The New Paper
By Shree Ann Mathavan
THE scene was set at 6pm: Journalists and photographers were waiting, cameras, notebooks and pens at the ready.
By Shree Ann Mathavan
THE scene was set at 6pm: Journalists and photographers were waiting, cameras, notebooks and pens at the ready.
About 20 journalists were at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, expecting to interview some of the biggest K-Pop stars of the Korean Pop Night concert, but many of them simply didn't show up.
Only four of the nine pop acts made an appearance. Those who turned up were largely newer or lesser-known acts like U-Kiss and Kim Jong Wook.
Only two new members of the popular four-member girl band Jewelry made an appearance.
The only truly big name present was Shinhwa member, Jun Jin, 28, who has since launched a solo career.
Clad in a suit, the macho star kept his shades on throughout much of the media session.
He also looked moody and did not appear as friendly as he had on Tuesday during our interview.
At one stage, he even gestured, making a cutting action with his hands, seemingly to ask if the event was already over.
Perhaps that was no surprise, given that so many of his colleagues didn't turn up.
Those who didn't make it to the media session included his fellow band member and now solo singer and actor Andy Lee, sexy singer Chae Yeon, the Wonder Girls, 2PM and V.O.S.
Fellow journalists initially thought the stars were simply making a fashionably late appearance.
Cards removed
But 10 minutes later, the place cards with the names of the still-missing performers were discreetly removed from the table.
One by one, the stars who were there went on stage to introduce themselves and pose individual shots.
This was followed by a brief question-and-answer session.
Stars like U-Kiss perhaps benefited most, given that they had made their debut only this year. The session gave them ample time to introduce themselves and they were unfailingly polite and smiling. As expected, they waxed lyrical about how their Singaporean fans were 'very passionate and nice'. Eventually, the questions dried up and there was still no sign of the missing stars.
Luckily, at that point, 'big brother' Jun Jin stepped in and soon took charge of some of the younger artistes. During the group photo session at the end, he directed the media to take photographs in an orderly fashion.
Through hand gestures and an interpreter from U-Kiss, Jun Jin managed to facilitate the photo session by getting the media to take photographs first from his left, the centre, then his right.
The no-show was a twist to the Korea-Singapore Harmony Night, which saw representatives of the Korean embassy and MTV Asia in attendance.
After all, the largest Korean pop concert held on Tuesday was clearly a roaring success.
Even though bi-cultural friendship was on the cards, it was hard to miss the slight chill in the air, as, 50 minutes after the start, it became all too evident that celebrities had given it amiss.
While the press was earlier told that the event would be a press conference, they were told differently after the event.
When asked for a reason for the no-show, the media was told by the public relations company Kaiiten Communications that the event was not a press conference, but a 'meet-and-greet session'.
An executive from the company later told The New Paper: 'Most of the stars were performing overseas for the first time.
'Perhaps they were not sure what was expected of them.'
Perhaps the stars were tired from staging the concert the night before or they didn't feel well, who knows?
Or perhaps they were out shopping?
This article was first published in The New Paper on 6 Nov 2008.
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