MDLer's Review KCON 2013 (Part 1)

What Is KCON?
A Korean convention where a community of fans can come together to appreciate ‘All Things Hallyu’ right in the U.S. Two day event with numerous KPOP/Korean related activities, followed by M Countdown What’s Up LA concert finale.

What to do at KCON?

Guests: Stephanie Parker, Girlfriday, Dramabeans, Sean Richard Dulake.

Nana87: As a drama addict I really enjoyed the Viki panel and seeing Sean Richard (Athena: Goddess of War/Feast of Gods) was the cherry on top. The world of dramas we know as viewers is completely different from the whole drama making process. A lot of what was said by Sean Richard from an actor's point of view reminded me of The King of Dramas. He shared there were times when they were on set and had no scripts to read off of. Scripts were literally faxed over to the sets after being completed. Since Korean Drama scripts are being written each week, filming can be completed right before the episode is broadcast  Totally like The King of Dramas, lol. 


What surprised me the most is that writers actually read viewers comments when writing scripts and not only Korean viewers but international viewers. Our comments, whether they are negative or positive, can make the writers change the story and even make actors act/dress differently. Drama endings can change to our liking, so just maybe the girl might end up with the guy we want.

They asked, why we like watching dramas? Umm candy??? Of course a lot of us love drooling over our laptops while watching these amazing dramas. A drama would not be complete without romance and even better if there is a love triangle. The innocence in the Korean dramas is so different from what a lot of us are used to seeing that it leaves you wanting more and only being able to watch two episodes a week makes it even worse. The good old drama marathon (dramathon), I know I have been through a few of those. Complete endings? Yes dramas are usually one season so no need to wait for numerous seasons for the story to end. 

Did I forget to mention I got an autographed Viki tote and a pic with Sean Richard, such a handsome and nice guy can't wait to see more of him. 

Featuring: Danny Im (1TYM), Yumi Cha (Baby Vox), DJ Koo (CLON)

Laugarza: This was a fun panel to watch that featured Danny from LA along with other former members of 90’s k-pop groups. While they reminisced on what it was like to be a part of a group they also looked at K-Pop today. Like Henry from Super Junior-M, Danny was recruited and sent to Korea where he learned the language. Danny commented when he first started the label he was with was located out of pretty much a basement and is now a 5 story building. Things have definitely changed for the better in some ways and the way singers are trained is a lot more structured. According to this panel it is pretty much like they are going to school.  Who will make it big in the music world? Everyone has their own opinion, but I kept hearing G-Dragon on various panels.

Featuring: Dorothy Advincula (Kpopstarz), Aejoo Park (Soompi), Jeff Benjamin (Billboard)

Laugarza: As an addict of all things Korean this was a really interesting panel to hear. Journalist from sites such as Soompi talked about what it meant to follow Korean news. It is not easy when the top news (like dramas) come out when it is the middle of the night but they make it work. Translating news into English and finding the right pictures are all in a day’s job and they work hard at it. When asked who they would love to interview from the music world the Soompi journalist commented she would love to interview the head of JYP and whisper back her own initials A?P. If you have heard music from this company you are sure to have heard the singers whisper JYP in the background. That is a great way to brand your music I guess. Overall it was a fun panel and a great thing to attend if you are interested in becoming a journalist.

Guests: Henry, Gina Kim, Bobby Lee.

SakuraDanielle: Since I am a huge lover of Asian entertainment and Henry Lau I was super excited for this panel. I have been following the movie and was super happy to see the full trailer played during the panel. Bobby Lee, Henry Lau and Gina Kim spoke during the panel and Bobby Lee definitely led the crowd with his very witty puns. Henry and Bobby’s interactions made this my favorite panel of the weekend. The panel was really packed full of Henry and Bobby Bromance. 

Henry plays the main role in the movie, Final Recipe. The movie was described as a food and family driven script. Listening to Henry describe his experience with his first acting role was adorable as he contributed a lot of his ability to being comfortable on set to Bobby’s Life Lessons. Bobby rebutted with how prepared and on point Henry was then other professional actors. They spoke on many subjects in and about the movie such as how they were excited to promote an English speaking movie packed full of Asian’s that break the stereotype of simple Kungfu movies and broken English.

