Having recently performed at the Esplanade, up-and-coming band SHINee consisting of Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho and Taemin, were amongst many Korean Stars who arrived in Singapore for the Oh Joonsung Drama Concert. But none drew as much attention, or gasps of sheer delight, from the throng of teenage girls who stalked the arrival hall of Changi Airport, for a chance to see these cute Korean boys up close and personal!
Says fellow performer Bobby Kim, "When we arrived at the airport, we were shocked by the sheer number of SHINee fans! It felt as though the boys were Michael Jackson!" Indeed, the five hotties from SHINee were equally surprised by their popularity here. "We are very excited and didn't expect to see all these people at the airport welcoming us," says Onew humbly.

Boys to Men
Although the band was formed only in 2008. SHINee is already hugely successful within the region, scoring many firsts including becoming fashion trendsetters for their young fans and winning the "Best New Artist" award at the 5th Asia Song Festival. But the real challenge is reinventing themselves as they grow up and graduate into full-time singers.
"We may be students now, but we're also professional singers and we would like to have a more professional career later on." say the boys. "We want to go from being a boy band to being a man band. We will do our best to please our fans."
In the meantime, the boys are taking the opportunity to learn from other veteran bands. Displaying their humility to the maximum, the band says, "With so many boy groups out there, we're really learning from all these other artistes. It's all about health competition."

Asian Roots
As much as they hope to show their fans their maturing musicality, one thing they aren't keen to change is their strong Asian roots. Speaking about their first-ever performance in Singapore, SHINee is particularly delighted to have the opportunity to participate in a concert that features music from Korean drama favourites. The boys declare, "We will try our best and hope that our Asian culture will spread to other parts of the world!"
Just before the interview ended, we asked SHINee if they had any plans to perform with international artostes. To our pleasant surprise, they boys showed more interest in collaborating with singers from Asia! "So far we haven't had any chances for collaborations, but we're looking forward to performing with others Asian artistes like Bobby Kim."

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