Organised by ONE, the 'Watsons RACE START! in Singapore Running Man Fan Meeting' was a huge success. Held at Singapore Expo Hall 2B on October 19, the event saw to a sold-out crowd of more than 3,000 fans. 

Haha, Kim Jongkook, Jee Seokjin, Kang Gary and Song Jihyo were the resident cast members present at the fan meeting. Comprising of four guys and one female, the Running Man team was likened to a really popular drama with the same composition during the opening segment. A video montage of the cast members being depicted as the handsome cast of 'Boys Over Flowers' was shown. The Running Man cast then appeared singing to T-Max's "Almost Paradise", which had many fans roaring with laughter. Haha was dressed up similarly to Gu Junpyo (a character in Boys over Flowers) with the fur on his outfit and pretty Jihyo was definitely Geum Jandi (another character in Boys over Flowers).

The fan meeting started off with a talk session and the host congratulated Seokjin on his first solo win in one of the recent episodes. Seokjin commented "Thank you very much! It was my first win in three years" and then followed up with his usual comic dance as the crowd went "Cha cha cha cha cha! Cha cha cha cha cha! You're still alive, Jee Seokjin!" (in Korean)

"I don't want to always win." Jongkook said when the host commented on his many wins on Running Man. He continued, "I want to let them win. I am a generous person", and amused the audience with his comments as he denied his ambitions to win in the variety game show. 

The Singapore event was the first leg of the Running Man Fan Meeting Asia Tour 2013 that Jihyo was featured in and there was much hype about her appearance. Many fans were excited to meet her and of course, Gary on the tour, and hoped to see some dearly-loved "Monday Couple" interactions. There was indeed some couple business that went on in the fan meeting. During the 'gesture game' (it was a charade relay game with selected lucky fans), instead of copying the actions of the person before him, Gary acted on his own and made a heart to Jihyo.

It was real fun watching the Running Man cast and the fans play the game on stage with their expressive body languages. Seokjin was a black hole on his team while Haha was the ace of his. Familiar games seen in Running Man episodes were played on the stage as well. 'Goal In' was the second game and the cast members paired up with a fan and had to kick a slipper into a box with their names. There were penalty boxes with penalties such as 'Couple dance' as well but none of them kicked the slipper into those boxes, disappointingly. 

For the third game, fans were selected to be on stage and they had to dance to Psy's "Gangnam Style" and impress the Running Man cast. Gary and Seokjin were called out to demonstrate the dance for the fans on stage. However, Gary made Jongkook and Haha do the dance as well, and to get back at Gary, the two males danced up to Jihyo. Gary got jealous and confronted Jihyo by saying "sabo", a term used by Singaporeans to mean sabotage, and Jihyo quickly comforted him by saying "I love you". With that, Gary and Jihyo were then made to do a couple dance together.

The fans finally got to dance and the Running Man cast picked out fans that got to play the next game, the "shake off post-its" game! It was hilarious watching the Running Man team paste the post-its on the fans, as they not-so-apologetically sang to "I Am Sorry" while pasting the post-its mercilessly and strategically on places where it would be hard to shake them off. On a side note, Jongkook's team won in all of the games.

The last game of the night was the tug-of-war and the Running Man cast were pitted against the fans. It took 9 fans to beat the Running Man team. The fans that participated in the games were the envy of the audience as they brought home lots of presents such as signed posters, T-shirts, goodies from the sponsors and also, a Polaroid shot with one Running Man cast!

Up next were the live singing performances by all the Running Man cast. Seokjin sang his rendition of the English song, "I Swear" and ended his performance with a corny speech. 

Gary, who is part of Leessang, rapped to the hip-hop duo's hits "You're The Answer To A Guy Like Me" and "Can't Breakup Girl, Can't Leave Boy" before Jihyo joined him on stage for "Turned Off the TV". The "Monday Couple" gave the hip-hop song a different vibe and it was a pleasure to watch the two share the same stage.

"I am Haroro in Running Man, but right now I am a tough guy." Tough-guy Haha performed a remix of "Story of A Little Kid", "You are My Fate" and "Rosa" along with "Busan Vacance" and got the crowd to stand and jump along with him. 

The last of the solo acts, Jongkook serenaded with "One Man" and "Today More Than Yesterday" with his 'mosquito voice'. (as dubbed by fellow Running Man cast Yoo Jaesuk) 

The five Running Man cast members united for the finale and got the audience wild and fans started to jump crazily. The cast members then thanked the audience for their support towards the show and the warm welcome they received in the country.

The fun-filled and engaging 2.5-hours fan meeting ended with an encore stage and the cast members said they will make their return to Singapore soon. Jongkook promised "With Kwangsoo and Jaesuk, we'll be back."

Don't forget to catch new episodes of Running Man every Friday at 11.45pm on ONE (StarHub TV channels 124, 820, 823 and 876 or SingTel mio TV channels 513 and 604)!

Special thanks to ONE for inviting KpopStarz.com to cover 'Watsons RACE START! in Singapore Running Man Fan Meeting'.

Writer: Eileen C. | Photo Credits: ONE