Veteran Kpop idol and vocal king Kyuhyun made his glorious return to Singapore with his “2024 Kyuhyun Asia Tour ‘Restart’ in Singapore” concert on 30 March. It was held at Singapore EXPO Hall 7, and was the first leg of Kyuhyun’s Asia tour.
The 2.5-hour-long concert flew by quickly with Kyuhyun’s soothing vocals, diverse setlist, and many jokes. Kyuhyun opened with Restart, the opening track of his latest EP (and indeed the concert’s name), and quickly followed with Dreaming.
Greeting fans with “ho seh bo”, local dialect meaning “how are you”, Kyuhyun revealed that he had been nervous to hold his first solo concert in Singapore, but was put at ease after seeing Kyupiters here. Referring to the song he had just performed, Kyuhyun said that he had written Dreaming with hopes that fans would sing along with him in a concert hall. Before launching into his next songs, he encouraged fans to not be shy and sing loudly to his next songs.
Kyuhyun performed A Million Pieces, Slow, Slowly, Was It Love and Aewol-ri. With his stirring vocals, it was hard for fans to not get misty-eyed. Kyuhyun said that ballad songs were difficult for him because he had to put his whole heart into them, and confessed that Slow, Slowly was the hardest song in his setlist. However, he felt most satisfied after performing them.
The first of three surprise songs that night was a cover of 你, 好不好 by Eric Chou. Kyuhyun said that he had uploaded a YouTube video covering this song while thinking about whether his fans were all well. This was the first time he was performing this song live, and he had cheekily asked fans to not record him, lest he got nervous.
His next song was Thanks To You, which featured vocals from Super Junior’s K.R.Y subunit, Ryeowook and Yesung. Lyrics were flashed onscreen, and Kyuhyun asked fans to sing along. He later pulled out the second surprise song of the night, Destiny, from the musical Ben-Hur. Kyuhyun said that fans had voted for this song (nearly 23% of all votes, in fact), and mused that it was because he takes off his clothes during this song in the musical. He playfully reminded Kyupiters that this was a “high grade ballad concert”, and he would not be stripping that night.
After a change of clothes and a VCR of the “birth” of Cho Kyumae, Kyuhyun returned with Confession Is Not Flashy and Time with you, but offstage as he walked around the hall greeting fans. As veteran fans, Kyupiters had remained calm and did not mob Kyuhyun, who was able to walk around the hall freely. He returned to the stage to perform Flying, Deep in the Night, and Together, with cute dance moves.
The final surprise songs (in quick succession) were Devil, Black Suit, Sorry Sorry, and Idol (Yoasobi Cover), much to Kyupiters’ surprise and delight. After catching his breath from his vigorous dance moves, Kyuhyun serenaded the crowd with At Gwanghwamun, his debut solo song from 2014, Daystar, Moving On, and The Story Behind. Of course, Kyuhyun pretended that the concert ended with The Story Behind, but returned to the stage with Restart and Rainbow after fans called for an encore.
As he wrapped up the concert (for real this time!), Kyuhyun said that this concert had given him the confidence to return to Singapore again, and playfully asked that Kyupiters spread the word that his concert was an exciting one so that more people would turn up. He also said that he hoped to return to Singapore with the Super Junior members soon.
It was a cosy night being serenaded by the ballad prince himself, and the intimate concert felt like a meeting between old friends. A “非常非常 thank you” to Kyuhyun, and we can’t wait to see you back in Singapore again soon!
Big thank you to CK Star Entertainment for having us!
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