MUSIC
JYP Park Jin-young welcomes the new year with fan meeting ‘FRIDAY NIGHT’
Jinyoung Park held the 2024 fan meeting 'FRIDAY NIGHT' at Ilji Art Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on January 19th. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Park Jin-young's debut, and it is an opportunity to celebrate the beginning with his fans, making it even more meaningful. He prepared a face-to-face fan meeting for the first time in 13 years since the 'FANtastic Moment' in 2011 to repay the fans who gave him unwavering support until he continued his strong presence as a 'Living Legend'. In particular, to express our gratitude, we accepted applications from subscribers to the JYP Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as JYP) Fans website, subscribers to the private messaging service 'Dear You Bubble', and those who verified the purchase of the concert '80's Night' (80's Night), and tickets to attend were entered into a drawing. Fans were invited to the event for free. To ensure that the fan meeting can be enjoyed more comfortably and excitingly, cushions and light sticks were distributed to all audience members and they were welcomed with great care and consideration.
During the first online fan meeting in 2021, fans named themselves 'Soulmates' using Park Jin-young's pen name 'The Asiansoul'. Like the fan name 'Soulmate', this meeting of those who have been together for a long time and become 'soulmates' is unlike any other. It was dazzling than before. Park Jin-young's 2024 fan meeting was filled with deep love for fans, to the extent that Soran Go Young-bae, who hosted the event, exclaimed, "The smooth communication method that is comparable to that of an idol group stands out. It's really cool that he always thinks about his fans sincerely."
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Park Jin-young, who heated up the atmosphere of the scene from the beginning with the comment, "Hello! Did you miss me a lot? This is your eternal singer Park Jin-young," made a flashy appearance wearing a suit accented with a shiny shirt. She sang 'When We Disco (Duet with Sunmi)', 'It's Only You', and 'Don't Leave Me' in succession and made the Friday night with her 'true fans' full of excitement. He rose to the top with an unconventional concept and excellent sense, increasing the audience's satisfaction with a stage parade reminiscent of a concert.
Jinyoung Park, who finished performing three songs, said, "It was a very different feeling from before the concert. I had a strong thought that 'I have to perform well', but today I missed you so much and thought it would be nice to see you. Those of you who came to the concert will know, but the performance I just showed It was a different version from the performance. The next songs to be sung were songs that were not performed at the concert, and songs that only long-time fans would know. As I listened to the songs while selecting the fan meeting set list, I thought, 'Did I write code like this before?' He expressed his excitement, saying, “This feels like something new to me.” He continued, "I prepared a lot of really special things today. It's a pleasure for me to do something and show you, but I'm so excited to see you, hear your stories, and do it," expressing anticipation for the time Park Jin-young and his 'soulmate' will create together. did.
A corner has been prepared where Park Jin-young and his ‘soulmate’ can communicate more closely and feel their deep affection for each other. The segment 'Mumul Time.JYP' (Zip), which asked Jinyoung Park everything he was curious about, consisted of questions written by the audience as they entered, and he answered them with sincerity, communicating more closely with his fans. An overseas fan who had crossed the ocean from Japan to participate in the fan meeting asked, 'I am so good at Japanese after watching 'Nizi Project'. How do you study? I am studying English while watching 'A2K' (A2K, America2Korea) these days, and I am curious about your secret.' “We have to hold auditions, film, and communicate with viewers and contestants locally, but I thought that if we talked through an interpreter, we wouldn’t be able to communicate well,” he said. “When I saw my daughters learning to speak at home, they spoke and repeated more naturally than just grammar.” "I learned it. I took a hint from here and blindly memorized 150 paragraphs of about five or six lines that would appear in an audition," he said, showing off his icon-like qualities of sincerity and hard work.
On the other hand, to the affectionate question, "Honestly, do you know that you are good-looking?", he answered "I know" with a shy smile, drawing cheers. Also, to fans who asked about his 'New Year's plan', he said, "This question is easy to answer. I have an 8-year plan. To perform in celebration of my 60th birthday in December 2031. All focus is on that." He replied, 'Do it until you turn 80!' ', the audience chanted, 'Let's talk again after the 60th birthday performance' with a witty reply, filling the hall with laughter. The story of the new song, which was only briefly told to fans who attended this fan meeting, also received enthusiastic responses, raising expectations for this year's performance. Lastly, when asked what he wanted to hear most from his fans , he answered, "There's something I'm increasingly desperate for. It's 'I'm your soulmate.' While leading the company, I'm also a songwriter and producer, so as a singer, I'm a fan of singer Park Jin-young. “I think these people are really very precious,” he said, revealing his deep affection and feelings for his fans.
