By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
A day before his first solo concert in Seoul, American R&B star John Legend made a special appearance for a charity event to benefit Korean orphans on Saturday evening.
The Grammy Award-winning singer performed four songs for a small group of donors at ``A Night of Charity for Children,'' at the Bamboo House, in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul. Donors, who bought tickets at 1 million won each, also had the opportunity to meet and talk with Legend. Proceeds from the event will go to various Korean orphanages through the Community Chest of Korea, and Legend's own Show Me Campaign, which funds poverty-alleviation programs in Tanzania.
``I'm so excited to be here. It's great to have a warm welcome in Korea ... I go to a lot of places, and I'm always impressed by people who are willing to give the time and money to make someone else's life a little better,'' Legend told the audience, which included guest of honor U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stevens and hip-hop stars T Yoon Mi-rae and Tiger JK.
Legend impressed everyone in the room as he played the piano while singing ``Save Room,'' ``Good Morning'' and ``Ordinary People.'' He was originally supposed to sing only two songs to ``save'' his voice for his solo concert, Sunday. However, he decided to play ``If You're Out There,'' which he originally sang at the Democratic National Convention last August.
``We have the opportunity to leave a legacy of generosity and make an impact on the world. That's why we're here today. It's important to help people who are impoverished around the world,'' he said.
The charity event, organized by the Network of Korean-American Leaders (NetKAL), was the result of a chance encounter between one of the organizers Kevin Kim and Legend onboard a flight from New York to Los Angeles a few weeks ago. Kim had a casual conversation with Jeff Christie, a member of Legend's tour team, about the possibility of organizing a charity event while he was in Seoul for the concert.
``We were on a plane together and somehow the idea came up, and we thought it was a great idea to benefit the Korean orphanages and the Show Me Campaign which helps villages in Africa,'' Legend told reporters.
After Legend agreed to donate his time for the charity event, NetKAL members worked hard to put everything together in just two weeks. Aside from organizing the event and finding donors, the event also met with some skepticism, especially with the difficult economic situation.
``We had a lot of doubters who asked why we are doing this. NetKAL took this opportunity to help. We understand that economic times are tough but the less fortunate are hurting more than us. You (the guests) helped disprove the doubters. The whole idea is to create not just a one-time event, but to start an annual tradition. Our goal is to bring more megastars to Seoul to do something to help Korean charities,'' Kim said.
Aside from Legend's performance, T and Tiger JK, described as the ``Beyonce and Jay-Z of Korea,'' treated guests at the charity event to a lively hip-hop number. The married couple, whose son recently celebrated his first birthday, pumped up the crowd with two energetic hip-hop songs.