Hwasa the 1st fancon [Twits] in singapore
On 22nd June, Hwasa, a member of established girl group MAMAMOO returned to our sunny island to greet her fans (Moomoos and Twits) at The Star Performing Arts Centre.
Once the clock hit 7pm, fans started to stir in their seats, turning their heads left and right as Hwasa was known to have unconventional entrances by appearing through the audience in her previous tour stops. Sure enough, she emerged from the side-wing through the crowd, silk robe delicately draped over her shoulders, hair in a messy bun. Her iconic entrance was done to the tune of ‘TWIT’ and immediately got the audience hyped up and on their feet as she slowly sashayed through the crowd, interacting with overjoyed fans along the way.
Once the clock hit 7pm, fans started to stir in their seats, turning their heads left and right as Hwasa was known to have unconventional entrances by appearing through the audience in her previous tour stops. Sure enough, she emerged from the side-wing through the crowd, silk robe delicately draped over her shoulders, hair in a messy bun. Her iconic entrance was done to the tune of ‘TWIT’ and immediately got the audience hyped up and on their feet as she slowly sashayed through the crowd, interacting with overjoyed fans along the way.
The familiar intro of ‘I Love My Body’ rang through the hall, and fans excitedly chanted to the lyrics of this cheeky feel-good song which represented going against narrow beauty stereotypes and gaining self-esteem. With just two songs into the FANCON, the entire venue was already heated up with excitement.
Hwasa happily greeted everyone, expressing how she was so glad to be back in Singapore again after a year since their MAMAMOO [MY CON] concert. She further did a check-in on the audience if they had eaten by wittily using the words ‘eat’ in Mandarin and Malay, much to everyone’s amusement. She added: “since everyone has eaten well before coming, shall we play to our heart’s content then?”
The mood made a slight shift as she began to sing ‘Somebody!’, followed by the best cover of SZA’s ‘Snooze’ we’ve heard to date. Her charming husky voice, vocal prowess and slick dance moves suit the sensual vibe of the song so well it was as if the song was made for her to perform. ‘Lemon’ and ‘Don’t’ soon followed and it was evident ‘Don’t’ was a crowd favourite by how loud the crowd was singing along to the sultry RnB track. Her heartfelt rendition of ‘Walk on By’ was also one to be remembered and literally had the crowd chanting her name by the end of the song.
Hwasa happily greeted everyone, expressing how she was so glad to be back in Singapore again after a year since their MAMAMOO [MY CON] concert. She further did a check-in on the audience if they had eaten by wittily using the words ‘eat’ in Mandarin and Malay, much to everyone’s amusement. She added: “since everyone has eaten well before coming, shall we play to our heart’s content then?”
The mood made a slight shift as she began to sing ‘Somebody!’, followed by the best cover of SZA’s ‘Snooze’ we’ve heard to date. Her charming husky voice, vocal prowess and slick dance moves suit the sensual vibe of the song so well it was as if the song was made for her to perform. ‘Lemon’ and ‘Don’t’ soon followed and it was evident ‘Don’t’ was a crowd favourite by how loud the crowd was singing along to the sultry RnB track. Her heartfelt rendition of ‘Walk on By’ was also one to be remembered and literally had the crowd chanting her name by the end of the song.
Being a FANCON, we can’t leave out the talk segments, games and dance challenges. Hwasa shared her concerns, saying how “it’s been a year since I’ve been to Singapore and at that time we greeted you through our MAMAMOO concert. However since there was a gap in between, I had thoughts if people would have forgotten about me?” Fans were quick to reassure her doubts and Hwasa continued to add she wasn’t sure why she had those thoughts and was pleasantly surprised and realised her worries were for naught the moment she walked into the venue.
When asked on the reason for naming her FANCON 'TWITS', she said:
“When we started planning the FANCON, we were deciding on the name and the first thing that came to mind was ‘TWIT’. I just think of it like this. Please do not take this as swearing, but I think we are all ‘Twits’ that’s why we are gathered here. I think that I’ve just been working hard for this job like a twit since young. That is why I always foolishly work hard like a twit to perform, and like a twit even though I would get injured at times I would still always smile and happily perform on stage. It also turns out there are still twits like everyone here who loves that side of me. That’s why I think we are all twits.”
