Thai fans meet After School
By Suwitcha Chaiyong
Photos courtesy of Cosma Plus
Did you know
Uee won best new TV drama actress at last year’s Paeksang Arts Awards.
It’s not often that a female K-pop group holds their own solo event or concert in the Land of Smiles. After having to postpone their fan meeting last September, sexy girl group After School finally held their After School with Playgirlz Fan Meeting in Bangkok recently, and the event was a big success.
After releasing their latest single “Flashback” last June, the girls worked on individual activities, including acting in TV dramas and hosting TV variety shows. Despite their hectic schedules, After School — Jungah, 29, Jooyeon, 25, Uee, 21, Raina, 23, Nana, 21, Lizzy, 20, E-Young, 20, and Kaeun, 18 — were happy to fly from Seoul to meet their Thai fans. On the afternoon on February 23, the eight gorgeous ladies took to the stage at Central World Live and chatted with their Playgirlz fan club and the Thai press for a group interview.
GORGEOUS GROUP
The girls looked fabulous in white jackets, black shorts and long black boots. Nana confessed that they felt both stressed and excited about holding their first fan meeting in Thailand.
The group prepared a lot of songs to perform and promised to do their best. Group leader Jungah said that they were worried about losing some Thai fans, since they hadn’t visited the kingdom for so long. However, lots of local fans welcomed After School at the airport, with some giving presents to the girls.
DREAM GUYS
When the MC asked the girls what type of guys they liked, the fans in the hall became quiet and paid attention to their answers. Raina, Lizzy, Jooyeon and Jungah said that they like guys who have similar habits to them. Nana said that she likes guys with sweet smiles, while Kaeun said she’s happy with a guy who smiles easily.
When the MC asked if any of the girls were interested in rich guys, Jungah said that she doesn’t need to be, since she can earn enough money herself. The fans were happy with her answer and clapped loudly.
MAGIC MUSIC
The meeting included performances of seven songs, an interview and games played with fans. When the girls appeared dressed with magician hats and magic wands, the crowd welcomed them with wild screaming.
The group then performed their dance singles “Rip Off” and “Flashback.” Though the stage production, lighting and sound system were fairly mediocre, the girls’ natural charisma was enough to make it a great show.
POP QUIZ
During the casual interview, the girls were asked to point to a member of the group whose personality matched what the MC described. E-Young was chosen as the member who eats like a horse. Jungah was described as the member who scares easily, since she’s afraid of bugs. When asked which member was the most fussy, the girls hesitated to answer until Uee suddenly pointed to herself!
SWEET SITUATION
The girls were also asked what they would like to be doing if they weren’t part of After School. Lizzy and E-Young surprised everybody by saying that they’d like to be a newscaster and a lawyer respectively. Jungah confessed that she would probably already be married if she wasn’t singing with the group.
The most interesting question for the fans was which other members each girl would like to date if they were guys. Fans screamed again when Nana and Lizzy picked each other. Nana explained that she chose Lizzy because she’s such a sweet girl, and Lizzy responded by acting cute and sweetly asking her Thai fans to take her to dinner.
FANS FOREVER
Unlike other K-pop fan meetings, there were no strict rules for the lucky fans at this event. The fans who got up onstage to play games with After School were able to take pictures with the girls with their own mobile phones. They were also able to take their time hugging and shaking hands with the stars.
At the end of the show, fans showed a video made from pictures and video clips from when After School performed in Bangkok during their previous four visits. Everybody in the hall then held up signs that read, “4Ever & Always.” After School were clearly moved and impressed, with Jongah and Uee being overwhelmed to the point of tears.
The meeting then ended on a high note with performances of the fun dance songs, “Bang,” “Love Letter” and “Diva.”
Vocabulary
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postpone (v): to arrange for an event, etc. to take place at a later time or date
magician (n): a person who can do magic tricks
wand (n): a small stick that is held by somebody when performing magic tricks
mediocre (adj): not very good
charisma (n): the powerful personal quality that some people have to attract and impress other people
fussy (adj): too concerned or worried about details or standards, especially unimportant ones
respectively (adv): in the same order as the people or things just mentioned
move (v): to cause somebody to have strong, emotional feelings
overwhelm (v): to have such a strong emotional effect on somebody that they don’t know how to reactIdioms
eat like a horse: to eat a lot
end on a high note: to end a concert, meeting, event, etc. with something very exciting and fun
