It was an emotional reunion between South Korean soloist Kim Jaejoong and his Jaefans. Some of whom had last seen him almost 12 years ago when he first held a showcase in Malaysia while others were seeing him for the first time since becoming his fan.
Jaejoong had originally planned to visit Kuala Lumpur during his Asia tour in 2020, however those plans were inevitably postponed as the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on pause. As such, much to the delight of fans, the artist decided to include Malaysia as one of his stops for the 2022 Asia tour thus reigniting the spark of excitement for fans to see their beloved artist once more.
Prior to the concert held on 23 September 2022, Jaejoong also held an outdoor press conference in front of Pavilion Kuala Lumpur where thousands of fans turned up to catch a glimpse of the star. He greeted fans the moment he stepped on the red carpet, stopping to receive flowers, take selfies and also hand out his signature to a lucky fan.
Kim Jaejoong shared, "As opposed to the 12 years for me to return, I'm truly moved that you haven't forgotten me and have waited so patiently for me. You can't see it but I'm about to tear up. I'm sincerely touched (by this)."
The presscon lasted for almost an hour with Jaejoong continuing to take photos with the concert's photo op benefit winners. You can view the full presscon footage on our YouTube channel here and review some highlights from our photo gallery here.
On concert day, fans from all around Malaysia and across the region such as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and as far as the USA and Canada filled Plenary Hall, KLCC with a sea of red through their outfits and red lightsticks. The show was opened by a yet-to-debut idol trainee group called M.I.C. (Made in CJes) who were mentored by Jaejoong himself and other artists from the same agency, CJes Entertainment. The hopeful trainees wowed the crowd through their showcase of vocal, rap and dance talents and also performed covers from Jaejoong's group such as Found You (찾았다) and Mission.
Superstar Kim Jaejoong started off the show with a dramatic rock number, Just Another Girl from his album WWW, whilst accompanied by his live band that was flown in from Korea. Once the song ended, fans were already enthusiastically chanting his name which made him grin sheepishly. He apologized that it took him 12 years to return, bowing deeply to the crowd.
Kim Jaejoong shared in one of his ments, "One thing I can promise you is that I will quickly return to Malaysia. Maybe next year or the year after that? I will definitely come find you all in Malaysia soon. Let's make a promise! I also learned a word in Malay yesterday... Cantik? You guys (are) so cantik!"
He continued on to perform two upbeat tracks, BPM and Tick-Tack from his latest album, Born Gene. However, it was like a rollercoaster ride as Jaejoong switched pace to something more mellow through Let The Rhythm Flow, then switched to another fast-paced bop, Welcome To My Wild World. All of which showcased his spectacular vocals as Jaefans cheered and sang along with the singer.
As Jaejoong went backstage to change between sets, the audience was served with behind the scenes footage and Q&As from his past experiences and childhood. This segment left a lot of fans teary as they reminisced along with him.
Carrying on with these melancholic feelings, the singer who was adorned in a white, prince-like outfit, launched into an emotionally mesmerizing array of ballads such as I Want To Ask You, Locking Love and Broken Mirror. All we can say was that the hall was entranced by his excellent vocals and ethereal beauty.
As a performer with a great voice & strong versatility, Jaejoong then hyped up the crowd with various rock numbers without even catching a breath. Fans instead, were left breathless as he performed favorites such as Butterfly, 9+1# and Mine. Shortly after ending the powerful rock set, Jaejoong was surprised to see a special placard event prepared by fans which formed the phrase "Abang Jaejoong", a Malay word for Jaejoong oppa.
The artist in a confused state asked what it meant and was once again rendered shy as fans heatedly shouted "Jaejoong oppa!" to him. After regaining his composure, Jaejoong swiftly swapped out his sparkly black jacket for a much simpler white t-shirt, on stage. Needless to say, fans were whipped into a frenzy by this wonderful sight and he quipped, "No matter which country (you're from), you're all the same..."
Jaejoong also shared that the wound he had gotten during his Seoul concert had reopened while he was performing Mine. The singer-actor cutely whined to the fans that it hurt while showing his injury to the camera. Not going to lie, the wound did look like it really hurt but kudos to him for continuing on to perform two more songs, Good Morning Night and Walking On Water. As with every Kim Jaejoong concert, a show will not be complete without multiple runs of Good Morning Night which in this case was four rounds of the song. A few lucky fans even received the concert's slogan towel as a gift from the artist himself.
During the encore stage and final ment, Jaejoong once again apologized that he couldn't stay longer as he had a flight to catch the same night. While it was unfortunate, the artist promised that he would return to Malaysia to greet the fans soon. The last song of the night was from his latest album and title track, Nobody Like You. Fans and Jaejoong were showered with multi-colored confetti which carved a huge smile on everyone's faces.
It was clear that the artist and fans had shared a very memorable night together, one that would remain in their minds for a very long time. We truly hope that Kim Jaejoong will return to visit Malaysian Jaefans as soon as possible and that it won't take another 12 years for the next reunion.
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KpopStarz would like to thank the organizer, iMe Malaysia for inviting us to experience the wonderful show.
Article by Farah Fairuz | Photos by iMe Malaysia
