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‘ITZY? ITZY!’: ITZY completes premiere showcase tour in NYC

Courtesy of SubKulture Ent.

After an auspicious debut last year, ITZY are already ready to take on 2020 as they continue their premiere showcase tour, this time in North America. The latest girl group from JYP Entertainment had previously hit up four other major U.S. cities (Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Houston, Washington D.C.) before slowing their roll at their last stop in New York City this past weekend on January 26 at the Kings Theatre. There, the historic movie palace’s marquee aglow with “ITZY? ITZY! IN USA TONIGHT” greeted arriving fans with the affirmation that they had come to the right place, and that just underneath its cache of light bulbs and past the main entrance awaited something different. The finale was nigh.

Once inside, ITZY broke the ice for the evening with their most recent and aptly titled single, “Icy,” back to back with the less apt but still equally electrifying, “It’z Summer.” The girls, who were all decked out in coordinated white and silver sequined stage outfits, shined in more ways than one as they cleanly executed some of the choreographies’ more brisk moments while being also mindful of always maintaining a stable live performance through smiles. We should learn to expect as much from a group whose very brand rests on glitter and teen spirit.

With a collective “All In Us!” from the members, it came time for the self-introductions. All the members did their very best to communicate with the audience in English, but Canadian member Lia was particularly at ease that evening. She expressed her gratitude towards MIDZYs, their fans, who patiently waited for them and promised to return as soon as possible. That having been said, the girls proceeded to the meat of the showcase, and that was the variety segments. 


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The first of these was a Q&A corner, where ITZY answered pre-selected questions submitted by some of the MIDZYs in attendance. Nothing to write an exposé about here, but it was still just enough to glean a little insight into their private lives. The youngest, Yuna, shared how she would like their team mascot to be a unicorn, even using the emoji when saving the other members’ names into her phone’s contact list. Chaeryeong went on to explain how they used to joke that they were the Unicorn Team during their pre-debut days; the members were all free-spirited as one. Still, for the main dancer, she preferred something more hybrid: a delicate balance between cat and dog.

Since Lunar New Year was the day prior, the quintet also took pause to wish everyone a happy holiday during this time. One of the questions prodded the girls for their fondest memory regarding the New Year, to which Lia responded with how though “she don’t have anything special,” her family usually gathers for a lunch and visits her paternal family in the morning, followed by her maternal family later in the day. Unfortunately, as festive as this time may be, it also serves as a reminder for them of how they are not home to spend it with their loved ones. In an adorable pout, member Ryujin bemoaned how she wanted to see her father. Right on cue, the studio-like audience could not help but sympathize in unison.Awww!

On that note, the MC decided to steer away from “Question Time” to segue into the highlight of every fanmeet — Game Time. This one, dubbed “Challenge Mix Song,” involved having the members guess both the title and artist of three overlapping K-pop songs. From round one, this proved quite difficult for them even after generous hints, replays, and audience assistance. And with a punishment and prize on the line, there was no room for forgiveness of one another’s blunders either, which was the case when leader Yeji mistook the title of their own song “It’z Summer” for “It’z My Summer” (“It’s your summer?” quizzed the others). 

Three rounds of this and many lifelines later, and ITZY had already reached the end game. This time, however, there was a caveat. Instead of K-pop, the mix would only feature American pop music. We suppose anything to shoehorn in Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” right? A momentarily sore Yuna, who scrambled the title of the unofficial state anthem but had the right idea, facetiously remarked how she was always trying with nothing to show for (a mood!). It didn’t exactly help either that she, along with Yeji, ultimately ended up scoring the least, having to fulfill the punishment that had the pair blithely recording a wakeup call for all the busy New Yorkers. Meanwhile, Ryujin took home the win, as well as a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty.


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Before delving into the next entertainment portion of the night, ITZY resumed taking the stage for a rendition of their senior labelmates’ songs, “TT” (TWICE) and “Hard Carry” (GOT7). With only five songs to their name, these sorts of covers are inescapable. We were able to look past the obvious filler for these “monster rookies” though, who lived up to their sobriquet with their cookie cutter moves and pitch-perfect vocals. Their slick handling of such dichotomy — the beloved aegyo-centered “TT” versus the more hard-hitting beats of “Hard Carry” — makes the up and coming group easily duality manifest.

But back to the games. The final mission of the tour, “Pass the Ball,” tested the extent of ITZY’s teamwork by asking the members to cooperate in delivering a ball to a basket using only acrylic tubes that they had to link together in just two minutes. Through a comedic series of attempts, it appears that  teamwork really meant colluding with one another to find the best loopholes, including bringing the basket closer to them and transporting the tube with the ball in it to the basket instead of feeding it through a canal. They might have not succeeded, but at the very least they were awarded the high-budget consolation prize of magnets. As for the punishment, it was Lia who beared the brunt of it, performing the viral “Gwiyomi Song” while putting on a random dance. Chaeryeong and Yeji carried out their own fan service on her recommendation too, although theirs never felt like a penalty when sending hearts to New York MIDZYs came naturally to them.

