[Event] ITZY kickstarts successful US showcase tour in LA

Yaaaaaas 01/22/2020 Asian Junkie, Exclusives, K-Entertainment, Multimedia Leave A Comment

I know I’m late in saying this but Happy New Year to all you Asian Junkie readers! What better way to start 2020 than with ITZY?!

Let’s just clear the air right now, sure ITZY doesn’t have a full discography the way other idol acts do, but this hasn’t stopped other groups and artists from hitting the stage and greeting their fans, and frankly, it shouldn’t stop ITZY either. In Korea, initial fanmeets and showcases are common and expected. Why should it be different here!? Even better, with this being their first initial US tour, The Novo in Downtown LA found itself packed wall to wall with die-hard day one MIDZYs; excited to see their fresh new faves conquer the stage.

And conquer they did!

The night started with a VCR that introduced the group, member by member. Lia, Yeji, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna stepped on stage and the night kicked off as they went directly into “ICY” and followed that with “It’z Summer,” two high intensity tracks that absolutely burned the stage. The girls showed off their talent as they maneuvered through the tracks with ease, shimmering in large gems and sequins layered over black patent leather from head to toe. ITZY has a style much of their own, emitting a level of confidence mixed with sweetness and charm that can throw any viewer through a loop! They look like tiny adorable badasses who smile warmly and greet people with respect and kindness. It’s all a bit confusing and refreshing.

They then began their real greetings, coming out and sitting on high stools, covered in lap blankets, massive buckled patent leather boots sticking out from gentle soft muted plaid. The host for the night kept the conversation rolling as the girls introduced themselves.

The showcase had truly begun as they started the fan interaction portion. ITZY played games, but first started with fan questions and requests. These were all questions asked by fans in attendance at the show. The segment yielded hilarity as one fan asked them to mimic emoji faces, while another asked them whether pineapple on pizza was okay or not. While Yeji said “Pineapple is pineapple and pizza is pizza!“, Lia explained that she liked the crispiness of the pineapple on Hawaiian pizza.

They talked about music preferences, which transitioned them into the next game. They had to guess the three songs in a terribly mashed up monster of a song and this really brought out the competitiveness of the girls. Each member fought for the crown as they guessed over and over. Chaeryeong went into aegyo overload as she won a few rounds, but then trusted the audience on the last and lost with their guess. She then adorably called them “LIAR!” in English as the audience erupted in laughter. Ultimately, Yeji lost and had to take a derp-face selfie for everyone.

The night continued with special stages being covers of songs such as TWICE‘s “TT” and a wild hardcore choreo performance of GOT7‘s “Hard Carry.”

The highlight of the night was the roulette of games when the girls had to play the whisper challenge in adorable fuzzy headphones whose ears flopped when they pressed the hanging paws. The frustration of them trying to guess each others words devolved into hilarious chaos as the girls either absolutely dominated some topics and completely bombed others.

The finale included more performances such as a powerful punch of a performance of the song “Cherry,” followed by sugary sweet heart wrenching thank yos to the fans who came out to see their first solo show in the US.

ITZY has managed to garner award after award for being top rookies and after seeing the fun their devoted fans had at their show, I am looking forward to these young women bringing us more K-pop gold in the near future.