Debuting for barely a month, their TV recording session in Changsha attracted huge crowd of fans, with illegal tickets sold for up to a thousand yuan
If you don’t know EXO M, you are losing out.
Even though Korean company SM Entertainment’s newest group, EXO M, has only debuted for 26 days, they displayed huge popularity when they arrived at Changsha yesterday. Yesterday night, EXO M and Show Lou (Taiwanese singer) filmed Happy Camp today, attracting numerous fans down to the studio, and the scene of people reselling tickets for the recording showcased their tremendous popularity. “The tickets were sold for the highest price ever, even more expensive than when Lee Minho came last year.” Also, one member, Lay, whose hometown is Changsha, seems really happy to be back – “I miss home a lot, it is my honour to come back to my hometown to film for a program”.
Taiwan mother: They are already so popular now; it will be difficult to watch their live performances in the future.
1st April, EXO M had their official debut in Beijing. But this group, which has barely debut for a month, had shown tremendous popularity. Ever since it was confirmed that EXO M would be coming to Changsha to film for a TV program, there was much hype happening on EXO M’s tieba. When they arrived yesterday from Korea to Changsha, many fans were there at the airport to welcome them.
Yesterday afternoon, even though it wasn’t 3pm yet, there were many fans waiting outside the recording studio already. Some fan commented that “there are many fans from Russia, Malaysia and Taiwan”. One fan who flew in from Taiwan said “They are SM’s newest idol group, and they have a lot of potential to excel in the Chinese market.” And her favourite member is Lay, who is almost as old as her son, as she feels that he is very hardworking. When asked for the reason for flying over to Changsha for the recording, she said that “They are already so popular now; it will be difficult to watch their live performances in the future.”
Illegal tickets sold for up to 1600 yuan, and yet the tickets were still not enough.
EXO M’s popularity can be seen from the tickets of the recording. Even though the tickets for the show were not for sale, illegal sellers can still get some tickets from the audience somehow. At around 3.30pm yesterday, when there was still 5 hours before the start of the show, the sellers were selling the tickets for high prices. The reporter went and asked for the price, which was already being sold for 1200-1600 yuan. One seller was very excited, as “the guests for today are EXO and Show Luo, meaning that the tickets can be sold for the highest price ever. Also, Korean artistes are very popular, such as Super Junior M and Lee Minho, though the price for a ticket for Lee Minho’s recording didn’t fetch as high price as that of EXO M’s”.
Even though the price of one ticket is even more expensive than that of a VIP ticket for a concert, there was still high demand for the tickets. Up till 6pm, fans were willing to pay 1500 yuan for a ticket, but there just weren’t enough tickets.
Under strict orders from the company, the venue was cleared entirely for their rehearsal.
SM Entertainment is known to be very strict with their artistes, and EXO M is not an exception either.
At around 7pm, EXO M had already arrived at Huanghua Airport, but they only came out after 8pm. Some fans were guessing that they took so long because they needed to tidy up their appearances. Then yesterday at 5pm, the 6 members of EXO M arrived at the studio for the rehearsal, and all of the staff who was not involved in the recording was chased out from the studio. According to a staff, it was a request from SM.
An honour to be back home recording for a program
In the group, there is a familiar face, that is, the 2nd runner up of the 2008 «Stars academy», Zhang Yi Xing (Lay). After training in Korea, this is his first time coming back home to record for a TV program. Lay specially introduce himself to be from Changsha and that he missed home a lot while in Korea, so to be back home filming for a show is his honour. Also, his mother, who was at the recording, said that his family members missed him too while he was in Korea. But this time round, Lay can only return back to his hometown but not back home. Lay commented that he had already called his family while in Changsha, but due to time constraints, he was not able to return home for a visit.