MBC Gayo Daejaejoon, officially translated as MBC Music Festival, is the largest year end music show this year (lasting for the longest time, spread over 4 locations, with the most teams) and A-JAX was lucky enough to be scheduled for this. I didn't manage to get tickets in the lucky draw but since A-JAX was at the lobby where the only big acts were Beast and FTI-CNBlue, I managed to find tickets eventually, with the help of korean friends on my T-list. So I arrived at 6.30am at Ilsan MBC Dream Center, there was a namelist to get ourselves on (entry is via ticket numbers distributed on a 1st-come-1st-served basis at 10am), and once again I was lucky to meet another A-JAX fansite master I knew to help me send the required MMS (My prepaid SIM card can't send MMS, urgh) so I then hid out at Lotteria until I had to go back for timechecks.... fast-forwarding the story, I got my ticket (No.43) and decided to go into the cafe at the side of MBC lobby to thaw myself out, and not too long after at 10.50am, a remix of 2MYX rang out!
To commemorate the upcoming Special Olympics going to be held at Yongpyong Pyongchang, Simply Kpop's team brought the show to Yongpyong Ski Resort as a special New Year's episode - and our boys are invited, so off I went too. (Simply K-pop did not provide me transport or pay - I went on my own. If not for A-JAX, I really won't have bothered... T_T)
FREEZING COLD is the word for it... - 16 degrees... first time in my life!
Given the cold, they weren't required to do any rehearsals - just a walk out to the stage, have them test the stage ground for sturdiness and slipperiness (leader and Sungmin and Hyojun jumped up and down on it for a bit, lol), then they were told by the PD that they can return to the waiting room - Hyeong Kon literally blurted out happily "Oh, that's all!?". Haha. And once he stepped on stage, Jaehyung looked around, spotted me waiting below the stage, and waved at me - FINALLY, I was a bit worried there that he was annoyed by me being there again, so with this, my mind is put at ease - he held back in the waiting room only due to my 'unique' position. (see below)
For an idea of just how cold it was... look at the white puffs emitting from their breath and look carefully at the slightly teary eyes of Hyeongkon, Jaehyung, and Seungjin - poor boys really worked hard for this. Seungjin himself told a fan at the fansigning the day after, that he caught a cold from this. T_T I was in 5 layers, including a down jacket, so my body was fine but my extremities were feeling like they really got frostbitten (I only had leather gloves on...) and I could not even feel the shutter button after being out in the cold waiting for A-JAX's turn (sat through 4 other teams and a long MC - 'omg Hanbyul-ie, please hurry up!') and the boys were out for a shorter time but they were only wearing their performance outfits - for Hyeong Kon and HyoJun and Seungjin, 1 layer, for the others, 2... so generally we were all dying. But they couldn't grimace, they had to bear with it... oww.
The place was 3 hours away from Seoul, the boys left at about 3pm and got there at about 6pm, and didn't eat, all there were in the waiting room were cookies and chocolate pie snacks... they must have been pretty hungry, when they heard there were snacks they quickly came out and started hunting for something to munch on... and there was only 1 heater, so after freezing out there for about 20 minutes, they went back in, made a beeline for the heater, got video-interviewed, and after that I remember HyoJun furiously trying to thaw out his frozen toes.. they only wore normal socks and leather shoes. (I was in motorcycle boots and woolen socks and still thought my toes were gonna fall off)... I was too busy trying to hide my face from the video camera while thawing myself out at the same heater to pay much attention. (The managers knows me and don't really like me (a fan) being there as staff but I had to do my job AND stay alive too... so I generally just stayed out of the boys' way as much as possible and didn't take photos of them backstage. And the boys knew too (I wrote to Jaehyung about it in a letter and I guess he told them?) so they avoided meeting my eyes too. AWKWARD. Instead I could chat with the Big Star and Ledapple members normally... though I went to a a few Ledapple events and the boys saw me before... the manager doesnt recognise me I think, he only knows me as Simply K-pop staff, phew. So he greeted me happily...)
Good job guys.... at least the performance itself went off without a hitch, which is more than I can say for some other teams...
P.S. Seungyeop was grinning like a lark in most of my pics, I asked him at the fansign why he seemed so happy and relaxed, he said he like the cold. O_o This boy is weak when it comes to dumbbell-lifting but his insulation power is daebak...!! Haha.
