Fans play dress-up with BigBang

It was first time lucky for a fan of South Korean pop superstars BigBang.

Attending a BigBang event for the first time, 15-year-old student Jermaine Leow was picked out of 4,500 in the audience to play a game of dress-up with her idol Seungri at a fan meeting at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last Saturday.

Speaking to Life! after the 11/2-hour event, Jermaine was still ecstatic from the close encounter and called it the "best day of my life".

"This is my first BigBang concert. I felt so happy when I was called up to go on stage. Seungri is my favourite member because he's handsome and friendly. My heart was beating so fast," said Jermaine, who had from her Chinese New Year hongbao money to buy a top-tier $258 ticket.

The highlight of BigBang's first fan meeting in Singapore was the chance for VIPs (as BigBang fans are known) from the most expensive categories ($258 and $228 for a ticket) to get picked to play a game with the group's three members Seungri, 23, Taeyang and G-Dragon, both 25.

Due to their solo activities, the two other members, rapper T.O.P and singer Daesung, were unable to attend the G-Dragon/Taeyang/Seungri Thinking Of You Fan Meeting in Singapore.

T.O.P, 26, who is also an actor, is filming a movie, Tazza 2, while Daesung, 24, is preparing for new solo Korean and Japanese album releases, and a series of solo concerts in Japan.

The lucky Jermaine was among the final three who made it on stage after the three BigBang members each picked a numbered piece of paper from a box. The trio were whittled down from the original eight who were picked lottery-style from the audience earlier.

Later in the show during Seungri's solo segment, the funnyman said in jest: "Next stage is G-Dragon's. He's a superstar. I don't know why he doesn't like me to talk so much. But you guys paid good money to see me. G-Dragon, I don't care about you."

Young fan Jermaine certainly got her money's worth. The bubbly Seungri was tasked to style his adoring fan in a sexy get-up and he picked out a Victorian mask complete with a whip for her.

She also took home a Polaroid shot with Seungri and a box of chocolates autographed by the three BigBang members present.

For the rest in the audience who did not get picked, they had to make do with only enjoying the music performances of the trio, who took turns to serenade the crowd with their solo songs during their segments. Their charismatic leader, G-Dragon, enlisted the help of fans to sing along to the group's songs, the heart-thumping Fantastic Baby and the soothing ballad Bad Boy.

While Lady Luck did not favour of die-hard BigBang fan Farah Fakar on Saturday, she will try again to get picked when she heads to BigBang's fan meeting in Busan, South Korea, in June.

Decked out in the official BigBang varsity jacket, the 25-year-old zumba instructor said: "This time I wanted to wear a wedding dress but I didn't manage to get one in time for this fan meet."

No, she was not so deluded by her ardour for the band that she believed she would marry one of them; she is especially a fan of Taeyang, who has a ballad called Wedding Dress. "I'll be wearing a wedding dress to their fan meeting in Busan."

nggwen@sph.com.sg

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