We had an “Oh! Happy Day” with Park Bo Gum back in 2017, when we were moved by his excellent fan service and sincerity.
We’re thrilled to have him back to endow us with a “Good Day” in 2019.
It was a fabulously “Good Day”, whereby our hearts were filled to the brim by his altruistic nature. He’s not just a “precious sword”, but also a very “rare gem”.
It’s still the same as what we felt 2 years ago – humility and sincerity.
What didn’t change in the course of 2 years (even after his short break to complete his studies and rising popularity after “Encounter”) is his humble, down-to-earth, sincere and genuine demeanor. He’s still so lovable, beyond words. You just need to interact with him once and you will fall in love with this guy’s personality.
It’s in your guts to be able to distinguish a sincere person immediately. You can tell he’s not doing for the sake of doing, but it’s coming straight right from his heart.
This fan meet wasn’t just another job to him. It’s an event that he had wholeheartedly put in effort to spend an enjoyable and memorable day with his adorers. The thoughtful activities he had planned in the rundown were long enough to fill up an entire A4-size paper.
The most touching performance of the night, was him playing the piano and singing to our national pride, homegrown singer JJ Lin’s “修炼爱情/Practice Love”.
While the game segments and fan interaction activities have been cut down to accommodate for a longer sing-and-dance session with the fans, the ever generous Bogummy still gifted many lucky fans with his personal belongings and merchandises. Yes, every single item was lovingly autographed with a message. He also gave big hugs to fans who went on stage.
Nothing’s changed. He’s still the guy with a very big and generous heart.
As how Singaporeans would phrase it, we call this very “wuxim” (有心/thougtful).
He’s still as cheeky, bubbly, smiley, energetic, sweet, hardworking and emits positive vibes to everyone around him. He’s j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶u̶t̶e̶, no we meant cuteness level up by 1 notch.
The FM commenced with an introduction video and Park Bo Gum walked down the stairs from behind a large LED screen. Decked in checkered brown suit and his trademark megawatt smile, the hall crooned with cheers and applause while he sang DAY6’s “I Like You”.
Now that he has established his acting career, he can finally revisit his initial dream of becoming a singer. Yes ladies, Park Bo Gum has just released his debut album “Bloomin” in Japan on 20th March 2019. While there were notable areas for improvement, his vocal had been steadfastly clear and strong throughout his performances.
Able to hold the fort on his own
2 years have passed and this young lad has blossomed into an even more charming man. There may not be 3 levels full of occupied seats in The Star Theatre, but his longtime fanatics filled up at least 2 levels of the hall, even without the presence of his popular senbei – Song Joong Ki.
It isn’t true that ladies only love bad boys. We love a true gentleman, one who is so ever real and warm-hearted.
Ah Ken was the host for this year’s FM. While we miss Danny Yeo’s camaraderie with Bogummy, Ah Ken is known for his ability to lighten up the atmosphere with some jokes.
Interview Session
Even before the interview formally commenced, Ah Ken had more than once praised Bogummy as a very hardworking guy. He took his rehearsals seriously and diligently practiced every song on his performance list. This reminded us he started rehearsals for his previous FM from 10am to 4pm too, just right before the actual show began. This guy is indeed a consistent person.
Park Bo Gum is involved in contributing ideas for his 2nd Asia Tour Fan meet. He chose “May Your Everyday be a Good Day” as his 2nd FM theme because he felt that any moment spent together with his fans, is a GOOD day.
Bogummy shared pictures of the beautiful scenery taken in Cuba while he was filming “Encounter”. He likes Cuba but found it tough to film under the cold weather. The audience began crooning with “Awwww”. Thereafter, Ah Ken and him began cueing fans to go “Wooo” after every statement he made. When it should be “Wahhhh” instead, he would ensure the fans followed suit.
Now, that’s a little streak of perfectionism and OCD that we saw in him.
Read on to discover how that manifested later on in the candle-making segment.
Due to his busy schedule, Park Bo Gum didn’t have much time to do sightseeing in Singapore. After some disagreeing commotion from the audience, he asked “Why are you angry again?”
The quick-witted host asked if fans would like Park Bo Gum to stay at their homes instead. When the answer was a resounding “Yes”, he suggested Bo Gum to rotate staying at his fans’ homes. To that, Bogummy said that will take a few years. Well, the fans surely loved this idea.
Park Bo Gum wishes to visit Sentosa and Universal Studios again the next time he visits Singapore. Ah Ken recommended him to try Jurong Island or Corney Island, which drew laughter from the crowd. The ever trusting chap obviously did not know that Jurong Island is actually an industrial island in Singapore. It’s definitely not meant for sight-seeing. It was later made known to him that this was meant to be a joke as these places could be too boring to visit.
Bogummy also let us in a little on his initial aspirations. He is excited whenever he goes to the airport, as he could travel to meet his fans in different countries. We presume that he would feel tired from all the traveling, but it turns out to be completely different. He’s thrilled about meeting his overseas fans. He wanted to be a cabin crew when he was younger. Love the way of how he was trying to say “Please fasten your seatbelt”. We wouldn’t mind if we have such a nice looking and attentive cabin crew serving us on our flights though!
