Korean phenom eyes Manila

MANILA, Philippines – Korean singing phenom Sungbong Choi recently visited the Philippines for the first time to accommodate a specially set gig. He enjoyed performing and staying here that it made him and his handlers want to look for more opportunities to showcase his act in the country.

Having gotten the world’s attention with his stint in Korea’s Got Talent (KGT) in 2011, Choi came around in early July to perform at the 23rd anniversary of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) held at the Assembly Hall of the Central Bank building in Roxas Boulevard. There were around 400 people who were delighted watching him sing four songs, including the popular tune You Raised Me Up and his single I Pray.

“It’s always different when you perform in another country. It’s amazing communicating with Filipinos through the best way I can — singing,” said the Korean reality TV sensation through an interpreter.

In a chat with The STAR, the 26-year-old singer showed enthusiasm in getting future gigs in Manila or some Philippine-based projects, especially that it is a place where singing comes second nature to people. He handed this writer a copy of his English-translated autobiography Singing is My Life, which was published last year. He even signed it with a short, uplifting line, “Make every day victorious.”

Choi, who finished first runner-up in KGT and won public sympathy for being “an orphan who sold gum for 10 years,” has performed outside Korea, like in the US and Spain. With his inspiring story, he is by now a regular speaker and performer in front of corporate people, students, and of course, orphans. He actually visited an orphanage in Quezon City before he flew back to Korea.

His book, sub-titled A memoir of my journey from homelessness to fame, couldn’t have been farther from the truth. He was abandoned at an orphanage at age three and lived his entire youth tending to himself in the red-light district of Daejeon. His fortune began turning around when he saw someone singing opera and decided he would pursue singing for comfort.

“I only had myself. I had no money and was always hungry. Then I got curious with music,” he said in a way that eerily sound off years of hardship, with the intervention of music the lone bright light in a long dark tunnel.

Then his overnight success came in 2011. His highly-watched audition in KGT has been seen by a daily average of 100,000 and already reached the 150 million mark by summer this year. CNN even tagged him as “South Korea’s answer to Susan Boyle.” And in a heartbeat he was put on the same ticket as that of Psy of Gangnam Style fame.

In his book, he poignantly recounted, “Korea’s Got Talent was a game changer that had completely transformed the first 21 years of my life. It was a debut into another life. It might look like I have been rescued from the depths of the dark ocean.”

However, it had been five years since Choi’s tearjerker TV spotlight. While in that span of time he has enjoyed a kind of success that’s total opposite of his pre-KGT life, insiders talk about opportunists milking on his newfound fame, his money being mismanaged probably not by himself, the passing stretch lessening public interest in him, and ghosts of his past lurking back to haunt him.

Not wanting to elaborate, he related, “There are still problems in my life that have not been resolved. I expect that it will take a long time to find the solutions to them. If I keep on discovering the beacons and swim forward stride by stride, I will be able to reach the shore someday.”

Can the Philippines be a kind of foster home for Choi whose life story is one that suits the teleserye-loving Pinoys and whose amiable act certainly has a place in the local entertainment scene? This guy certainly needs the gigs and the goods, albeit the right ones. People tend to easily forget the new kid in town once new YouTube sensations come over. But his rise to success and the sorrows that went before make him a deserving voice music fans should cling on to.