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Super Junior’s Siwon Talks World Tour & Fashion During NYC Visit: Exclusive By Jeff Benjamin, New York
Billboard sat down with the most-followed Korean on Twitter before walking the Met Gala red carpet with Madonna, Beyonce, PSY and more. Meet Siwon of Super Junior.
While PSY snagged headlines at last week’s Met Gala for taking photos with Chris Martin, Gwenyth Paltrow and “finally talking to Beyonce about ‘Single Ladies,’” there was another K-pop star on hand. A star who has more Twitter followers than PSY, despite never actively promoting outside of Asia.
Siwon Choi is a major Korean star as a singer in Super Junior, an actor, model and the most-followed Korean on Twitter, beating @/psy_oppa by a cool 700,000. In a few words: Siwon is a big deal.
Managed by SM Entertainment (home to Girls’ Generation, SHINee, BoA, f(x) and more), Super Junior the group are not just superstars in native South Korea. They have some of the most-viewed K-pop videos on YouTube with singles “Mr. Simple” (with 62.6 million views), “BONAMANA” (48.3 million) and “Sorry Sorry” (44.3 million). They promote as a whole and in different sub-units packaged for different parts of Asia; like Super Junior-M — the unit that Siwon is a member of — created with the Chinese pop (or Mandopop) market in mind. Currently, the group is in the midst of their Super Show 5 tour that has already hit Asia and South America.
Siwon has used the platform to transition into acting (he’s appeared in Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese drama TV shows and a collaboration between Korea, China and Japan film teams for “Battle of Wits,” for example) and modeling (he promotes brands like Audi in Korea, Taiwan and the Philipinese) to become a celebrity recognized in all of Asia.
Billboard met up with Siwon — still in casual duds of leather sneakers, blue jeans, a white t-shirt and leather bracelets—before he whisked off to one of fashion’s biggest night.
In his room at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, with its entrance populated by a group of fans who somehow found out where he was staying, Siwon’s room looks hardly lived in. Except for a few Fiji water bottles, everything looks like it’s been packed in a large, metallic suitcase (with a “Fragile” sticker on it). He had just wrapped Super Show 5’s Latin American leg of the tour nine days prior, and he’s leaving on a plane back to Asia that night, but he’s still cheerful, excited and more than willing to chat (in impressive English) about topics for Billboard.
“I can’t believe it,” Siwon says of attending the Gala. “Last year, I attended the gala at LACMA. I saw Tom Hanks and Jack Nicholson. I felt like I was watching a movie. I just can’t believe it. I’m very honored and very proud.”
Despite the night’s theme of “PUNK: Chaos to Couture,” Siwon opted for the classic suit and tie look, as seen in a photo shared with his 3.4 million followers. But the Super Junior star told us that no matter what he’s wearing two things are always present: confidence and his self-expression. “The most important parts of fashion to me are confidence and expressing who I am,” the star who mentions he loves casual wear and leather items. “If I have those things in anything I’m wearing, then I can be more comfortable. Fashion is confidence from me. If I’m comfortable in everything I’m wearing, then I can do better.”
Super Junior fans (affectionately known as Elfs) may find his Gala outfit reminiscent of the group’s look in most-recent single “SPY.” With almost eight years of different Super Junior looks ranging from the casual styling of “Dancing Out” to the all-black look in “Acha,” Siwon’s favorite comes from the promotional shots for current tour, Super Show 5.
“The look is very simple and clean. It feels like we’re gentleman,” he explains. “Actually, I wanted to use that for the next album’s concept, but they already used that! I hope that maybe we’ll wear leather, like my bracelets!” he jokes with a laugh.
Siwon does have much to be proud of with Super Junior’s Super Show 5 world tour though. The K-pop boy wonders took their performance to the major stops in Asia and South America — the latter continent’s shows being an experience that truly stuck out to Siwon.
“South America was amazing, very powerful,” he says. “We didn’t imagine they like K-pop there and they loved it! The fans always make amazing moments for us. I just have to mention how appreciative I am.”
Siwon hopes that he can take the Super Show 5 tour to different territories. While further dates haven’t been announced, SM Entertainment is planning to announce more Super Show 5 on different continents.
As his global fanbase wait to find out if they can see Siwon on-stage in their home countries, he hopes to show them more of his acting skills. The singer-actor mentioned he is starting to look at scripts for movies shown all over Asia with an eye on U.S. movies too. He adds, “I want to say hi to my fans all over the world from different movie and TV screens” in a decision to possibly move past Korean dramas.
“I just want to say, always thank you,” Siwon is sure to mention before leaving for final red carpet prep. “Now, it’s not that Super Junior and I are singers or actors for the fans. We’re family. I’m so appreciative for all the good memories and teaching us true love.”
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Anonymous - do you have photo of Siwon when super junior attend ′21st High 1 Seoul Music Awards′ .. can I have that photos ?? Thank you ^^