Ang Jia YunKim Soo-Hyun Asia Tour 1st Memories in Singapore
With a mere flash of his impish smile and a bashful annyeonghaseyo [hello in Korean], South Korean heartthrob Kim Soo-Hyun sent the 3,000 strong audience into a screaming frenzy. And that’s the star appeal of the 26-year-old actor, who played an alien named Do Min-Joon in the recent hit fantasy-romance series that electrified Asia, My Love from Another Star.
The 2014 Kim Soo-Hyun Asia Tour 1st Memories in Singapore was held at Singapore Expo Hall 1 on April 25, where fans gathered for an exclusive fan meet.
Not Your Average Actor
As the lights dimmed, the entire arena burst into the seventh octave at the sight of their beloved oppa [older brother in Korean] advancing towards them on stage.
A momentary silence ensued as Kim surveyed the audience before he confidently launched into the powerful, moving lyrics of “Dreaming” from the Dream High soundtrack. A vast sea of blue glow sticks moved to the melody of the first ballad that gave Kim decent singing credit.
It was evident Kim wanted to prove he was multi-talented despite rising to stardom playing romantic leads in the teenage-idol drama Dream High back in 2011 and the historical drama series Moon Embracing the Sun in 2012.
“Today, I’m going to show more of my true self rather than the characters I play in my dramas or movies. It might be a little surprising, but I hope you like it,” Kim vowed.
He shyly added, “I think I’m better than the characters I play.”
Kim showed off more of his riveting vocals in song covers, one of which was an acoustic version of “Nobody” by Wonder Girls despite being down with a slight cough.
Fans were then escorted down memory lane with a screening of his past works, including his movie debut in the blockbuster film The Thieves starring alongside A-list celebrities like Kim Yun-Seok and Jeon Ji-Hyeon. The playful Kim sniffled in mock indignation, “Seeing all [my works] in sequence makes me feel like dying.”
He began to perk up when he discussed his famous kissing scene in the snow with Jeon in My Love from Another Star. “[Jeon] and the crew had to hold their breaths and freeze, while I was the only one allowed to move. Since I was the special one in that scene, it was definitely fun for me.”
Fans Go Wild
The fan meet got more interactive than just an idol worshipping session when fans were randomly handpicked to join the leading man on stage.
One segment required chosen fans to draw lots to see which Kim-related drama or movie posters they got, before emulating the same pose with the actor himself.
Mabel Ng, 39, was one of the lucky few. She did a Dream High-esque pose with Kim, where they clasped their hands together tightly and beamed at the cameras.
“It felt like striking the lottery,” Ng said.
The former model also exhibited his boyish charm and endearing nature when granting some of his fans’ wishes. Between aggressively signing tickets and taking pictures, a fan requested him to “look into [her] eyes for 15 seconds” – to which he happily obliged.
If Only Time Stopped
Fans cried profusely in protest when they learnt Kim was about to leave, which even UrbanWire felt the session happened too fast and perhaps due to a case of alien time travel.
Blinking back tears, the affable actor promised the audience: “Your support means a lot to me. It gives me so much energy and I want to do so much better for all of you. I’ll work as hard as possible to come back to greet you with my next best production.”
With so many achievements under his belt, Kim’s charismatic disposition sheds light on the reason this flower boy is in such high demand. Local fans can only hope their favorite Martian returns to our shores soon.
Or they have to entertain themselves with his life-sized standees instead.
All photos courtesy of UnUsUaL Group of Companies