Nu'est thrill the fans

KOREA - K-pop boyband Nu'est performed to a crowd of more than 200 screaming fans last Saturday night at Korea Festival 2013: Vizit Korea.

Held at Changi Expo Hall, the 90-minute performance and meet-and-greet session were part of a three-day annual festival to promote Korean culture. It began last Friday.

They were one of three K-pop groups who flew here for it, including A-jax and APink.

This was the third trip to Singapore for Nu'est. Nominated for a Best Rookie Award at the Seoul Music Awards this year, they entertained with fan favourites such as Face and Hello and songs from their new album Sleeptalking, which was released in August this year.

Fans had no problems getting tickets for the concert, a problem which plagued K-pop girl group APink's concert last Friday night, when fans who had queued for up to 10 hours for free mosh-pit tickets earlier in the week were turned away empty-handed, with no explanation.

Nu'est thrilled their fans as they sweated through their dance-heavy sets.

The five-member group, comprising JR, Aron, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren, took a break after every two songs to say hello to fans with the help of a translator, and give out lucky draw prizes, which included band members' personal items such as T-shirts, caps and even a compass.

Jenice Tan, 14, who went to the concert with her sister and a friend, sighed longingly as she watched other fans, picked by a lucky draw, go up on stage to shake hands with the group, hug them and pose for pictures.

"I was jealous that I did not have the chance to go up on stage, but I felt happy for them.

"It was a great concert, the best concert I've seen of theirs, because the stage was really close and they really interacted with the fans."

vlydia@sph.com.sg

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