[Taiwan magazine] Fans – June 2011 issue

Scan credits: Chicken Little
English translation: Aphrael77

JKS has started a chain of events in the Greater China region. Following Singapore and Hong Kong, he’s coming to Taiwan for the 3rd time in June. Eels, don’t miss any chance of meeting him!

Every time JKS comes to Taiwan, it will definitely result in a mad rush for tickets. On 7 March 2010, after JKS shot to fame based on “You are Beautiful”, he had his first fan-meeting at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. 3,000 tickets were sold out quickly; even JKS’ parents who were with him did not have seats, evidence of how hard it was to get a ticket. On 2 Oct of the same year, JKS and Park Shin-hye had their fan-meeting at Taipei University Stadium, 4,000 tickets were sold out quickly. JKS and PSH sang a Chinese duet “You’ll marry me tomorrow”, an unforgettable memory for fans.

In 2011, JKS is coming to Taiwan for the 3rd time, and also at the stage of Taipei University Stadium. Compared to the previous 2 times where JKS met fans as an actor, this time JKS will bring everyone a different musical experience with his fresh new image as a solo singer! And on the 1st day of ticket sales on 21 May for his “2011 Jang Keun Suk The Cri Show in Taipei”, tickets were sold out in as short as 43 minutes. After many fans feedbacked their unhappiness about not managing to buy tickets, the organizers worked hard to negotiate an additional show on 24 June, hoping to satisfy all fans. JKS truly has earned his title of being “Asia’s Most Popular Korean Male Artiste”, he is definitely the Popularity King of the new Hallyu generation!

—————————– Contest for fans —————————–

Take a pic with JKS and win a VIP ticket!

How to enter contest:

1. Be creative and take a photo with any issue of Fans magazine (issues March to June 2011 have JKS on the cover).
2. Email the photo to fanservice100@gmail.com with your real name, date of birth and contact number for verification purposes.
3. Pic must not be smaller than 1 MB
4. Deadline: 20 June 2011
5. Results will be announced on 23 June, 20:00 hours at http://www.plurk.com/fanspuff

2 winners will be chosen to win one VIP ticket each for the 25 June Cri Show.

—————————–

JKS Hong Kong trip – A Report on Following JKS Closely

On 28 April, JKS reached Hong Kong for his 3rd visit, his promotion schedule lasting 4 days and 3 nights. JKS had his press conference on 29 April, and his autograph sessions in the afternoon and night of 30 April. No matter where the “2011 JKS The Cri Show” was held, it attracted thousands of fans in support. It is completely appropriate to call JKS the most popular Korean star nowadays! He will have his Show in Taiwan towards the end of June, and before he comes, let’s take a look at this report as a warm up!

Part 1: Press Conference @ apm

Blew kisses thrice at fans

On his recent “2011 JKS The Cri Show” Asia Tour, before his 25 June Taiwan Show, JKS has already held his Show in Hong Kong on 30 April, and on 29 April at 3.30 pm, he had his press conference at Kwan-tung’s apm mall. As it was a public place, the press conference attracted as many as 1,000 fans who had come to catch a glimpse of their idol. JKS saw that the 2nd and 3rd floor was crowded with fans too, and occasionally waved at them too, and even blew kisses thrice, making the fans scream. He was very friendly.

Ice-breaking ceremony

Wearing a gray checked suit, JKS appeared with a totally new image, trendy and yet formal. Because he attended a contract-signing ceremony recently in Shanghai as a sign of his foray into the Chinese market, his Hong Kong press conference also held a symbolic ice-breaking ceremony to celebrate his potential development in the Greater China region. During the ice-breaking ceremony, JKS started off by hitting the ice gently and nothing happened to the ice at all. Later, the ‘A’ in “ASIA” fell off and gave him a scare. After that, he was quite playful and continued to hit the rest of the ice, letting everyone see a playful side of him.

At the press conference, when asked what his future development plans were now that he has signed on with HS Media, JKS said, “I hope to spend more time on development in the Greater China region, and more time to meet with fans.”
What’s the difference in his feelings when making the transition from an actor to a singer? “Very nervous! But I got to know that my new album has achieved very good results upon its release in Japan, I’m very thankful to fans for supporting me.”

As for whether he likes acting or singing more, JKS laughs, “Recently during my acting, I sing too. These two jobs are very interesting, and it’s also challenging to be a singer officially.”

JKS was only at the press conference for a mere 20 minutes, but he demonstrated his various language abilities and ended by saying thanks in English, Chinese and Cantonese. This is JKS’ 3rd visit to Hong Kong and filial JKS had also brought along his parents. Despite his busy schedule, he took time to accompany his parents to lunch at a Chinese restaurant after the press conference. In fact, his parents were also at the press conference, but they were shy and very low-profile, and unwilling to accept media interviews.

Happy at receiving gift

JKS endorses 3C products in Korea, and he’s also interested in these products in his personal life, so he let out a very surprised and happy “wow” when the organizers gave him the newest iPad2. Also, Hong Kong fans also specially prepared a cake with mini JKS figurine on it, to congratulate him for success in entering the Chinese market. JKS did a pose similar to the figurine for the media to take photos. He even stole the letter from the cake, licked it and put it back on the case. It was a funny sight.

