At last year's Korea In Motion (KOINMO) opening ceremony, the skies were clear, spirits were high and of course, K-pop fans were excited. That time, the K-pop boy band, Z:EA, was appointed the 2012 Korea In Motion ambassadors. This year, another boy band, MBLAQ, is the new KOINMO ambassador.
But I guess, the Korea Meteorological Adminstration wasn't able to warn the organizers of last weekend's event as nobody was ready for the drizzle, which eventually became heavier. I certainly wasn't prepared to get wet that night.
I arrived early to get my ticket (and a good seat!) from the K-Performance Supporters booth; I needed a seat at one of the front rows get some good pictures, and luckily, I got a good one.
The show started with an introductory video on Korean tourism, and to get the audience excited, the emcees gave prizes to whomever could provide answers to three KOINMO-related questions. The winners got MBLAQ CDs with their autographs, whose worth, according to the emcees, was about KRW100,000 each. This reminded me of the Limited Edition 2PM CD, which I received from the Korea Tourism Organization a while back.
(Everyone was still dry before the rain)
(Everyone wants to win the MBLAQ CD giveaways!)
After the giveaway contest got everyone excited, the first performance even got the female members of the audience more excited with a few giggles and screaming while the Super Team of the Korean musicale, Hwarang, sang, danced and acted a few excerpts from the musicale.
Last year, at KOINMO open stage, I was impressed with the good voices of these actors. This time, even with new members, Hwarang still packs them in. During their performance, there was an 'audience participation' section, where the actors come down from the stage to ask the ladies help them paint their faces with lipstick, since these Korean warriors from the Shilla Dynasty, have no idea as to what they're supposed to do with cosmetics.
(The performers from the Hwarang Musicale)
After the fun Hwarang performance, the emcees introduced the next non-verbal performance, Drumcats, which I watched a few months back. Then it started to drizzle, just a slight drizzle, where you get slightly wet. But then, the drops got bigger and bigger, and heavier and heavier, and everyone wetter and wetter.
(The audience participation portion
of the Hwarang performance)
A few ladies pulled out umbrellas from their bags, while I had to hide my cameras so they wouldn't get wet. And this time, while the Drumcats ladies were still banging their drums, oblivious to nature's intervention in their performance, the show went on.
I looked up the heavens and saw that the dark clouds kept hovering Cheonggye-cheon, which means, if I had soap and shampoo with me, and a towel of course, I would have taken a shower right there on my seat while the rest of the non-verbal performances went on, and perhaps, by the time MBLAQ showed up, I would have rinsed and towelled myself off. Ha-ha-ha!
I then decided to finally leave my seat and take a shelter from the neighboring building. Or even call it a night and go home. Sorry, MBLAQ, I was there at your KOINMO appointment ceremony to catch what's in store this year, and not to catch a cold. Maybe, I'll see you next time.
So, this KOINMO month of September, rain or shine, let's all catch these non-verbal and musicale performances in Korea. I'm already thinking of watching a few while all the tickets can be purchased at discounted prices!
I'm already thinking of Nanta and B-Boy Krung. The former is highly recommended by friends, and the latter reminds me of the topnotch b-boys from all over the world I saw perform at the world championships last July.
Here's the Korea In Motion website in case you want to get those discounted Rush Tickets:
http://www.koreainmotion.com/
See you at the performances!
(MBLAQ appointed as 2013 KOINMO ambassadors.
Photo credit: KOINMO Facebook page)
