Kicking off her solo fanmeeting tour in Bangkok and Hong Kong earlier this year, Girls’ Generation’s YOONA charmed her Singaporean fans this September with songs, food, and her girl-next-door friendliness. The stage dressed like a flower garden was as lovely as the star herself.
As the lights dimmed and pink lightsticks flooded the hall, the show opened with a video of YOONA preparing for her busy schedules, and at the sight of high school girls, started imagining herself as one and not the celebrity she is today. Following the video was YOONA’s first performance of the night: A gentle ballad ‘When The Wind Blows’, released under the SM Station project a year ago. YOONA’s sweet and calming voice accompanied by a dreamy backdrop of floating clouds surely captured the hearts of Sones once again.
The mood switched up instantly as the Emcee kicked off the talk segment and YOONA greeted the audience not only in Korean, but English and even fluent Mandarin. Among the reveal of unreleased pictures through #Yoongstagram was a notable one of YOONA eating crabs in Singapore; she revealed that she has grown to like black pepper crab more than the famous chilli crab, prompting her to ask the audience for more food recommendations. As dozens of suggestions poured in, YOONA quipped that she’d just have to come back again to eat them all!
She then revealed her thoughtfulness towards her global fans as she talked about how she was always able to celebrate her birthday with her Korean fans but never got to do that with overseas fans and was glad for this solo fanmeet tour, even if her birthday had already passed long ago. Fans sang her belated birthday songs in Korean and English, and she thanked them for the wishes and promised to return if she has the chance to again. Through a fans Q&A session, YOONA also revealed her favourite colour; white, and also enjoys drinking fruit or herbal tea. A memorable question was from a fan turning 30 next year like her and asked if there was anything she’d like to accomplish before then. To that she replied, “For me, there’s only a few months left (before I turn 30). I just want to do as many things as I can. I don’t put much significance on things like ‘my last 20s’. Instead, I actually feel like I’m gaining more freedom bit by bit. People say it’s the hardest when you’re 29, and things get better when you’re 30. Let’s spend the rest of the year well.”
Perhaps the most memorable of all was her effort in learning some Singlish phrases taught by the Emcee. Throughout the rest of the fanmeet, she cheekily used the phrases she learnt; ‘Shiok’, ‘Abuden’, as much as she could and even teasing the Emcee, to fans’ delight and amusement.
YOONA then returned to the stage for the next performance of ‘To You’, a slow acoustic ballad. The song featuring Lee Sang Soon was released earlier this May. As the song ended, the second video played and showed YOONA in the kitchen, making a delicious looking waffle. She further showed her prowess live on stage as she sliced an apple skillfully while making a fruit rojak salad for two lucky fans who were able to take her handmade food home, after winning the two games of charades and a telepathy game.
For the third performance of the night, YOONA turned up the heat with a chic dance choreography to Meghan Trainor’s ‘Watch Me Do’. Following the performance was a hilarious video with special appearances by Girls’ Generation members Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, also in the same high school uniforms, as well as Super Junior’s Shindong.
As the end of the wonderful day neared, Singaporean Sones surprised YOONA with a heartfelt video filled with touching messages and held up banners in Korean reading “Stay there as you are, we’ll come to you!” YOONA managed to hold back her tears and replied the fans, “Let’s run to each other! I’ll come to you too!”. The day then ended with a final performance of ‘Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway’, a song featuring 10cm that was released in 2016 under the SM Station project.
It truly was a So Wonderful Day for both YOONA and Singaporean Sones, a night full of laughter and love. Hopefully YOONA will remember the Singlish she’s learnt and use it when she comes back next time for her black pepper crab fix!
This fanmeeting is brought to you by IMC Live Global.
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