Super Junior, minus Kyuhyun, attended the post-event press conference at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands on November 29th as an award winner at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
Member Siwon thanked fans in their opening speech, choosing to speak in English in order to reach out to Super Junior's global fans. He said, "Thank you for this honor. We will always do our best because our fans deserve the best. We will work hard so Korea can be a leader in spreading the awareness of the beautiful cultures of Asia."
For the first question of the night, a reporter drew a comparison between the moment five years ago when they won the "Best New Artist" award and tonight, asking why they shed tears both times.
They said, "We cried that time because we thought of all the hardships we went through and all the doubts about actually being able to debut, and if so when and with whom. This time the tears came because we are very happy with what we've accomplished. It's a mixture of feelings."
Sungmin added, "When Leeteuk was giving his acceptance speech, I almost cried because I felt so thankful to all the members for their support."
The next question was a natural follow-up: "How are you planning to split the award between all the members?"
Eunhyuk answered, laughing, "If it was made of real gold we would have broken it into pieces. But since it is not, and since it was presented to Super Junior as a group and not individuals, we keep it as it is and display it at the company. We thought of making replicas but it's a little expensive."
Leader Leeteuk also mentioned that they have not been able to relay the news to absent members Kangin, Heechul and Kibum as yet, as they are all very busy with their respective schedules (the former two being in army and the latter with his filming).
A reporter from Singapore then asked about the inspiration behind the mass of back-up dancers for "Sorry Sorry". It turns out that the idea came about after they saw a Youtube video of Filipino inmates dancing to their song. They thus worked together with the Mnet organisers to create a similar effect for their own performance.
At this point, the emcee of the press conference announced that it would be the end of the session with Super Junior; with all earnestness however, Leeteuk urged, "Please continue asking questions, we're not tired."
With that, the rounds of questioning went on, with a Korean reporter inquiring about their image changes over the years. The reporter felt that Super Junior had focused on their cuter and softer side in their earlier years, while becoming more charismatic and powerful recently.
Leeteuk replied, "We've become more charismatic since "Sorry Sorry" came out, and since then the awareness level has gone up. But our charms lie in the fact that we all have unique sides, and this is something we try to showcase to our fans."
The last question also came from the Korean side. The reporter asked, "Do you think there are any points you lack in, or do you have any regrets?"
Leeteuk once again took the mic and said, "We always do our best such that we can have no regrets at the end of the day. On a personal note, however, given our recent performances overseas, I checked our ticket prices in various countries and found some of them to be quite exorbitant. If the quality of the concert is not up there, then fans may be put off by the prices, so this is a point that organisers should be mindful of."
Here, at the emcee's prompting, the question-and-answer session came to an end, but not before Super Junior asked for a small photo session for the gathered media. Shindong and Sungmin even hammed it up for the cameras at the end, before Shindong tricked Sungmin into getting off-stage, thus earning some solo photo time.
They were indeed a wonderful group to interview, down-to-earth with genuine answers that deviated from the run-of-the-mill ones, coupled with an energy that made them a joy to watch.
Member Siwon thanked fans in their opening speech, choosing to speak in English in order to reach out to Super Junior's global fans. He said, "Thank you for this honor. We will always do our best because our fans deserve the best. We will work hard so Korea can be a leader in spreading the awareness of the beautiful cultures of Asia."
For the first question of the night, a reporter drew a comparison between the moment five years ago when they won the "Best New Artist" award and tonight, asking why they shed tears both times.
They said, "We cried that time because we thought of all the hardships we went through and all the doubts about actually being able to debut, and if so when and with whom. This time the tears came because we are very happy with what we've accomplished. It's a mixture of feelings."
Sungmin added, "When Leeteuk was giving his acceptance speech, I almost cried because I felt so thankful to all the members for their support."
The next question was a natural follow-up: "How are you planning to split the award between all the members?"
Eunhyuk answered, laughing, "If it was made of real gold we would have broken it into pieces. But since it is not, and since it was presented to Super Junior as a group and not individuals, we keep it as it is and display it at the company. We thought of making replicas but it's a little expensive."
Leader Leeteuk also mentioned that they have not been able to relay the news to absent members Kangin, Heechul and Kibum as yet, as they are all very busy with their respective schedules (the former two being in army and the latter with his filming).
A reporter from Singapore then asked about the inspiration behind the mass of back-up dancers for "Sorry Sorry". It turns out that the idea came about after they saw a Youtube video of Filipino inmates dancing to their song. They thus worked together with the Mnet organisers to create a similar effect for their own performance.
At this point, the emcee of the press conference announced that it would be the end of the session with Super Junior; with all earnestness however, Leeteuk urged, "Please continue asking questions, we're not tired."
With that, the rounds of questioning went on, with a Korean reporter inquiring about their image changes over the years. The reporter felt that Super Junior had focused on their cuter and softer side in their earlier years, while becoming more charismatic and powerful recently.
Leeteuk replied, "We've become more charismatic since "Sorry Sorry" came out, and since then the awareness level has gone up. But our charms lie in the fact that we all have unique sides, and this is something we try to showcase to our fans."
The last question also came from the Korean side. The reporter asked, "Do you think there are any points you lack in, or do you have any regrets?"
Leeteuk once again took the mic and said, "We always do our best such that we can have no regrets at the end of the day. On a personal note, however, given our recent performances overseas, I checked our ticket prices in various countries and found some of them to be quite exorbitant. If the quality of the concert is not up there, then fans may be put off by the prices, so this is a point that organisers should be mindful of."
Here, at the emcee's prompting, the question-and-answer session came to an end, but not before Super Junior asked for a small photo session for the gathered media. Shindong and Sungmin even hammed it up for the cameras at the end, before Shindong tricked Sungmin into getting off-stage, thus earning some solo photo time.
They were indeed a wonderful group to interview, down-to-earth with genuine answers that deviated from the run-of-the-mill ones, coupled with an energy that made them a joy to watch.
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