A valuable time was also provided to talk with fans about the cherished items related to Park Jin-young that the 'soulmates' personally brought with them, and what kind of memories are contained in each item. Various cherished items, such as a collection of photos taken since his debut in 1994, a blanket with Park Jin-young's portrait released in limited quantities during his time as a portal site advertising model, and a scrapbook of performance tickets, and each story contained in them, resonated. Among them, postcards and cards written by Park Jin-young himself, with the conviction that he must reply to fan letters at the beginning of his debut, appeared and the audience was in an uproar. Park Jin-young said, "I was really hoping that someone would bring this postcard to this place. I felt so sorry for not replying to letters I received in the past. So I wrote a reply so stubbornly that I gave up after writing 3,000. There are 3,000 postcards I wrote around the world. "I was worried that people would think I was sending a reply without reading the letter, so I intentionally wrote down the content related to the letter and sent it. I remember putting this much in the mailbox," he recalled, once again confirming the extraordinary love he had for his fans since his debut.
Because it was Park Jin-young's fan meeting, a special corner further heightened the atmosphere. Host Go Young-bae introduced the fan talent show corner 'GOLDEN FANS' as being strongly recommended by Jin-young Park, and shared an episode that said, 'Singer Byul was able to join JYP and debut as a singer by singing at Park Jin-young's fan meeting in the past.' added. Fans completed 'Friday Friday' by generously expressing their talents, including Park Jin-young's version of 'Hype Boy', 'Honey' choreography, Park Jin-young's dance medley, and impromptu N-style poetry. Park Jin-young created another precious memory with fans by performing an impromptu joint performance and leaving a thoughtful review.
The finale was a large group of 10 fans filling the stage. Those who are 'Park Jin-young's biggest fans' sang Park Jin-young's song 'Shall I Love You (Feat. Jinju)', released in September 1996, in unison against the background of photos and videos of the moments they and Park Jin-young shared over the past 30 years, and even read the letter with a heartfelt message. We prepared an event. Fans at the concert hall had tears in their eyes as they recalled the memories of that time, and Park Jin-young was also moved, saying, "The power of time is really scary. It's been about 10 years since we formed our current family, but when they say it's been 30 years, I'm so moved that I can't handle it." expressed. He continued, "I had no idea that the lyrics to 'Shall I Love You (Feat. Jinju)' would resonate so well with our fans. (Bang) Si-hyuk wrote the song and I wrote the lyrics, and it's also a song I personally like. A photo taken with fans 30 years ago. After the photos passed, I was very touched when a photo with their children appeared at the end of the video. I was looking forward to and waiting for this fan meeting, but it was even more special and I am thankful. At this moment, I don't envy any singer," he said, expressing his affectionate feelings.
There is also a time to meet the impromptu composition skills of Park Jin-young, a singer-songwriter representing the music industry. Park Jin-young created the message of 'Soulmate' into a fan song at the scene. 'Soulmate' contains 'memories accumulated from our time together', 'I came this far seeing you who always welcomed me without change', and 'We will be together for the rest of our lives until the end'. We decided to be together', 'We decided to be by each other's side and support each other for a long time', 'Even if the cold wind blows sometimes, I will still protect your side', 'You who sing and dance are my star. He came up with an idea for lyrics that resemble a line from a poem, such as 'When it shines, we shine too.' Park Jin-young took off the jacket he was wearing, personally selected several phrases, combined them, and worked with the band to compose the code, creating a special fan song. Park Jin-young pledged, “I will complete and finish it better and present it at the year-end performance.”
At the end of the fan meeting, Park Jin-young sang 'I'll Go Back', 'When That Day Comes - For Lovers Who Are Apart', and 'Even After Ten Years' to piano accompaniment, and fans also sang along and promised to meet again next time. Even after the fan meeting ended, Park Jin-young held a surprise 'High Touch' event with all the audience and sent them off, expressing his gratitude to his fans once again.
Park Jin-young, who pledged, "When I look at my precious fans, I think most of all that I should manage my life well so as not to disappoint them," expressed his gratitude through the 2024 fan meeting 'FRIDAY NIGHT', showing that artists and fans have been connected with a strong love for each other for 30 years. I checked again. With this as the driving force, expectations are high for Park Jin-young's performance, which will shine even brighter as an artist in 2024.
Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr
