It's been a while since the last male group idols being debuted under JYP Entertainment; hence when the announcement of the new JYP boys were made, the music scene is pleased to welcome the birth of another new talent to colourise the industry.

Winning the Best New Artist award at the Golden Disk Award 2015 last January has proven that these new boys from JYP will be as outstanding as their seniors. As they were previously in Kuala Lumpur to film their MV, 'A', the group is back for their maiden fan-meeting event, which was held last Saturday in KL Live Centre.

The venue was flocked by very enthusiasts IGOT7 (GOT7 fan's name) since morning, and some even flew from overseas ahead of this much-anticipated fan-meeting event. Kicking off the stage with 'Stop Stop It' and ' Gimme, the seven boys gave an impressive start to the evening.

Being the new generation of K-pop icon, GOT7 already unique based on their nationality. They consist of the handsome but quiet Mark Tuan who was born in California, the high-spirited Jackson Wang of Hong Kong, Bambam the lovable Thai, and the remaining four of amazing and charming Koreans; JB, Jr, Youngjae and Yugyeom. Speaking to the press prior to the fan-meet, GOT7 shared their excitement upon coming back to Kuala Lumpur after their previous music video filming.

They were shocked that on their first visit, even though it was only for a music video filming, they were warmly welcomed and showered by love from the fans. Therefore, they decided to come back and properly greet these beautiful IGOT7 in a fan-meet, to personally thank the support that has been given to them.

As the fan-meeting continued, GOT7 took turned to introduce themselves; looks like some of them has paid a good attention in class while studying the Malay language as they have been showcasing their Malay language ability in order to bring themselves closer to fans.

The one that totally nailed this 'ice-breaking' session was definitely Bambam. Not only did he greet the fans beyond the cliché lines such as 'Apa Khabar' (How Are You) or perhaps 'My name is...' (Nama saya....), he even tried to have a cute conversation with the fans by saying 'Saya comel tak?' (Am I cute) which of course received a loud and simultaneous roaring of 'YES' from the crowd, he then continued 'Tapi, kamu lagi comel' (But, all of you are cuter). Awww Bambam! How can we not love to you? Earlier during the press conference, being a Thai, which is a neigbouring country of Malaysia, he felt that him and Malaysians are like 'brothers', due to the geographical location of both countries. Maybe that is why he felt that Malaysia is closer to his heart.

Even though they have admitted before the press earlier that they still have stage fright, as what Jackson (jokingly) stated 'Because there's a monster on stage, so sometimes we are scared', they transformed this nerve wrecking feeling into a powerful energy resulting them on giving a high powered and confidence performance while on stage.

This was proven when they beautifully tried and performing a traditional Malay dance called Zapin. Different from any of the previous K-pop fan-meetings and concerts that have been done in Malaysia, GOT7 fan meeting was probably the first time ever for any idols to have a taste of Malaysian culture beyond the language and food tasting. We witnessed their nerve as they were watching the video demonstrating the traditional dance steps. The boys may be well-rounded hip-hop dancers but this traditional dance, which required graceful hand gestures, and also some unexpected movement like a body rotation from the waist followed by sudden accented and sharp held movement of the arms and shoulders; probably not their forte. Even the best dancer could get a cold feet sometimes trying out something new.

GOT7 accepted the challenge and with the thundering support from the crowds, they danced their way to the traditional folk music which accompanied the dance, to fans' surprise. We must say, for a beginner, GOT7 members are a natural born performer as they showcased almost similar routines as to the video has shown.

Their Malaysian culture lesson not stopped there. Another highlights of the event are 'Guess What's In The Box'. The boys were shown of few cultural items that represented Malaysia and they were asked to memorise it. Once again, we highly praised the organizer for choosing the non-typical items to be introduced to GOT7. If durian, satay and nasi lemak have been significantly synonym to most K-pop idols previously, GOT7 has been introduced to some other items from the multicultural Malaysia. Most significant items are muruku (traditional Indian snack) which was guessed correctly by Jr and he non-stopped munching the snacks through out the game session, Ketupat case (diamond shaped rice packed casing), wooden terompah of Baba Nyonya (traditional shoes from Baba Nyonya ethic) and tengkolok (traditional Malay headdress usually worn during wedding or coronation of Royals) which was handsomely modeled by Youngjae.

The fan meeting event continued with the boys singing their other hits such as 'Moonlight', 'Forever Young' and 'Girls Girls Girls' before singing 'A', a song that was special and closer to Malaysian fans heart as the MV was filmed on their soil, before 'Bounce'-ing their way out from the stage.

Although still being secretive about the next concept of their album, they were hoping to come back to Malaysia for a full concert and probably some places in Malaysia that they could visit for a vacation. They're very grateful and thanked the fans for their love ever since they stepped in the soil of Malaysia for filming 'A'. The fans' friendliness were something that they were cherished and it can be seen from their eyes as they were totally touched when a special video was presented to them by Malaysian IGOT7 flash-mobbing GOT7 dance routines and mini birthday celebration for Jackson.

We have attended many K-pop showcases, fan-meetings and concerts and without prejudice, in overall, GOT7 fan meeting in Kuala Lumpur was one of the unique that we have attended so far. It was usually the fans who enthusiasts and committed to learn about their idols- their songs, their language, their culture, but here it's GOT7 turn to experience the best of what Malaysia could offer, besides their amazing Malaysia IGOT7.

Kpopstarz would like to thank Erama TV for the media invite. 

Writer: Amalina A | Photo: Nik Tim | Contributor: Ain Osman