BoA successfully holds two-day-long 20th debut anniversary concert in Seoul

BoA successfully holds two-day-long 20th debut anniversary concert in Seoul: K-POP / 연합뉴스 / 2023-03-13 10:04:38

▲ This photo, provided by SM Entertainment, shows BoA at her 20th debut anniversary concert. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Mar. 13 (Yonhap) -- When she shouted “Let’s sing together!,” her fans sang along to her mega-hit track “You Still My No.1.” Although the song was released 21 years ago, the venue was quickly filled up with voices of her fervent fans as if her music was dropped just yesterday.

It was at the 20th-anniversary concert “THE BoA: Musicality,” held at Seoul’s Olympic Park on Sunday afternoon, where the first-generation K-pop superstar BoA in a white dress sang the song with her fans, wearing a smile as if she were proud.

Debuted in 2000, BoA rose to stardom as an iconic K-pop dance diva with her smash-hit songs including “No. 1,” “Atlantis Girl,” “My Name,” and “Girls On Top.”

She then introduced herself to the Japanese music market in 2001, where her songs “LISTEN TO MY HEART,” “VALENTI,” and “Merry Chri” topped the Japanese Oricon albums chart for the very time in K-pop history by selling more than 1 million album copies. These albums then won her the title of the “Star of Asia.” She then went swept across Asia, beyond Korea and Japan, with her powerful delivery and energetic choreography.

In 2008, she also tried to introduce herself to the U.S. music industry and marked the very first K-pop singer to enter the Billboard 200 chart the following year. Her 20th debut anniversary was actually in the year 2020, but she had to hold a commemorative concert three years later in 2023 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The 36-year-old singer opened her concert with “Breathe” from her 3rd EP, wearing a sparkling costume. In line with the band’s ensemble, she showed off her exquisite vocal skills by performing seven songs in a row, including “Copy& Paste” and “Hurricane Venus.” She then poured her heart despite not feeling perfectly well from the cold she caught a month ago. During the stage of “Forgive Me,” she even played the guitar herself as if she were a member of a rock band.

BoA then said, “Don’t I sound better than I did yesterday? Yesterday, I sounded really different when I sang and when I spoke. I personally think the slogan of our concert should be ‘Let’s all die together.’ Our concert is merciless,” the singer said while showing her enthusiasm toward the concert.

“You guys gave me so much energy,” she said. “I could not drink for a month because of the cold. I really wanted to drink a cold beer, but I had to hold on to it. Whenever I drink, I became tone-deaf.”

Her fans from all age groups, ranging from those in their 20s to 40s, filled up the concert hall on this day as if they were witnessing the singer’s long music career. They all dressed up in yellow costumes and masks, the singer’s color, and joined her time travel to go back 20 years.

BoA also lived up to fans’ expectations by performing several of her major hit tracks, including “Number One,” “My Sweetie,” “Spark,” “Merry-Chri,” and “MOTO.” While singing another mega-hit song “Atlantis Princess,” the singer went down to the seats on the second floor and made eye contact with each of her fans.

In addition to her senior singer Kangta from H.O.T., many juniors from her agency, SM Entertainment, visited her concert to give support: SNSD’s Hyo Yeon, Red Velvet’s Wendy, Seulgi, and Irene, EXO’s Suho and Xiumin, and aespa’s Winter and Karina, as well as SHINee’s Minho came to celebrate her 20th debut anniversary.

BoA wrapped up her two-day concert with “Little Bird” from her 10th LP. Even without the special effects, the singer glowed up while singing and dancing. She, who led the two-hour-long concert all by herself, is scheduled to bring her enthusiasm up on the stage of Busan’s BEXCO Auditorium on Apr. 1.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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