July started off pretty big for K-pop fans in Manila as All Access Production, together with Kirin and Lumos E&M, debuted a “super” K-pop concert, Super Pop Con 2017, in the city.
Hours before the highly anticipated concert last Friday (Jul 7), the media and fans gathered for the event’s star idol-packed press conference. In an intimate setup, we were greeted by B1A4, BTOB, Pentagon, Kriesha Chu, B.I.G, and B.A.P who were all set to perform at the Mall of Asia Arena that night.
See also: G-Dragon expands 2017 world tour to Manila, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur
Most of the K-pop stars in the room were no strangers to the Philippines, having already performed in the country before. With the overwhelming support of the Filipino K-pop fans, they were excited to perform once again for the Filipino crowd. Although the press conference was quick and brief, it was certainly an enjoyable time for us and some invited fans, who got to see their idols answering some questions about the Philippines and what’s in store for them. Check out a full recap of the press conference below.
B1A4
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On being back in the Philippines. We’re glad that we were able to come back here in the Philippines as soon as possible. Seeing all the fans we saw in the airport, we’ve been very happy and excited. We’ll be showing you guys how we feel through our performance.
On being a part of Super Pop Con 2017. We are very glad that we are able to be a part of this Super Pop Concert. We have all prepared a lot.
Words they would describe Filipino fans with. Love, sun, dream, and tree.
On what they want to say to Filipino fans. We want to thank you all overseas fans for supporting us. Thank you for always supporting us even from miles apart. We’re now preparing for our next album so please expect a lot. We’re always thinking about you guys even from afar.
VIXX
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On being back in the Philippines. We’re very glad to have met the fans in the Philippines and also we would like to show what we have prepared in our stages.
On their latest EP, Shangri-La. This record showcases a sexy ancient fantasy which is different from our past albums.
On what fans can expect at Super Pop Con. For today’s show, it’s just different with the past performances. We would like to show our title song “Shangri-La” as well as the B-tracks from our mini album.
On what they want to say to Filipino fans. Hanggang sa muli! Thanks for your support and the warm welcome here. We’d like to show our best performances today. Thanks for visiting us again in our show and please continue to support our performances.
BTOB
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On being back in the Philippines. We’re really happy being here. When we came here last March, we really wanted to come back as soon as possible. Now, we’re very happy we are here with you guys.
Words they would describe Filipino fans with. Love and hot.
On what fans can expect at Super Pop Con. Awesomeness. We’ll be performing “Movie’” live for the first time in the Philippines. We’ll be doing our best on stage today.
On what they want to say to Filipino fans. We’ve had an interview a while ago and we learned that Filipino fans really want us to hold a solo concert. We really want to make this happen so that we can meet you guys as soon as possible.
Pentagon
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On being back in the Philippines. We came here last time and we’re really glad to see you guys once again. Really glad.
On being a part of Super Pop Con 2017. We feel grateful for being able to work with other groups who come from different companies through this concert.
On their latest EP, Ceremony. We recently came out with our third mini album. We will be performing the songs tonight and we’re really expecting a lot of positive feedback endearment
On what they want to say to Filipino fans. We came back after seven months, but you guys still waited for us and cheered for us. We will be doing our best tonight.
Kriesha Chu
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On being back in the Philippines. I was born here in Makati, Manila so it’s really nice to be back here again. The last time that I came to the Philippines I was still a trainee so this time coming back as a solo artist feels really great.
On joining a big scale K-pop singing competition as a Filipino contestant. It’s something that I still can’t believe but something that makes me happy and nervous at the same time. I think it makes me work harder and I think it’s a good thing.
Advice she would give to aspiring K-pop artists. I would say that try out for things that sometimes may seem impossible, but it’ll happen.
On her music. I’ve released my debut single album called Trouble and it features lead single “Trouble” which is produced by Highlight’s Yong Junhyung. I’m very excited about it. The single has more powerful feel to it but it’s accompanied my second song, “I Want You”. It’s a song about love.
On what fans can expect at Super Pop Con. Aside from the songs from my album, I have prepared a special secret song for Filipinos here and I’m very excited about that.
On what they want to say to Filipino fans. I want to say thank you so much wherever everyone is for always supporting me and I will work harder in the future. Actually I’ve wrapped up my promotions for my first album so I will come back as a more improved and better singer so I hope that everyone can look forward to it and wait for me.
B.I.G
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On performing in the Philippines for the first time. We’re actually really excited to come here because we often see a lot of Filipino fans who reply to our posts on SNS (social media). It is one of our top countries to visit. We’re really excited to perform today because of the energy of the Filipino people. We also went to showtime and that really showed us the passion of the Filipinos and we hope that passion and energy will continue throughout tonight’s performance.
On appearing on one of the biggest TV shows in the Philippines. We were lucky enough to be on Showtime. We performed in front of an amazing audience. It was really fun and we experienced to meet the people in the audience. We also met a really flamboyant person – I’m not quite sure what his is. His name’s Vice Ganda? I’d like to send a quick message to Vice Ganda. We would really love to get together, and you know, hang out, go to a party or get coffee!
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On what fans can expect at Super Pop Con. For tonight’s performance, the only live performance you haven’t seen yet is “1.2.3” which will be performed by all five members. The dance part will be longer and more special. You can expect a lot of things.
On what they want to say to Filipino fans. To our Filipino fans all around the world, it’s not just in the Philippines that there are Filipinos, right? To our Filipino fans all around the world, we’d just like to say you have a very lovely country. We love the food here and we’re really happy that we got a chance to perform here. Not only this, we also have another concert called The Beginning as part of our Asia tour.
B.A.P
©Eli Ong-Hay for AsiaLive365
On being back in the Philippines. Because this is our third time here in the Philippines, we are really thankful to Filipino fans for being very welcoming.
On their latest single album, Rose. Our latest single is more mature than our previous releases. We’re going to perform more mature songs and we hope you’ll enjoy our performances tonight.
On what fans can expect at Super Pop Con. We’ll be performing five songs tonight and we hope you guys will enjoy the performances.
On what they want to say to Filipino fans. Once again, thank you so much for welcoming us again to your wonderful country. We’ll do our best and please continue to support us. We love you all!
