A Rendezvous in Manila with GOT7’s Park Jinyoung

Concert Reviews 0

Promise kept. Park Jinyoung met his Ahgases once again.

Continuing the tingi version of GOT7, the lead vocalist and the actor of the group Park Jinyoung held his first solo fan concert, 2023 PARK JINYOUNG FANCONCERT [RENDEZVOUS]: A Secret Meeting Between You and Me, on February 26, 2023, at the New Frontier Theater.

Being multi-talented, it’s no surprise that Jinyoung met and entertained his Ahgases with a night filled with surprises and performances. We dare to say that he provided one of the best fan experiences we’ve ever seen in the K-Pop world.

Here’s what went down with the heartthrob’s memorable night with the Ahgases, who never failed to paint the town green whenever a GOT7 member turn up on the Philippine shores.

Up close and Personal

A playful and confident Jinyoung greeted the media for a press conference ahead of his scheduled fan concert last Sunday. The questions highlighted the actor/musician’s career as a solo artist and as an actor and how he’s able to navigate both of them. He made some lighthearted digs with Kring Kim, who was hosting the press conference, further showcasing his charm.

When asked what things changed the most about himself in the past decade, Jinyoung replied that the way he spoke has changed. He mentioned he used to speak in a dialect, but now he speaks in a Seoul dialect. He also made a playful comment about how he got taller along with his muscles!

Ahead of his fan meeting that Sunday, Jinyoung met the members of the press and shared his experiences as a solo artist, acting, and more.

Jinyoung, who has played notable roles throughout the past ten years, was asked about his greatest challenges. Humbly and honestly speaking, the actor said that all of them looked simple in the beginning but they became challenging as he was building the character, so he found all the roles difficult to play. He’s currently filming “Witch” a webtoon-based drama and currently plays a character called “Dong-Jin.” Jinyoung expressed that the character is challenging as he had to put a lot of thought into playing it.

He was asked about his future acting goals when the subject of acting came up. As a growing actor, he stated that he wants to test all the parts and play on their many charms, as well as indicate that he wants to play a character his age. When asked if he had any seniors who he looked up to or admired, he cited the veteran actor Lee Byung-Hun, whom he respected and who was recently happy to meet.

As a multi-talented artist, Jinyoung also embarked on a solo music career like the rest of the GOT7 members. He jokingly voiced out that he liked that the preparation time is shorter compared to having all 7 members of GOT7 prepare together. But officially answering the question, despite the short preparation time, he found that being with the members is more enjoyable and he feels lonely at times without them. With a blossoming solo career comes the Rendevouz tour. When was if there were any rendezvous or encounters that he will never forget in his life, he answered having a concert with GOT7 and releasing an album after a long break and after the pandemic is something memorable for him. He said this kind of memory has hit his big, especially performing right in front of the fans.

Ahead of his fan meeting that Sunday, Jinyoung met the members of the press and shared his experiences as a solo artist, acting, and more.

Jinyoung was moved by the thought that despite the fact that GOT7 hasn’t toured in a while, the fans are still eagerly awaiting their arrival. The next time he performs, he wants to bring the GOT7 members along so they may join him and enjoy a joyful performance as a way of showing his appreciation to the fans.

When asked what are his plans for 2023, Jinyoung expressed he wanted to complete the fan meets first, the one in the Philippines and Taiwan successfully. He also wants to do his best with the current drama he’s filming until the end of shooting.

Toward the end of the press conference, he gave the fans a short message:

“I want to thank Philippines Ahgase for waiting for me for such a long time although I was not able to come here for a long time. To make up for the years that we have not met, I want to communicate with the fans by always showing new aspects of me. And thank you always, and I will most definitely come back.”

PARK JINYOUNG

One of the notable things about his answers is even though they are mostly about him, he is still able to squeeze in something about his group, GOT7, a true testament that even though they are all on their solo careers, the brotherhood still stands.

The Rendezvous

Jinyoung opened the fan meeting with the song “Coming Home” from JJ Project and his solo song “Cotton Candy”’ from his recently released album CHAPTER 0: WITH, which Jinyoung co-wrote and co-produced. He mentioned that he started creating the album around 2-3 years ago.

From the get-go, the concert felt familiar yet new as Jinyoung immediately connected with the fans. There were a lot of back-and-forth jabs and shouts of love between him and the Ahgases. When pointed to doing so many activities and asked how the people around him feel, he mentioned he doesn’t think about it that much as the fans are important and he is doing all the things he does for the fans.
A notable moment was when Kring Kim, the lovely host for the evening pointed out that the crowd in a section has caught Jinyoung’s attention a lot with their hyper energy and Jinyoung said, “THIS IS AHGASE”, solidifying his closeness with the fandom.

Segment 1: Actor Park Jinyoung

This segment highlights Jinyoung’s acting roles over the years. On stage, four bears recorded his voice. The phrases recorded were keywords related to the time and drama that Jinyoung has accomplished previously.