The next corner of the show ‘Tweet About Hwasa’ had her sharing an unrevealed WOP dance challenge she filmed during an award show. She didn’t like how it turned out so she never got to uploading it, but much to everyone’s delight, she did the challenge twice for the crowd. She also specially prepared a cover of Meghan Trainor’s ‘Remind Me’ just for Singapore Twits, and her sincerity brought even the emcee to tears. Hwasa’s sweet and caring personality shone as she gave the emcee a hug and even wiped her tears as she coaxed her not to cry. She further mentioned how she had actually been listening to this song a lot lately as it brought her comfort and that it reminded her of her fans' love for her. More unreleased photos like a mandatory Merlion Singapore tourist shot and how even though she was on a diet to prepare for a comeback (although it might not be in the near future), she couldn’t give up on kaya toast was shared.
When asked on the reason for naming her FANCON 'TWITS', she said:
“When we started planning the FANCON, we were deciding on the name and the first thing that came to mind was ‘TWIT’. I just think of it like this. Please do not take this as swearing, but I think we are all ‘Twits’ that’s why we are gathered here. I think that I’ve just been working hard for this job like a twit since young. That is why I always foolishly work hard like a twit to perform, and like a twit even though I would get injured at times I would still always smile and happily perform on stage. It also turns out there are still twits like everyone here who loves that side of me. That’s why I think we are all twits.”
The next corner of the show ‘Tweet About Hwasa’ had her sharing an unrevealed WOP dance challenge she filmed during an award show. She didn’t like how it turned out so she never got to uploading it, but much to everyone’s delight, she did the challenge twice for the crowd. She also specially prepared a cover of Meghan Trainor’s ‘Remind Me’ just for Singapore Twits, and her sincerity brought even the emcee to tears. Hwasa’s sweet and caring personality shone as she gave the emcee a hug and even wiped her tears as she coaxed her not to cry. She further mentioned how she had actually been listening to this song a lot lately as it brought her comfort and that it reminded her of her fans' love for her. More unreleased photos like a mandatory Merlion Singapore tourist shot and how even though she was on a diet to prepare for a comeback (although it might not be in the near future), she couldn’t give up on kaya toast was shared.
|
|
The next ‘Twits About Hwasa’ and ‘Hwasa Challenge’ corners had her answering fan questions, doing the ‘cat ears of truth’ (lie detector) game, and her acing aespa’s ‘Supernova’ and the Mala Tanghulu dance challenges. To close off this corner, ‘I’m a B’ followed and a fun VCR made a good segue to the next part of the show.
Donned in a tight nude coloured skin suit which flared out into a flowy long mesh skirt, Hwasa slowly ascended onto the stage again. A bright-red illuminating ball of light lit up behind her as if to depict a setting sun made for a mesmerising stage re-entrance. The beautiful orchestral tones, piano and violin based melody of ‘LMM’ paired with Hwasa’s distinct voice colour and amazing delivery of emotions led to a goosebumps inducing stage. Hwasa’s ability to take you through a rollercoaster of emotions in just one song made us fall in love with her all over again.
Donned in a tight nude coloured skin suit which flared out into a flowy long mesh skirt, Hwasa slowly ascended onto the stage again. A bright-red illuminating ball of light lit up behind her as if to depict a setting sun made for a mesmerising stage re-entrance. The beautiful orchestral tones, piano and violin based melody of ‘LMM’ paired with Hwasa’s distinct voice colour and amazing delivery of emotions led to a goosebumps inducing stage. Hwasa’s ability to take you through a rollercoaster of emotions in just one song made us fall in love with her all over again.