Finally, what I've been waiting for - a chance to shoot A-JAX in studio! *_* They performed "Intro+2MYX"
But for some unfanthomable reasoning the fan manager will only give me my attendance stamp if I sit at the side with the fans instead of at the front with the cameras. So I only had 1 chance to shoot them head-on - A-JAX does perfect rehearsals without a single screw-up. T_T And the rest were from the side, they were short of fans on the right side so that was where I had to sit (so far from my Jaehyung! T_T) and I had an unbalanced no. of shots for the other members - Hyeong Kon and Seungyeop were closest...
I'd warned Jaehyung that I'm going to be there shooting them as staff, I'm not sure if he mentioned it to the other members or they remember from the previous 'Hot Game' appearance, but they didn't look at all surprised to see me in the waiting/staff room. And they were in a hurry and pretty much just passed straight through, only Seungyeop stayed behind to get his hair adjusted so that was the only shot I had. (the managers were thoroughly shocked, and not-so-happy, to see me there though. ><" Luckily the writer of SK stood up for me...)
As for the actual recording, they performed 2 times. ^^ In between takes they stayed out in center to repair their make-up, drink water etc. in full view of the audience, so... I've included in the not-so-BTS shots too.
(My google picasa album quota maxed out so I'm switching to imgur for now. Embedded galleries so you have to scroll less... what do you think of the change? ^^ )
Group Photos
Jaehyung gets his own gallery because he had the most pictures... ^^;;
Afraid that they would suddenly have a pre-recording again, I went to MCountdown early in the morning with my laptop and camped there for the entire day (but unfortunately, no). Missed A-JAX coming down and going into the waiting room near 4pm as I just happened to have gone to the washroom toilet at that time, was fretting about it when Yunyoung strolled out with the manager to go to the washroom (Waved and he saw me and waved back happily! Haha, boy is in high spirits today) - and 30secs later most of the other members (except Hyeong Kon and Seungjin) did too! <3 It was too fast for me to react, could not even reach for anything, so I just waved... but I was prepared when they came out - went up to Jaehyung and passed him my Sapporo "White Lovers" cookies (comeback stage gift), and blurted a "Later, HWAITING!" at him - and he smiled so sweetly and thanked me. <3 I was already in a good mood from this, but my friend told me something else that made me *_* more - she was there throughout (the same one whose shoulders I loaned when I was having a mental breakdown in front of Jaehyung at Show Champion the day before) said that Jaehyung kept staring at her when they had walked down and I wasn't there - probably wondering why I'm not there with her? Since the 2 of us were standing right in front of him and whispering and giggling like crazy loons for an hour on Tuseday, so he knows we're friends... (He knows she's not his fan, she's Seungyeop's, usually he would just ignore other members' fans... ) So.... <3<3<3 I'm not "out of sight, out of mind"!
During the show itself, I was in center 4-5th-row, but with my uchiwa and A-JAX slogan, HyoJun, Hyeongkon spotted me and waved. Seungyeop also saw my friend who was with me and waved too. ^^ Jaehyung was further behind at starting position so none. But at the ending prize giving, they happened so be standing on our side (phew!), so I stuck my fan out, and my pink JAEHYUNG LED was back again so he spotted me and waved too. Well he's trying to act cool this time so I laid off the 'heart' signs today. He knows I love him anyway. Lol!
And after the show, they happened to come by the lobby - first time round, when they were entering the waiting room, I just hung back and took pictures, and when they were coming out to leave, OOH! Jaehyung was holding the bag I had given him earlier with the cookies - and there's actually a letter inside too. So I just went to Jaehyung and told him that there's a letter inside, don't just eat the cookies and throw the bag away! Lol. And he's like... "Letter? Oh, ok!" ^^
And when their van was leaving, Hyeong Kon and Jaehyung's windows were open again, so I just went sorta near (but din bother to fight with those trying to get a touch - stayed in 2nd row) and said loudly "See you tomorrow! Coming in to work!" - the minute he saw me he paused and stared. ^^ It's good when they recognise you as their own fan. Haha.
It was really dark and I was afraid of getting kicked out from the lobby so I didn't have the chances to test settings, these are the best I can do... only a couple, literally. ><" Yunyoung's was all blurred and I didn't even see Seungjin. Caught the back of HyoJun only.
