jxleungg’s 2NE1 x MTV IGGY Experience (fancams)

WAITING IN LINE
(2NE1 is not in this part, skip if you want!)
So I got to the Best Buy Theater in Times Square around 5:20AM and there were about 6-8 people in line already. It was still dark and we were all very tired getting so little sleep. We all talked for a while before getting some newspapers to lie on the floor to protect our butts from the dirty floor when we sat. More people started to join us, but it wasn’t until the afternoon when more and more Blackjacks showed up. To pass time, we plugged an iPad to some speakers and jammed / danced to 2NE1 songs nonstop. Around 8AM, Good Morning America was on and some of us decided to go where they were filming across the street. We got both the towels and fan poster live on GMA (even though it was a brief 10 sec thing)!

Throughout the day, YGL staff and some fellow helpful Blackjacks passed around the huge 7x7 ft. poster of our girls for everyone in line to sign. We also handed out fan chant lyrics and the YGL pink towels. Many people passed by seeing our poster took many pictures out of curiosity. We saw 2NE1’s Winnie the Pooh manager go into the theater, and the saddest part was 2NE1’s manager got more cheers than the actual bands playing that night. Many people made 2NE1 fan posters, but there were literally no posters for the other groups performing; so the even MORE saddest part was when the MTV IGGY staff HANDED out ugly PRE MADE posters with the other performers’ names on it as IF we made it ourselves HAHA.

THE CONCERT
Soon the staff pushed the metal fences further into us forcing us to stand – this was also when the weather got annoyingly cold. We were supposed to start entering the theater at 1:30PM – but got delayed to 2:00PM – then delayed to 2:50ish PM. People got really agitated and yelled ‘LET US IN’ and ‘IT’S 2:00 ALREADY’. Some people came by and gave us the bracelets for the concert to signify ‘confirmed guest’ – but they didn’t really even check the names… After security guards checked our bags for machine guns, they finally let us into the theater. Many people did not check in their bags and coats because it was optional – most of us just ran to the stage room to get a great spot. I was second row from the front, mid-left only around 1 meter away from the stage *o*. Many people stood and some chose to sit down at the back. More and more people came in and the place started to fill up.

They played some KPOP songs before the show started and everyone sang along to 2NE1’s UGLY, KISS (Dara), HATE YOU and Taeyang’s I NEED A GIRL. Then the show officially started (I’m guessing at 4PM since that’s when the stream was) and Jeremy Scott appeared out of nowhere to show his support to 2NE1 and kind of start the show. Then MTV host had a mini interview with 2NE1 at the MTV IGGY STUDIOS (not where we were) in what looks like GO AWAY JAPANESE style clothing. It was really short, there was no new information and the questions were pretty bland. One of the staff members gave us permission to film and take pictures as long as we don’t use flash. Then the staff began giving away glow sticks and people from the back began pushing like maniacs squishing the poor innocent angels at the front. It got really serious and some people tried to sneak from the back to the front too. The ended when the artists performed. La Vida Boheme (crazy rock band with paint spatters all over them – got everyone jumping and hyped), Yuna (awesome Malaysian singer with a beautiful voice), Gyptian (rapper and singer with a DJ, and 5 random dancers swaying with tables) all performed. They played a short video of 2NE1 around NYC which was very cute and funny. THEN, 2NE1 came on stage. They were outside and we watched them walk into the theater (the same path we walked) while IATB beginning part repeated over 6 times. People were cheering and singing the fan chants thinking 2NE1 were going to pop up, only to be welcomed with another round of NAEGA JAE JALA GA. Then 2NE1 FINALLY popped up wearing a RED version of the looks from their 2011 MAMA Awards show.

MINZY – Her hair looked so good, no matter how many times she whipped it back and forth, it still landed flawlessly. Her dancing was amazing (as expected), and she looked really happy smiling – especially during Lonely.
BOM – my bias was so beautiful, so flawless, and BOM LEGS are definitely more amazing in person. She sounded amazing, especially when they performed Lonely.
Dara – CL and Dara were always on the right side of the stage, so I didn’t really get a chance to see them up close for a long time. But she brought the palm tree hair back and her skin is looked like the surface of a hard-boiled egg. She looked really fresh and old because of her bright red lipstick. She looked like she had a lot of fun performing on stage too ~
CL – charisma through the roof, interacted with the fans asking us “are you guys having fun tonight?” and got us really crazy screaming like the building was going down in a *Fire*

2NE1 sang Fire, Can’t Nobody (KOREAN ver.) Lonely, and ended with I Am The Best. Fire and Can’t Nobody got everyone in the crazy ~mode~, then everyone sang with 2NE1 on Lonely very calmly, then went full out nuts on I AM THE BEST. Watch my fan cam below for all their performances. Some of the parts got cut off cause the batteries died, but I got about 95% of it. I tried to include all the girls even though Bommie is my bias :). Please excuse my cracking voice constantly yelling ‘BOM’ ‘BOM’ ‘BOM’ ‘I LOVE YOU BOM’ throughout the video. I didn’t realized how possessed I was.

MTV is lucky 2NE1 have so many loyal Blackjacks. There were so many issues with this event that could have been organized in a more efficient way. Emails were coming days before the concert leaving people little time to plan for any travel / hotel accommodations. We got in 1.5 hours later than scheduled. They were not consistent with their rules: no proper ID check or retrieving coats, bags & cameras. They chose the ‘BIGGEST FAN’ just by luck: according to some people, they just took a random bunch of people from the lineup and called them the biggest fan – giving them interview + crowning 2NE1. They gave VIP backstage passes to random people as well. Overall, it was poorly managed and extremely disappointing on their part. However, 2NE1 saved the event with their awesome performances.

I AM THE BEST.