VIXX is actually one of those rookie groups that I have heard several times in the KPOP news and it was no wonder their group's name is becoming known because the members are superstar material! Their concert here just proved that.

Nowadays in KPOP, it's not easy for a group (be it a boy or a girl group) to gain a following because there's a huge influx of groups that have been in the scene today. This is why only those who make it different and those who really have a talent will outshine the others and gain the attention of the audience.

VIXX showing us what they've got during Fantasia Utopia in Manila

Kudos to VIXX's entertainment agency, Jellyfish Entertainment (yes that is their actual name!), I could really see that they are taking good care of their talents, specially VIXX here. The concert had a very good production number (the costume, the stage effects, and the amount of exposure each member got in the concert).

Hongbin on spotlight! (with Ken and Leo of course!)

Here I go again with this line - I became a fan after seeing them in concert. Honestly, VIXX' songs all sounded the same to me, (excluding Error I guess). So during the concert, it sounded like they were just singing one long song for their opening set (peace Starlights! m(_ _)m). But of course beyond the music, I was able to appreciate their great vocals (Ken singing Adele's Rolling in the Deep was awesome!) and their groovy dancing skills.

#Ken covering Adele's Rolling in the Deep #VixxinManila #reposting

A video posted by Kathleen R (@katalinarosario) on May 8, 2015 at 7:53pm PDT

And for every group, there's is always one person who will catch your attention the most. For VIXX, it was Ravi who got me.

Hello there handsome! （人´∀`*）

I began to notice him after he performed his solo stage in the concert. He sang Ghost, and he was really able to show us his great rapping skills. That really impressed me a lot. So for the rest of the evening, I was eyeing Ravi the most. xD

For most KPOP fans, it's no stranger to us the fanservice that our idols give to us. It's also not weird to see two boys playfully kissing each other.... right? Sure thing, this VCR part of the concert got us screaming the most, as N sloooooowly made his way to kiss Hongbin's cheek.

Eeeek! This is only the reaction I can make out of this scene.

The boys look smexy in red. xD

Honestly, the concert reminded me of TVXQ's Mirotic tour in Seoul with it's general format. VIXX' encore singing G.R.8.U reminded me of TVXQ singing Crazy Love during that Mirotic concert (which is by the way the best concert of TVXQ for me #OT5Feels).


These kids would surely go a long way. I envy Filipino Starlights because they got to see their idols in a concert in the country already, and VIXX did not fail them because they gave us a great show!

Congrats VIXX! Hope to see more of you in the future!

~o~

Check out our post-concert article for Konda Korea here!
http://kondakorea.com/2015/05/04/vixx-wows-manila-fans-during-fantasia-utopia-concert/


Thank you to +KOnda Korea for giving us access to cover this event!

Thank you +PULP Live World and 28 Black for making this concert possible!





Konda Korea
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I have heard Epik High occasionally on KPOP news and I always knew they are an established group in the hip-hop scene in Korea. I know Tablo, but by name only. Recently, I got to somehow hear his work with his collaboration for Xia Junsu's song Flower.

Honestly, I was surprised when Happee Sy announced that the group was actually coming to Manila. The venue was at SM Skydome, and immediately I knew this is gonna be an intimate show with Epik High. Thanks to +KOnda Korea for trusting us to cover this event!

Check out our post-event article for and photos for Konda Korea here!

In preparation for this event, we were listening for Epik High songs so that we can be familiar with the songs and be prepared when we see the show. They are really good and so I knew this is gonna be a great rocking party! And it was, even better and greater than what I expected.


Encore was their first song. What a dramatic way to do their entrance! They appeared one by one on stage - Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz. The crowd went crazy! Even if I really didn't know them then, I couldn't help but join the crowd and just went jumping up and down like a mad fangirl.
ヾ(-_- )ゞ oh yeah!!!!


The energy of the crowd is just sooo amazing. I literally felt the skydome shake, and I got a little scared actually if the place is sturdy enough for this.

put your hands in the air!!! (ﾉ･o･)ﾉ

Tukutz' dj skills were epik! It was one great party!

Aren't they feeling hot? (I mean literally)

I just got a bit amused that they were all wearing coats and jackets. Are you not feeling hot and sweaty? Coz we at the audience sure felt the heat because of jumping and dancing all over the place.

But after a while in the show, one by one, they lessened their clothings. =))


They had towels (with their precious sweat) thrown to the audience, as well as water splashing from their water bottles.

Check out the show's setlist below:

Encore
Fly
Up
Burj Khalifa
It’s Cold
Umbrella
Get Out the Way
Light it Up
Map the Soul
Happen Ending
Love Love Love
Eyes, Nose, Lips
Kill This Love
High Technology
One
New Beautiful
Fan

Encore:
Born Hater
Don’t Hate Me


By far, I've been enjoying listening to Encore, Burj Khalifa, Happen Ending, Born Hater, and Don’t Hate Me because it brings me back to the hype of that concert. Also I've been hooked watching Superman Is Back because Haru (Tablo's daughter) is soooo adorable. (´∀｀)♡

It's really a startstruck moment to see super talented musicians this close. I went home full of adrenaline and a little deaf (two concerts in two consecutive days! good lord, my eardrums!).

