[by Bae Jung Yun, photo by Kim Chi Yun] On March 16, KOTRA held the honorary ambassador appointment ceremony for ‘China Social Contribution Project Together With K-POP Star and Small and Medium Businesses’ at IKP in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

The project carried forward to increase the recognition of small and medium businesses by using k-pop star and to support Chinese local marketing.


Meanwhile, Crayon Pop participated in the event for free to support the overseas expansion of small and medium businesses. (photo by bntnews DB)

[by Bae Jung Yun] CNBLUE Jung Yong Hwa will appear in the Chinese blockbuster ‘Powerful Flavor - Final Taste’ (literal translation).

The movie is produced by the biggest and influential Hong Kong production company called Emperor Motion Pictures. The movie is drawing attention by using a budget of approximately $38.5 million. The best Hong Kong director Ye Wei Min, who produced the movie ‘Lost On Journey’ participated in movie direction.


The movie surpassed the genre of food, action, human and comedy. 4D technique will go into the movie for the audience to smell the food during the movie. Also, for the high quality of the film, the company invested approximately $1.5 million just for the food street filming set. It will also lease the Brno castle during its filming in Prague, the Czech Republic.

Producer Wen Jun, who is in charge of the general movie direction, said, “I can realize how popular CNBLUE is in Asian countries. After meeting Jung Yong Hwa in person, I think he is a handsome guy who acts really well.” Director Ye Wei Min revealed his love to Jung Yong Hwa by saying, “I expect Jung Yong Hwa’s potential acting ability.”

Hong Kong famous actor Xie Ting Feng, Chinese national actor Ge You, Chinese popular actress Tang Yan will attune with Jung Yong Hwa and starred in the movie. Particularly, Jung Yon Hwa will create a love line with Bai Bing, who is also known as a Chinese Kim Hee Sun.

Meanwhile, the movie ‘Powerful Flavor - Final Taste’, which Jung Yong Hwa appears as a main character, will start its filming in April. (photo by FNC ENTERTAINMENT)

[by Bae Jung Yun] Lee Hi, who made her comeback with her half album ‘SEOULITE’ after three years, will perform as a special guest at the WINNER’s first solo concert.

She will participate and support the concert ‘WINNER EXIT TOUR IN SEOUL’, which will be held at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul on March 12 and 13.

Lee Hi and WINNER have a tight bond between each other and never lavished to support each other. She appeared on the pre-release video of the group’s new song ‘Baby Baby’ as a first main character. WINNER also posted ‘SEOULITE’ album motion image on social media to support her comeback. Particularly, WINNER’s member Song Min Ho participated in featuring her song ‘WORLDTOUR’.

The group’s first solo concert, which will disclose its hit song stages with glamorous performances and live stages, is receiving enthusiastic attention from fans. Its performance will be enriched by her appearance, who is receiving lots of popularity with her new song ‘BREATHE’.


On March 8 at midnight KST, her half album ‘SEOULITE’ was released. On March 10, her album topped the iTunes album charts in Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia and ranked 25th place on America’s iTunes album chart. She is proving her popularity in and out of the country.

Meanwhile, Lee Hi will appear on ‘Mcountdown’ on March 10. She will start her comeback activity by performing double title songs ‘BREATHE’ and ‘HOLD MY HAND’ for the first time on the program. (photo by YG Entertainment)

[by Bae Jung Yun] SNSD’s member Yoona will disclose her first solo track.


On March 10 at midnight KST, her first solo track ‘Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway’ will be released through MelOn, Genie, Naver Music and other music charts and it is receiving enthusiastic attention from the global music fans.

Particularly, the track will be unveiled through ‘STATION’. The song, which a singer 10cm participated in featuring, is an urban pop music harmonized with warm electric piano sound and soft melody of acoustic guitar played by Yoon Cheol Jong (a member of 10cm). Yoona’s sweet tone and Yoon Cheol Jong’s gentle voice were mixed well together and doubled the charm of the song.

Moreover, the lyrics was not about a popular belief that if a couple walks together on the Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway, they will end up breaking up with each other, but it was about a romantic content that a couple will never break up with each other even as they walk together. 


