NU'EST Completes "L.O.Λ.E Tour" in Taiwan Without Aron

Taiwan, being the last leg of NU’EST’s “L.O.Λ.E Tour,” was no doubt the most anticipated stop with the showcase date, July 21, falling exactly on one of the members Baekho’s birthday! In addition, it was also the first time the group traveled to Taiwan for official activities. As such, it was indeed a pity when the eldest member Aron was rushed to the emergency room due to Acute Enteritis the morning the boys were supposed to depart for Taiwan.

Despite taking an early morning flight and reaching Taiwan at noon, NU’EST’s JR, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren displayed their smiles as they greeted the media at the press conference mere hours after their arrival.

Check out the questions asked at the press conference here:

Q: It seems like one member is missing today. Could someone explain why he is not here in Taiwan?

JR: There are five members in NU’EST. What actually happened was that Aron was admitted to the hospital due to Acute Enteritis and he was in so much pain to the extent that he couldn’t walk. We understand that there are Taiwan versions of our albums being released here, and that this is the first time NU’EST is having a showcase in Taiwan, and so Aron really wanted to come. However, as he’s really not feeling very well and couldn’t come to this event, he is really upset.

Q: Now that there are four members only, will it affect the performances tomorrow?

Baekho: Even though Aron is not with us this time around, it probably won’t affect our performances much. But because we are a five-member group, I feel bad for our fans in Taiwan who have been looking forward to meeting us. Because of this, we will give our all to the performances tomorrow.

Q: It’s really a pity that Aron couldn’t be here because from the airport arrival, it’s obvious that NU’EST must have felt the love from the fans. There were around 300 fans who went to welcome them. Have you felt the love from the fans yet?

Baekho: We did see many fans who welcomed us at the airport today. We are really anticipating the showcase tomorrow. With regards to bubble tea (boba milk tea), we drink it often in Korea too and as for xiaolongbao (steamed buns), it tastes really nice too.

Q: Did you guys ask After School about Taiwan since they are quite familiar with Taiwan already?

JR: When we meet our After School seniors, they will usually give us a lot of advice. However, this time around, it coincides with their comeback, so they are really busy. Therefore, we didn’t really have a chance to ask them about Taiwan.

Q: Tomorrow will be NU’EST’s first showcase in Taiwan. Did you guys prepare anything special? Can you reveal what we can expect tomorrow?

JR: What fans can expect is the Mandarin version of “Sandy.” We practiced a lot of times and even recorded the Mandarin version. Though our pronunciation can never match that of the Taiwanese, we really put in a lot of effort.

Baekho: It’s a little awkward to perform here, so please anticipate it at the showcase tomorrow. As we have Chinese staff working at Pledis, when we were recording, we received a lot of advice. Though we may not reach 100%, we really worked hard.

Q: Having debut for more than a year, NU’EST had been acknowledged for their achievements. Is there anything they would like to try in the future?

JR: Up till now, only Aron has individual activities as a radio DJ. However in the future, if we were to proceed with individual activities, it will probably be for acting.

Q: From being trainees to debuting to now, what has changed the most?

JR: The biggest difference is the fact that we can stand on stage to perform. And as for now, we are slowly gaining popularity so when we head out, we can’t dress sloppily anymore and have to be more conscious of our actions.

Ren: The biggest difference is probably the fact that we have more stage presence now as compared to when we first debuted.

Minhyun: The biggest difference has to be the fact that we have more fans who love us now.

Q: In Korea, there are a lot of groups. What makes NU’EST stand out from the rest?

JR: We have lots of Taiwanese fans that love us. That’s what makes us stand out.

Baekho: In addition, Taiwan is the only country in which we have another version of our album. We really wanted to visit Taiwan since long ago. Finally, we found the chance to come.

Q: What’s so attractive about NU’EST? What are your individual charms?

JR: I think it’s because we all look quite good? (shy)

Ren: I’m good at aegyo.

Q: Did they learn any Mandarin words to interact with the fans during the showcase?

Baekho: We really wanted to learn and prepare more. But after learning for a while, we realized that it’s really too difficult so we gave up. We only know “Thank You” and “I Love You”.

Ren: For “Introduce Me To Your Noona”, there is an OS in the front and I prepared it in Mandarin for the Taiwan Showcase.

Q: What are their impressions of Taiwanese fans?

JR: Basically our fans are very passionate.

Minhyun: They are also really pretty and cute.

Q: Any last words for your fans?

Ren: We really looked forward to this trip since really long ago and finally we are here in Taiwan. I look forward to tomorrow’s showcase.

Baekho: Aron is not with us this time around and we are really apologetic for it. But do give us all your support tomorrow and enjoy the showcase. We will give in our all tomorrow.

NEXT: NU’EST performs their hearts out for their Taiwanese fans

July 22 — True enough, despite the absence of Aron, a spectacular show was put on. Choreography for the songs were slightly amended to compensate Aron’s absence, but the stage presence of NU’EST was no doubt still impressive.

The showcase started with their introductory track “NU, Establish, Style, Tempo” and the atmosphere was immediately hyped up when they continued with “ACTION.” The interactive stages were up next whereby the boys answered selected questions from a whole board of post-its written by fans prior the showcase.

In addition, a special segment was prepared so as to let the boys know more about Taiwan and her attractions, which all four of them enthusiastically participated in. Ren, who unexpectedly won this section, was given the special mission to present a gift (a huge teddy bear) to a lucky fan in the crowd randomly chosen from a box of ticket stubs.

A mini birthday celebration was prepared for Baekho too, where he was tricked to be blindfolded in a fake “Mystery Box” game segment. A fan-made video with birthday messages was shown on the screen and the rest of the members rejoin Baekho on stage. Thereafter, JR said that they will make a phone call to Aron, who could not attend the showcase in Taiwan with them. Through the phone call, it was evident that the members really missed their eldest member as there were random outbursts of “I Miss You” and “I’ll be back soon, so don’t miss us!” Aron expressed his apologies through the short phone call and promised to head back to Taiwan during their next visit.

The boys then went on to perform a series of hit tracks – “Yeoboseyo,” “I’m Sorry,” “Introduce Me To Your Noona,” “Sandy (Mandarin ver.),” “Hello Hello,” “Not Over You” and “FACE.”

Just like their Japan and Singapore stops where fans participated in penning Japanese and English lyrics, it was no exception for their Taiwan stop whereby the Chinese lyrics were written by a Taiwanese fan. As promised, the Mandarin version was sung at the showcase and was really well-received as their pronunciation was pretty accurate. In addition, the members even walked down the aisle of the showcase venues, throwing autographed balls to their fans.

And what’s a showcase without an encore stage because NU’EST surprised the fans by appearing from the back of the hall as they walked down while singing to the Korean version of “Sandy” and lastly ending with “Beautiful Solo”.

Originally a high-five session for 1000 fans was to follow right after the showcase, however due to Aron’s missing the event, it was changed into free hugs for all the fans! With Taiwan as their last leg of their “L.O.Λ.E Tour”, NU’EST is now preparing for their comeback which is slated at the end of August. Do give these awesome boys your continued love and support.

Special thanks to Joytime for inviting Soompi to the press conference and the showcase.

Stay tuned to Soompi as we will be releasing an exclusive one-to-one interview we had with NU’EST really soon!

This article and photos are contributed by _germx and Rebby.