I'm a fan now of this group. K-hiphop rocks!

I can still remember the first time I have heard of this big kpop concert happening at the Philippine Arena. I thought maybe they are really bringing here big superstars because it was really ambitious of the organizers to hold the concert in the biggest arena that we have in the country. When they have revealed the teasers, it was easy for the fans to identify who the artists were even if they blurred the photos. In the original teaser video, Got7 was included in the lineup (with this photo) but later on was replaced by BtoB. Now I understood why the organizers targeted the arena because Super Junior and Girls Generation are sure to pull a lot of fans into the show.

So the day of the show came. We chose to avail of the shuttle bus because the venue is a bit far from our place. Good thing the concert organizers provided shuttle buses for the concert-goers with a round-trip ride from different locations: Alabang, Makati and Trinoma. Our bus left Makati at around 4PM. We saw the artists' black vans on the way to the arena too. All of us in the bus waved like crazy from our windows even if we were not sure if they would notice us from their vehicles. Hahaha!

Anyway that encounter made us more hyped for the show. The gates would open at 6PM and we arrived there still a bit early.

We are here!

I was impressed with the structure of the arena. Indeed, this is the biggest one in the country. I was curious what it looked like from the inside.

There were lots of activities outside so we just went around to observe. There were also lots of food establishments. We bought some food and ate before entering the arena because we knew we won't be able to eat when already inside (and we knew the food would be much expensive there).

KPOP booths set up by Globe

My sister and me waiting outside the arena. We were already tired because of the heat!

The HUGE crowd outside the venue

When we entered the venue, there were not much people yet.


A few minutes before the show began, we noticed some guys going up the ladder to the lights situated above the stage. I thought at first there was something wrong with the lights and they have to fix it, but I saw that they just sat down there. Then it dawned to me, they are there to manually operate the lights for the show! ((((；゜Д゜)))

Can you see them? xD

I must say this arena is really big. From our seats (lower box A), we cannot see the Gen Ad section anymore because they were too elevated from our angle!

After a few minutes, the show finally started!


Red Velvet
SM Entertainment's rookie girl group opened the show with their song Ice Cream Cake!

Red Velvet performing Ice Cream Cake

The girls looked so gorgeous! They are really good in dancing! I'm actually not a fan of the song, but because I got to listen to it a lot of times for the past months, I learned to eventually enjoy listening to it. xD




Sam Oh was the host of the show, and she introduced the next performer to be BtoB!

Gorgeous as always Sam Oh hosting at Best of Best PH

BtoB
Next group was BtoB! Honestly, I was not really familiar with the group. I just got to listen to some of their songs. I really found their performance intense and full of energy. They are not all cutesy and boyband-ish and their songs are more of hip-hop I think.

That's some real fire there. ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ

Girls' Generation
For those into KPOP, who doesn't know this group? Duh! They are the most popular kpop girl group in the scene today! (at least in my opinion).

It was my first time to see them live, and OMG, they really look like dolls in real life!

I'm not really a fan of their songs (they're not my style :p) but I follow their activities because they're all eye candies! I watched Seohyun and Yonghwa (CnBlue) in We Got Married and I liked their interactions there.


Also, I liked Yoona in Love Rain so I'm thrilled to see her in person!

Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun performing during Best of Best PH

Super Junior
Of course! Save the best for last! Since #SS5Manila, I have been looking forward to seeing them again. We were tempted in DKFC3, but since we already saw them during the Tony Moly fanmeet, we decided to not go the show anymore. So when the opportunity came to see them again, I was soooo happy! (〜￣▽￣)〜 We'd see Leeteuk finally!

Waaaah!! Suju!!! ┏(＾0＾)┛

I must say, it was worth the wait to see Leeteuk. He was so handsome that night!!!



I remember during DKFC3, we were just listening via audiostreaming (bless that fan who made the link available!). Our hearts fell when Donghae and Eunhyuk performed Oppa Oppa because we like that song. But now, we were able to see them perform it live! What a nice turn of events! :D

D&E performing Oppa Oppa #BestofBestPH2015

Time flew so fast while watching them perform. I'm really happy to see them again. Leeteuk really is the leader of the group. We felt his humility as he bowed down at all sides of the stage. He was the only one left but he still walked on and bowed down for the fans. :)


What a show that was! Though the arena was not fully filled will people (I think the audience only filled half of it), it was a thrill to finally see in person those stars that I have followed for years.