The overall feel of the panel energizing as Bobby and Henry talked about learning to cook in preparation for the movie. Bobby didn’t improve much but Henry learned to love cooking and noted that his new favorite dish to prepare was the same one he made on Happy Together. The crowd went wild after Henry mentioned wanting to move to the US and Bobby teased about an American wife. 

I had to leave shortly after that but this panel really embodies what Kcon is about, with the one-on-one feel with the artist. Friends who had stayed the whole time messaged me later about Henry’s spelling his name with his butt on stage. EPIC moment I missed but amazing panel none the less.



SeRose: This was probably one of my favorite panels of the whole day - namely because Jackie Liu was hilarious! Sure she talked about her sister Amber a lot, but I'm pretty sure she left with more than one new fan for her own sake, and not just for her sister. Both girls are friends, as are Amber and Peniel apparently, since they are both foreigners in the world of Kpop. Jennifer was quieter, though she shared some funny stories about her brother (like how he calls her in the middle of the night for advice on what to wear, or how when she visited him in Korea and walked down the street, girls were making horrible faces at her. "I'm his sister!" She declared defensively).

Jackie however, was a complete riot. She did defend Amber from questioners who asked if Amber's tomboyish look was just something SM contrived (answer: NO - Amber has always been that way). She even told stories about trying to communicate with Sulli in a hotel room, where she apparently learned (all through hand motions) that Sulli has a severe hatred of... dun dun dun... pigeons. The whole event was fun, with Jackie not only admitting to being the biggest Siwon fangirl, but also engaging of a little fanservice herself, giving hugs to members of the audience. 


SakuraDanielle: CGV! Great booth! I checked it out last year too but it had improved so much this year. They opened the backside of the booth and set up a screening room for movies and trailers to play all weekend. A Werewolf Boy and Monstar episode 1 being some of the things they showed. I went and re-watched Monstar episode 1 in the tent and laughed at myself crying until I turned and saw other fans doing so too.

I also briefly stopped by the Hyundai booth. They wanted girls to take sexy model photos with the car. It was funny watching me do it since I am more the bubbly type, not sexy. There were great prizes though which included movie ticket and brand name bags. I got a pretty journal. It was rather nice.

Nana87: Now that I know there is such thing as the CGV cinema here in LA, I will definitely be going there to watch Korean movies.


SakuraDanielle: OMG! The freaking Bulgogi Burger and BCD’s Tofu house booth and trucks were so good. I actually ended up eating the burgers multiple times but the BCD booth gave out tons of food for the price where as many of the others only gave small portions for the $12 food tickets.

Laugarza: Tours les Jours serves the best treats. Ice cold slices of mango and berries on shaved ice was the perfect treat to cool down with at the convention. It was YUMMY!

Nana87: Yes, I have to agree with Laugarza Tous les Jours Mango & Berry Shaved Ice was just delicious. Good thing I don’t live too far from one.

SeRose: I'm still in mourning that there are no Korean food trucks within half a country from me. I had a spicy sausage sandwich one day, and hot chicken wings the next. And omg, the shaved green tea ice with red beans and mochi.. *dies*


SakuraDanielle: The tents stayed full almost all weekend. I loved checking out the tents filled with the fanclubs at the entrance. I stopped in at Exotics USA to place a sticker on my bias Luhan for the favorite member vote and head straight for the Cassie tent. Being a huge Dong Bang Shin Ki fan I check out their gear they had for sale. The SM tent is where I was most involved though. I stopped by the Photo Wall to take a pick with Jake from Jjang and pose with the Monstar Poster as well as leave my sticky note on the Mnet wall for my bias plus get my handprint done for SM. They also had a photo cutout of Henry to take photos with, which I did.




SeRose: Let's not forget one of my favorite places of the weekend: the KPOP dance workshop tent! KCON brought in all kinds of guest instructors to teach some of the hottest dances in Kpop.  Unfortunately, most of them were so packed you could barely move! I shoved my way in to learn Teen Top's Miss Right and EXO's Growl, and between elbowing girls (and boys!) left and right you quickly learned some lessons in survival. The choreo for both of those dances are of course insane. I practiced ahead of time, and good thing - because it quickly became apparently who was out on the floor to dance and who was out on the floor to rrrreally dance. They were dropping like flies for Growl. Fortunately, that meant more room for the rest of us! Mwahahaha! 


Join us Next Time for reviews of the Artist Sessions AND the actual concert itself!  Plus, we dish on what we hope to see next year, because you know... we're all gonna have to go back again. ;)