Part 2: Autograph & Photo-taking session

During JKS’ visit in Hong Kong, he was already feeling a bit unwell and besides the press conference he attended, he was late by one hour on the second day at the apm for the autograph and photo-taking session due to gastric flu. Everyone was concerned about his illness and many fans were worried about whether his Cri Show that day would be successfully carried out.

The 1.30 pm autograph and photo-taking sessions on 30 April started at 2.30 pm, and the scores of fans gathered there erupted into screams when JKS appeared in a black suit jacket and white pants. Some fans also screamed JKS’ name in Korean, hoping to get his attention. Although he was unwell, JKS still greeted fans with a smile and said in English, “Hello, Hong Kong!” He also apologised to everyone to have kept them waiting.

The autograph and photo-taking sessions were specially organised for fans, open to only 100 fans for autograph and 300 fans photo-taking. The quota was full long ago, but fans without autograph and photo-taking passes still waited at the venue to see their idol. JKS expressed his happiness to interact with fans at close proximity. He was very friendly throughout and after autographing for fans, he also offered the benefit of ‘interlocking fingers’ with fans. Occasionally, he waved to the surrounding waiting fans too. No wonder he’s everyone’s most beloved Korean star.

This time in Hong Kong, JKS received many presents from fans. At the autograph session, JKS would immediately put on the rings and bangles the fans gave him, making the fans feel surprised and happy. The majority of fans were girls but a little fan boy appeared at the scene and he even gave his lollipop to JKS. JKS was so happy that he carried the little boy and took a photo with him, to the envy of all the female fans in the audience. There was also another mother who had brought her daughter along to get JKS’ autograph.

JKS always seemed very happy when interacting with fans, and always treats fans nicely. Before the autograph started, JKS reminded fans to write their name on the post-it so that he could write the fan’s name accurately during the autograph. During the autograph, every fan would seize the chance to chat with a few lines with JKS and JKS would also respond patiently. In order to leave a deep impression on JKS, some fans even came in specially prepared attire.

JKS also took photographs with groups of 30 fans. The fans were orderly during the grouping, but when it came to time to take a photo with their idol, some fans could not control their excitement and in order to be closer to their idol, some edged into positions next to JKS, some would secretly hook their arm around his and at one point, some even grabbed his jacket until the staff came to rescue JKS.

Part 3: 2011 JKS The Cri Show in Hong Hong

On 30 April night, JKS held his Cri Show at Kowloon International Trade and Exhibition Centre, attracting a total of 3,000 fans in attendance. He sang “Let me cry” attired in the black tuxedo seen in the MV. It was his first time singing the new song; fans stood up happily to wave their lightstick and cheer for him. JKS greeted the audience in English and said that he was very happy standing on stage for the first time as a singer officially.

Sweet-talking JKS said on stage, “I miss Hong Kong fans very much, and there are more pretty girls here this year than last year.”
Recently, JKS went to Europe to shoot his video and photo-book and at the Cri Show, he shared with HK fans some of these photos and the amusing stories behind them. The photos include scenes where JKS sang on the street, a picture with firemen and also a sexy pic of him half-naked. JKS added, “This pic is taken by my manager. The effect is not good because it was dark. The pics in the photo album are much nicer. I wanted to have more body exposure but my manager said this is enough, so apologies I cannot let you all see more of my body.”

Based on “Marry me Mary” and “You are Beautiful”, JKS rose to popularity in all of Asia and during the Show, he appeared as Kang Mu-gyul and Hwang Tae-kyung and sang the OSTs “Take care, My Bus”, “Hello Hello”, “My Precious” and “Still”. Fans’ response was overwhelming and they sang with him. The emcee imitated JKS’ dialogue in the drama, which made JKS laugh outright.

Singing was the main part of this performance but in order to let fans enjoy more benefits, 3 lucky winners were selected to answer questions and go on stage to receive their prize that JKS had personally prepared. A mother brought her little daughter up to get her prize. Upon seeing the little girl, JKS took the initiative to bend down and ask for a kiss, unexpectedly incurring protests from the audience who requested that JKS add an additional winner. But this fan answered the question wrongly, and with tears in her eyes, she asked for another chance. Soft-hearted JKS gave her another chance but she still answered wrongly. Finally, JKS gave her a hug, lifted her up and twirled her around, to many screams from the audience.

In his next segment Lounge H, JKS appeared in white, waving a large flag, and instantaneously transformed the venue into a nightclub. He invited good friend and reputed Korean producer Big Brother on stage with him to perform Lounge H songs. They sang American band MGMT’s “Kids” and the classical “Shake it” and “Bye Bye Bye”, to the amazement of fans! When JKS was very high, he pulled his manager onstage to dance too. The atmosphere was very lively and amusing. JKS also took off his jacket to reveal his vest and muscles. He threw his perspiration-soaked towel to the audience, with fans fighting for it.

Despite this being his 3rd visit to Hong Kong, JKS has not yet seen Hong Kong’s reputed night scenery, which he feels is a pity. Recently, many artistes have gotten married, and so the emcee asked JKS whether he would get married early. JKS answered humorously, “I have gotten married in Hong Kong last year. Have you all forgotten?” Last year when JKS was in Hong Kong, a fan had self-produced a short video to propose to JKS. He remembered this.

Towards the end of the Show, JKS said to fans that he would take good care of himself for the sake of his fans, and he would return to Hong Kong next year to get “married” to everyone.

[END]