Ms Translator for the night was Song Im. We loved her translations for his previous FM too. She felt that Bogummy’s English has improved a lot. What can we say about such a hardworking chap? He must have tried to better his English so that it will be easier to communicate with his overseas fans.
Bogummy’s worldwide popularity is definitely more than just his good looks.
We vividly remembered him playing on the piano and singing a BD song for a fan whose birthday happened to fall on the same day as his previous FM. Though she was seated on level 2, he requested her to stand so that he could sing especially for her. This sweet act melted thousands of hearts.
He did the same again this year for all the Birthday Babies. This guy is never a facade, but someone so genuinely lovable.
He earnestly felt that the fans deserved a BD song because they decided to spend their important day at his FM, instead of spending it with their families and friends. He was touched not just by this but also fans who flew in from all over the world (including USA) to attend this FM. This is of no surprise to us since he’s so popular worldwide.
When asked how he acted out the epic cute “drunk scene” in “Encounter” since he doesn’t drink alcohol in real life, he expressed that he didn’t know how, it was just a feeling.
He had also sung for his friends over the phone like Jin Hyuk did for Soo Hyun in “Encounter”. He was in deep thoughts, revisiting his memories to recall the exact songs or scenarios. It was an adorably cute moment of silence while the audience was patiently waiting for him to find his answer.
However, he failed to ultimately and Ah Ken teased him for being so serious.
That’s another reason why people love him. He is so unpretentious, even when it comes to giving responses. He answered questions earnestly without holding back. All that he said was based on real life experiences, not fabricated stories.
Fans’ Up-close Encounter with Park Bo Gum
The next “Catch up with Encounter” was undeniably the most heart palpitating segment of the night. Many ladies present must be hoping that their seat numbers would be called out while acting calm. 3 lucky fans went on stage to have the “Encounter” of their lifetime with Park Bo Gum.
They re-enacted 3 out of the 5 scenes from “Encounter”. Be it Bogummy putting scarf around their neck, taking a wefie or a backhug, these drew zealous screams and applause from the crowd. Bogummy was sporting and gave everyone on stage a big embrace as well.
He did not come empty-handed this time round too. There was a table stacked full of autographed merchandises and personal items, such as calendars, sports shoes, clothes similar to those he had worn during filming and the hat he got from USS in 2017.
Ah Ken said Bogummy is a cute boyfriend, while we say he’s an endearing Santa Claus too! It doesn’t have to be December to be the season of giving. Park Bo Gum makes you feel loved the whole year round! Ho! Ho! Ho!
The Perfectionist Moment in Candle Making
The candle making segment opened our horizons to how Park Bo Gum is like in real life – a perfectionist with some OCD traits. To correct, he’s a perfectionist who would get angry with himself and makes lots of funny noises. In this special segment, Park Bo Gum would make a candle for a lucky fan.
While being the gentleman he has always been, he began picking up several items and asked if the fans liked the scent, shapes or colours, etc. It was not long before he realized that the audience was hard to please, thus Ah Ken asked him to exercise his best discretion. He wanted this candle to represent how Singapore is like in his mind.
Blue sand was chosen as it reminded him of the blue sky in Singapore, a lion figure which represents “Lion City”, five white stars (like the ones on our national flag) and a big heart shape that embodies his love for his fans.
Bogummy began filling the blue sand into the glass bottle carefully. He tried to ensure that the sand occupied about a quarter of the bottle and leveled as flat as possible, by hitting the bottle on the table. He started to make some noises of frustration when he couldn’t have the lion figurine standing on the blue sand after several failed attempts, or if the stars began falling flat on the sand.
We could hear amusing “cartoon” noises like “argh”, “wraahhh”, “hmmmphh”, “grrrr” that sent the hall chuckling. It came to a point when he was so displeased and unsatisfied with his creations that he removed the lion and stars from the bottle, just to smoothen out the sand!
His seriousness & OCD in ensuring the D.I.Y Singapore candle was “perfect”, had the hall laughing and cold-sweating at the same time. It was a hilariously comical moment when he insisted the creation had to be pretty. Ah Ken joked that this would most likely take another hour, however this did not deter Bogummy in making a “perfect”gift for the audience.
A perfectionist like Park Bo Gum does not condone slip shod work, be it his drama works or when it comes to creating artistic pieces. He wanted nothing, but the best for his fans.
Taking every little detail into consideration, he not only signed at the bottom of the glass bottle, but also on the box as well.
Bogummy’s fans should feel honoured. This is not just an idol’s sweet and heartfelt way of reciprocating his devotees’ love, but also an act of his LOVE for them. It is a two-way traffic.
You don’t have to be the lucky recipient of this candle to feel touched by his gesture.
The Surprise “Sing & Dance” Segment
Perhaps he hoped the audience would have a different experience this time round, the second half of the FM was presented in the form of a mini concert, whereby he showcased his talents in singing and dancing.
