Fake Korean girl group mobbed

"Girls' Generation is walking around in Orchard Road!"

This tweet, and other similar ones, caused a frenzy on Twitter yesterday.

Fans of Korea's hottest girl group wondered if its nine members had secretly flown in early for a few days of shopping before their two-night sell-out concert here on Dec 9 and 10.

The nine girls - who appeared at 313@Somerset and Mandarin Gallery with four hulking bodyguards - were mobbed by fans with huge signs.

Many in the excited crowd of more than 500 snapped away at them with their cameras or simply gawked.

But the cat was let out of the bag when they suddenly started dancing on the streets. It turned out that the babes, togged out in signature Girls' Generation outfits comprising sexy shorts and high heels, were local impersonators.

These nine Girls' Generation fans were selected from 200 girls at an audition held by Samsung. As they performed their idols' hit song The Boys, complete with sassy dance moves, the crowd lapped it up despite knowing they weren't the real deal.

The security personnel hired to "protect" the girls gave them star status when they fended off photographers and curious bystanders who got too close to them.

Said a Samsung spokesman: "We wanted to do something for the disappointed fans who didn't get tickets.

"So we went to four schools and auditioned Girls' Generation fans. We could have just hired models. That would have been easier, but this is purely for the fans."

The 200 eager wannabes who attended the audition three weeks ago were from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University.

Eleven were shortlisted, nine to be part of the flash mob with two as back-up dancers in case any of the original nine couldn't make it.

The first flash mob was staged at 313@Somerset at 2.30pm. Despite glitches with the sound system - which faltered as the music was too loud - the impersonators were unfazed and restarted their act with aplomb.

The second one, held at 3.30pm, saw the girls getting out of a van and walking to Mandarin Gallery, surrounded by security personnel, photographers and screaming fans.

The "fans" who were holding the giant signs were actually part of the act.

Halfway through the performance, the girls were pleasantly surprised when the crowd that had gathered started cheering them. There were teenagers, families and even old uncles.

One "ah pek" was concentrating so hard on taking his pictures that he didn't notice the woman next to him, presumably his wife, staring at him indignantly.

Another passer-by, Japanese national fencer Ota Yuki, 26, felt the girls were "very good". He said: "Girls' Generation is very popular in Japan. These girls danced very well and I enjoyed the performance very much.

"Some of them looked quite like the members of Girls' Generation."

The rain started pouring relentlessly after the second flash mob, so the third and final one was held again at Mandarin Gallery at 4.30pm.

At the end, there was loud applause and the superstars for the day were radiant as they posed for a final group shot.

Newlyweds Eric Mah, 34, and Wen Chan, 36, who had just had their wedding banquet nearby, couldn't resist joining in the excitement. They kissed and posed with the Girls' Generation signs as a keepsake of the event after the girls left.

Girls' Generation impersonator student Zoe Ng, 20, who stood out because of her dyed hair that resembled her idol's light-coloured tresses, said: "We rehearsed for two hours most days for the last three weeks and I had a great time today.

"I have to say that with the security guards following us around today, it was certainly a one-of-a-kind experience."

Source : http://news.asiaone.com

This post was written by: Korean Lovers

Korean Lovers is a professional blogger korean Addict, web designer and front end web developer. Follow him on Twitter