The first bear said, “Aspiring Actor” which talked about “My Love Eun-dong”, in which he reminisced about the role when he was 22 years old. He played a middle school student, who is innocent and sweet. Jinyoung mentioned that playing the character helped shape who he is. The role made him realize that there are things that he can improve in and wanted to do better as an actor. He also re-enacted a moment where he tapped dance for the fans! A proud moment to be his fan isn’t it? There’s no better feeling than to see someone you already look up to, do even better than he doing all ready to make you prouder!

The second bear uttered, “Baby Prosecutor” for the drama, “The Devil Judge.” And in line with the character he played, he was asked what superpower he wants to have to which he answered “teleportation” so he can visit Ahgases more often.

The third bear surprisingly talked in Tagalog, “tumingin sa labas ng bintana”, which hinted at the movie “Christmas Carol” in which he played two roles, a challenging acting venture as both of the characters he played carried intense personalities. The actor mentioned that he learned a lot from playing such characters and at first, he doubted if he would be able to execute good acting for the movie but he found it enjoyable as he did it and learned a lot from the experience. Playing the characters made him realize that it can expand his acting skills and use them in the future.

The fourth bear uttered, “Cutie Person, Babi” was a hint at the second season of the TV show, Yumi’s Cells. He compared himself to Yoo Babi who he mentioned he jokingly had a similarity in terms of attitude: they’re both good guys. Some of the Ahgases teased him and said otherwise. Kring Kim read a quote from the writers of Yumi Cells that no one can do it better than Jinyoung and they won’t continue a third season if he wasn’t playing the character.

On the question of what Yumi’s Cells means to him, he mentioned that it was again the acting experience he learned from doing such characters and learned a lot from the seniors that he played the characters with. He expressed that these are little wisdom he picked up and wants to use in the future for other roles. I guess we can all expect more TV dramas and movies from Jinyoung and see more sides of him down the road!

Jinyoung’s Gift

One of the most exciting parts of the evening is when Jinyoung prepared a segment where he picked four fans from the lottery box that contained the seat and ticket numbers of fans from the VIP section! The lucky four fans will be going to the stage and will take a picture with Jinyoung using a polaroid camera! Midway through his ticket selection, the singer/actor realized that he will only spend a night with the Philippine Ahgases so he decided to pick another fan, which totals up to 5 lucky fans to get on stage and meet him up close and personal.

One of the notable fans that went up the stage has been a fan of Jinyoung since the beginning of his career, all the way back from JJ Project to GOT7. A well-deserved hug of the night (because yes, Jinyoung hugged ALL of the fans that went to the stage to meet him) was given to the lucky fan, surely gratitude for the continuous support she has given the talented Park Jinyoung.

From putting a towel on the skirted fans who he sat down next to, to endless posing requests and more hugs, plus an additional lucky fan just because the Ahgases requested one more lucky girl whose hands he took, it surely was an image of bliss and what those fanfiction moments we all just read about. Jinyoung looked comfortable and genuinely looked like he was having the time of his life himself.

Jinyoung’s Moments

The handsome man of the hour wanted to share more with the Ahgases of his precious memories by showing never-before-seen pictures. He shared pictures taken by his members (and he said these are special because he’s always the one who takes their pictures), a picture of him in a military uniform (that gathered protests around the theater because of a dread we all fear our male idols have to go through), a picture of him pre-debut—way before debuting in JJ project and memorizing lines and a picture from the location where they shot the photobook, “Hey Guys” all revealed from the syllables of “Jinyoung’s Moments” respectively.

When asked if there are ways how preserves all the pictures he took, Park Jinyoung answered that he does have a program that keeps all the pictures he’s taken over the years and mysteriously revealed that all of the pictures he got, including the members of GOT7, are there. He previously added that his phone is a “dangerous phone” because it has way too many secrets and most probably embarrassing pictures of the seven.

Message Board for Park Jinyoung

When you thought meeting the fans on stage was over, Jinyoung prepared another portion of the evening to meet his fans up close.

Before the fans entered the theater, they were asked to write small messages in post-its and placed them on a board. During this segment, Jinyoung carefully chose 6 messages from 6 fans and asked them to go up the stage for a gift!

Fans went a whole 360 degrees from the messages: from long heartfelt messages from fans to Ahgases putting stickers on the post-its, hard-hitting one-liners, to a fan asking him on a dance battle (he did do the dance battle!), it was not only fun for the fans who were lucky to go on stage but also to the rest of Ahgases who witnessed these glorious once in a lifetime meet and greets. It was a bonus that he gave them gifts, but to actually hug and even interact with THE Park Jinyoung was something else. The segment ensued various reactions from the crowd and Jinyoung himself as the fans on stage shone with the artist. He mentioned that the fans might be getting a euphoric kick but he’s the one who felt a huge wave of happiness from being able to give the fans happiness.

