JYJ Becomes First Korean Artist to Hold Concert in Spain

Around 3,000 fans who came from all over Europe chanted, "JYJ, Te Quiero".

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One of the representative tourist attractions and example of Spain's traditional architecture, Poble Espanyol, which has a 80-year history, was shaking with all the cheering of 3,000 audience members on October 29 (local time). JYJ (Kim Jae-joong, Park Yoo-chun, and Junsu) held a solo concert in Spain for the first time among Korean artists, and the huge cheers at the venue were for them. The audience from countries all over Europe including Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Finland chanted "JYJ" even before the concert began while holding red luminous glowsticks. Italian fans came to the venue one day before and lined up after pitching tents.

JYJ's concert was significant as it was held at a time when K-Pop's popularity has been growing in Europe. Singing groups belonging to SM Entertainment held a joint concert in Paris last June, but JYJ was the first idol group among star K-Pop artists who held a solo concert in Europe. They sang with only 3,000 audience members this time, but their concert was far enough to confirm K-Pop fandom in Europe which has been formed through Internet sites such as YouTube.

JYJ already proved the popularity of K-Pop in Asian countries when they held a concert with a total of 80,000 audience members in Japan from October 15 to 16.

JYJ's concert possessed the charm of an exciting outdoor festival as it was held in a square surrounded by Spain's traditional architecture. Park Yoo-chun shouted, "Let's play together", and the audience jumped from their seats while shaking their luminous glowsticks. JYJ sang songs included in their worldwide album entitled "The Beginning", which was released last year, and their special album entitled "In Heaven", which was released last September. The famous dancer and entertainer from Spain named Rapa Mondaz participated in directing as a choreographer, so their performance looked more dynamic. The dancers presented acrobatics, miming, and somersaults to songs such as "Empty", "Pierrot", and "Mission". Rapa said, "I was very much surprised to see our excellent harmony when we danced together in Spain at first because we had practiced separately in each other's respective countries. JYJ looked so professional when they sang songs live while enthusiastically dancing. They will achieve great success in Europe". The members of JYJ presented their solo performance by singing ballad songs that heated up the excited audience. They had appeared in dramas and musical works as individual activities, and they sang the theme songs of their dramas that had become hit songs.

The number of audience members for the concert in Spain, whose ticket price ranged from 50 to 100 euros, was small compared to their previous concert, but the venue was completely filled with the excitement of their fans. When JYJ sang their song "Falling Leaves", the audience waved placards reading "Gracias" (thank you), and when JYJ sang their songs "In Heaven" and "Empty", the audience all sang together in the Korean language. In addition, the audience waved various items including their own flags, the Korean flag, and placards and took pictures of JYJ for the whole two hours of the concert. And they were greatly excited when the members spoke a few Spanish phrases that they had learned such as "Besame mucho" and "Os queremos".

Park Yoo-chun said to the crowd, "Everything seems amazing as it is our first concert in Spain, but I also feel comfortable with you as if I had met you every year". Junsu said, "After we finish this concert in Spain and the next concert in Germany, we will take a break until the end of this year. I am very happy that we are holding this year's last concert with our fans in Europe". Kim Jae-joong made the last comment, saying, "I feel very happy that we could finally keep our promise with European fans, as we had said to you that we would come to Europe again to see you".

The audience would not leave the venue even after the members finished their encore performance. They spoke in Korean, saying, "Don't go, don't go". A student couple, George Luise (24) and Maria Amparo (24), who attended the concert, said with huge excitement, "We have been dating for four years and we have been Dong Bang Shin Ki's fans for four years. When we go out, we listen to JYJ's songs together, and we watched the drama 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal', in which Park Yoo-chun appeared. We had bought the ticket for this concert three weeks ago and we have been greatly excited since then. We still cannot believe that JYJ came to Spain". Other fans, Noemi Bella (30) and Ester Abeya (30), said, "I have been JYJ's fan for more than three years. I cannot believe they have finally come here and sang in front of me", and "They can sing very well and, at the same time, they are very humorous. Their concert was great", respectively.

JYJ will hold one more concert in Europe on November 6 at Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany, where the British star Paul Potts, who became famous from an audition program, recently held his concert.