“We’ll give the best we’ve got.” –Hwang Minhyun
After battling it out with other contestants on the second season of Produce 101, the 11 guys of Wanna One officially debuted in August 2017. The guys immediately earned the love of fans and proved that they were deserving of their support and votes.
Wanna One finally met with their Philippine fans a.k.a Wannables on October 13 at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila. The typhoon and heavy traffic did not stop fans from seeing their idols…and it was definitely worth it! Fans screamed their lungs out as soon as they saw the charming and handsome guys walk out the stage as they opened the fan meeting with “Never” and “Energetic”.
The audience could not contain themselves, they sang along to the hit songs and welcome Wanna One with loud fan chants. Cheering fans found it surreal that they were seeing the group live for the first time.
Wanna One swept their Filipino Wannables off their feet when they greeted themselves in Filipino. As for their first impressions of the country and fans, leader Yoon Jisung stated “I think Manila is a pretty and beautiful place.” He appreciated the warm weather since it was already cold in Korea.
Park Jihoon did his famous catch phrase “Nae Maeum Seoge Jeojang” / “I’ll save you in my heart” with the other members of the group and all the Wannables present at the event. “Wannables you’re so beautiful” Jihoon said afterwards. Meanwhile, Park Woojin told the fans that their cheers were wonderful, igniting everyone to shout more.
‘It’s Wanna One Time’ was held for the 1st segment of the fan meeting, wherein they answered some questions for fans to get to know them more.
Wanna One members Jihoon, Bae Jinyoung and Lai Guanlin was showered with the praise “Anime characters disguised as Wanna One”. While Ong Sungwoo/Seongwoo, Lee Daehwi and Kang Daniel were dubbed “Unknowingly rich from head to toe”. Both groups were asked to show different charismatic and cute expressions which caused the hearts of the fans beating fast.
Jisung, Kim Jaehwan and Hwang Minhyun were teased with their dancing when the category “rebellion of vocals has begun” pointed them out. With the encouragement of Wannables, they proved their dancing skills when they danced to the chorus of “Energetic”.
Ha Sung Woon seemed to unable to escape from auditioning as he ‘auditioned’ to be part of the ‘Pink Sausage group’. The group was named after Woojin and Jihoon wore pink pajamas in the group’s reality show. Fans were pleasantly surprised when they heard Fire by BTS play as the guys danced to it.
For the second half of the show, fan song “Wanna Be” was performed followed by “Nayana / Pick me”…the song that started it all.
‘Wanna One School’ was introduced next. The men were paired up to accomplish different missions such as jumping rope together, eating ramen cutely, shaking off post-it’s and popping balloons, etc. One of the notable missions was when Daniel and Sungwoo had to do a parody of the hit Korean drama Goblin. Fans went crazy.
As a group, they showed their teamwork and accomplished the last mission as they had to jump rope for 3 times all together. Although it was a trial and error process, fans loved every moment.
To celebrate their success, a tribute video was shown. The clips showed their beginnings in Produce 101, from their hardships to their accomplishments when they won 1st place in music shows. Fans promised that they’ll always be by the groups’ side. One surprise wasn’t enough as a cake with the cute cartoon characters of the boys was presented. The fans shouted “WE LOVE YOU WANNA ONE” and the members gave them heart gestures in return. They enjoyed the welcome cake and didn’t want to stop tasting it until they had to take a group selfie with the audience.
Daewhi melted the hearts of fans as he talked to them. “It’s our first time to go to Manila. I’ve heard a lot about it from friends, I have a lot of Filipino friends. It’s a beautiful country, Philippine Wannables are greater. We want to visit as soon as possible again. Thank you. Love you.”
“As I watched this video just now, everything seems like it was just yesterday…we’ll keep on being enthusiastic and we’ll keep on working. Thank you guys. Thank you so much.” Lai Guanlin told the fans after he reminisced on their journey. Kim Jaehwan had all the love to give to their fans as he repeatedly said I love you for his ending comment.
Wanna One continued to make their fans hyper and happy as they performed “Hands on me” and “Burn it up” for their encore stage. Some fans cried when they performed their last song “Always.” Although the boys left the stage after doing their final goodbye to their supporters, a video of them practicing for the fanmeeting was shown afterwards. They really worked hard as they knew fans were waiting for them, they were nervous and excited to have the opportunity to meet their Wannables, who made their dreams come true.
“It is such an honor to meet our fans abroad so please give us your love. You can expect more from us.” – Park Jihoon.
Fans really tried to immerse themselves during the fan meeting as they’re not sure if they’d be able to see the group live again. Wanna One’s contract is only until December 2018 before they go back to their respective entertainment agencies. For now, Wannables continue to make their moments with Wanna One memorable.
Wanna One also posted on Twitter after the concert!
[#워너원데이] 즐거운 게임과 워너블의 함성이 가득했던 워너원 팬미팅 in 마닐라~!~!! 뜨거웠던 열기만큼 행복했습니다? 고마워요????? pic.twitter.com/tqAva6Ry2i
— Wanna One (@WannaOne_twt) October 13, 2017
Contributor: Nadine Postigo