Meanwhile, Yoona’s new song ‘Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway’, which will make the couple’s heart flutter, is predicted to become one of the seasonal songs along with previously released song called ‘Spring Love’ by Eric Nam and Red Velvet\'s Wendy through ‘STATION’. (photo by SM Entertainment)


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[by Bae Jung Yun] Joo Byung Jin and his dog called Big, Medium and Small took over Incheon in Gyeonggi-do.

Recently, He visited Incheon with his dogs and met another ‘Dog Papa’ Ji Sang Yeol, who is breeding Pug, Shih Tzu and Great Pyrenees. Ji Sang Yeol came to the scene with a dog called Sangdoni. Program production crew was surprised by the fact that Sangdoni is a son of the mascot dog Sanggeun from the program ‘2 Days & 1 Night’.


Five months old Joo Byun Jin’s dog triplets had a war of nerves with Sangdoni at their first encounter and increased the tension of the filming scene. Triplets were barking and trying to jump at Sangdoni, which is five times bigger than them. On the other hand, Sangdoni showed mature image by quietly smelling the triplets.

After Ji Sang Yeol caught the scene, he tried to understand the situation and said, “They are all male dogs, so maybe they are fighting to arrange their ranks.”

Joo Byun Jin, who dreamed about raising a big dog, said, “I have always dreamed about walking the big dog” and practiced his dream with Sangdoni.


Meanwhile, ChannelA ‘Dog Papa’ is a real living together variety program about humans and dogs. Comedian Joo Byung Jin and his Welsh Corgi triplets, basketball player Hyun Joo Yup and his Bichon Frise, and Kang In and his French bulldog Chun Hyang will appear in the show. The program airs every Friday at 11pm KST. (photo by ChannelA)

[by Bae Jung Yun] Idol group BtoB will come back with its encore concert.

The group will hold its solo concert ‘BORN TO BEAT TIME (BTBT) - ENCORE’ on March 26 and 27 at the Jamsil Arena in Seoul. The band will meet its fans by holding a large live performance again.


In December, 2015, the band successfully completed its concert ‘BTBT’ by recording a continuous perfect sold out of its concert tickets. The group, who gained popularity and showed its glamorous peak at the end of the year 2015, will visit its fans after three months because of its fans’ wholehearted requests.

The concert can accommodate about 14,000 audiences for two days, 1.8 times bigger than its previous concert, and it is the largest solo concert after the group’s debut. It is proving its fame as a national top idol and collecting enthusiastic response from the audience.


Particularly, the tickets of its official fan meeting ‘BtoB Awards’ held in February, 2016 sold out in ten minutes and created a ticketing war among its fans. Therefore, its upcoming concert’s ticket selling record is receiving people’s attention. A talented boy group, BtoB, who proved its ability through the live performances, is expected to show its dignity as a powerful performer carrying the strong ticket power.

[by Bae Jung Yun] On March 8, girl group Secret’s member Jun Hyo Seong posted an unexpected picture on her Instagram before her solo comeback.

The posted picture was a fresh and blue forget-me-not flower. The flower contains the dim meaning of ‘Don’t forget me’. She, who usually communicates with her fans through social media, tagged only her name with the picture and raised people’s curiosity.


Fans are predicting that the flower picture is a clue related to her upcoming album because she gave a notice of her solo comeback in March. Many people are systematically analyzing the meaning of the flower to guess her exact come back time and song title because her previous albums were also released in the spring and she was known as the diva of the spring. 

Her agency, TS Entertainment is on the last stage of making her solo album. The agency said, “She will disclose her own charming voice and performance to compete against another artist. She will also show off her hidden charms that were unable to show as a Secret’s leader.”

Previously, she proved her infinite potentials by releasing her first solo album ‘TOP SECRET’ in 2014 and her mini album ‘FANTASIA’ in May, 2015. 


Meanwhile, Jun Hyo Seung is receiving viewer’s attention from appearing on MBC ‘Real Men Season 2 - Female Edition 4’ and doing her best to become a duty officer in the program. (photo by TS Entertainment)


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[by Bae Jung Yun] Famous girl group Red Velvet will come back with its second mini album ‘The Velvet’.

