K-pop boy band FT Island at a press conference in Manila. They are, from left, Song Seung-hyun, Lee Jae-jin, Choi Min-hwan, Lee Hong-ki and Choi Jong-hun. / Korea Times Photo by Jonathan Hicap
By Jonathan M. Hicap
Korea Times Correspondent
MANILA - Five-member boy band FT Island held a concert in the Philippines Saturday night and electrified the audience with their songs.
About 4,000 fans went to SpinManila's FT Island Manila 2010 Showcase held at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
The Showcase is part of the group's Asian promotional tour which kicked off in Tokyo, Japan, last January. The group also hit Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
"The Showcase was worth it. They were really great," said 18-year-old Elaine Fernandez, a fan of the band.
FT Island performed songs from their albums including "Raining," "Primadonna," "I Hope" and "FT Island". The audience screamed their approval when lead singer Lee Hong-ki sang "Still," a cut from the official soundtrack of the SBS teen drama "You're Beautiful".
A day before the concert, 50 fans got the chance to meet the members of FT Island up close and personal in an exclusive session held at Marriott Hotel in Manila.
The boy band also performed live on "Showtime,'' a popular talent search TV show on ABS-CBN.
At the press conference last Friday, FT Island revealed their plan for the rest of the year.
Answering a question from The Korea Times, Lee Hong-ki said they will be focusing more on the Japanese music market and returning to South Korea in the latter part of 2010.
After the Philippines, FT Island will end their Asian tour in Shanghai on March 12 and then fly to Japan where they will hold a fan meeting on March 28.
FT Island will launch a new single in Japan on May 19 in a major debut under Warner Music Japan.
Their fourth album, "So Long, Au Revoir," which was released last December, ranked sixth on Japan's Oricon Top 10 weekly indie albums chart in January this year.
FT Island will also launch a new Korean album in the second half of the year after their activities in Japan.
This is the group's second visit to the Philippines. They flew to Cebu in September last year to film the music video for "Love Letter", a song by subgroup FT Triple on their "Double Date" album that was released last October.
During their visit, typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines making it difficult for the band to film the music video. Close to 500 people died in the Philippines due to the adverse weather.
FT Island member Lee Jae Jin said they found it difficult to film the video due to the weather. He said every time they went out to shoot, it would start raining, forcing them to stay inside their van most of the time.
Filipino fans will see more of Hong-ki when ABS-CBN airs "You're Beautiful" in the Philippines. The TV station bought the rights to the drama series from SBS last year.
Hongki told the Philippine press that he still keeps in touch with his co-stars in the drama series as they have become friends. He denied that he was interested in actress Park Shin-hye, who played Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu in the series.
"(We're) just good friends," Hongki said.
Besides Hongki and Jae Jin, the other members of the group are Choi Min-hwan, Choi Jong-hun and Song Seung-hyun, who replaced Oh Won-bin last year.
The quiet Seung-hyun said he was grateful to the other members for accepting him into the group.
He said the band members were nice to him and encouraged him when he had a hard time catching up with the group.
On the other hand, Jae Jin, who starred in the Korean musical "Sonagi" last year, said he wants to do more musicals. He is particularly interested in doing the musical "Grease" in which he wants to play the lead role of Danny Zuko.
FT Island debuted in 2007 with their album "Cheerful Sensibility" that sold 80,000 copies, making it the sixth most successful album in Korea for that year.
Since their debut, FT Island has won numerous awards. In 2007, they won Best New Male Group at the Mnet/KM Music Festival, the Anycall Popularity and Best New Artist awards at the Golden Disk Awards and Best New Group at the Asia Song Festival.
In 2008, the boy band was named Rookie of the Year at the 17th Seoul Music Awards and Best Male Group at the Korean Entertainment Awards.
Last year, they won the Best Male Singer Award and the Top 10 Singer Award at the Korean Entertainment Awards.
Source: KoreaTimes
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