Exclusive Review: Begin Again KPOP Edition In The Philippines

Kpopmap

STORY BY
Julia TanKpopmap Contributor

On May 29, 2022, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, four groups shone brighter than the stars during the "Begin Again: KPOP Edition" concert. After the long-awaited ease of restrictions brought about by the pandemic, the Philippines has opened its doors to a face-to-face concert spearheaded by CDM Entertainment.

ALICE, formerly known as ELRIS, jump-started the program with a graceful performance of their song 'This is me' followed by their brighter tunes of 'We, First' and 'Summer Dream'. They then sang a ballad called 'POWER OF LOVE' from their recent single. If the setlist seemed tiring they failed to show it. ALICE energetically performed 'No Big Deal' accompanied by 'JACKPOT'. BLRIS were met with a surprise when the group announced their preparations for an upcoming mini-album.

Kpopmap

WEi was the second act to greet the audience with their powerful performance of 'TWILIGHT'. After exchanging special comments with RUi, a thrilling performance of 'All OR Nothing' astounded the crowd, followed by 'BYE BYE BYE' that brought about louder cheers. They shared goodbyes through music from their most recent album, "Love Pt.1 : First Love", namely 'Super Bumpy' and 'Too Bad'.

Kpopmap

The stadium was filled with laughs as ALICE and WEi played a game of pirate and crocodile sequentially. The member who got caught was designated to either do aegyo, send out hearts to the audience, or perform a random dance to songs such as ‘Dynamite’ by BTS and ‘Red Flavor’ by Red Velvet.

Kpopmap

A hot performance was opened by NCT DREAM through their hit track called 'Hot Sauce'. This was accompanied by a special stage of 'Dive Into You' which they mentioned was their first time performing the song overseas. The artists greeted NCTzens and teased them about the group’s upcoming repackage album called "Beatbox" coming out on May 30. Bright songs like 'Hello Future' and 'Glitch Mode' made the whole stadium buffer with excitement.

Kpopmap

The finale to wrap up the event was SHINee's Key who entered the stage with 'Saturday Night'. He greeted SHAWOLs (SHINee World) with Filipino phrases and continued his comments sharing conversations with the audience. When asked which songs the crowd would prefer him to sing a short segment of, the audience replied with an enthusiastic ‘Ring Ding Dong’ and ‘Replay’ which he delivered smoothly. A charismatic performance of 'This Life' soon came after 'Helium' thus further hyping the fans. The event was closed off with his impactful title track called 'BAD LOVE' which brought an awe-inspired audience to cheer one last time.

Kpopmap

Previously, NCT DREAM was the last act to be in the Philippines before the lockdown. Hence, the concert serves as another milestone for both the K-Pop acts and the Filipino fans for being the first event that opened its doors to foreign artists thereafter. Promises of meeting their fans soon were made before each artist left their respective stages.