On March 15 at midnight KST, the group will unveil all tracks of its album through MelOn, Genie, Naver Music and other music websites. It is predicted to blow a soft ‘Velvet’ fever on the world of Korean pop music.

Particularly, its new song contains feminine and gentle charms. The album will show twisted charms compare to previous album ‘The Red’, which received lots of love by showing the group’s fresh and cheerful charms. The group will fascinate its fans with its differentiated identity and unique music color.

Moreover, the group topped the music charts in and out of the country and various music broadcasts with its hit songs ‘Ice Cream Cake’ and ‘Dumb Dumb’. Its music video ‘Dumb Dumb’ registered its name as an Asian artist on Rolling Stone’s (American magazine) ’10 Best Music Videos of 2015’. The member of the group received lots of love by performing various personal schedules. Its new mini album is expected to receive a lot more attention from people compare to the previous one.

In addition, on March 9, Red Velvet’s official Instagram posted a teaser image of Yeri and received people’s attention. Also, on March 10, Red Velvet’s official website, SMTOWN Vyrl account and SMTOWN Facebook page disclosed the teaser poster of Irene showing off her unusual transformation. The upcoming album is predicted to amplify its fan’s expectation.

[by Bae Jung Yun] Singer Lee Hi made her glamorous comeback by achieving an all-kill with her half album ‘SEOULITE’ on the music charts.

On March 8 at midnight, her title song ‘BREATHE’ was released. The song ranked first on various music charts such as MelOn, Genie, Olleh, Mnet, Naver, Bugs, Monkey3 and Soribada on March 9 at 8pm KST.


Moreover, five songs included in her half album placed higher rank and lined up the Genie and Mnet music charts. It also ranked in TOP10 on Olleh, Naver, Bugs and Soribada. All her songs are receiving lots of love from the mass public.

The music video ‘BREATHE’ and ‘HOLD MY HAND’ are also receiving love from the viewer. Music video of the calm and sorrowful song ‘BREATHE’ and the fresh and cheerful song ‘HOLD MY HAND’ is gaining its popularity by breaking through 260,000 views.

Her half album ‘SEOULITE’ was produced by Tablo and DJ Tukutz from Epik High along with Lee Hi, herself. Code Kunst, DEAN, The Barberettes, SHINee Jonghyun and Chancellor were participated in composing and writing songs. Song Min Ho, GONZO and Incredible were participated in featuring songs. Her album received huge attention even before the release.

In addition, her agency’s (YG Entertainment) owner Yang Hyun Suk and her seniors and labelmates Epik High, AKMU, WINNER and Sandara Park cheered for her album by posting motion images on social media.

Meanwhile, Lee Hi, who is receiving love with her depth soul and emotion, will start her broadcasting activity and meet her fans with active performance. (photo by YG Entertainment)

[by Lee Lin, translated by Bae Jung Yun] Unforgettable day of the summer time, there is a girl always smiles brightly in people’s memory. A girl makes people think of their distant first love. Her untouched purity is something that is hard to forget.

Recently, bntnews met the main character of movie ‘Unforgettable’, actress Kim So Hyun at a café in Samcheong-dong, Seoul and talked about an undisclosed story from the movie.


She took the role of Soo Ok, who is someone’s hidden first love that needed to be protected. Her first worry was about how to make Soo Ok to look like a lovely child.

“The role gave me a burden. It was different than existing first love. Soo Ok received love from her guy friends and also from her female friend Gil Ja. I wanted to make the role become a character that cannot help loving even from female friends. The character is pure, but there are circumstances that some of her act might turn out to make someone misunderstand. So, I carefully created the character. I poured my best effort to make the role looks pure, honest, strong and pretty even it is seen by the female audience.”


(photo by bntnews DB)

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[by Lee Lin, translated by Bae Jung Yun] Kang Dong Won fully enjoys acting in the movie. He spreads out a delightful buddy-play in the round set up by Hwang Jung Min, and the saying, ‘Genre is Kang Dong Won’ did not come out for nothing.

‘A Violent Prosecutor’ is about a prosecutor (Hwang Jung Min) with a false charge of homicide and a good-looking swindler (Kang Dong Won) that the prosecutor helps the swindler getting out of the jail to veil his false charge.

