Super stars

K-pop kings wow the crowd

By Suwitcha Chaiyong

During their recent Asia Tour Super Show 3 tour, presented by True Music, top Korean boy band Super Junior showed that they have no trouble selling out concert tickets and performing to packed venues. When the tour hit Bangkok, the highest-priced 5,000 baht tickets sold out in less than an hour, while some of the standing zones at Impact Arena also sold out.

While they were in the kingdom, eight members of Super Junior found time for a press conference before their first concert. Group leader Leeteuk, 27, and Kim Heechul, 27, arrived in Bangkok just before the show and couldn't make it to the press meeting.

FRIENDLY CHAT

Yesung, 26, started off the press conference with some sweet talk.

"We miss our Thai fans very much," he said. "Even though we've come here many times, we're really glad to be back here because we miss everybody a lot."

The band showed their famous sense of humour when they were asked if they had prepared anything special for their Thai fans. Lee Sungmin, 25, teased his band mate by saying, "Eunhyuk prepared to show his gummy smile to our fans!"

THAI TALK

Everybody in the group had learned some Thai, with Sungmin coming out with the old fan favourite, "I love you." Eunhyuk, 24, said he tried to practise his Thai in Korea. During this visit, he learned to say "Where's the restroom?," while Choi Siwon, 23, made his fans scream by asking them if they wanted to see his six-pack.

Lee Donghae, 24, then got the crowd excited with the winning words, "We want to live in Thailand with E.L.F. [Super Junior's fan club]."

CRAZY CONCERT

At their concert, Super Junior were cool and skilful when they performed the complicated dance moves for songs like "Sorry, Sorry," "Bonamana" and "Don't Don." Their ballads "Hate U, Love U" and "In My Dream" sounded beautiful, while the guys were very playful during "Cooking Cooking!" and "Ddok Ddok Ddok."

The highlight of the show was when Heechul dressed up as Lady Gaga to perform in "Poker Face." Shindong, 25, Eunhyuk and Donghae then imitated Beyonce and danced to her hits "Single Ladies" and "Crazy in Love."

ONSTAGE ANTICS

Super Junior showed that they're good at being spontaneous when they perform. When a fan gave them a hula hoop, they started playing with it right away onstage.

Some of the group members also borrowed their fans' phones to take photos of themselves during the performance. Shindong, 25, took pictures of himself with fans in the background and posted them on his Twitter account. Everybody in the group also made an effort to talk to their fans in Thai during the concert.

FANS FOREVER

Super Junior's fan club also prepared some surprises for the concert. During the song "No Other," almost everybody at Impact Arena held up pictures of red hearts.

The concert was also lit up with bright sapphire light sticks, which some of the fans changed to white light to create heart shapes during "Hate U, Love U." They also spelled out "E.L.F. Forever" during the romantic "All My Heart."

Super Junior certainly noticed the efforts of their fans, and at the end of the concert, group leader Leetuek thanked the crowed and sent everybody home with happy smiles.