SINGAPORE - Girl band Twice, the next big thing in Korean pop, have landed on Singapore's shores, and they tell the local media at a press conference on Friday (April 28) that they are raring to sing and dance for fans at their first concert here, at The Star Theatre on Saturday.
Dahyun, 18, a member of the nine-piece outfit, says: "We like the song One In A Million, which is dedicated to our fans. Whenever we sing it, we really see the fans supporting and cheering us. We feel pumped up from the audience's energy. It is one of our favourite songs that we like to perform together."
Band leader Jihyo, 20, says: "There are a lot of happy memories, we won the song of the year. We also just came back from Thailand, now we are in Singapore. We are very happy to be able to meet with foreign fans."
It is no wonder they are in high spirits.
Their catchy tune Cheer Up won Song of the Year at last year's Mnet Asian Music Awards, among other prizes they have nabbed since debuting two years ago.
Pop pundits think they will reach the top of the K-pop food chain like Girls' Generation.
Twicet's hits Like Ooh-Ahh (2015), Cheer Up (2016) and TT (2016) have dominated music charts in Korea and abroad. So addictive are the three pop tunes that each of the videos has generated more than 100 million YouTube views.
As part of their media onslaught, the good-lookers are all over the news, appearing on magazine spreads and even on political pages, when their Taiwanese member, Tzuyu, was slammed by Chinese netizens for waving a Taiwanese flag on a South Korean television show last year.
The political debacle did not make a dent in the group's burgeoning popularity.
Fans are willing to shell out cash to see the idols in the flesh. Tickets to Twice's three-day Seoul concerts in February reportedly sold out within 40 minutes of their release.
For Saturday's Singapore leg of Twice's first world tour, more than 95 per cent of tickets have been snapped up; only limited $168 tickets are available from Apactix.
