What Tricks Did SHINee And Red Velvet Have Up Their Sleeves At Their Gig Here?

About half the concert-goers will have enough cosmetic products to last them for years. You would too, if you had to spend $500 or $700 at Shilla stores in order to get tickets. (The other half scored tix through various promos.)

Korean singer-songwriter Eddy Kim opened the show and had everyone swooning with his buttery-smooth vocals, guitar-playing chops, adorable Konglish (Korean-accented English) and non-stop winks to the audience. What took the cake were his improv skills when he disrupted his planned setlist by slipping into a cover of ‘Be Myself Again’ by Eric Benet.

(From left) Joy, Yeri, Irene, Wendy, and Seulgi took the stage right after an appearance on a radio programme in Korea the day before, a morning flight and press conference. But you wouldn't be able to tell from how effortlessly and perfectly in sync they were on stage, as they sailed through their five-song setlist of greatest hits, including ‘Dumb Dumb’, ‘Red Flavor’ and latest single ‘Peek-A-Boo’.

While host Danny Yeo was quizzing Red Velvet about their pre-flight beauty rituals, Yeri and Seulgi got distracted and teased fans with a cryptic gesture (pictured above) - it's the signature move from the choreography of ‘Peek-A-Boo’ - hinting that it was going to be performed soon. The audience squealed with glee, much to the host’s confusion. It’s okay, Danny -- looks like you’re not a big ReVeluv yet.

Once the dreamy boys of SHINee (sans leader Onew, who’s still absent from group activities following allegations of sexual harassment) finished their first song ‘View’, Danny started asking the crowd multiple questions (Who was the most handsome? Who's most “boyfriend material?) until Key (first from right) interrupted in perfect English: “Sorry, but could we please say hi to our Singapore fans first?” Even we couldn’t help but cheer along with the Shawols at this one.

While Red Velvet were content with performing their biggest hits, SHINee (from left: Taemin, Jonghyun, Minho, Key) instead treated their fans to a mixture of famous and more obscure songs. Their most recent single ‘1 of 1’ was preceded by heartfelt tunes ‘An Encore’, ‘Aside’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Go’, songs that would be totally foreign to just a casual listener. They’re wonderful songs, but we were hoping for the return of the universal anthem of 2009, ‘Ring Ding Dong’.

Looks like SHINee and Red Velvet aren’t the only ones with flawless synchronisation. The audience reminded us that K-pop fans don’t play games -- they raised identical banners in unison during specific songs, at specific moments, and their fanchants were also spot-on. We would’ve definitely believed anyone who told us that they had a chance to rehearse all this before the doors opened.