The First Visit in Taiwan CNBLUE
Full-scale Tracking and Report
Korea’s super popular cool boy band CNBLUE has debuted for less than a year, but their charm has taken all Asia by storm. To meet with Boices (their fans) in various parts of Asia, CNBLUE have the Asia Tour of fan meetings, irrespective of their super tight schedule as a result of their high popularity. And they have finally come to Taiwan, where fans are absolutely enthusiastic …
Day 1
CNBLUE arrived at Taiwan on Mid-Autumn Festival, saying hello
Time: 2010/09/22 18:00
Place: Taoyuen International Airport
It’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a day full of festive spirits. CNLBUE flew to Taiwan, celebrating the festival with us here. Both Koreans and Taiwanese celebrate the festival. To Koreans, it is like when Taiwanese celebrate the lunar new year, they go back to their home towns to visit relatives and pay respects to ancestors. The schedule of CNBLUE is super packed. They had just returned to Korea after their promotion activities in Japan, but had to fly to Taiwan immediately. They couldn’t join their own families to celebrate the festival. But seeing the enthusiastic fans in the airport arrival hall must have given them enough warmth to make this particular Mid-Autumn Festival a very unforgettable one.
On arrival, Leader Jung Yonghwa left a message on twitter, telling fans of their safe arrival and wishing everybody a happy holiday. He also revealed his happiness meeting with Taiwan fans!
Recording: MTV ‘Crazy about J and K Pop’, painting Taiwanese grapefruit and a new idol group
Time: 2010/09/22 20:0
Place: MTV filming studio
With a short rest after arrival, CNBLUE started their promotion activities here in Taiwan. Their first schedule was as guests in MTV’s ‘Crazy about J and K Pop’.
When Trendy stalker (the reporter) arrived at the filming studio, many well-informed Boices had packed the area outside the studio. There were just too many people, even CNBLUE had difficulties getting in the studio when they arrived. There was this thick wall of fans to pass through.
It’s a pity that the original plan of Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue was canceled. But when the four CNBLUE boys met with Calvin of Fahrenheit, they began to chat happily even before the recording.Yonghwa jokingly said, “I thought Jungshin is very tall and slim, but our host is tall and slim like him. Maybe you two should form an idol group, you’ll surely be very popular.”
Hearing what Yonghwa had said, Jungshin rolled up his sleeve to check with who is thinner, him or the host. The host said it would be a bad idea to name the new group ‘Chopsticks’! Yonghwa had to cover his mouth with his hand to hide his great laughs, while Jonghyun and Minhyuk had laughed so hard that they almost fell on the floor.
It’s Mid-Autumn Festival, of course they had Taiwanese grapefruit! CNBLUE’s painting grapefruit contest in ‘Crazy about J and K POP’! Yonghwa was so interested in the grapefruit, he kept holding the fruit since he first saw it.
Yonghwa, whose bandmates say he’s the one with art talent, drew an ‘angry guy’. He added so much details that he even drew ears of the guy. Jonghyun turned his back against everybody and took long to finish his happy ‘shouting guy’. Jungshing drew double-faced happy and grumpy. That’s so creative. And Minhyuk’s art piece was so different from everybody’s. He drew BONO BONO, a cartoon character that he likes. Trendy stalker thinks smiling Minhyuk actually resembles BONO BONO, both look so cute.
The filming of ‘Crazy about J and K Pop’ finished only until midnight. CNBLUE spent their very first Mid-Autumn Festival here in Taiwan working.
LOOK~LOOK~ Behind the Scene
I always have the impression that CNBLUE are nice and polite. Seeing the filming crew move heavy equipment and pops around, the four boys just went helping them out without second thoughts. CNBLUE’s being nice to everybody is so true!
When Yonghwa was asked to show off his cool gestures he usually does when singing, the other three imitated him at the back. They did it so well that the filming crew laughed a lot. And he had to re-take it so many times for laughing himself. But their bonding came to a test when …
The host suggested testing their acting skills. Jonghyun, Jungshin and Minhyuk quietly moved a step back, indirectly pushing their leader to the ‘front line’. Relieved that they didn’t have to be tested, they even directed the scene to be acted out. Between the two idol actors, Calvin and Jung Yonghwa, who could do it better? And what made Yonghwa shouted in the filming studio, “I only like girls!” Please look forward to the broadcast of ‘Crazy About J and K Pop’ on Oct 18 and 19. (Note: The broadcasts were moved forward one week.)
Day 2
CNBLUE schedule, schedule, schedule
[V] Just Love JK recording, Ken’s Chinese lesson!
Time: 2010/09/23 12:30
Place: A hotel in Taipei
Ken of ‘Just Love JK’ is one of those who’ve seen CNBLUE in person for the most times. And the first schedule of CNBLUE’s day 2 activities was his show.
Coming to Taiwan, they have got to speak some Chinese. CNBLUE were good at simple greetings and self-introduction actually, but when tested by Ken, they said funny Chinese that made everybody burst out laughing.
Maybe it’s because Minhyuk has visited Taiwan before, his Chinese was obviously better than the other three and he passed the test so easily. Jungshin barely passed with his somehow weird ‘Good’ and ‘Sorry’; he laughed so much saying them. Yonghwa surprised everybody saying ‘Very good’ with totally accurate pronunciation, but he sounded so much like an uncle with that. The Jonghyun who’s been smiling all the way said, with his thumb up, “Beef noodle, delicious!” He’s so enchanted by Taiwan’s famous beef noodle!
As Ken said he was going to teach them more Chinese, the four boys told him the words they wanted to learn. Language talented Minhyuk learned “Thank you for coming to our concert.”
Yonghwa and Jonghyun actually wanted to learn words for their interacting with fans during the concert but things seemed too difficult for them. They gave up and followed Jungshin, learning to say, “You’re all so beautiful!” Ken promised them that they would get absolutely great feedback from fans saying that in the concert.
While learning to speak Chinese, Jonghyun shook his head and said, “Though I want to sing in Chinese for fans, it’s just too difficult. I’ve got to work harder before I can do that.”
As a good host, Ken had prepared for them some Taiwan snacks: si shen tang (pig intestines in herbal soup), fried rice noodles and rice cake. But CNBLUE had to pass some test before they could enjoy those. So who had the luck to taste the most delicious Taiwan snacks? Please look out to the broadcast of ‘Just Love JK’. But little stalker is revealing a little here secretly. The delicious si shen tang was so loved by the four CNBLUE boys that they finished it all up, feeding each other spoon by spoon.
First Taiwan Visit Press Conference
Time: 2010/09/23 14:00
Place: A hotel in Taipei
Having debuted for less than a year, the blue charm of CNBLUE has taken all Asia by storm. And this blue tornado of CNBLUE charm is reflected by the sales figures of their albums. Their two albums have won champions on music charts in both Korea and Taiwan. Even before their arrival at Taiwan, the Taiwan versions of the albums had won Platinum.
Appearing at the press conference in white suits, the four handsome boys were like characters from comic story turning real in front of everybody.
Standing in front of the blue background with the official CNBLUE logo, they literally shone with charm! Little Stalker heard from some staff member of the conference organizer that the event had been so well planned, even the table clothes were made-to-order, blue ones!
At the press conference, CNBLUE were presented the double platinum awards. They thanked Taiwan fans for their support and promised to bring them even better music and performance on stage.
Little Stalker’s Notes: LITTLE INTERVIEW
Q: Which band does each member of CNBLUE like?
Yonghwa: Bon Jovi. I want to collaborate with them some day.
Jonghyun: Bon Jovi.
Minhyuk: Maroon 5. They have a more modern feel.
Jungshin: Mr. Big.
Q: What Taiwanese food do you want to try?
Yonghwa: I’d like to challenge myself with stinky bean curd.
Jonghyun: Beef noodle! Beef noodle!
Minhyuk: Bubble tea.
Jungshin: Xiaolongbao (steamed meat bun)
Q: Who cares the most about looks and has the best fashion sense?
A: Yonghwa
Q: Who takes the most time to get dressed before leaving home?
A: Jonghyun.
Q: Who cries most often?
A: Sentimental and easily-hurt Minhyuk. (Besides Minhyuk himself, everybody agreed. Minhyuk protested: I wasn’t crying, I was in pain and my tears just poured out.)
Q: A song which you listen to a lot lately.
Jungshin: There’s this new band called CNBLUE. Their songs are real good. (Laughs)
Yonghwa: Aww, I listen to a lot of songs by CNBLUE lately too. I heard they have just released a Japanese single.
Minhyuk: I love each and every song from their Japanese and Korean albums.
Jonghyun: The songs I listen to often lately is ‘Now Or Never’
Yonghwa: Lately, I listen to ‘I’m A Loner’, ‘Now Or Never’, ‘Love’ … (He just named all the CNBLUE songs.)
Recording: CNBLUE toys challenge
Time: 2010/09/23 evening
Place: A hotel in Taipei
With various toys in front of them, the four CNBLUE boys just turned instantly from cool band guys to naughty boys. And the challenge just showed their being competitive. They were so serious trying out each and every toy presented to them. Seeing the CNBLUE boys play the toys with their super long legs and arms was the most interesting scene ever. Everybody around just couldn’t stop laughing out loud all the way.
Having lost in many rounds of challenge, Jonghyun couldn’t help shouting, “These Taiwan kids’ toys are so difficult for me to master.” So CNBLUE toys challenge became shouting challenge; what a scene! Maybe it’s a matter of age, CNBLUE’s magnae Jungshin became the champion after many rounds of challenge. The least expected thing was that playful Leader Jung Yonghwa was at the very end of the line in terms of performance in the challenge.
Recording: TV program ‘Super King’
Time: 2010/09/23 night time
Place: CTS
Communicating with filming crew about details such as volume of earphones and microphones, CNBLUE showed their seriousness during both rehearsal and recording. Even at rehearsal, CNBLUE on stage were radiating charm and literally shining. Everybody at the venue felt so touched.
At rehearsal, we saw the rarely-seen naughty sides of CNBLUE. During the break, Jungshin and Yonghwa practiced their self-invented tic-tac dance steps. Jonghyun just hummed some tunes from time to time. When recording started, CNBLUE blew everybody away with their variety show ‘power’. Their collaboration with the hosts wasn’t affected at all by the language barrier. When the main host sang his famous song ‘The End of The Word’, the four CNBLUE boys just had their hands up dancing and cheering along.
And CNBLUE didn’t forget about interacting with fans. When Yonghwa spotted a placard with his name from the monitor, he went closer for a look and suddenly shouted, pointing to the picture of himself making a strange face, said a couple of times, “Delete!” He really does care about his image!
Day 3 : CNBLUE’s schedule fully-packed
Recording: 100% Entertainment, having lots of electronic fun
Time: 2010/09/24 aftenoon
Place: A filming studio in Taipei
When CNBLUE first saw the virtual/electronic instruments, all four just happily shouted, “Wow~ Aww~”. The interview wasn’t finished yet but their hearts had gone over to the instruments already. But they were not for them to play around with as they liked, they had to exchange roles with each other: Yonghwa the drummer, Jonghyun the bassit, Minhyuk and Jungshin the vocals.
CNBLUE picked Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ for the first round of challenge. Yonghwa boasted that he could nail the most difficult level, but he failed so badly, not finishing half of the song. Then he asked embarrassedly with a smile, “Can I switch to a mid level one for one more try?” His embarrassed but cute face caused smiles and laughs from all filming staff at the scene. Playing the toy instruments and real instruments are two different things. With the toy versions, one has to play according to the program, not like with real instruments when one can play ad lib.
