 Korean pop superstar Rain, known as "Bi" in Korean, held a successful first concert of his world tour in Las Vegas, the United States at 8 p.m., Las Vegas time, on Saturday (Dec. 24).
The 24-year-old K-pop star took the stage at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, aiming to make inroads into the North American market.
It was the largest concert ever given by a Korean artist and his second outing in the U.S., following two sold-out concerts in the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City last February.
Rain has expanded his fan base from New York in the east to Las Vegas in the west only 10 months after his debut on the U.S. stage.
He was also named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World this year.
About 3,800 fans packed the venue where world-class artist Celine Dion is a resident performer and where Elton John and Gloria Estefan have also given concerts.
About 90 percent of the audiences were Asian fans from Japan, China, Singapore and Taiwan.
At the concert, titled "Rain's Coming", he successfully hosted the two-hour concert in English featuring 21 songs with stunning dance sequences.
"I exist because of your support. My dream has come true", he said in gratitude to a fervent response from his fans.
"I am very proud of Rain who stood up on the stage where world-class pop stars are used to performing", Moon Ji-hyun, 24, who saw the show, said.
The ticket price costing $98-$288 was high, but the concert was sold out just one week after ticket sales opened.
Stage direction was by Jaime King renowned for Madonna's recent "Confessions Tour", and Christina Aguilera's choreography, working with lighting specialist Roy Bennett, and visual director Dago Gonzalez.
Park Jin-young, producer of Rain's music and CEO of the JYP Entertainment, and Lil Jon, producer of "Yeah" sung by Usher attended the concert.
Rain is receiving acclaim as an international celebrity as his first movie "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" directed by Park Chan-wook, was invited to the Berlin International Film Festival in the competitions section.
He had been invited to sing at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Doha Asian Games in Qatar, but his tight schedule prevented him from attending.
His world tour will span 35 cities in 12 countries, including Hong Kong Jan. 12-13, Singapore Jan. 21, Malaysia Jan. 27, Thailand Feb. 3, Vietnam March 10-11 and Taiwan, China, Japan, the U.S. and Canada afterwards.
StarM, the entertainment agency organizing the concert, is in charge of coordinating with travel agencies from different countries to make it easier for fans to watch the show. |
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