Recently, bntnews met Kang Dong Won in a café, which is located in Samcheong-dong, Seoul. He was carrying cannot-be-hated smile just like Han Chi Won from the film.


Kang Dong Won took the role of overly bluffed good-looking swindler Han Chi Won who has nine criminal records and awakened his great comic instinct. An old fox Han Chi Won meets Kang Dong Won is even lovable. Normal prison uniform became a style when he wears it; Chi Won who flirts with every girl was acceptable when he acts it. However, he had struggles in acting different characters, which had to perform strategies according to Byun Jae Wook’s (Hwang Jung Min) orders.

“Although its genre is crime, the special key point is Chi Won’s entertaining component. I did my best to vitalize each facial expression. I needed to balance it because I had to make facial expressions that I do not normally make. I strategically controlled the crude character because it cannot be seemed too light.”

[by Bae Jung Yun] SM Entertainment digital music channel ‘STATION’s’, first runner Taeyeon’s new song ‘Rain’ achieved all-kills on various music charts and showed her power as a solo.

On February 3 at midnight, she dropped the digital single ‘Rain’ through various music charts. Title song ‘Rain’ ranked first on 8 different music charts such as MelOn, Genie, Naver Music, Olleh Music, Mnet, Bugs, Soribada and Monkey3 and swept the chart. The other new song ‘Secret’ also was placed on the second rank on Genie, Naver Music, Olleh Music, Mnet and Bugs and showed the hottest fame as a music chart queen.


This title song ‘Rain’ is medium tempo music contains soulful jazz touch with impressive unique melody and code. It captures people’s sense of music by its lyrics, which refers memory of ex-lover to rain.

Moreover, at the same time of releasing the music, SMTOWN YouTube channel unveiled its music video. The music video contains Taeyeon’s new song and sensuous visual content, and it dragged attention from the mass public.

Meanwhile, SM informed its glamorous start of ‘STATION’ by releasing Taeyeon’s ‘Rain’. It will release various new songs every Friday starting from February 19 to show collaboration works of artists, producers, composers and other agencies. (photo by SM Entertainment)


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[by Bae Jung Yun] Double S 301’s Seoul concert will be held at Blue Square Samsung Card Hall in Hannam-dong from May 19 through 20.

On January 14, Double S 301 unveiled its teaser image as a surprise and announced its comeback. With the teaser in suits, Kim Kyu Jong and Heo Young Saeng released their teaser videos in consecutive orders and dragged people’s attention by containing different charms of each member. Additionally, the upcoming teaser video of Kim Hyung Jun will also draw fans’ curiosity.


Its comeback has announced after seven years since the original soundtrack ‘My Head Is Bad’ in ‘Boys Over Flowers’ from 2009. Upcoming concert will include its new songs from the new album called ‘ETERNAL5’ and it is raising the fans\' expectations by making the event with the group’s various charms.

On February 4 at 4pm KST, the ticket will be sold to the public through Interpark and a vigorous ticketing war will be continued.

Moreover, this event is a new foothold for members to meet their fans after each members’ long breaks such as military service, solo activity and others. Double S 301 is receiving attention from the fans in and out of the country and even from the mass public.

CI ENT said, “Every member is practicing hard with great passion and love for the upcoming comeback album and the Seoul concert. They will show off well-made album and performance, so please give lots of love and support for their comeback.”

[by Bae Jung Yun] Jang Na Ra, who took the role of Han Mi Mo, titled as a worst wedding guest in MBC Mini-series ‘One More Happy Ending’.

On February 3, the photos of Jang Na Ra in a maid-of-honor outfit was revealed. In the picture, she is showing off her beauty along with Yoo In Na and Yoo Da In and dragged people’s attention.


From the fifth episode of ‘One More Happy Ending’, previous girl group ‘Angels’ member Mi Mo (Jang Na Ra), Dong Mi (Yoo In Na) and Da Jeong (Yoo Da In) gathered to celebrate Ae Ran’s (Seo In Young) wedding. Ae ran finally wore her wedding dress after wandering about marriage decision, but she seemed unpleasant and it added viewer’s curiousity.

Moreover, the love triangle romance among Mi Mo, Su Hyeok (Jeong Kyung Ho) and Hae Jun (Kwon Yul) had begun in earnest on the fifth episode. It will show the process of Mi Mo lively finding her new love.

