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Apink take fans to their ‘Pink Island’

Island-themed concert packed with fun solo performances, videos for fans

In a K-pop world filled with girl groups offering sexy and sometimes even provocative performances to get in the limelight, Apink has claimed a nearly unrivaled position with unwavering confidence in their clean, friendly girl-next-door image.

The girls maximized that charm at their second exclusive concert, “Pink Island,” in Seoul last weekend, allowing themselves to let loose, joke around and have fun with their fans.

“Tonight, this is an island just for Apink and Pink Pandas,” said member Chorong, giving a nod to Apink’s official fan club. “I’m sure there are some of you who haven’t been able to go on summer vacation yet. I hope you will be able to enjoy your last summer vacation here with us.”

Kicking off the show with their latest hit track “Remember,” the members moved through three segments in quick succession including songs like “NoNoNo,” “Luv,” and “Sunday Monday.”

“Everyone, there’s a shocking video waiting for you!” they said after the third segment, as they went offstage to prepare for their solo performances.

A far cry from the flashy music videos or intense teasers that usually play in concert transitions, the video that played was a parody of the recent Pixar hit “Inside Out.” Each of the members became a character from the animated movie as they talked about their concert -- Hayoung was Joy, Eunji was Sadness, Naeun was Disgust, Chorong was Fear, Namjoo was Anger and Bomi played an adorable homage to Bing Bong, the imaginary cotton candy elephant from the animation.

When the video ended, the members gave solo performances where they re-created songs from the late 1990s to the early 2000s in a segment called “Back to the Music.” Naeun kicked off with a fun rendition of Deux’s 1994 song “In Summer,” Chorong turned up the heat with a sexy and flashy performance of Uhm Jeong-hwa’s 1998 song “Invitation” and Namjoo donned bell-bottoms for Park Jin-young’s funky 1998 hit “Honey.”

Eunji took over with a powerful version of Kim Hyun-jung’s 2000 song “Bruise” while Hayoung went sporty for Lee Hyo-ri’s 2003 megahit “10 Minutes.” Bomi was the highlight, giving an impressive live drum performance to start off Psy’s 2002 party song “Champion.”

“I bet you thought we were done!” she said, picking herself up off the floor and prancing to the main stage, where the other members joined her to sing DJ DOC’s 2000 song “Run to You,” as a chorus of roaring male fans sang along.

“We’ve always wanted to try singing older songs,” Chorong said. “This was a good opportunity for us to reinterpret them into Apink’s style.

After another video in which the members split up into triplet Annas and triplet Elsas from the Disney movie “Frozen,” the concert continued with songs like “Hush,” “I Do” and “Yeah.”

Apink wrapped up with “April 19th,” a song written by Chorong for the Pink Pandas.

“I hope you know that the members are always thinking of our fans,” Hayoung said as they closed out with an encore segment.

Apink’s second “Pink Island” concert series took place at the Jamsil Arena in Seoul on Aug. 22 and 23, drawing over 10,000 fans in total.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)