Sunday, December 2, 2012

Psy-ched @ MBS 2012!

Attended Psy's showcase at MBS yesterday!
It was a pretty rocking event. Got to see Psy, danced to Gangnam Style, and best of all, the tickets were free :P

Arrived at the event venue at around 1930, though gates opened back at around 1800, and the event was to start at 2000. It was already pretty packed, but bearable. There were supposed to be something like 4000 people at the event... at 1930 it doesn't seem like everyone was there yet. One can see the difference between SMTown and Psy :P

I was told later that they gave out lightsticks at the entrances! But I didn't see any when I entered... boo :( Wanted one even though they weren't those exclusive/good quality lightsticks :P

I then managed to get a standing position near the middle (there were no seats as it was a standing event), but somewhat further to the back.

At this point I realised 2 things.

1. I should not have dressed nicely. It was hot and humid. the squeeze made it worse -.-
2. I am not cut out for moshpits. Awesome that I realised this before I ever paid to be at one.

I am too short to see anything unless I'm all the way up front. And also because of my height I actually felt slightly claustrophobic as the crowd piled in. Not to mention I felt really irritated by all the pushing/jumping/screaming/squeezing that is characteristic of moshpits. Ho hum. Seems it was never meant to be, that I would see my idols up close :(

Jean Danker and Dominic Lau came on stage to kick start the event at 6pm exactly, followed by a demo performance by the people from O School. And boy did they rock the stage :P After that they tried to teach the audience the moves for Gangnam Style :)

Finally, after the weird fiasco (most ppl gamely followed, but the response wasn't quite there), Psy finally took the stage. He ended up performing 2 other songs, in addition to Gangnam Style, Champion and Right Now.

I came to the showcase wanting to witness first hand, the crowd driving skills of Psy, the one who drove those thousands in Korea to party along to his songs during his performances.

Summer Live performance

And, I must say I wasn't disappointed. Even though it was weird at times, the way he said certain things (Commanding the crowd to jump, saying that jumping (getting hyped) was for the sake of the crowd's own happiness, and slightly criticising/commenting(?) on the crowd for their weird way of cheering - intense but short bursts that die down to a strange lull) the crowd responded, and everyone had one heck of a time. Perhaps something to learn from this is that, sometimes it really isn't necessary to get approval. Just do your thing and people will follow... I wonder though... if that is because he already had that level of influence/ppl were already in that mental state to follow and have fun.



Another thing that I remember clearly about the night was how Psy promoted O School. O School was a place where Singaporean youths learnt dance or some other performing art. I don't know how many of those there were people who were not talented academically, but Psy commented that it was wonderful that Singapore had other avenues for people who were not gifted in that area. He shared that he himself was not a good student, and yet here he was *slight swag & pride here*. He left us with some encouraging words, that academics was not everything. It is something, but not everything. And that good things come to those who work hard and persevere. To that, he got resounding approval.

I think in Korea, they have a really nice culture of these idols encouraging their youths. Not just Psy, who has demonstrated how he is by his little speech, but I have also seen this from how IU would chid/kid around with students who are struggling to study, as well as how SNSD would write encouraging letters to their fans for their exams. It is great encouragement for a lot of people, and I think there is a need for this kind of culture in Singapore as well. There is really, really a lack of emotional support in Singapore for those who are less gifted academically, and people are just expected to do well... this is a nice takeaway... I could already see the influence and uplift in those who responded to Psy's words, and I'm sure they would put greater effort into working for their dreams.

Out of place comment that I don't know where to put: There were a lot of Koreans at the event! I was surprised. haha.

Anyway.. it was a really happening Saturday overall. Aside from Psy coming to Singapore for this event (after his MAMA win in HK ytd), on this same day, 2NE1 held their last concert of the year here in Singapore, G.NA had a fansmeet at Courts in Tampines, and BToB was at Sundown. Super happening. Haha I look forward to having more love shown to Singapore by Korean idols. At this rate, we'll need bigger performance venues haha.

Tata!

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