I'm a total Jaehyung-bias (with some Hyeong Kon thrown in as well for my Japanese friend... ) As you probably can tell... Umma-Appa combination? Haha.
Fanacc/Staff Acc - An amusing incident occured, A-JAX was pre-recording in the morning at 1130am instead of in the evening with the other artistes, so it being my first day to 'work', I was a little confused and just waiting outside the waiting/staff room wondering if I was supposed to go in on my own or someone would come out to pick me up (I had met the person-in-charge earlier and gotten my 'staff' pass and was told to come back at the timing of the A-JAX pre-recording) - and A-JAX suddenly appeared. (all the other A-Lights had entered the studio to seat themselves already). As they filed past me to get into the waiting room, I reacted on instinct and just bowed to them, speaking in polite form "Annyeonghaseyo~" and they all bowed and "Annyeonghaseyo"-ed back - then we all looked back up and Hyeong Kon + Seungjin + Yunyoung had a perplexed look on their face as they recognised me.as one of their fans, but I was somewhere where a fan should not be, and more importantly, was tagged "STAFF" - lol! Jaehyung just stared blankly. ^^:; Wanted very much to tag into the room with them but didn't want to jeopadize my 'job', I waited outside still, leaning against the wall, when a couple of minutes later, at the same time when a staff finally came and started giving me directions, someone came out from the room and I instinctively plastered myself against the wall for him to pass - only to recognise that it was Jaehyung! 20cm away! X_X Of course I blurted out a friendly "Annyeong....." then realised that I should tag on the "haseyo", since I'm 'staff' for that day, at least! Lol. He turned and gave me an amused look, saw that I was talking to staff there, and went off towards the toilet. I then followed the staff into the studio, discussing (in English) where I was supposed to stand and take photos, strolling past all the other A-JAX members who were getting themselves fixed up with mics and stuff, and a few of them ogled at me again, probably thinking 1. "isn't that our fan!?" 2. "why is she practically ignoring us though?" 3. "she's staff?" 4. "she speaks english?"
Hey guys, yes, in case you've not realised it yet, you've got a foreign A-Light here in Korea. And no, not Japanese. Haha.
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Usually MBC lets in 3 teams' fans to do 3 artistes' pre-recording at once, and since f(x) pre-recording timing and A-JAX are only 30 mins apart, I thought they would be combined, so I contemplated queueing with f(x) instead since my chances of getting into the live would be higher that way - but my guess was off and we A-JAX fans had to exit the studio before the next pre-recording, for Teen Top. Kinda strange especially because it was the big studio we were using today, so it's not like there was no space... but amazingly enough, we A-JAX fans were allowed into MBC today (finally!), so read on for the full report...<br />
Anyway, A-Jax did 3 rounds, including the camera rehearsal round. As usual, Jaehyung gave me a small smile upon spotting me, before starting - I was in front center, smack in front of him again, lol. He also cracked a big smile upon looking at something to the right - I think a fan must have been holding a humorous placard or something. Anyway, I noticed that Jaehyung seems to smile less before performing - nerves, perhaps? ^^;; <br />
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- Last Sat at MBC precording, a fan was kicked out for yelling out to them during pre-recording between rounds, so we were very careful to keep quiet today. <br />
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- Their outfits had a lot of silver bits stuck on it, and as they danced it kept falling out - in fact, Seungjin's flew so far, a fan apparently got it somehow - I think it fell offstage and she asked the staff for it or something? Between takes, the boys (Jaehyung didn't though) and the dancers were picking up the bits too. <br />
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- Also, Jaehyung n Seungyeop bumped into each other in 2nd round, lol. Except for a quick glance from Jaehyung at Seungyeop, they acted like nothing happened but the minute the cameras stopped running they just ran to each other, held each other and laughed madly. <br />
- Interestingly enough, Jaehyung's hair was black today...? But just blonde yesterday? And black on tuesday? So the Korean fans were telling me that probably, it's actually blonde, but sprayed black for every music show performances. ><" Poor boy... that has to be time-consuming, PLUS a headache to wash out at the end of the day, everytime. <br />
