Pentagon conducts their concert in Singlish just for Singaporean fans

"Wah, so many chiobu in the audience!" was how Korean pop group Pentagon's Hongseok greeted fans at the final concert of their Prism tour last night (Nov 2) at The Star Theatre.

Unlike most other Korean pop concerts, Pentagon's fans — known as Universe — found themselves treated to a hilarious show conducted largely in Singlish. Random lahs and lehs were peppered throughout the banter-filled breaks as the members jibed with one another, evoking peals of laughter from the audience.

Even the banners held up by fans said: "Love you very much lah!"

Their comedic attempts at Singlish can be attributed mostly to Hongseok, who spent almost a decade growing up and studying in Singapore.

In fact, he even invited his old schoolmates from Hwa Chong International School to attend the concert, though he sheepishly trailed off saying: "I hope they already forgot my name."

While the concert was, in a way, a homecoming of sorts for Hongseok, it was also the perfect welcome back for the group. This would be the third Singapore outing for the group, with their first visit made in 2017 for a showcase and once more just earlier this year for HallyuPopFest. 

Though they were two members fewer this time — E'dawn left the group in November 2018 and Yan An is on hiatus due to health issues — they still showed the crowd just what it meant to be 'tentastic', showing off their slick choreography while belting out high notes from the get-go.

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There was neither shortage of energy from the boys nor the crowd as they cycled through hits that included their edgy and sexy debut title Gorilla all the way to the summery lead single Humph! from their latest album Sum(me:r).

Jinho, in particular, sent shivers down everyone's spine with his impressive vocal range. 

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Previously, in an interview with AsiaOne, Wooseok had shared: "We will show you how much we've matured and improved!"

True to his words, Universe was brought to its knees by the group's sensual rendition of Camila Cabello's hit single Havana. Hongseok even took it one step further by taking his shirt off, much to the delight of the screaming fans.

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The surprises didn't stop just there — Pentagon specially prepared a video just for the fans too. Part vogue, part haute, each member took turns to serenade the audience through the screen with their smouldering gazes and cheeky lines.

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Needless to say, given the five-month wait, fans were unwilling to let the show end. When the group retired backstage, Universe chanted for an encore until the members came out for another two more songs. 

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As a final gift for fans that night, Hongseok took off his shirt and threw it to the crowd as the group bade their farewell.

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Leader Hui once mentioned that "performing in Singapore is what [he] always dreamed of, performing in Singapore always gave [him] happiness" — it's safe to say that Universe felt the same way too.

rainercheung@asiaone.com