Fans are important to an artiste, without them, it would be difficult for an artiste to survive. So the artistes and the management are often very nice to the fans…even if at times, these fans can be a pain in the butt.
Side track: I just read that there’s this fanatic fan who’s been stalking Rain for 5 years but they don’t really dare to do anything as they are afraid the whole thing will blow up.
If an artiste is really popular, fan clubs will be set up…often voluntarily by fans themselves, who will sacrifice time, energy and money to do so. In other words, the fans will ‘work’ for the artiste willingly…for free. I know, I know…silly right? Sigh… I can’t comment much coz I’m one of those silly people too.
Anyway I guess one of the easiest and fastest way to form a fan club is via the internet. With all of us being globally connected via the internet now, nothing is easier than starting a fan club in cyberspace, where hardly any cost is involved. The only thing needed is time, energy and commitment. Fans from all over the world can join with just a click of on the keyboard. And don’t look down on these informal fan clubs ok, their news, photos and video clips are often faster than the media and the official sites. I know many SG media check on the internet sites and keep in contact with fans to make sure they have the latest news.
Increasingly, many artistes not only set up their own management agency, but also their own official fan clubs. I guess they have more control this way.
Jang Dong Gun, Lee Byung Hyun, Rain (I must say I am impressed with Rain’s website) and DBSK all have their own official fan clubs. Of course, there is often a charge for it. Think Rain’s membership cost US$50 and you get a ticket to one his fan meeting in return…air ticket and accommodation not included.
Side track: Super Junior (consisting of 13 members, yes, 13 members!) is also split into sub groups, sometimes with the addition of new members in those sub groups. So you have Super-KRY, Super-M, Super-T, Super-Hmmm….maybe the management is thinking of doing the entire alphabet? As if it wasn’t confusing enough trying to identify 13 guys…who to me, all look strangely alike. Anyway, it seems there was protest from some fans who insisted that the official fan club can only consist of the original 13 members….Hmmm…
Anyway, what led to this post? Because Joon’s Family (Bae Yong Joon’s fanclub in Singapore) just celebrated its 5th anniversary last Saturday.
Bae Yong Joon has an an official website but no official fan club. Apparently he did have one, once upon a time but didn’t like the way it turned out..so he decided..no more official fan club. Well, no matter, fans like us in various countries set up fan clubs for him voluntarily and willingly. And although we are not ‘official’, we are pretty much recognized by the agency.
And don’t ask me what possessed me to help set up a fan club 5 years ago when I didn’t even chase any fans in my younger days. My husband always thought I was having a early menopause. But truth be told, actually the journey has been rather interesting so far. I’ve also learnt a lot and most of the time, it has been rather fun too.
BUT…it is time consuming…
So, it is perhaps time to slow down.
It is quite incredible that after 5 years…there were still over 80 people attending the gathering. I firmly believe that besides the common interest of BYJ amongst us, it is the friendship that we’ve formed over the years. Of course, it was a chance for many of us, who would normally have to look after our family and career, to let our hair down as well. ^^
Our beautiful signage designed by Kelly
Quite grand right? Got all these nice glasses and waiters serving us.
Kelly stayed up till 5am to do this. Each ticket has a different picture. Cool right?
Every year, we have to source for door gifts. Thank goodness, every year, we always managed to get something and Korea National Tourism Organization has always been a strong supporter. ^^ The highlight? His autographed photo.
Over the years, we’ve ‘developed’ many photos for display at different times…in fact too many to keep, so they were up for grabs by the members.
Who are they taking photos of? Could it be….?
Hehe! No lah, it wasn’t Bae Yong Joon but Lee An, our special guest for the gathering. Looks like he may have gained a few fans too.
Lee An’s performance
He managed to get our ladies up and dancing.
Jos suggested sparkling juice since it was our 5th anniversary. So you can’t have bubbly without a good, old ‘yum seng’ right?
The cake is always a highlight of our gathering. Not sure if it’s the picture on the cake that’s a draw or the cake itself. But…the cake was very, very nice. Yummy.
All gone…almost…*burp*
Hehe! Only Jessica’s teacher, could sing the Birthday song in Korean.
No, it’s not a striptease dance…just part of the game.
Our mandatory group photo but quite bad hor…Kelly’s photo definitely better.
Someone emailed me afterwards to say that she hope that Joon’s Family would be able to celebrate it’s 10th, 15th and even 20th anniversary. I was like…let’s not think too far. ^^
Happy Birthday Joon’s Family
Looks like you did a good job there!
Keep it up!