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- And due to my central position, Hyeong Kon and Hyo Jun KEPT STARING AT ME. It was kinda embarassing. Haha. Hyeong Kon's gaze was just so intense, and Hyo Jun just kept grinning. But it's no use, you two, I WILL NOT BUDGE FROM JAEHYUNG-IE's CAMP. ^^;; <br />
Anyway, FINALLY, A-JAX fans were allowed into the MBC live (after the last 2 weeks when we were sent off right after pre-recording), so we gotta see them perform for a short time again - they had to leave the stage right before Hyeong Kon's rap part - and then I waited for them outside MBC. It was kinda chaotic as some KPO kr xmms that were not A-JAX fans got in the way and blocked my camera view/shoved me around so I can't even focus properly...one silly bint standing in a prime spot was even holding a huge-ass umbrella up, so no one behind her could see a thing...aish. And they all ran out onto the road, so I had to do the same or my camera would be totally blocked. >< A car narrowly whizzed by, Hyeong Kon was so shocked as it passed really close to their car when his head was kinda sticking out, and practically over the toes of the fangirls - he gaped, pointed, then quickly looked behind to see if more were coming. I have that captured on my video.... hilarious, his faces.<br />
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And as usual, Jaehyung showed off his megawatt smile plus 'V' poses for the cameras, and when he spotted me, he just sorta stared then gave me a lazy smile and waved too. What the... what's with the half-lidded seductive gaze? Jaehyung-ah...what's with the different treatment? Do you dislike noona, or are you trying to seduce noona? I can't tell... T_T AND my camera lost focus at that exact moment, so in the blurred video you can tell he was looking my way but can't see his face clearly! ><"<br />
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(Will upload photos/videos of A-JAX after editing them later. )<br />
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If you've noticed - I've stopped posting photos taken in live music shows here, because I don't take them in the studios anymore. After MBC Show Champion's incident 3 weeks ago which resulted in the culprit permanently banned from Show Champion audience, both with FC or General line, and him being also banned from all A-JAX FC queues in music programs, I've realised how seriously they're treating this issue - and although I can't agree with their insane obsession with stopping fancams, I am but just a small-fry and my opinion doesn't matter. <U>Defying their instructions will only get myself, and the fandom I like, into trouble</U> - eg. A-JAX fans were not given a quota for FC entry into Show Champion after that - so I have decided to lay off the camera unless it's in openly-allowed outdoor performances. Apparently, Infinite had a lot of fancams/fan photos leaked out, and so quite a few broadcasters are breathing down their necks, cutting their FC audience quota or not even allowing them in for pre-recordings altogether.</i>
"Gamjang norasseoyo" ie. totally surprised, is one word I should add into my vocab. I've used it so many times in the last few days... firstly, when going in to the CJ&EM building to await entrance to the studio, A-JAX passed me on the steps! So stunned, I could not even for any words, other than "Annyeong..." My eyes were only on Jaehyung though! He was all but 20cm away! *_* So handsome up close too... he smiled and nodded at me when i nod-bowed at him! Plus the 2 times wave earlier, when I saw them going up and down the stairs from the outside... ok, 100% sure he recognises me now. But today, there were only 5 A-Jax fans here - the fanstaff got notice too late to make a daum post so fans mostly didn't come even though there were fanseat quota for A-JAX. ><" .
At the end of it, the PD asked us all to stay and help act as crowd support for A-JAX - which of course I did! Though I should have been in the front row, since I'm one of the few A-Jax fans there, but the girls in front of me refused to let me through. But in any case I'll was still standing at dead center, 3th row~, and Jaehyung still managed to find me to provide fanservice again. <3 and sweet smile+wave! Overall, the boys were working hard to pull in more fans by pointing and waving non-stop, though I still got extra attention from Jaehyung - the 2 korean girls beside me were staring at me with a "what the...??" look. ^^;; And the new outfit is super cool! It's black and still sparkly! Please look forward to it!
Fancam from when I waited outside for A-Jax today:
And because VIXX members came by, here is a fancam for the VIXX fans too:
I like N, everytime I see him he has a bright grin on his face. Hongbin too.