There were soulful renditions to melancholic, sentimental songs such as IU’s “Through the Night” and G.O.D’s “One Candle”.
He also swooned the audience with OST tracks from his previous dramas, such as Baek A Yeon’s “Always Be with You”, and the “Love in the Moonlight” OST tracks, “My Person” and “Swallowing My Heart”.
The atmosphere took a switch to being lively and chirpy when he got the audience on their feet, beginning with a groovy 80s style hit “Honey”, from JYP.
It cracked us up to see his hilarious and cheeky expressions while dancing to upbeat tunes such as TWICE’s “What is Love”, SEVENTEEN’s “Pretty You”and PSY’s “Entertainer”. This isn’t something we expect from someone who’s usually so reserved.
(PSY’s “Entertainer)
(Twice’s “What is Love?”)
(SEVENTEENS’s “Pretty You”)
Getting audience to groove on their feet and “mocking” at them later for being “bad dancers”, was a “prank” that he totally enjoyed. He was absolutely delighted to see the audience being entertained.
Being the “Santa Claus” he always is, the gracious actor walked down the aisles a few times to get up-close with the audience, distributing autographed rubber balls. Due to security reasons, he couldn’t get on to level 2, but his dancers were seen distributing the autographed balls on his behalf.
Regardless the price you paid for the ticket, he ensured that no one was being left out. This is what I truly love about him since the last FM. He let those at the 2nd floor to have the Hi-Touch with him first.
He did not merely amuse us, but also touched us in many ways.
The climax or highlight of the night, would undeniably be the moment when he sat by a black piano and began playing and singing along to JJ Lin’s “修炼爱情/Practice Love”。While his pronunciation wasn’t that clear and he fumbled along the way with the lyrics, it was such a commendable effort that it had the audience cheering and singing aloud to help him along with the lyrics.
He totally awed us with this delightful surprise. Well done, Singapore! The cheers and applause was the loudest at this magical moment. The audience received his love since he specially prepared this song for us, and in turn, reciprocated with more energy. It was a heartwarming mass sing-along session.
It is never easy to try singing JJ Lin’s songs, not to mention someone whose native language is in Korean. Thumbs up, Bogummy!
He ended the night with Deul Guk Hwa’s “Blessing”, thanked the fans for being with him and wishing all to be well and healthy, with the promise to reciprocate with better works.
As part of his FM tradition, everyone was gifted with a “Love Letter” & a Hi-5 with the heartthrob. While going through the Hi-5 session, you would notice that Park Bo Gum was tirelessly thanking everyone with a smile. I said a “Thank You”, while he greeted me with a very energetic “BYE”!
That positive energy is indeed infectious and his FMs would always top the 1st few on my ranking charts. He is one of the very few who made me feel that he genuinely loves his fans and is just so real to everyone around him.
It’s certainly true that he draws his energy from his devotees’ love, for there wasn’t an instance he showed his weariness.
As if giving out many personal and autographed items, wefies, big hugs, dancing and singing to various genre songs, weren’t enough to prove his love, he gave everyone a “love letter” and a Hi-5 too.
Just what would he not do to make his fans smile?
His soulful eyes were gleaming with love and his smile beaming like the mid-day sun. We could tell he’s happy because he’s able to bring happiness to the people around him.
Just like the official light stick that he has designed, he has a pair of invisible angel wings on his back.
We also heard that he was the 1st celebrity to go into the security guard’s room to thank all the security guards for their assistance.
This is a value that many artistes should learn from him.
He appreciates even the backstage crew, security and all who have helped to facilitate the running of the show. He’s an exemplary example of “Soar high, but keep your eyes on the ground”.
Despite being in the industry for 8 years, he stays very much rooted to his humble beginnings and never once forgets to live each day to the fullest and treats everyone the best that he can. He stays true to who he is, be it on stage or behind the scenes.
He’s like a star that lights up the dark night and brings a smile to your face.
Our hearts are full because of you, Bogummy.
Your heart is BIG and you showed us how generous and giving someone can be, without asking for anything in return. These thoughts and gestures are the best presents you can “gift” anyone.
It wasn’t just a good day, but an unforgettable one.
You are a precious gift in every way.
Keep on shining & continue to be yourself, Bogummy~
May your everyday be a good day too.
He’s going to be busy filming his new movie “Seok Bok” with Gong Yoo, but that would open up a whole new acting experience for him as a clone.
We can’t wait for his new works and for him to grace our shores again.
To reminisce Park Bo Gum’s “Oh, Happy Day” SG Fan Meeting in 2017, pls visit https://www.livevizlife.com/park-bo-gum-fan-meet/
Link to Park Bo Gum’s “Oh, Happy Day” SG Fan Meeting in 2017: https://www.livevizlife.com/park-bo-gum-fan-meet/
Thank you for the detailed recap of the FM. Bogummy is just so unique and only those who have met him will know. It was indeed an unforgettable day on 9 Mar 2019.
This is so touchingly and creatively done. We love him so much and he inspires us to be the better person in all circumstances. Thank you for sharing your raw feelings about Bogum’s FM in Singapore. XOXO