Cha Eun-woo serenades fans with surprise cover of Malay song

“Kita harungi bersama berdua selamanya, Sampai ke hari tua, Mencintaimu,” Korean heartthrob Cha Eun-woo smoothly sang at his first fan meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Practicing the Malay song must have been a breeze for the singer, given his uncanny ability to pick up the Malaysian national language with ease. 

After the song, he asked if “Mencintaimu” meant “I Love You” and proceeded to use it to express his love for his fans. When emcee Jacky stepped in to teach him the full phrase, “Saya Cinta Kamu” (“Saya mencintaimu” works too but “saya cinta kamu” is easier for beginners), as the one he was saying was grammatically incorrect without the pronoun “Saya” (which means “I” – Koreans do have the tendency to drop pronouns), he swiftly learned it.

Singer, actor, linguist Cha Eun-woo. (Photo source: Macpiepro | Fantagio Music).

“Saya cinta kamu,” he said. He then learned another similar sentence from the emcee and repeated it fluently in one try, “Saya sayang kamu.”

“Terima kasih,” he thanked the emcee humbly who was singing praises of his Malay language proficiency, as he easily grasped more of what the emcee taught him on the spot. 

When he learned that “sayang” is also a term of endearment – similar to “honey” or “baby” – instead of just a feeling of love or care for someone, the singer nodded in understanding and proceeded to melt Aroha’s hearts further as he grinned and said to them, “Sayang, aku cinta padamu.”

His language skills aside (did we mention he also spoke English every now and again during the show?), the 22-year-old showed various other sides of his that no doubt set Aroha’s hearts beating at double speed.

Cha Eun-woo performing “Please Remember” while dressed in a hanbok.

The singer-actor opened his show last Sunday evening with “Please Remember”, the song he sings for “Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung”, dressed in the hanbok (traditional Korean attire) that his character wore in the drama. 

He then played the games “Challenge! CHApago” and “C.M.I (Cha Eun-Woo Much Information)” with the emcee, using a quiz concept similar to the popular Korean game show “The Golden Bell Challenge”. The emcee asked him questions and he wrote down his answers on a white board. As he is known as the smartest member in his group, Astro, these were the perfect games – from recalling the lines he said in his drama to remembering which shoes he wore on a certain day – to show off his brainy side. 

He failed to recall all six nicknames he once revealed to Cosmopolitan magazine, however. One of the nicknames turned out to be Felix and he explained with a laugh that when he used to go for English lessons, that was the English name he used as it means “lucky guy”.

Cha Eun-woo looking serious as he tried to think hard of the answers.

Next, he showed off his piano skills. “This is real live music,” he said as he sat down at the white piano set up on one side of the stage. He then proceeded to sing his own piano-accompanied rendition of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself”.

He disappeared off stage for a bit before casually strolling in as he sang the Malay song mentioned earlier.

For the next session, “Cha!possible”, he displayed his athletic side. With 100 seconds to score 10 goals, he struggled at first but soon found his rhythm in the mini basketball challenge. He even teased his fans, withholding the last basketball as he looked at the onscreen countdown and joked, “I have so much time left.” But he beat the buzzer anyway so he could give away prizes to his fans via lucky draw, as he had been doing since the first game.

Nothing but net for Cha Eun-woo? (Photo source: Macpiepro | Fantagio Music).

“My character does archery,” he said as he was handed a set of plastic bow and arrows for his next challenge, “but he’s very bad at it.”

True enough, he failed to hit a bullseye out of 10 chances, much to his dismay. For fans, it was still a victory as they got to see his cute side and dance skills during the penalty. Donning a bunny ears headband and bunny paw gloves, the Astro member’s penalty was random dance so he had to dance to whatever Astro song that came up.

After all that hard work, it was time for him to sit down for a bit. Not idly, however, as his next session was “Made by ‘Cha Eun Woo’”, during which he decorated three hand fans to give away to his fans. Even though he did not fully utilise the stickers and colours provided, his fans still clamoured for those fans.

Taking a photo with his fans before it was time for the show to end. (Photo source: Macpiepro | Fantagio Music).

That was his final session but the show was far from over as he had two more songs to sing for the 1,900-strong Aroha who packed the Menara PGRM hall that evening. 

He first sang “Rainbow Falling”, another OST of his which he sings for another drama of his, “My ID is Gangnam Beauty”. He then wrapped up his performances with the touching “You & Me”.

That was still not the end of his first fan meeting in Malaysia, however. To make it more memorable, he stayed back afterwards for group photo and hi-touch sessions with some of his lucky fans.

(Photo source: Macpiepro | Fantagio Music)