens and stars will add their stories to our cause.”
Tree Planet has planted trees in the names of causes like preventing desertification in China, in memoriam of the Sewol ferry, and the Yeonpyeong Battlefield Heroes’ Forest. They have also planted over 97 forests in the names of celebrities such as EXO and MAMAMOO. Since their foundation in 2010, they have planted 160 forests, over 620,000 trees, in 12 countries around the world.
EXO Beats Out BTS In Latest Kpop Popularity Ranking
The 2016 tallies are in. And EXO is more popular than BTS.
Kpop superstars EXO, along with actor Lee Min-ho and actress Song Hye-kyo, have been chosen as the most popular hallyu stars of 2016. Hallyu fans from across 139 countries around the world voted for the most popular stars.
The 12th Annual Soompi Awards received almost 100 million votes, with fans casting their votes through the official Soompi Line account.
Hallyu, of course, refers to the global boom of Korean pop music, TV dramas and films.
EXO beat out BTS to receive the Soompi award for Best Male Group. The group had strong hits with ‘Lotto,’ ‘Lucky One,’ ‘Monster,’ and ‘For Life.’
As for the fairer sex, TWICE also took home a strong win as 2016’s Best Female Group, beating out Girls’ Generation. But
As for the other accolades: Red Velvet won 2016’s Breakout Artist, and EXO’s Baekhyun’s collaboration with E’s Suzy won Best Collaboration for ‘Dream.’ The ‘Dream’ collaboration came out digitally on January 7th, and later physically on January 14th.
Boy band EXO also won Artist of the Year, with BTS the runner-up. But BTS didn’t go home empty-handed, as the group won Album of the Year with their second album, WINGS.
Meanwhile, BTS has been crushing 2017, with tens of millions of YouTube views in just two months. Their latest video, ‘Not Today,’ is rapidly crossing 40 million views.
The Soompi Awards also presented the “HallyuSpecial Award” to Zanybros, the leading production studio. Among its many credits, Zanybros has produced ‘Lion Heart,’ ‘Overdose,’ ‘Shock,’ ‘Shock,’ and ‘We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2.’
You can check out the complete list of winners below.
Best Stage OutfitVERY NICE (SEVENTEEN)
| Best Female Solo | Taeyeon |
| Best Male Solo | Taemin |
| Best Female Group | TWICE |
| Best Male Group | EXO |
| Best Hip-Hop/R&B Artist | Zico |
| Breakout Artist | Red Velvet |
| Best Collaboration | Dream (Suzy x Baekhyun) |
| Best Choreography | Hard Carry (GOT7) |
| FUSE Music Video of the Year | Hard Carry (GOT7) |
| Rookie of the Year | BLACKPINK |
| Song of the Year | Blood Sweat & Tears (BTS) |
| Album of the Year | WINGS (BTS) |
| Artist of the Year | EXO |
| Breakout Actor | Kim Min Suk |
| Best Idol Actor | Baekhyun |
| Best Web Series | Be Positive |
| Best Adaptation | Scarlet Heart: Goryeo |
| Best Foreign Drama | My Amazing Boyfriend |
| Best Variety Show | Running Man |
| Best Variety Star | Jota |
| Best Drama OST | For You (Chen x Baekhyun x Xiumin) |
| Best Bromance | Jin Goo x Song Joong Ki |
| Second Lead Syndrome | Jinyoung (Moonlight Drawn By Clouds) |
| Best Kiss | Descendants of the Sun |
| Spotton Best Couple | Jun Ji Hyun x Lee Min Ho |
| Actor of the Year | Lee Min Ho |
| Actress of the Year | Song Hye Kyo |
| Drama of the Year | The Legend of the Blue Sea |
✨ CELEBRATE #5YEARSWITHEXO WITH THIS ANNIVERSARY POST! ✨
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