The second stop of the Rendevouz

While preparing for the second portion of the evening, Mr. Park Jinyoung showed his fans a special behind-the-scenes video of him recording music and doing a dance practice. He emerged wearing a bright blue fluffy sweater and greeted the fans once again.

When asked where did he get the passion and energy he showed in the video, he said that when he realized that people are waiting for him, it motivates him to just keep on going and going and do his best. I think it’s safe to say that the inspiration comes from both ways, Jinyoung and the Ahgases, and Jinyoung did not want to disappoint the fans.

That is why he prepared even more events through the night. He sang a “Happy Birthday” to the fans who were celebrating their birthdays in February and asked the fans who were specifically celebrating their birthdays that day to come up on stage! 6 fans in total were celebrating and even though there were only 3 gifts originally for this segment, Jinyoung insisted that they all come up to the stage and give the other 3 gifts, all signed by the man himself.

Just like the first two portions of the evening which included laughter, happiness, and funny moments with fans, this portion was not any different. What made this segment special though was the personalized birthday scrolls Jinyoung gave to the first 3 fans, with customized messages requested by the fans themselves. How lucky it is to meet your idol on your birthday and have him wish you the happiest birthday with gifts? Not everyone can share this experience!

To seal off the first part of the evening, (yes, that was only part one of the evening), he felt energized and felt like it was just the beginning of a concert. Jinyoung sang ballads to the fans that were included in his album Chapter 0: WTH. He passionately sang “Letter” and “Animal”, and beautifully at that.

He showed a video of his career progression right after and jumped on the stage with an energetic classic song he released with JJ Project, called “Bounce.” Of course, a GOT7 medley is a must for a GOT7 member so from the feel-good songs “A” to “Just Right”, and transitioning to the fast-paced “Hard Carry” to “You Calling my Name”, Jinyoung did not miss a beat. He was out of breath after the performance before the sweet fan project the Ahgases prepared.

Ahgases surprised the singer-actor with a fan video message. The 6-minute video featured fans speaking in different dialects of the country, taken from all across the Philippines, and heartwarming messages with clips of him and the rest of the GOT7 members playing in the video. The fans raised their banner while singing his song “Sleep Well” and you can tell that there were not enough words to describe the incredible love and effort the fans gave him. They commemorated the moment with a picture of the fans and Jinyoung and he was almost speechless after the dedication.

Jinyoung dedicated the pre-encore song to the members of GOT7 and to remember the happy memories he had with them which is titled, “Our Miracle.”

Encore

The encore is every bit as enjoyable and memorable as the rest of the fan meet as this time we get to see Jinyoung’s artistic side in music. He sang, “Sleep Well” and gave a message to the fans that he will be leaving for a long period, (literally choked up when he said this because we all know what this means) but thanked the fans anyway for waiting for him. The GOT7 member then mentioned that he wasn’t expecting that he’ll be standing in a fan meet without the rest of his members. Still, he expressed his delight to be able to stand on his own, sealing his successful solo artistry. He hopes that his performances and efforts can be a driving force to look forward to the next time Jinyoung and the fans meet again.

After this, he performed the song “Dive”, a 2021 single he released, and “Last Piece”, a GOT7 song from their album Breath of Love: Last Piece, and “NANANA” from the album GOT7. He dedicated the song “Home Run” to the group’s leader, Jay B.

It seemed like Park Jinyoung did not want to go home as he continued to talk to the fans and the Filo Ahgases chanting our ever-famous, “Walang uuwi!” as we certainly don’t want our idol to go home either. But all good things come to an end and Jinyoung sealed the night with the song “Encore” by GOT7.

Jinyoung thanked the fans for the hundredth time that night before saying goodbye and expresses his hope that when he comes back to the Philippines, it will be with all the members of GOT7. You can tell that the beloved group is more of a family than a bunch of friends in a band with the Ahgases always two steps behind wherever they go.

Indeed, GOT7 and the Ahgases are a sealed deal forever and we are all waiting for the moment that one day they do come back together, finally ending the tingi concert version saga of the group, and it will all finally feel like home.

Park Jinyoung’s Letter

“Hello, this is Park Jinyoung.
It’s already been 10 years since we have been together. I cannot express all the love that I have received so far but I wanted to show my love for you, in this letter, although it may be a bit short.
Last year, I participated in lots of projects including a show GOT7 project and a solo album. I was so happy spending busy days because you guys, my fans were with me in all those moments like always. I was able to have enjoyable and fulfilling experiences. We have so many differences including nationality and gender but we are connected as one and I can feel that we have the same hearts.
Although after this precious moment, we have a short goodbye, like always I will do my best wherever I am so that I can proudly meet my fans. I will wait for the day that we can meet again. I think that our faith and hearts can always be connected.
‘Till the next time we meet, please stay happy and hold healthy always.
Goodbye.”

PARK JINYOUNG

Words and photos by Arielle Elep

The 2023 PARK JINYOUNG FANCONCERT – RENDEZVOUS in Manila is presented by PULP Live World and Happee Hour.

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