Samuel successfully concluded his very first overseas showcase on 19th August 2017, Saturday, at KITEC Rotunda 2 in Hong Kong.
The showcase opened with a VCR leading into Samuel’s first performance of the night, ‘SPOTLIGHT‘, to enthusiastic cheers from his fans, also known as Garnets. The sixteen-year-old artiste then greeted the audience in English, sharing his excitement about being in Hong Kong for the third time, with the second time being just a month ago for his open fan signing event at APM mall.
The second performance by Samuel was Jason Derulo’s ‘Get Ugly‘—this is also the song for which he was chosen as the centre during the survival programme, Produce 101 Season 2. He then serenaded the fans with several cover songs, including Chris Brown’s ‘With You‘, and Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself‘ and ‘What Do You Mean?‘.
Last but not least, Samuel brought his debut song, ‘SIXTEEN‘, to the stage amidst Garnet’s passionate screams. Samuel is very grateful for the warm response to his performances, and thanked his fans many times for their strong support throughout the event.
Brave Entertainment’s CEO, Kang Dong-chul, known by his stage name Brave Brothers, was also present at the showcase, and even greeted the audience before the showcase started. He was definitely as proud of Samuel as Garnets were of Samuel’s performance.
During the talk segment, Samuel sat down with the emcee to chat about his journey so far. his fans noticed how anxious he was speaking purely in English for his first overseas showcase, and told him to speak in Korean so he can feel more relaxed. Samuel had also prepared some childhood photos while he shared with the fans about his childhood days, then his pre-solo debut days, including the phase he was known as PUNCH of 1PUNCH—even joking about the hairstyle he had back then!
Samuel also had the opportunity to try several Hong Kong snacks, such as egg tarts, pineapple bun, and Hong Kong style lemon tea. He picked the pineapple bun as his favourite, saying that he enjoyed it the most, so Garnets taught him how to say “Pineapple Bun is really delicious! (菠蘿包，好好味！)” in Cantonese. Being a quick learner, Samuel managed to say it with perfect pronunciation after a few tries. Here’s a cute tidbit behind this food segment: Samuel actually reached for another egg tart while he was learning the Cantonese phrase, and was caught by the emcee doing so! Hence, Samuel explained that he actually liked both. We can’t blame him—Hong Kong does have lots of great food we won’t be able to take our hands off!
As a penalty to one of the games he lost during the interaction segment, Samuel had to dance to Twice’s ‘Cheer Up‘, and he even added a bit of the ‘TT‘ dance, to the fans’ surprise. He also gamely danced to Produce 101’s ‘PICK ME‘ when Garnets started singing the song.
Samuel also kept his promises when he said he would grant his fans wishes. Several lucky fans were chosen to go on stage and Samuel was to say an unconditional “OK” to their requests. A fan requested Samuel to do a video recording for her to use as a wake-up alarm, and Samuel kindly did it a second time while facing the audience so all of the fans can also capture his cute charms on camera! Another fan requested Samuel to tie her hair on stage whilst singing, which he did so to Chris Brown’s ‘With You‘. Others were also invited on stage to dance to ‘SIXTEEN‘ with Samuel, and received signed photos as a personal gift from the idol.
Towards the end of the showcase, Samuel mentioned that he had something prepared for the fans. However, before he could give the Garnets anything, Hong Kong Garnets presented him with a fan event first. Samuel definitely was pleasantly surprised, and the fans were yelling “Don’t cry(울지마!)” when Samuel was trying to hold back tears.
Samuel then shared with his fans the little something that he had prepared—a letter in English, to ensure his gratitude wouldn’t be lost in translation. He said that he couldn’t thank everyone enough for their continuous support until now too, since he could finally meet all his fans up close. He had almost cried at the end of his first fan signing event at Times Square in Seoul because he just felt so blessed to have Garnets’ love and support.
During the ending talk, Samuel promised that he will definitely be back in Hong Kong. Before parting ways with Garnets, he high-fived all the fans present at the showcase. They also received a postcard and photo card with handwritten words printed on the back. With the fantastic performances and fun fan interaction segments, it was undoubtedly a very memorable night for both Samuel and Garnets.
We would also like to thank CRC Entertainment Development Co. Ltd , Golden Asset International Limited, and Brave Entertainment for kindly extending the event invitation.
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