Korea's Rain electrifies HK at start of Asia tour
By James Pomfret
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HONG KONG, Jan 13 (Reuters Life!) - South Korean pop sensation Rain kicked off the Asia leg of his world tour in Hong Kong with legions of screaming female fans, fireball pyrotechnics and trademark trendy dancing.
"How are you," the pan-Asian heart-throb asked in Hong Kong's native Cantonese dialect shortly after going on stage, arousing an even more defeaning din from the audience.
The 24-year-old performer, whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, has taken Asia by storm since his 2002 debut, selling millions of albums and becoming one of the few stars who have managed to transcend Asia's diverse cultural divide.
He has sold out concerts in New York's Madison Square Garden and was even voted by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. The "Rain's Coming" tour, his second to date, has been compared to Madonna's latest global tour in terms of scale and was put together by some of the same people who have worked with international stars such as Britney Spears.
Rain started his six-month long world tour in December with concerts in his hometown Seoul and Las Vegas. His promoters expect ticket sales to total 100 billion won ($108.7 million). In Asia, he will perform in 17 cities in 11 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Japan. Some concerts have been sold out months in advance.
Fans in Hong Kong at Friday night's opening show could barely suppress their glee at seeing the boyish, clean-cut star who's high-energy moves -- and on stage chest-baring -- have often drawn comparisons to U.S. pop star Justin Timberlake.
"We're very excited," crooned 14 year old Vaness Ng who was at the concert with a classmate, "We love watching him dance and sing. He's much better than Aaron Kwok," she added referring to one of Hong Kong's four so-called Kings of Canto-pop.
Rain counts Charlie Chaplin and Michael Jackson among his favourite performers, and their influence could be seen in his stage garb and dance moves.
Pounding his white-gloved fists into the air and flinging himself across the stage, Rain told his fans in American-accented English: "I'm sure our concert's going to be fantastic!"
Apart for his musical and acting successes, the South Korean star has been soaring in other ways too. Korean Air emblazoned an image of a bare-chested Rain with angel's wings on the exterior of one of its airbus 300 planes to fly him and his crew around the world's cities on this tour.
source: Yahoo Singapore e-news
site link: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070113/3/45y42.html
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HONG KONG, Jan 13 (Reuters Life!) - South Korean pop sensation Rain kicked off the Asia leg of his world tour in Hong Kong with legions of screaming female fans, fireball pyrotechnics and trademark trendy dancing.
"How are you," the pan-Asian heart-throb asked in Hong Kong's native Cantonese dialect shortly after going on stage, arousing an even more defeaning din from the audience.
The 24-year-old performer, whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, has taken Asia by storm since his 2002 debut, selling millions of albums and becoming one of the few stars who have managed to transcend Asia's diverse cultural divide.
He has sold out concerts in New York's Madison Square Garden and was even voted by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. The "Rain's Coming" tour, his second to date, has been compared to Madonna's latest global tour in terms of scale and was put together by some of the same people who have worked with international stars such as Britney Spears.
Rain started his six-month long world tour in December with concerts in his hometown Seoul and Las Vegas. His promoters expect ticket sales to total 100 billion won ($108.7 million). In Asia, he will perform in 17 cities in 11 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Japan. Some concerts have been sold out months in advance.
Fans in Hong Kong at Friday night's opening show could barely suppress their glee at seeing the boyish, clean-cut star who's high-energy moves -- and on stage chest-baring -- have often drawn comparisons to U.S. pop star Justin Timberlake.
"We're very excited," crooned 14 year old Vaness Ng who was at the concert with a classmate, "We love watching him dance and sing. He's much better than Aaron Kwok," she added referring to one of Hong Kong's four so-called Kings of Canto-pop.
Rain counts Charlie Chaplin and Michael Jackson among his favourite performers, and their influence could be seen in his stage garb and dance moves.
Pounding his white-gloved fists into the air and flinging himself across the stage, Rain told his fans in American-accented English: "I'm sure our concert's going to be fantastic!"
Apart for his musical and acting successes, the South Korean star has been soaring in other ways too. Korean Air emblazoned an image of a bare-chested Rain with angel's wings on the exterior of one of its airbus 300 planes to fly him and his crew around the world's cities on this tour.
source: Yahoo Singapore e-news
site link: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070113/3/45y42.html
posted by Flor at 7:51 PM
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