A special VCR and banner fan project prepared by Singapore Twits brought Hwasa to tears. The banner read “Let’s go on for a 100 years, I won’t let you go”, to which she wittily replied: “If we do this for another 100 years I’ll be 130. Shall we do this for a 100 years more? I really have to work out hard then. Thank you. I forgot what I was about to say. I think I was more worried than I thought before coming to Singapore. I’m not sure why, but it is always like this for me. When I have a stage coming up..*Hwasa starts tearing again*. As an artist and singer who works hard to perform on stage, you know how there are many burdens and things similar to that right? That is why with a stage coming up and before going to a country I always ponder if many Twits will come? Thank you so much (for showing up). These are tears of gratitude. You guys are the reason that I can continue to diligently run forward in the future. Thank you. In words, I know I’ve said for another 100 years but I plan to keep going on until my body can’t keep up. I rarely show my tears but you guys made me cry. I’m going to tell my mom on you!”
To Hwasa’s surprise yet again, her dancers brought out a 10 year anniversary cake prepared by fans and she requested for everyone to use the name Mamamoo when singing the birthday song instead of her own, showing her undying love for her team. ’INTRO: Nobody Else’, 'Maria' and very evidently the crowd’s favourite - a Mamamoo medley of 'Decalcomanie', 'Egotistic', 'Starry Night', 'Dingga' and 'HIP' brought up the mood again and the crowd was enthusiastically cheering in their seats. ‘Chilli’ and ‘Travel’ indicated the end of the official setlist, but what ensued was a cycle of 5 more encore songs ('I Love My Body', 'TWIT', 'LMM', 'Maria' and 'Chilli') where Hwasa couldn’t resist coming back on stage to perform again due to Singapore Twits’ loud cheers for an encore after each song.
To Hwasa’s surprise yet again, her dancers brought out a 10 year anniversary cake prepared by fans and she requested for everyone to use the name Mamamoo when singing the birthday song instead of her own, showing her undying love for her team. ’INTRO: Nobody Else’, 'Maria' and very evidently the crowd’s favourite - a Mamamoo medley of 'Decalcomanie', 'Egotistic', 'Starry Night', 'Dingga' and 'HIP' brought up the mood again and the crowd was enthusiastically cheering in their seats. ‘Chilli’ and ‘Travel’ indicated the end of the official setlist, but what ensued was a cycle of 5 more encore songs ('I Love My Body', 'TWIT', 'LMM', 'Maria' and 'Chilli') where Hwasa couldn’t resist coming back on stage to perform again due to Singapore Twits’ loud cheers for an encore after each song.
Her closing speech tugged at our heartstrings, as she expressed gratitude to all who came today: “While doing this FANCON, there were many lacking aspects but thank you for accepting them so lovingly. No, I don’t think I’m satisfied, but because I’m not satisfied now, the next time I drop by it’ll probably be even better. I always want to repay your love by showing you better and cooler sides of me, so I’ll always keep living as a twit for you! Thank you!”.
It was such a pleasure and daresay even satisfying to witness such an all-rounded artist who genuinely loves performing on stage, not just for her fans but also for herself. We will always stand by the messages she conveys through her music and applaud her for being such a positive influence and source of strength to her listeners. Hwasa’s fearlessness in continuously breaking barriers and defying norms makes us excited for what’s to come and we can’t wait to see her again on our sunny island!
It was such a pleasure and daresay even satisfying to witness such an all-rounded artist who genuinely loves performing on stage, not just for her fans but also for herself. We will always stand by the messages she conveys through her music and applaud her for being such a positive influence and source of strength to her listeners. Hwasa’s fearlessness in continuously breaking barriers and defying norms makes us excited for what’s to come and we can’t wait to see her again on our sunny island!
We would like to extend our thanks to CK Star Entertainment for the opportunity to cover this event.
Writer: Neo Jing Yu Emily
Photos: Neo Jing Yu Emily, CK Star Entertainment Singapore
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for news on the latest events.
Writer: Neo Jing Yu Emily
Photos: Neo Jing Yu Emily, CK Star Entertainment Singapore
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for news on the latest events.