120613 - Arirang Simply K-pop Recording - A-JAX
Posted at 10:02 PM
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A bit different from regular music shows, Simply K-pop tapings takes places every other week and records enough material for 2 weeks' worth of broadcast at once. Hence, the taping sometimes takes place over the entire Wed afternoon+evening, and may be broven into 'parts', so you have to check the artist list according and decide which one you would like to go for. For today, it was divided into 3 parts, and due to my being cross-eyed and mis-reading the timings, I didn't manage to get there in time for Part 2. So I sat around and waited for Part 3, it was a near 2-hr wait, and it just so happened that I could see the artistes going in and out of the studio - BTOB who was recording for Part 2 was there and a couple of Singaporean Dalmation+BTOB fans there got so excited, they initially attempted to take photos but the guard threatened to kick us all out from the area so they stopped and just waved frantically+showed their iPads to the boys.
So anyway, at 6pm, I got in with the A-JAX line (since I didn't know that the foreigners' line gets in first, and I didn't pre-apply as I only found out about this program a day before through the A-Jax fanbase.) The studio set up is very different from the regular music shows - the audience sits at the sides, and the artists performs on the central area, so it was really really close to all of the audience, and felt really cozy. In fact, if you're sitting on the lower rows on the right of the stage, the artists would pass by barely a meter away to go onstage, just like at "Club Answer" for MTV The Show. And where I was seated on the left, I was 3 rows above the MC, which turned out to be LED Apple's Hanbyul! I didn't know that he grew up in Australia, so I was quite surprised to find him perfectly fluent in English! I like the one song I heard from LEDapple back when they were promoting in March, but didn't have the chance to listen to more so far, though my friend Valerie is a HUGE fan of them. And halfway through, 4 members of VIXX popped out and 2 sat beside him, 2 sat behind him - i am still unfamiliar with VIXX, as I have only heard my friend talking about them before, but they seemed really friendly and nice. One even turned to Dixon, my friend who as seated beside him, and asked where he's from. I totally didn't mind, but enjoyed watching the Korean girls squirm as they tried to not get their faces caught on camera...
During my segment of the recording, there was (of course) A-JAX, FIX (new group of 3, with a fluent english speaker that is hosting another Arirang program), My Name and LEN (he's realyl really good! A-JAX did 'Never Let Go" on top of their title track "One 4 U", and I was glad to see that rare performance as I had missed the ones on debut weekend. M.I.B., Dalmation and Dal Shabet, whom I have seen multiple times as well, was there too. Also worth a mention is Baek ji Kang, who's voice is really good and is what we call an auntie(ahjumma)-killer - there was a HUGE LONG LINE waiting for him outside Arirang before starting, and I recognised a couple of them from when he turned up at Show Champion! Lol. Loyal ahjumma-fans...
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By the way, when A-Jax came on stage to perform 'Never Let Go', I thought I had eye-contact with Jaehyung as he glanced around, stopped, smiled and waved in my direction - I had his name on my HP LED again - and sorta called out to him as he came onstage. I say 'sorta' because the studio is really small, so there's no need to yell to make myself heard, he's just 5m away. After a couple of other beautiful smiles, and even once when he pointed right in my direction, I decided to test my theory that it was me that he's smiling at, and not the other A-Jax fans nearby - so I formed a "heart" with my arms and he returned it! One-handed as he had a mic in his other hand, but surely enough it's in response to me! So he definitely remembers my face now! <3 *excited* This is exactly why I love the setup here - the artistes can see all of the audience, not just those in the front couple of rows, so we can sorta 'intereact' too. P.S. Usually I don't do the 'heart' thing or yell saranghae, I'm a little old to be acting like a lovestuck-fangirl.)
The taping finished at about 9pm, and although it is kinda long, I'm glad I came - I would be back for more future tapings, as it's a cool program that's easy to get into, and I can sit comfortably throughout, plus it's pretty close to the artistes.
After going in with the general line and seeing A-JAX's performance last week, I fell in love with the song (reminds me of Breakdown/Unlock, both by their DSP seniors), saw them at SBS Inkigayo for their pre-recording, and am back at Show Champion today with the A-JAX line proper. Though I arrived super early, I didn't know their entry procedure (take photo, send to the fanstaff lady who will then arrange us in order of arrival when she gets there an hour before show entrance starts), and so was knocked to the back of the queue. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguse, because #19, the first number picked to receive 1 of 3 signed posters, was me. I could barely believe my luck! The poster is huge and the boys look great on it. Jaehyung, whom I had my eye on ever since I was sitting in front row center right behind the cameras and somehow ended up staring mostly at him during the Inkigayo pre-recording previously) had one hell of an unique and cool pose.
