MANILA, Philippines — Behind their flawless glass skin, to-die-for figures, killer vocals, dynamic dance moves and stunning visuals, Yuna, Ryujin, Chaeryeong and Yejin of Korean girl group ITZY have also struggled with many bouts of sadness, hunger, exhaustion, anxiety, self-doubt and insecurities.
The group’s rollercoaster ride from their debut in 2019 to present was marked with a tribute video played at their 2,000th day as a girl group during their Manila concert in Mall of Asia Arena last Saturday, presented by Live Nation Philippines.
After a mellow medley of “Love is” and “Be in Love” for the encore, the members were about to give their individual messages to MIDZY when the lights went off to reveal a surprise video for the group’s 2,000th day.
The video showed highlights of their first 2,000 days – including heartaches from audition rejections, grueling years of training, insecurities and dealing with public criticism, which all eventually led to their stronger teamwork, awards and successes at the top of the charts.
The video also showed clips of their rapper Lia, who is in hiatus due to health reasons.
“I wasn’t confident as Lia of ITZY,” Lia was quoted as saying in her brief clips in the video, which had MIDZYs cheering for her.
After watching the video, the other four members broke down as they gave their individual messages to their fans.
“Congrats, MIDZY, for your 2,000th day today! Members, congrats to our 2,000th!” Yuna said.
According to her, they were always on a rush that they didn’t had the time to really look over their personal endeavors.
“It does not seem to have too much days to have 2,000 days, but we’ve been doing a lot of things during that period,” she said.
“Looking back, I don’t think I had too much time to work on myself during those 2,000 days,” she admitted, “There were days when I could not sleep, I could not rest and I could not even eat, you know.”
Despite challenges, what keeps them going is having their MIDZYs around.
“Nevertheless, the brightest smile I actually had is when I’m actually in front of MIDZY,” she enthused.
“You know, in the blink of an eye, it became our first year, second year, third year, and now it’s our day 2000th!”
During this day, she realized how dependent she has been with her fellow members and how happy she is performing for MIDZYs. Her relationship with her fellow members and MIDZYs is “very precious.”
“Also from Manila MIDZYs, although I’m not able to go back here often, I feel your love and how much you think about us,” she affirmed.
Chaeryeong, upon seeing the video and looking at their young faces, made her realize that they “were really cute” when they started.
“For sure, back then, we needed a lot of improvement. Thank you so much for being there for us and for staying by our side,” she told MIDZYs.
According to her, the difference between their first and second world tours, though in both instances they gave their best, but for this time around, she had more time to look at each of the MIDZYs’ faces.
“You know, our Manila MIDZYs, they never disappoint us. You know, their passion, their love, their cheers are always off the roof! And we always thank them for loving us,” she declared.
Last year, in Manila, their parents were there to watch the concert, and Ryujin recalled her parents saying, “The Manila fans, they were awesome!”
Whether it is a concert or the Asia Artist Awards, where they were among the guests, she said they always look forward to having Filipino MIDZYs around because Filipinos are “very enthusiastic.”
“I really looked forward for today and it was perfect. Thank you!” she said, hoping to come back and bond with more MIDZYs on a more personal level.
According to Yeji, what makes her strong is looking at her fans. They love performing seeing how happy Manila MIDZYs are.
“You know, Manila MIDZYs are the best!” she said. — Video by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo, video editing by Anjilica Andaya
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