Music

Junior mania

By Tatat Bunnag, Photos by Varuth Hirunyatheb

Thai teens go super crazy

In the hot evening hours of May 27, thousands of teenagers gathered outside Siam Paragon to wait for a group of heartthrob superstars from South Korea.

As part of their first Asian tour, Super Junior held a press conference for their upcoming concert in our kingdom next month.

• Did you know •

Ee Teuk, Eun Hyuk and Kang-In also work as DJs, hosting programmes on Korean stations.

The screaming fans queued outside the mall, hoping to be among the first 500 lucky enough to get close to the band.

Super Junior�s hour-long appearance wasn�t due until 6 pm, but some of their frenzied fans had been waiting since noon. There were even dedicated followers who came from as far as Malaysia, Singapore and Korea to catch a glimpse of their idols.

When Super Junior finally hit the stage, hundreds of teens rushed to the front, causing chaos and mayhem. A few managed to remain cool and collected in the presence of the group, but for some it was just all too much.

Fans fainted and collapsed on the ground, crying and screaming. Police and security did their best to keep everybody safe, but many kids required first aid treatment for minor injuries, ranging from bumps and bruises to all-out hysteria.

HOT EXPORT

Not so long ago, South Korea�s most famous export was spicy kimchi, but these days their TV shows, movies and pop stars are even hotter. Over the past few years, Thai teens have been going wild over K-pop acts.

A number of K-pop groups have come to Thailand on promotional rounds, but few have equalled the frenzy that greeted Super Junior.

The 13 young talents � Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kang-In, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum and Kyuhyun � comprise one of the biggest selling bands in South Korea.

The boys debuted in 2005 and quickly captured the hearts of fans all over Asia with their unique music and dancing style. Most of the members already had experience in the entertainment industry as actors, DJs and models.

Their songs �Miracle,� �U� and �Don�t Don� have topped the Thai Channel V overseas music chart for many consecutive weeks.

SUPER SURPRISE

Only six members of Super Junior made it to the press conference, but there were big monitors showing video footage of the other seven, promising their Thai fans that they�ll definitely be here for their concert on July 12.

There was a short interview with the band, but due to the deafening screams of the fans, nobody caught much of the conversation.

Band leader Leeteuk spoke to the crowd about how amazed and happy they were by the dedicated support from their Thai fans.

�Thank you to all the Thai fans that have supported us through the years, and we promise to come back as often as we can,� Leeteuk said. �We�re really excited and can�t wait to see you all soon. Our show will be full of surprises!�

	heartthrob (n): a famous man, usually an actor or a singer, that a lot of women find attractive queue (v): to wait in a line of people in order to do something, get something or go somewhere frenzied (adj): involving a lot of activity and emotion in a way that is not under control follower (n): a person who supports and admires a particular person, group, or set of ideas glimpse (n): a look at somebody or something for a very short time collected (adj): very calm and in control of yourself hysteria (n): an extremely excited and exaggerated way of behaving or reacting to an event talent (n): people or a person with a natural ability to do something well comprise (v): to be the parts or members that form something consecutive (adj): following one after another in a series, without interruption deafening (adj): very loud