J-POP FEST: The Grand Event

The event that I had long awaited for months and that I highly anticipated with so much zeal and excitement was finally held last Sunday. The J-Pop Fest dubbed as a “Grand Event,” unfortunately, was a complete and utter disappointment that I had to recover for one whole day from the trauma of disenchantment. It was not worth the long wait.

My dear readers please don’t get me wrong. Saying whether an event, the J-Pop Fest for this matter, is a success or not is one thing. Meeting expectations is another thing. While I am definitely not in the position to give an “official” evaluation or anything near it, I believe that as an event-goer (especially someone who was so hyped up and promoted the event to the utmost reach that I can), I am entitled to my two cents. Events are for the audience and participants to begin with.

I and fellow PAOtakus started arriving at the mall around 2 to 3 in the afternoon. I started having a bad feeling about going inside the venue hall when I learned that there aren’t much booths inside. The admission fee is a whopping Php 175.00 after all (conventions are usually pegged at 100 only, organizers are already overboard when they charge 120 to 150 for the same venue) so hesitation is inevitable especially for students. While some decided not to go inside, I went in with a few others. That’s how we support events in the first place! We should go inside the venue hall and pay the admission fees. Con-goers usually just hang outside the venue, they get to meet their friends anyway which is the reason why they go to events. At any rate, I expected that there is something “new” given that the fee is “out-of-the-ordinary” but I was mistaken. There was no value for money at all. There were not enough booths. I can’t find any merchandise I can purchase. There were only 8 or 10 sellers there. The fan club booths were likewise scarce. There were only 5 or 6. And I really can’t fathom the absence of an Arashi fan club booth in a J-Pop Fest! XD

It’s a good thing though that at least I met the Facebook page admins of Kisumai PH. I wrote on the freedom wall err.. tarpaulin and played two of their games. I saw the Hong Kong version of Kisumai’s concert DVD that will be released here together with the WE NEVER GIVE UP PH release in two weeks time.

All right! Back to the event, we struggled hard to make the most out of our money although there were those who left really early. By early I mean leaving shortly after going in either because of boredom or to avoid fatigue. It’s a J-Pop event and we’re supposed to watch and listen to J-Pop performances; however, how are we supposed to do that if there is a lack of chairs, benches or seats? I mean we can all stand up watching for an hour or two but a program which includes 17 dance showdown groups, 15 bands, another set of club face off dance groups, special performances and a very long roster of J-Pop singers that stretches for about 7 to 10 hours is entirely a different thing to endure. I think if there were not much booths and the event will solely be anchoring on performances then they might have as well held it in the cinema just like the J-Pop Fest Kick Off Party last November 2011, at least then the audience are comfortably seated for hours.

I honestly think that the kick off party was a lot more celebratory in comparison with the recent “grand event.” The kick off party was a lot more festive. Unlike it though, the grand event had a battle of bands. The bands were all good. Two PAOtakus were the vocalists of MYO’HAKO band which played a song of K-On’s After School Tea Time. Thanks Kei for greeting PAOtakus before playing! :D

Also, as much as I hate to compare the J-Pop Fest to the Asian Pop Fest held last year where J-POP fan clubs also performed, the grand event was really wanting of more planning – effective planning and execution at that. There was really something terribly wrong. While there are a lot of contestants, they were not fully appreciated because attendees had to leave due to time constraint. Much to my dismay, I was not able to watch the dance performances of those from Arashi Philippines and that of the dance group of another PAOtaku. Goodness, they only got to perform at 9:30 in the evening – that’s mall closing time. I and the gang need to sit and eat, we were unable to return to the venue. I wondered if there were still people around that time. Even the ramen-eating contest had to be scrapped due to lack of time. I got to exchange SMS with one of the performers and she’s likewise frustrated by the fact that the schedule wasn’t followed. Well, during events time flexibility is a must and expected but to get the whole line up of performers and the program itself messed up is a different story. She hoped that given the number of participants, runners-up should have likewise been declared. It’s a morale booster so that next time, these people still do have the “inspiration” to join such events. Apparently, only winners for each category were announced. Again, I was unable to see this part of the program and I was only able to take a handful of pictures (see here).

If I were to rate the event, I’ll give it 2 out of 5 stars. “A” for being able to organize and follow through with J-Pop Fest but effort should not end there. If an event will have to be held then it might as well be a “full-blast event.” It was postponed a couple of times before it was finally scheduled this March. The expectations and exhilaration were built up well and strong so you can only imagine the broken-heartedness I had.

Naturally, I want more J-Pop events held and I for one would continuously support these programs and occasions to the utmost extent that an individual fan can. We all do know that this period is just the advent of J-Pop in Ph but it is no excuse to produce half-baked events. I applaud all the organizers, participants and attendees for making the recent event possible. Let’s hold on and persist promoting J-Pop.

Kisumai PH Booth

Harajuku Fashion

Sellers

Kisumai PH

PAOtakus

PAOtakus

Myo'Hako Band