~o~

Check out our post-event article for this concert!
http://kondakorea.com/2015/04/13/best-of-best-philippines-2015-concert-delights-filipino-kpop-fans/


For more photos and videos from the Best of Best in the Philippines concert and other KPOP shows, check out Konda Korea's official pages:





Konda Korea
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Wow, a year is about to close again. It's crazy how time really flies. It scares and excites me at the same time.  Let's look at a rundown of what happened for this year:

#2016bestnine @katalinarosario

Love is sweeter the second time around.

My sister and I used to joke around about EXO. As KPOP fans who got attached to the music of the second-generation idols (i.e. TVXQ, Super Junior, Big Bang), there was a stage in our fangirling life that we didn't like the newer and younger groups that overtook the thrones of popularity of our favorite groups. We felt that way towards EXO. I've asked myself the question - if ever I see EXO live, will I get to like them? I have this tendency to get to admire every artist I see perform live. One specific example is Epik High. I never thought I'd enjoy listening to them, but after their concert, I found myself nodding my head to the beat of their songs.

Well true enough, after seeing EXO live last year (big thanks to Kit Kat!), I have gotten to love the group. It was a rare opportunity to get invited to their concert for free. It's even rarer to experience it twice! Last time it was for a product promotion, this time it's for media coverage (Universe, thank You for these... You rock!).



Pre-Concert Media Duties  
This is the first day of the two-night concert. This is my first time to cover an event with Minsei, a staff from KPOPChannelTV wherein I'm a global correspondent. It's not my first time to do media coverage though, as I've did it a couple of times for Konda Korea in the past. This was one level-up from what I used to do though. We had to shoot footages of the fans outside the coliseum, interview them, and host Facebook lives while waiting for the show to start.


Since we were attending the concert officially as part of media, we had our own queue outside the coliseum. There were also other media people waiting there. I saw two guys with gigantic DSLRs (like guns!) mounted on tripods. I recognized one face within that crowd - I finally saw Jonathan Hicap from Manila Bulletin!

(left) Minsei, Jonathan, and me - while waiting outside the coliseum entrance (right) the media ID we received during the event

Inside the Venue: Time to work!
Media people had a designated place in the coliseum within the lower box area - that spot has the perfect angle of the stage - perfect for media photos!

I spotted Happee Sy near the control booth. For those who don't know her, she's the heart and brain of Pulp Live World, the producer of tonight's concert. KPOP fans are very fond of her because she closely connects with them through SNS.

It was my first time to use my 50mm lens to shoot a concert. I risked using it because I know it works best on low-light sceneries.


Well the lens did deliver. However I had one huge problem - the stage was too far from where we were. Good thing Minsei had another lens with her. I was not familiar with that lens (it was a huge one also, like this one). I was not confident to use it actually (I was not able to practice beforehand). So my plan then was to use the 50mm lens first for the wide-angle shots, then switch to that lens after I've taken enough photos of the stage as a whole.

Because we had media pass, we are allowed to take photos using professional cameras for the first three songs only. Apparently SM Entertainment is very strict on this policy. There were bouncers in every section of the venue waving large placards with signs that taking photos and videos using  professional cameras is not allowed. Only phone cameras are allowed to be used.

See them bouncers? They're all over the place!

The intro video has Filipino subs again. 😂


The fans screamed loudly when their bias' face flashed on screen. The crowd roared even louder when the EXO members finally went on stage! They started the show with the song MAMA.


I was right, the 50mm lens did well even when the stage was low-lighted. However, I was fixed on shooting that same frame only. Half-way through the song, I decided to switch lenses. The process was a bit stressful, as I had to do it in the dark (ehem sorry, still an amateur) and I'm switching to a lens that was unfamiliar to me. I was really put on the spot.😂 Feeling time-pressured and while crouched down in a very uncomfortable position (and damn, my injured knee was slowly getting in the way), I aimed and started to shoot away.

Here are results of my hard work.


There were lots of blurry and underexposed ones, but I was thankful I still managed to capture photos of them wherein they're still recognizable. 😂 Seeing their faces clearer because of the lens' zoom, I eventually noticed Chanyeol and his.... uhm hair? What happened dear?

Chanyeol became my bias after seeing him in concert last year (he looked so swag dj-ing inside that sparkly spaceship or whatever that's called). He just looked different during this concert, but he's still very jolly! He's so energetic as always - he was all over the stage that night!

This time I finally saw Kai and Xiumin dancing! I remember last time they were injured so they just seated for the whole duration of the concert. I saw how Kai is such a dance machine! And the way he looks seductively towards the crowd, it can really take anyone's breath away (well he did for me 😍). Unfortunately, Lay was not able to come to the country again for this concert, due to schedule conflicts.



During the ment part, I noticed that the members conversed more in English compared to last time. They told the fans that they really missed the Philippines. They even sang some lines from Hawak Kamay again, a Filipino song that they performed during their first concert here.


Well what a show! Thanks EXO for coming back for your fans here in Manila, not just for one, but for two concert nights!

See below the video report of KPOPChannelTV for that night's concert! I also contributed an article for their website on this coverage!