‘One More Happy Ending’ is about first girl group generation women in their thirties and men whom start to fall in love again after tangled up with those women. The heroic, cheerful and delightful sparkling romantic comedy about divorced single, single dad with confusing identity, single woman who has never been in a romantic relationship and married couple with impossible recovery are challenging for love to ‘become happy once again’.

[by Kim Young Shin, photo by Baek Soo Yeon] On February 1, KBS’ New Year’s special program ‘Muscle Queen Project’ opened its studio to press.


In ‘Muscle Queen Project’, 8 girls from k-pop groups and trainers team up in twos to compete. After three weeks of mentoring and training, the contestants will show off their muscles through performing various sports, dances and other kinds of arts.

The mentors are Insooni, Jung Ah Reum, Shim Eu Ddeum, Oh Hyun Jin, Kwon Do Yea, Hyung Joo Hyun and Song Ah Reum. Mentees include Hello Venus Nara, TWICE Jeongyeon, G.NA, Stephanie, Kahee, Nine Muses Kyungri, AOA Chanmi and Dalshabet Subin. Insooni and 2AM Jinwoon will be the hosts.

Meanwhile, the show will air on February 9. (photo by bntnews DB)

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[by Oh A Ra, translated by Bae Jung Yun] Rainbow Ji Sook has her representative titles such as ‘Sook Jang Geum’, ‘Blogger’ and ‘Devoted Daugther Idol’. She is definitely showing her unique charm among overfull idol.

She, who has a great skill and talent, showed off her pure-white aura that is different than her previous image during the bnt pictorial. The pictorial progressed with a total of four concepts and she performed more mature and relaxed mood.

From the first concept, she contained dreamy and mysterious atmosphere by wearing a long white lace dress. From the continued shooting, she showed a romantic and lovely look by wearing a flower patterned dress.

From the third concept, she released a pure charm by wearing navy color pleats dress and made a mysterious girlish sensation with her unique facial expression acting.

From the last shooting, she expressed casual and chic mood by wearing a casual jacket and wide denim pants.

From the following interview progressed with pictorial, she said, “I used to have a lot of shooting that needs to have strength with me. However, it is very different than my previous one, so I am looking forward to it.”

For her various modifiers, she said, “I hear a lot of people saying that I am ‘Sook Jang Geum’, ‘Blogger’ and ‘Good Wife and Wise Mother’, but I personally think the most fun word is a ‘Blogger’. I tried hard piling up my blog for a long time, so I feel more affection for it. There are many people recognize me as a blogger Ji Sook other than Rainbow Ji Sook.”

[by Bae Jung Yun] A girl group AOA ranked third on the Oricon daily chart with its fourth Japanese single album and proved its rising popularity in Japan

On April 20, the group released its fourth single album ‘Give Me the Love feat. TAKANORI NISHIKAWA(T.M. Revolution)’ in Japan and ranked third on the Oricon daily chart by reaching 15,246 copies of album sales in one day. Also, it topped the Recochoku’s k-pop and world chart and ranked second on Tower Record’s world chart. At Tower Record Shibuya branch, the group’s member Seolhyun version of new single album topped the daily overall sales chart. The group is receiving an enthusiastic attention from Japanese fans. 

After the album pre-released at Recochoku, it ranked first on k-pop weekly chart. The group’s short version music video also ranked first on Yahoo Japan’s video website, Gyao and received a spotlight.

The group is doubling its popularity every time they release its new album. It is establishing a solid foothold as a next generation hallyu (Korean wave) girl group. Other than its debut single album, all other albums ranked in TOP5 of Oricon chart. Also, its first official album ‘Ace of Angels’, which released in October, 2015, ranked first on the daily chart and second on the weekly chart. It is Oricon’s best ranking among other Korean female singers, which released their official album in Japan.

Meanwhile, AOA will hold the album release celebration event on April 21 and 24 in Tokyo, April 22 in Nagoya and April 23 in Osaka. (photo by FNC Entertainment)

[by Bae Jung Yun] Lee Hi unveiled the music video making film of her full album title song ‘MY STAR’.

