The number of times IU took our breath away on last Saturday night was too much to count.
Known as one of South Korea's most successful soloist, Lee Jieun, also known as IU, sure did not disappoint when she delivered yet another breath taking show for her UAENAs, which is the name of her fandom. The talented 26-year-old not only has an incredible vocal prowess, but also boasts dancing, composing and song writing as some of the many array of skills under her belt, and she sure did put it into good use.
She impressed the entire theatre with her fluent English, easily communicating with fans the entire night without the need for a translator. Hilariously, members from her 'IU team' told her to start using the translator, insisting it was weird for the fans to hear her constantly speak in English as she usually speaks in Korean, along with reasoning that she was cutting the concert time short.
But of course, she did not just stop there. IU continued to stun as she brought out a special concert piece, called '爱情' ( àiqíng / love ) - which she had also previously performed at a Taiwan concert. Singing entirely in Chinese, her pronunciations were on point. Sweetly, she had just praised Singapore UAENAs ability to sing-a-long to her Korean songs.
One can only sit and gasp in awe when listening to IU's voice, especially in the song 'Good Day', which is one of the artist's popular hits. She easily belted out the legendary 3 high notes, that left everyone cheering wildly. Covered in Goosebumps by the end of it, it was probably one of the highlights of the night.
We got too learn that the theme of the concert was one of movies - where the past 10 years of a career were broken down into different genres of movies. For example, the second part of the concert was categorized as a 'Love Comedy', or a melodrama. The stage settings were simply impressive, and we had to take our hats off to the team behind it all.
During one of her ments, the singer-songwriter also expressed her happiness at being able to finally come to Singapore, apologising for how long it took to come. Everyone was sent into hysteric as she informed us that she recently saw the popular movie, 'Crazy Rich Asians', which features Singapore and made her anticipate the tour stop even more. Alike us, Singapore UAENAs were delighted to hear that she was able to come a few days early to soak in the culture in Singapore, getting to experience the local delights and landmarks. We were swooning with joy as she repeatedly mentioned how clean the country was, along with the delicious food and beautiful places, and stated that she plans to return to Singapore soon with her family and we are sure Singapore and UAENAs will welcome IU with open arms.
IU never failed to amaze us with her thoughtfulness, and she performed the song 'A Gloomy Clock' informing us that this was not in the original set list, but instead, she performed because she was thinking about someone a lot lately, and hope that's the song reaches the person. 'A Gloomy Clock' is a song by IU that was co-written and sang with Jonghyun of SHINee. 18th December 2018 marks his death anniversary. In the tribute stage, she switched her iconic purple microphone to a pearl aqua one, a color with represented Jonghyun and SHINee. The two were known to be close friends, often helping each other with songwriting and composing. Many fans were touched by the gesture, as it was only a few days before the 18th.
IU lived up to her name of being famous for re-encores, where she surprised fans with a second round of encore after the credits rolled. Through to the saying, good things come to those who wait, fans were gifted with two more songs before the night officially concluded.
We were extremely happy to hear about her happy state of mind lately. At the concert, she confided that when she was younger, despite being surrounded by so much love, she focused only on the hate and those that disliked her - leading her to write and compose sharper and darker songs. However, since learning how to only embrace the positive, she feels much better and wants to only write happier and brighter songs for her fans.
When she returns to Singapore with her family, we sure hope that she as happy as she was in that moment - or if not happier.
Special thanks to ONE PRODUCTION for inviting KpopStarz.com to cover 2018 IU 10th Anniversary Tour Concert <이지금 dlwlrma> In Singapore.
Writer: Bel | Photo Credits: ONE Production