But the top boy band are the top boy band; they passed the challenge in the second try. Nevertheless, they seemed not so satisfied with their scores. So they switched back to their original positions and fought the third challenge. The four just showed off their real power. Yonghwa sang so hard that even his face turned red. Of course they scored real high this time.
It looked like CNBLUE hadn’t had enough fun yet, the four boys stayed around the toy instruments and didn’t want to leave at all. They left only until all the filming crew had left. And Jonghyun was the last to give up. Handing out the drum sticks; his face was so full of regret.
Recording: SET Totally Entertainment, first encounter with Taiwan fruits
Time: 2010/09/24
Place: A recording studio in Taipei
Seeing the vitamin rich fruits that ‘Totally Entertainment’ had prepared for them, CNBLUE shouted, “Hurray!” The five fruits so alien to them not only aroused their curiosity but caused a totally playful mood in the studio.
Having tasted sugar-apple (custard-apple) the last time visiting Taiwan, Minhyuk guaranteed that it tastes good. But Yonghwa, Jungshin and Jonghyun just couldn’t put any trust on the ugly-looking fruit. They didn’t want to try no matter what. Minhyuk felt so disappointed for he actually wanted to eat it so much.
As the crew member told them the names of the fruit, Jungshin invented a way to remember the names: ‘pineapple’ mnemonics. He matched some gestures with the mouthing of words. He looked so funny doing that; Yonghwa couldn’t help imitating him. But all this was about remembering ‘pineapple’, they had the names of other fruits all mixed up. Finally, Yonghwa and Jonghyun couldn’t bear it anymore and asked, “Can we eat them now?”
In order to eat the delicious fruits, CNBLUE and the filming crew thought about some games to play. They showed us the game they often play at home too. It’s like the Taiwan game ‘boys match girls’. Jonghyun and Minhyun showed how to play the normal version first. Yonghwa and Jungshin then played the ‘exciting’ version. But Yonghwa was careless and hit Jungshin on the nose. Jungshin cried out his pain and Yonghwa was so shocked and kept saying ‘Sorry’. He quickly checked with Jungshin’s face to see if he’s hurt in any ways. Luckily, he was fine. Jungshin recovered real soon and made a naughty wink. I couldn’t help thinking, “They were just trying to scare us?”
Anyway, the delicious Taiwan fruits were just irresistible. Later they forgot everything about games and just ate everything. Caring Jonghyun shared some papaya with his manager. But he totally forgot that the recording wasn’t done yet and he was out of the camera’s shooting range.
CNBLUE’s First Fan Signing in Taiwan
Time: 2010/09/24 17:30
Place: Xiemen Red Theater Square
The event was open for 200 fans only but the place was packed with a scaring number of 2000 fans. Everybody could feel CNBLUE’s super popularity. Seeing so many fans at the venue, CNBLUE felt very excited and touched. And they were sorry that they couldn’t sign for everybody who had come. They had got to save energy for the concert to be held the next day, showing everybody the best performance with their best conditions. Lovely Boices surely could understand them.
The very happy CNBLUE signed for the fans who came in front of them, but also wave to the fans who didn’t have the luck. Isn’t Minhyuk’s smile very cute? Yonghwa listened so carefully to the fans’ talking to him! Jonghyun just sang happily as he kept signing for fans! As for Jungshin, he was signing busily for fans but at the same time, he interacted with fans down there with his super big smiles all the way!
Day 4: Listen To The CNBLUE In Taipei
Time: 2010/09/25 19:30
Place: NTU Sports Center
CNBLUE mini-live opened amid a sea of blue fluorescence. CNBLUE sang six songs in a row; the blue fluorescent sea down there was totally mesmerized. When they performed their no.1 hits ‘I’m a Loner’ and ‘Love’, everybody sang along. And when CNBLUE performed ‘Love Light’, fans took out their yellow fluorescent sticks to form the big characters ‘TW<3cnb’.>
author: freisha, jovena
credits: Summer_Raining @ twitter, klaritia @ soompi
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