Just only a few songs left, the show had neared its imminent end. “Cherry” sealed their girl crush concept with its trap stylings and darker colors, whereas the clarion calls of the punk-inspired “Want It?” and unabashedly feminist energy from “Dalla Dalla” brought it all back to their grrrl power agendas. Moxie like this haven’t been seen since the Spice Girls, and with a promising start to their career already, they are certainly a pop force to be reckoned with. The last leg of the tour, ITZY’s showcase in New York City left a bittersweet taste in probably everyone’s palates that Sunday, one that was especially felt by the teary-eyed Chaeryeong as she struggled through her ending ments. They might have came as they had gone, but if there is one thing MIDZYs can still hold onto from the night it is the group’s word to come back, guaranteed. Until then, Yuna urges us to all smile in the meantime as she keeps doing the same.

Did you go to ITZY’s PREMIERE SHOWCASE TOUR “ITZY? ITZY!”? How did you like it? Let us know in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

Teen Top Spoke to KultScene & Delivered an Exciting Show in New York City

Photo Credit Anna Lai

Photo Credit Anna Lai

Bringing their charisma and typical flare, Teen Top hyped up audiences aplenty in New York City on Saturday night. The RED POINT 2016 Teen Top US Live Tour brought Niel, L.Joe, C.A.P, Chunji, Changjo, and Ricky to Terminal 5 to perform in front of their dedicated fans, reuniting the group and New York area K-pop lovers for the fourth time in three years. Moreover, in a special pre-show interview, KultScene spoke to the act.

[Read the full interview at the bottom of the page.]

“Are you watching our performance today?” Asked Niel through a translator in the middle of the interview. “Scream loud and get excited.”

Starting off the night draped in passionate red suits with “It’s No Joke (Rocking),” the six twenty-something K-pop idols launched into their two-hour long set that switched off between frenetic dance songs, crooning ballads, and some show stopping hip hop numbers. The connection between the group and their fans was apparent as purple fanlights waved by hundreds of Angels, Teen Top’s official fanclub, lit up the concert hall as Teen Top performed old and new hits alike. The energy was clearly there, living up to a promise made by Teen Top earlier that evening.

“What’s different from our last time we were here [is that] we’re promoting our new songs and on top of that each individual has songs that they’ve written or produced so we want to perform that to for the fans in NY,” said Teen Top ahead of taking the stage. It was a lot to promise, considering that many concertgoers had seen Teen Top perform during the group’s 2014 tour and twice in 2015, during a free concert and KCON NY.


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The six members of Teen Top carried through on their words, with each song, from the beautiful rendition of ballad “Day” to the debut New York performance of their newest song “Warning Sign,” were presented in a fresh way, highlighting Teen Top’s maturity as a K-pop act that had reached the sixth year of their career. Although they were suffering from jetlag, Teen Top had Angels cheering with delight through songs like pump up anthem “Hot Like Fire” and the fan-dedicated “Angel.”

“This tour, we’re looking forward to providing energy to our audience,” said Teen Top. “We want to return the feedback we’ve gotten from our fans and give it back to them.” And Teen Top did just that, despite being visibly exhausted from their transcontinental flight and hectic tour schedule. Interspersing powerful group numbers with individual solo stages, Teen Top took the night at a steady, businesslike pace while offering up a variety of different interpretations of their iconic sleek sound and style.

The highlight of the night was clearly the solo performances. While coming across as a cohesive group during their group routines like “Ah-Ah” and “Don’t Drink,” Teen Top’s individual members spent much of the night reminding the crowd of the specific skills that make Teen Top’s members worthy of being members of a popular idol group.

L.Joe’s English took center stage as the rapper MC-ed the night, broken into group performances and solo stages, like Niel’s springtime “Affogato,” Chunji’s melancholic power ballad “Dream of a Doll,” Ricky and Changjo’s cover of Crush’s R&B tune “Sofa,” Changjo’s solo of “I Fancy You,” and C.A.P’s powerful ad-lib filled take on Action Bronson and Chance The Rapper’s “Baby Blue.”

With 27 songs, including encore song “Clap,” Teen Top’s show took New York Angels on a journey that ended far too early. But the fans there at the intimate concert that night were some of Teen Top’s most dedicated fans this side of the world and are sure to remember it for the rest of their lives.

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Our interview with Teen Top below.

KultScene: Welcome back to New York City. You’ve been here several times. How have you prepared something new for the Red Point tour?
Teen Top: What’s different from our last time we were here [is that] we’re promoting our new songs and on top of that each individual has songs that they’ve written or produced so we want to perform them for the fans in NY.


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KS: Can you tell us a bit about “Warning Sign” and how it’s something different from your other singles?
Teen Top: The difference between our new song and our previous songs is that they have different characteristics and different styles of music and different physical concepts.

KS: What are you looking forward to this trip?
Teen Top: What we’re looking forward to this tour is providing energy towards the crowds, we want to return the feedback we’ve gotten from our fans and give it back to them.

Niel: Are you watching our performance today?
KS: Yes.
Niel Scream loud and get excited.

KS: What does Teen Top have planned for the rest of the year?
Teen Top: For the rest of 2016, you can expect individual members to perform solos and star in dramas and musical. Very excited to see individual performances.

What do you think of Teen Top? Have you ever seen them perform live? Who else would you like KultScene to interview? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.