If you’re wondering why January has felt awfully warm for New York, it’s probably because ITZY took all the icy for themselves. Sunday, January 26th marked ITZY’s New York show at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, closing out their Premiere Showcase Tour ‘ITZY? ITZY!’ in USA. The five girls of JYP Entertainment debuted in February of 2019 and they've already had a show-stopping, record-breaking, and trail-blazing first year, with a successful international tour soon to be the next accolade under their fashionably sparkly belts.
ITZY’s latest title track, “ICY,” started off the night, with the girls excitedly greeting their fans with a, “Hello, New York!” They shined – figuratively and literally, with coordinated white and silver outfits covered in reflective pieces. “ICY”’s music video was filmed in the streets and shops of New York, making its New York live performance debut even more special (plus, the girls did look incredibly icy. We did see that they’re icy.)
(Photo : Karen May)
ITZY then brought summer back with “It'z Summer” – just another reason why New York’s been feeling warmer than usual. With the most charming "All in us, Hi!!! We are ITZY!" ever, ITZY began their self-introductions. Fans cheered for Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna in turn! Continuing with their ments, Lia's English skills shined as she showered their fans with lots of gratitude and love. They kicked off their "Question? ITZY!" segment with a reveal of what everyone is saved as in their phone!
- Yeji has everyone's names shortened to the first character of their names (like Ryu and Yu for Ryujin and Yuna.) A queen of efficiency, it makes it easy for her to search for her friends.
- Lia keeps it simple with just their group name and their regular names.
- Ryujin saves everyone with their full names, also valuing a quick search!
- Before debut, Chaeryeong had everyone saved as JYP and then their first and last name. Upon debut, Chaeryeong changed JYP to ITZY!
- Yuna also keeps it simple with her unnies, but adds unicorn emojis! Before they were ITZY, they called themselves the Unicorn Team and they're just as special as unicorns.
They also discussed ITZY's potential mascot, with Yuna requesting a unicorn and Yeji creating a character from the question mark and exclamation point of ITZY? ITZY! With the concert being the day after Lunar New Year, the last question mused upon ITZY's favorite Lunar New Year activities – both Lia and Ryujin loved family time the most, but now they get to spend the holiday with their beloved MIDZY.
After Question Time came games! ITZY played a Challenge Mix Song game where they needed to figure out which three K-Pop songs were being played on top of each other. With New York as the last stop, their game was given a twist: the last round would feature Western pop songs instead of K-Pop! The first two rounds saw Ryujin on a winning streak, with the third round seeing Yeji cutely saying "It's My Summer!" instead of "It’z Summer."
(Photo : Karen May)
Paying further homage to New York, the last round featured Empire State of Mind as one of the three songs. With two points, Ryujin won by far and was given a tiny Statue of Liberty for her victory! Yuna and Yeji, on the other hand, had to record a wake-up call for their New York MIDZYs as punishment. We’ll be listening to their "MIDZY! Wake up! It's a wonderrrfullll daaay!!!!" at the break of dawn for the rest of time, probably.
With hard play comes even harder work – or harder carry that is! The five girls moved onto their next stage, doing covers of their senior labelmates with TWICE’S “TT” and GOT7’s “Hard Carry.” From the cute, aegyo-filled dance of “TT” to the sharp, powerful moves of “Hard Carry,” the girls proved to be queens of any and every stage concept.
Their next game was “Pass the Ball,” where ITZY attempted (key word: attempted!) to pass a tennis ball through acrylic tubes into a basket. The girls failed, leading to a punishment they gave to Lia: singing the Gwiyomi song while dancing. While she may have lost her game of Rock Paper Scissors, Lia won over the hearts of MIDZYs with endless success! She then chose Yeji and Chaeryeong to do punishments as well – they had to send hearts to their New York MIDZYs as cutely as possible. For them, it was an easy task! Their cuteness was quickly contrasted with the powerful and charismatic vibes of “Cherry,” where ITZY proved that their unparalleled stage presences are just the cherry on top to their adorable, bubbly selves.
(Photo : Karen May)
However, all good things must sadly come to an end. Their farewell ments were filled with love, gratitude, and awe. Chaeryeong, teary-eyed, wished MIDZYs her love, while Yuna told us to keep smiling – ”Someone said to me, your smile makes me smile!” and she wished her MIDZYs smiles in turn. The girls also went to see the Broadway rendition of Lion King before the show, and told their MIDZYs: just like Mufasa is always with Simba, ITZY will always be with their MIDZY.
ITZY closed out the night with the songs that started it all: “Want It” and “Dalla Dalla” off of their debut album! With a flourish, ITZY closed out Premier Showcase “ITZY? ITZY!” Tour, saving the best for last with their Brooklyn show. ITZY has brought new flavors to the K-pop scene, combining style with chaos – a combination that feels most at home in the hustle and bustle of New York City. Until next time, ITZY!
Thank you to SubKulture Entertainment and JYP Entertainment for the invitiation to ITZY’s Premier Showcase “ITZY? ITZY!”
(Photo : Karen May)
