SM artists kick off world tour in Seoul over weekend

Artists of top talent agency SM Entertainment kicked off their joint world tour over the weekend, performing a total of 78 songs for over six hours at their first venue in Korea’s capital of Seoul.

At the “SMTOWN LIVE ’10 World Tour in Seoul” held Saturday at the Olympic Park, some of the biggest names in the K-pop scene including BoA, U-Know Yunho, Max Changmin, Super Junior, SHINee and Girls’ Generation sang their own songs as well as staging crossover performances by singers of different groups.

Female songstress BoA sang a duet with boy band SHINee member Key who was one of the first members of her fanclub Jumping BoA while sisters Jessica of Girls’ Generation and Krystal of f(x) sang together for the first time since their debut.

SM’s actors also took to the stage; Ara with former H.O.T member Kangta and actress Lee Yeon-hee with SHINee’s Taemin.

Meanwhile, male singers U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin of idol group TVXQ, who have halted their activities as a five-man band with members Xiah Junsu, Micky Yoochun and Hero Jaejoong being involved in a legal dispute with SM, also made a much-anticipated appearance.

Arriving on stage after riding a distance of 100 meters on wires 50 meters up in the air, U-Know and Max sang the group’s hit songs as well as “Maximum,” a new song composed for the world tour.

The show wrapped up with BoA’s latest song “Hurricane Venus” and a joint performance by all of SM’s artists.

SM’s world tour will continue on into the Staples Center in Los Angeles of the United States on September 4, the Hongkou Football Stadium in Shanghai of China on September 11 and in Tokyo of Japan in January of next year.

This year’s round of concerts, the second time after 2008, will feature about 50 of SM’s singing and acting talents.