Lee Seung Gi: Fit enough to be his fan?

SINGAPORE - How does one become Lee Seung Gi's No. 1 fan in Singapore?

At the South Korean singer-host-actor's second fan meet here on Saturday night, the 26-year-old heart-throb put his female supporters through several tests of physical fitness to sift out his choice candidates.

A large part of his two-hour full-house 2013 Lee Seung Gi The Brilliant Show, held at the 1,600-seater Festive Grand Theatre at Resorts World Sentosa, was spent on having a workout.

Lee, best known for his leading roles in TV dramas Brilliant Legacy (2009) and My Girlfriend Is A Nine-Tailed Fox (2010), was especially excited during a segment that involved passing a hula hoop back and forth down a line, with everyone's hands interlocked.

When the music stopped, the person with the hula hoop around his body was eliminated.

"We played this game at my Thailand fan meet and it was really fun," he told the crowd.

"Remember not to treat me as 'Lee Seung Gi' while we are playing. I'm just one of the participants, too."

The eight lucky fans who got to flex their muscles on stage were selected by a lucky draw of ticket stubs. The last two standing in the game won autographed CDs.

Another segment played on Lee's latest period drama, Gu Family Book, which became a mega hit when it aired in South Korea in April.

The romantic pairing of Lee as the half-man, half-beast Choi Kang Chi, and singer-actress Suzy Bae as Dam Yeo Wool, reportedly set many hearts fluttering.

"We're going to search for Singapore's version of Dam Yeo Wool tonight!" announced the event's host Kenneth Kong.

But it was no walk in the park for the 10 female fans who, for a chance to compete, had to catch a stuffed bear thrown from the stage by Lee.

They had to do single leg squats without toppling over, ace the limbo dance under a gradually lowered horizontal bar, and in the final round, tell the audience why they deserved to be crowned "Singapore's Dam Yeo Wool".

The winner was 32-year-old magazine editor Justina Tan, whose witty answer "I love the beast in you" impressed her idol very much.

As her prize, she got to re-enact a scene from Gu Family Book, where she had to give Lee a tight hug from behind.

"Up close, he is really sincere and personable," Ms Tan told The New Paper after the show. She is married with no children.

"I'm a relatively new and closeted Lee Seung Gi fan. I started watching his dramas only less than a year ago.

"It was nice to hug him, but I think I might have put my hands a little too near to his chest."

Lee playfully described the hug as "erotic", to shrieks and laughter from the audience.

He also effusively praised Ms Tan's effort, jokingly referring to her as "my destiny in Singapore".

Lee's previous fan meet was held at Kallang Theatre in August last year.

I missed you

Ever the charmer, he had his local fans screaming in delight when he told them: "Did you sleep well last night? I didn't, because I missed all of you."

After some egging on by host Kong, Lee also blurted out "wo xiang nian ni" (I miss you in Mandarin) and "saya cinta kamu" (I love you in Malay).

A solid live singer, Lee wrapped up the fan meet by serenading fans with a string of his hit songs, including Tonight, Slave and Smile Boy.

Lee's appeal crosses the boundaries of age, as The New Paper spotted several "aunties" in the audience.

One of them, who wanted to be known only as Ms Aiko, a finance executive in her early 40s, had flown from Japan to attend the meet.

"I like his earnest attitude. Although he is so young, I feel that there is so much we can learn from him," she gushed.

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