K-popped! Passionate about Korean pop culture

Pops in Seoul celebrates 10th anniversary in Manila

And K-popped! has the lowdown on the event, thanks to Lemonade Lagoon who shared with us a first-hand account of the celebration on July 5. Read on to find out what happened!

VJ Isak surprises Filipinos

Arirang TV’s popular music program Pops in Seoul went to Manila, the Philippines to celebrate its 10th anniversary as well as film its 1,000th episode.

About 4,000 K-pop fans turned up for the free event, half of which were made up of Cassiopeia Philippines. It was very easy to spot them as they were all decked out in TVXQ‘s official colour – red.

Lemonade Lagoon (LL) said: “The place was so packed that the only vacant “seats” left was the stairs. We ended up sitting on the steps next to the E.L.Fs (Super Junior fans).

“I thought it would be a hassle but it actually proved to be advantageous for me because even if we were a bit far from the stage, I had enough space to move around, take decent pictures, and breathe some oxygen – which was clearly lacking in that place!”

Host of the program, VJ Isak started the celebration by belting out Christina Aguilera’s I Turn to You. Isak, who was formerly part of the singing duo Isak N Jiyeon, then launched into the usual PR rapport of thanking the audience for their love and support. The 23-year-old VJ then dropped a surprise on the audience.

“VJ Isak said that she and the rest of her Pops in Seoul crew prepared a special surprise for the Filipino fans. What’s the surprise? A video message from Korea’s top popstars!,” LL recalled.

“I swear, I thought there was an earthquake. I couldn’t remember anymore all (the) artists that were in the video because my brain was rattled by 4,000 screaming and jumping fangirls (laughs).

“A lot of K-Pop stars sent their love but I only remembered seeing Jun Jin (Shinhwa), Wonder Girls (or maybe it was SNSD?!), SS501, Super Junior and TVXQ,” she added.

Since LL was seated near the Super Junior fans, pandemonium erupted when the mega boyband (soon to make its way to Malaysia) appeared onscreen. LL insisted that she is now deaf in her right ear after a SuJu fan girl next to her let out an earth-shattering, high-pitched scream.

In the video message, SuJu said they are “already making plans to go to the Philippines.”

Guest singer Evan

Formerly of Click-B, Evan took centre stage for his song entitled Men Are Also Helpless. The 25-year-old then sang two other songs, including Marroon 5′s This Love.

Filipinos surprise VJ Isak & Evan

An anniversary celebration wouldn’t be complete without a cake, right? So to celebrate Pops in Seoul‘s 10th year in the business, a cake was brought out onstage.

When VJ Isak asked everyone to sing Happy Birthday, the Filipino fans startled both VJ Isak and Evan by singing the Korean version of the song – Saengil Chukkahamnida (생일 축하합니다).

A surprised Evan responded with “I didn’t know you guys could speak good Korean!”

After a session of Q&A with VJ Isak and Evan and activities with the fans, the celebration came to a close with Isak singing Rihanna’s Umbrella…ella…ella…ella .

To sum up her experience, LL said: “It was a really fun day and we got to meet a lot of K-Pop fans, which is always good. I hope major entertainment companies like SM, YG, and DSP get to see this episode so they would know that they are getting plenty of love here in the Philippines.

“And when I lose my other ear to a screaming fan girl, hopefully it’s because we are watching our favourite K-Pop artists LIVE,” she added.

Source & Pics credit: K-popped! reader Lemonade Lagoon (of course)

Related:
VJ Isak and Evan head to Manila
Pops in Seoul in the Philippines on July 5
Pops in Seoul goes to Manila for 1,000th episode

Tags: Buzz, Events