Today I saw Psy! He flew into Australia yesterday morning and was on the X Factor last night and was on a morning TV show called Sunrise this morning. Sunrise is filmed not far from where we live so of course I took this chance to get a glimpse of Psy.
I went with a Korean friend who only arrived in Australia last week – it’s kinda bizarre for her to see a Korean popstar in Australia. The problem was that because it’s morning TV we had to get their really early and got up at 4am to go where it’s filmed. My husband decided because of his work schedule that he couldn’t go as he’d be too tired for work. He now really regrets that decision. There weren’t that many people when we arrived so we got second row but very soon it got really crowded. We had no idea how many people were behind us. The crowd was really hyped up and was so excited to see Psy. The backup dancers did a sound check first and it was funny to recognise some of their faces, then Psy did a quick sound check. It was amazing to see him in the flesh and his clothing was hilarious.
Getting ready for Psy
Construction workers waiting for Psy
There were even people in the surrounding buildings waiting for Psy. These construction workers were hanging out in front of the windows waiting to see Psy and not working (when do you ever see them working in Australia anyway?)
Finally after a few hours of waiting: Psy!
Check out the back of his costume:
His backup dancers are awesome.
They interviewed him as well. Psy can speak English but I always get a bit tense and hold my breath a bit when he is being interviewed because he is not exactly fluent and I know how difficult English can be for Korean speakers. I also cringe when people use slang or words I know a Korean is not likely to understand because I’m so used to modifying my own speech that those words become glaringly obvious to me. He did really well though, obviously was prepared and knew what he was going to say.
The hosts also seemed to really enjoy him being there and got into the spirit of it.
I’ve been to other Kpop things before. I went to the Kpop Fest last year. What I did notice was the difference in the crowd, there were was a huge range of people there. Usually Kpop draws a crowd of young Asian Australians, people like me who have a connection to Korean culture, Koreans who happen to be in Australia at the time, and other young Australians who have got into Kpop for whatever reasons. While those groups were all represented there today there was a much bigger range of people. I also overheard the teenage girls behind me talking about how they had discovered Big Bang 🙂
Pic of crowd
Psy is such an amazing performer. He said he doesn’t really care if Gangnam Style is just a one hit wonder in other countries because this is amazing and he is having fun. But you can see the difference between him and other one hit wonders. He has been in the music industry and a performer for years. He is so professional, he knows how to work the crowd, he has more to give. Hopefully he’ll be more than just a one hit wonder, but if he is, he still has a very successful career in Korea.
You can see from these photos how close we were. I really didn’t want to be on TV but was kinda inevitable because of our position. A friend texted me a photo they took of their TV where I was definitely visible. Nooooo! Looking at the clips though, I think I did manage to avoid being seen too much.
It wasn’t just one performance of Gangnam Style and that’s all. There was the sound checks, the main performance, the interview and an encore performance. Psy also chatted a bit while waiting on stage. It was well worth the early morning and the wait.
Even after people were crowding around trying to see him as he left.
So why didn’t my husband go? Good question. He was concerned about being too tired for work and not being able to see much because of a big crowd. Psy will also be performing at one of the venues in his work place so he thought he’d get a chance to see him then. Now he realises he should have come this morning. We were so close and this was free! By the time he realised that it was too late as the crowd was already so big and he would have missed most of it anyway. He is kicking himself though. Seriously, he is moping around all depressed right now. This was an opportunity to see Psy perform and maybe he’ll never get another opportunity like this. He may glimpse Psy at work tomorrow but he won’t be able to enjoy it like we enjoyed it today. Silly silly boy.
So, that was my experience!
Here is a video:
edit: just changed link to the tv show’s website.
http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/factsheets/article/-/15139078/psy-rocks-gangnam-style-live-on-sunrise/
Youtube comments are usually pretty stupid. I noticed some comments saying the crowd was dead- really not true. On camera people look like they are doing nothing but actually people were dancing and getting into it. Also the camera is panning the whole audience and the people at the back probably can’t see much. Definitely at the front people were going crazy AND this was early in the morning. Also people were SCREAMING out the lyrics but of course we don’t have microphones so that sound isn’t always picked up as well. It was an amazing vibe! It’s just you can’t always convey that well on camera. I should just never read youtube comments I think….
Psy will be going to so many countries over the next 6 months! If you get a chance, definitely try to see him!
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