Hwang Min Hyun made his much-awaited return to Manila last October 8 at the New Frontier Theater for his first solo mini concert. Min Hyun has a rich K-pop background as the former lead vocalist of NU’EST and a member of Wanna One, and earlier this year he released his first mini album, “Truth or Lie.”
The show kicked off with Min Hyun’s explosive performance of his popular title track “Hidden Side,” which currently has almost 5 million streams on Spotify. He looked so handsome in a stylish black and white outfit. After a brief intro in Filipino and Korean, he showed off his strong vocals with the ballads “Honest” and “Earphone.”
Unveiling Different Sides of Himself
The interview segments and mini games hosted by Kring Kim were unexpected but were a good way to learn more about Min Hyun. In the Unveil Timing game, he had to complete challenges from three categories: In Dancing, he incorrectly guessed the next dance move from his music video. In Singing, he was able to sing the next lines of his songs. In Acting, a scene from his previous drama was shown, but he wasn’t able to recall the next line. He said, “I realized my memory is not so good after all! But I enjoyed the game because the different categories made me go back to my different projects.”
As penalty for getting two challenges wrong, he danced short snippets of the songs “Super Shy” by New Jeans and “Betcha” by Baekhyun.
Then it was back to showcasing his vocals as he sang “So Beautiful” from the webtoon After School Lessons for Unripe Apples, and “Tree” from the drama Alchemy of Souls, where he played the role of Seo Yul. After an outfit change, he turned up the heat with his performances of “Perfect Type” and “Cube.”
The Actor+Singer
One of the highlights was the segment “Hwang Min Hyun’s Music Album Season 2,” where Min Hyun seamlessly blended his acting and singing talents. He assumed the role of a radio DJ and after reading a letter he shared songs that he felt could relate to the letter sender’s situation. He sang beautiful renditions of “Back in Time” by K.Will, “The Snowman” by Jung Seung Hwan, “White Night” by Zitten, and “Crazy” by Mark Smith.
He thanked the Hwangdos, as his fans are called, for their unwavering support before ending the segment with a sweet performance of his highly anticipated song, “Universe.”
Grateful Man
Min Hyun was generous with fan interactions, giving smiles, waves and even acknowledging fans who screamed their love and adoration for him.
He appeared onstage again for an encore performance of the sweet and catchy “Crossword” and was also surprised by a video from the fans. He thanked his Hwangdos multiple times throughout the evening and one of his messages was: “Thank you for being with me. Thank you for your love and support. It will give me more energy to stand up.”
The mini concert was thoroughly enjoyable, and Hwang Min Hyun’s angelic voice, dancing skills, even his short acting snippets impressed everyone. Fans old and new can look forward to his future music releases and upcoming acting projects.
2023 HWANG MIN HYUN MINI CONCERT ‘UNVEIL’ in MANILA was presented by PLEDIS Entertainment, TONZ Entertainment, PULP Live World, and Happee Hour.
Words by R. Enriquez
Photos by Althea Planta
