A few days after the Best New Bands Concert in Times Square, the exhausted MTV Iggy staff still floats dazedly on a post-concert high. We'd spent more than a few sleepless nights and frantic days planning the concert, but it was all worth it as we found ourselves screaming like fangirls and fanboys to see Yuna, Gyptian, La Vida Boheme, and headliners 2NE1 together on one stage in one night, bringing global music to the US. This is MTV Iggy's raison d'etre so it was sheer bliss to see the world watching and participating.
Over the next few days we'll release more behind the scenes photos and stories, but for now we'd like to share our personal highlights from the concert. The moments of searing joy, hilarity and surprise that we're still talking about.
The Yunaverse expanded a little bit more on Monday as impatient 2NE1 fans stopped Twitter/Ortsbo bi#ching about the wait for their favorite and fell silent, wowed by Malaysian folk star Yuna's striking beauty and mesmerizing voice. Staffers monitoring social media feeds report that 2NE1 fans in particular were very impressed. We also love the fan inside the Best Buy theater who held up a "Come As U R Yuna" sign just before she launched into that unforgettable Nirvana cover.
We still crack up when we rewatch the livestream to La Vida Boheme saying, “For those of you just joining us, we are Menudo.” (Time stamp: 21:35)
LVB’s performance might be the first time a band fits in references to (punk gods) The Ramones, (80s Puerto Rican boy band) Menudo, and (19th century Cuban poet and revolutionary) Jose Martí in the span of a four-song set.
Yes, he said it. Fast forward throughthe live stream to 1:35:00 if you don't believe us. We're still in shock. The Jamaican lovers rock star and the Canadian queen of the power ballad...holy WTF. Gyptian's smooth purr could make Celine's cheese soften like brie...tasty tasty brie.
#7 La Vida Boheme Arguing Live On Camera About Food
Reason #5592 why we love this band. Even a simple question about the best food to eat in Venezuela prompts a serious, passionate discussion: “Pabellón Criollo?” “La Pelua?”…“We’re in Christmas so hallacas. You have hallacas, bollos and you have ensalada de gallina.” It was both hilarious and adorable. Also quite informative. La Vida Boheme in a nutshell. Watch it at 43:50.
#6 2NE1's Anticipation-Ratcheting Walk to the Stage
We'd planned for cameras to follow 2NE1 from the street to the stage...but that still didn't prepare us for goosebumps all over as CL, Minzy, Bom, and Dara flitted down endless, twisting stairs and corridors to the insistent, throbbing strains of "I Am the Best." We know you fans at home were chanting "Nega Jeil Chalaga"...cause we were too.
The electricity in the air short-circuited everyone's wires at one point or another to hilarious effect. Sway mixed food in to music genres ("there's trip-hop, there's hip-hop, there's J-pop, there's K-pop, there's popcorn"), Matt Pinfield almost broke the telestrator map as he tried to chart music flowing across continents, and Shehnaz, charmed by the super enthusiastic fans outside, matched them scream for scream. Only Suchin remained cool and unaffected...but that girl's got ice in her veins. She never melts.
Ok, not really. But she was so excited she could barely speak!! When she said, “I even got my class rings to say K-pop on them” an Iggy staffer thought she meant rings for the whole school and imagined "some sort of K-pop super school. If I had tried to get Backstreet Boys on my high school’s class ring, I would have been kicked in the face." Upon rewatching the livestream we think Bianca got the words on her own ring, not the whole school's, but we prefer to hold on to our imaginary version.
He purred, he growled, he prowled the stage. Palm trees and tropical vibes weren't the reason the room felt so hot. Also, the impromptu, non-choreographed stage dance party that happened around him.
We wanted to include fans who couldn't be there in person to still have a presence. So we featured your Tweets on the MTV HD Jumbotron in Times Square and on the LCD screen at the theater...and you didn't disappoint. From fans waiting outside hilariously bi#ching ("I'm so cold I'm getting gangrene") to the outpouring of Venezuelan "orgullo" for La Vida Boheme after their riveting performance, to 2NE1 fans noticing every minute detail -- Bom's dress length, how hosts pronounced the girls' names, the song selections...you made us laugh, sniffle, and so happy to know how your felt.
#1 The Moment 2NE1 Was Crowned Best New Band in the World!
Dressed in red military jackets accented with gold metal, the girls KILLED it. The unexpected call-and-response between CL and the audience to "Nega Jeil Chalaga," the dizzying dance moves (they owned that stage), the confetti guns showering the room in a blizzard of paper so thick you could barely see 2 feet in front of you...and most of all the delighted looks on CL, Bom, Minzy, and Dara's faces as they held the crowns in that moment. No amount of rehearsing or planning can capture that moment. It was the best.
