Kara Holds Press Conference and Showcase in Singapore Without Han Seung Yeon

On July 7, when news of Kara‘s Han Seung Yeon has been admitted to hospital for anemia broke out just days before their scheduled showcase in Singapore, fans who bought tickets to the event were worried if the show would go on. Two days later, the organizer MediaCorp VizPro International made an announcement on their Facebook page assuring Kamilia that the show would go on.

A 30-minute press conference scheduled on July 10 wrapped up in less than 10 minutes, without opening the floor for a Q&A session. Below is a transcript of the press conference hosted by Yes 933‘s DJ Jiafa.

Host: Let’s give a big welcome to Kara! I know that Kara has been in Singapore since two days ago, so how do you feel about being in Singapore for the first time?

Kara: (After an awkward pause) Hello, we are Kara!

Gyuri: Due to the schedules, this is the first time we are in Singapore, I feel that Singaporeans are very friendly. The fans in Singapore are much more passionate than what we’d thought. We definitely had a great time yesterday and look forward to tonight’s showcase.

Host: This will be Kara’s first performance in Singapore. So tell us what can we expect from the showcase?

Gyuri: Although it’s a pity that Seung Yeon who is sick right now and not here today, we have prepared two ballads for the showcase. So this is what the fans can expect for tonight.

Host: So have you visited any fun places in Singapore?

Nicole: Yesterday, we went to Universal Studios in the afternoon. After our fan autograph event, we went to eat pepper crab and chili crab,both foods were very delicious.

Host: So all of you enjoyed the pepper crab? You love spicy food?

Nicole: Yes, we all love it.

Host: So did you enjoy the places in Singapore?

Nicole: We weren’t able to go to alot of places, but since Universal Studios is very close to our hotel, we were able to go and have a really good time.

Host: So you girls went on the rides?

Nicole: Yeah, we did and we got a lot of souvenirs also.

Host: Which ride did you enjoy the most?

Nicole: The Battlestar Galactica and Transformer 3D.

Host: Did you girls scream?

Nicole: Yes! We screamed a lot.

Host: Your fans will scream a lot tonight as well. Moving on to the fragrance K5J, why did you choose “Jewel” as the name for it?

Hara: The word ‘Jewel’ represents the five of us and we hope that with this beautiful scent, whoever uses it will also be able to do beautiful things.

Jiyoung: We went to Paris last year in 2011. All five of us directly chose the scent ourselves and we agreed on the scent. This is how we created the Kara 5 Jewel.

Host: How do you feel to be the first Korean girl group to have your own signature fragrance?

Gyuri: We are very honored to be the first girl group to announce our signature perfume, we hope that everyone will like this scent and we would look forward to expanding out to other product lines as well.

Host: Kara is very popular in South Korea and overseas, what do you think is your most mesmerizing charm?

Nicole: I think the reason we are able to receive a lot of love from our fans is that, even though we have a professional image on stage, we have a more friendly and fun loving image off-stage that helps us to be more approachable to our fans.

Host: Let’s invite Kara for some photo-taking for our local media… Thank you very much and we look forward to a spectacular performance tonight.

With that the 10-minute press conference ended.

At the showcase later that evening, Kara opened the show with “I Am.” The audience was treated to a behind-the-scenes footage of their trip to Paris, showcasing how they picked out their favorite scent to put together as K5J.

Gyuri shared that they went to Universal Studios and had a great time although only three of them went as Hara wasn’t feeling well. The host went on to ask Hara if she is feeling ok now, fans cheered when Hara replied in English “I’m ok.”

Kara said they were surprised to see so much fans turned up for the showcase and was thankful for their support.

When it was time for games with fans, it was so much fun to just watch them play and have fun taking Polaroids, much to the envy of the audience. Another group of fans also competed to be the best dancer while one female Kamilia from Indonesia really outshone everyone else as she knew every single move to their dance!

I was very impressed by Gyuri when she shared that she has tried durian, the smelly-or-heavenly king of fruit in South East Asia, something that you either love or hate!

The show soon came to an end and Kara closed the show with “Dear Kamilia.” Before bidding their final farewell, Kara expressed their apology for Seung Yeon’s absence and shared that they have prepared a mystery gift for everyone in attendance as a token of appreciation. It turned out to be a bottle of K5J perfume.

Although the showcase was pretty short and only two ballads were performed, Kara tried their best to interact with their fans and makes sure everyone went home happy! I certainly did!

Soompi would like to thank MediaCorp VizPro International for inviting us to cover the event!

Showcase photo credits: MediaCorp VizPro International