Five of South Korea’s hottest stars were in town for Malaysia’s biggest fan meeting of the year – ‘Hotlink Race Start Season 2 in Malaysia Running Man Fan Meeting’! All thanks to the organiser, ONE HD, fans of Running Man in Malaysia had the rare opportunity to catch all their favourite stars in just one event!
The immensely successful fan meeting saw 5 resident cast members of the popular urban action variety series, namely Kim Jong Kook, HAHA (Ha Dong Hoon), Ji Suk Jin, Lee Kwang Soo and Song Ji Hyo, thrilling a massive crowd of over 2,500 fans last evening at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
The inaugural ‘Hotlink Race Start Season 2 in Malaysia Running Man Fan Meeting’ had all the elements of an interactive musical concert – complete with stage games, song performances and video montages of memorable scenes from the series. The seasoned entertainers delivered charming performances and tickled the audience with their quirky banter and antics. One of the highlights of the evening was when the ‘Easy Brothers’ Lee Kwang Soo and Ji Suk Jin, surprised the fans with a parody of ‘Trouble Maker’ sparking roaring laughter and cheers.
The evening was especially significant for 23 lucky Malaysian fans, who won a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the stars on stage for fun and games. In the spirit of Running Man challenges, the entertaining stage activities included stage games such as sharing Pepero between Lee Kwang Soo and a lucky fan which ensued immediate hilarity to the entertained audience. The entire cast also joined an image guessing game that put fans and the cast to the test by imitating the image on screen for the last person to guess correctly.
The two-hour long fan meet extravaganza closed on a high note with 2 encore performances by all the cast members.
Over 4,000 Malaysian fans gathered for the autograph session
Earlier in the day, approximately 4,000 boisterous fans greeted the stars at the autograph session, which was held at Paradigm Mall. Mobs of excited fans from all across Malaysia arrived at as early as 6.00am to get a good vantage point of their favourite Running Man stars. The autograph session saw the Running Man cast signing exclusive Race Start posters for winners of sponsors’ contests and VIP ticket holders of the fan meeting.
“This is ONE HD’s first and successful ticketed event in Malaysia. We are glad that through the channel, fans and viewers are able to interact with their favourite South Korean television stars in close proximity. We are definitely looking forward to bringing more top-notch entertainment content to our audiences in Malaysia on screen and beyond,” said Virginia Lim, Vice President, Asian Content, Networks, Asia, Sony Pictures Television.
The massive success and fantastic reception of the event reflected the popularity of the series. Running Man is the No.1 rated show in its timeslot across all pay-TV channels in Malaysia among pay-TV audiences 4+ in the year to date. In Malaysia, the ratings are higher than all the other channels, including the free-to-air channels. +
In addition to the title sponsor Hotlink, the fan meeting was sponsored by Cream-O, with supporting sponsor Red Bull No.1 Energy Drink in Malaysia and supporting partner Paradigm Mall.
‘Hotlink Race Start Season 2 in Malaysia Running Man Fan Meeting’ may be over but the race with Running Man continues on ONE HD with new episodes premiering on every Friday at 11.45pm.
For the latest information on the Running Man show, stay tuned to ONE HD on Astro Ch 393; log on to the ONE website (www.onetvasia.com); or follow the ONE Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ONETVASIA) and Twitter account (www.twitter.com/ONEtvasia).