On April 21 at 10am KST, YG Entertainment released the making film that contains her lovely image with pastel tone through its official blog.

From the video, she talked about her title song by saying, “I think it would be nice for you to listen to this music when you start to fall in love with somebody and it is also great when you propose to someone.” She also said, “The song is expressing a person’s cannot controlled feeling of love, so the dance move is very precise” and slightly unveiled the choreography.

Continually, she said, “’MY STAR’ haven’t appeared for me yet. If you are interested, call me” and made people burst into laughter.

She drew people’s attention by acting the couple scene together with a handsome rapper ONE, who is her labelmate. Particularly, she had to act a kissing scene after she met him for the first time at the filming spot. She said, “I have never done this before. I was so embarrassed and didn’t know what to do” and recollected her awkward experience.

Her title song topped Naver and Bugs music chart on April 21 at 9am KST. Also, her song ‘VIDEO’ is receiving love by ranking the first place on the Genie music chart. At the same time, it also topped the iTunes album chart of Singapore and Cambodia, ranked 58th in America and 37th in Canada. She is showing her great popularity even in foreign countries.

There are six tracks included in her full album. She participated in song writing and lyrics writing of the third track ‘PASSING BY’. Moreover, her labelmate Tablo and iKON Bobby participated in featuring the fourth track ‘UP ALL NIGHT’ and fifth track ‘VIDEO’ each and completed the album with high quality.

[by Jo Hye Jin, translated by Bae Jung Yun] Her solo album, an activity as Brown Eyed Girls and the word ‘Forward’, which a singer JeA dreams about, made people to keep listening to her music even in the future.

Recently, a girl group Brown Eyed Girls JeA had a round interview to celebrate her new single ‘Bad Girl’ release. Other than a strong sister or a trainer from the variety program, she came back with a depth and matured singer. She intensified feminine music and introduced her album that includes emotion of a woman.

◆ Solo JeA’s ‘Feminine Sensibility’

She, who released her solo album after three years, showed a ballad song ‘Bad Girl’ that has stood out refined acoustic sound. Just like her words, she selected that song as a title in order to capture the mass public, a captivating and light vocal was enough to capture the listener’s ears. Particularly, she revealed her satisfaction by saying, “I never done a song that intensifies the feminine image other than OST. I think that I presented very attractive female vocal.”

She is the leader in the group that has a strong image like a strong sister. She wanted to separate her recently released solo album and previously released one. Also, separate it from Brown Eyed Girl. She confessed something that is not like confession by saying, “I am in charge of the powerful vocal in the group. Actually, I have a feminine woman in my mind.”

“I never thought it would take that long until my solo album to come out again. When I was preparing my album, I didn’t have perfect timing like ‘This is it’, so came back now. There was a stereotype about ‘Why Brown Eyed Girls tries only the difficult things?’ I think I can form sympathy through ‘Bad Girls’.”

[by Bae Jung Yun] Kim Jun Su had a special spring concert with 15,000 fans in Tokyo, Japan.

CJeS Entertainment said, “On March 30 and 31, Kim Jun Su holds Japan ballad spring tour ‘2016 XIA THE BEST BALLAD SPRING TOUR CONCERT vol.2 in JAPAN’ at the International Forum Hall in Tokyo and meets his 15,000 fans. Japanese fans, who met Kim Jun Su after 5 months, gave a round of applause for his sweet live and various performances.”

He glamorously rearranged and performed the main performance of his musical ‘Death Note’ and sjpwed amptjer attraction of him. The musical is a cartoon, which is receiving great popularity from Japanese people. When he appeared on the stage as the main character L, an enthusiastic acclamation came out from the audience.

Concert staff said, “There was an explosive reaction toward the L’s stage since the character received great popularity in Japan. Particularly, Kim Jun Su’s remarkable expression and subtle acting increased the completeness of performance and made the performance just like watching a musical stage. Local staffs were surprised by his powerful energy and stage presence and it served as a momentum of proving his position in the musical industry once again.”

He performed Japanese ballad songs ‘Get The Groove’ by Fukuyama Masaharu and ‘The Person Other Than You’ by DEEP during the concert. The fans sent a big applause for a loving message included in the lyrics and his sweet voice.