SMTOWN Proves the Reason Why it is the Industry's Number 1

On August 15, SMTOWN LIVE was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam, Seoul. SM entertainment's a variety of artists such as Kangta, Boa, TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x), and EXO performed at the concert, which was an uncommon event.

About 35,000 fans were there, and SM artists electrified them by showing high quality performance. During the 5-hour concert, SM proved the reason why it is the industry's number 1.

Kangta is SM's representative artist who has marked the beginning of the golden age of SM, by debuting in 1996 as a member of HOT. The time has slipped by and he's at 35 years old, but he performed a medley of HOT hits and showed impressive dance performance.

Boa, TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x), and EXO, who have continued SM's golden age as junior artists of Kangta, also performed their hits. Veteran idol stars such as Boa and TVXQ showed skilled performance, throwing themselves around the stage, while SM's young blood EXO performed 'Growl', 'MAMA', and 'Overdose', receiving huge support from teenage girls.

 

One of the most memorable moments of the concert was when TVXQ's Max Changmin, Super Junior's Kyuhyun, SHINee's Minho and EXO's Suho performed Girl's Day's 'Something' in drag. It was quite shocking, but they were as pretty as real women, I think. SHINee's Taemin performed his upcoming solo song 'Danger' for the first time at the concert, and he electrified fans by taking off his top. SM's rookie girl group Red Velvet, who recently debuted, performed its debut single 'Happiness'.

And it was notable that SM Rookies, who didn't even debut yet, also hit the stage and showed various performance. You can say Kangta is SM's past and EXO is SM's present, while SM Rookies are SM's future who will lead SM's next 10 years.

SM Rookies' SR14B and SR14G made a successful appearance with good performance. It was the first time for them to perform at such as large scale concert, but they proved that they are competitive enough to be popular Kpop idol stars later.

One of the SR14G members(I'm sorry, I can't remember her name) said "We will be working very hard to be as gorgeous artists as our seniors."

Fans from more than 22 foreign countries such as France, China, Japan, the United Stated, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Germany and Brunei visited the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam to watch SM artists' performance.

At the concert, SM's foreign artists showed special performance, drawing cheers from many foreign fans.

Super Junior-M's Zhoumi and f(x)s Victoria performed 'Loving you', while EXO's Tao made a surprise appearance for the performance.

Zhang Li Yin, a female singer who is gaining great popularity in China, showed off her outstanding singing skill by singing 'Agape', and Super Junior-M's Henry, whose nationality is Canada, performed 'Bad Girl' with EXO's Chanyeol.

The SM artists tried to communicate with foreign fans by greeting in foreign languages. Chinese members, such as f(x)'s Victoria and EXO's Lay greeted in Chinese, while f(x)'s Ember gave her thoughts on holding SMTOWN LIVE in English. And The Girls' Generation members introduced themselves in Korea, English, Chinese, and Japanese.

SMTOWN LIVE was a music festival that all the family could enjoy. Of course, there were many teenage girls, but family crowd was there too. SM prepared Happy Family Seats for family crowd, and the artists tried to get closer to the audience, using a variety of stage settings.

SM also invited disabled people and neglected children to the concert. During the concert, SHINee's Jonghyun high-fived with a disabled people who visited there in a wheelchair. It was touching. In 2014, SM formed a social volunteer corps 'SMile' and is doing volunteer activities at child welfare institution, beneficial facilities for the disabled, animal shelter and more once a month.

 

At the beginning of the concert, Lee Dongwoo, who lost his sight due to pigmentary degeneration of the retina moved audience by performing jazz songs. Girls' Generation's Sunny also hit the stage and sang together with him. Lee Dongwoo stated, "It's so happy to perform at this kind of precious concert. I can't tell if I'm awake or dreaming."

SMTOWN LIVE will be also held in Tokyo from October 4-5 and in Shanghai on October 18.