From Fangirl to Friend: A Chance of a Lifetime
- alexandriagohhy
- Feb 14, 2021
- 7 min read
Assignment 2 - Profile Feature
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Written by: Alexandria Goh Hui Yi
February 14th, 2021
As the development of technology advances to bring upon the rise of pop stars, many young performers have been swept up into the limelight and given the chance of their lifetime to become a star. To those who took the leap of faith into stardom, they now reap the rewards of becoming household names and selling out stadiums ever so often. However, every pop star isn’t complete without their loyal fanbase - be it young enthusiastic fangirls or high-spirited fanboys. Fans of pop stars often get a bad rep - with many often looking down on young girls who talk fervently of a boy band, or tossing insults to young boys who follow girl groups. Many are often told that their idols would never notice them, let alone get to know them however, June Loo is one of the luckiest few. From being a fangirl of Greyson Chance, to becoming a close friend of his today, June too has experienced the chance of a lifetime.
June chuckles as she recounts the first time she discovered Greyson Chance, describing that fateful encounter as a “funny story”. She recalls her father gesturing her over excitedly, telling her to watch “this young boy play the piano” and as if written in the stars, she instantly clicked and became a fan. American singer and songwriter Greyson Chance rose to fame when a recording of his piano cover of Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi for his school’s music festival in 2010 went viral with 68 million views. Impressed and motivated by his piano skills, June was one of the many viewers who had chanced upon his video and became a fan of his and a friend, a decade later.
“If you could describe yourself, what words would you use?” Determined and ambitious.
June describes her early days of fangirling about Greyson as competitive, for she was only 12 when she learnt about him and had no access to social media. Upon turning 13, she immediately signed up for every social media possible and began her journey as @PlanetCocoGrey on Twitter. And just like any fan who is determined to get their idol’s attention, she tweeted him repeatedly in hopes of getting a follow back, for it allowed fans to directly message the idol. She describes that competitiveness as “good” competition for Greyson took his time in interacting with the fans. However, much like any 13-year-old, being a student was still her top priority, “Because I was also quite new with high school, I went on and off Twitter as I didn’t have a phone at that time.” She explains. “I only got a follow back after 10 months, which was such a long time,” she laughs, recalling her experience from a decade ago.
As a fangirl from Asia, she has definitely faced a lot more challenges however, through her ambition and determination to support Greyson from home, and to get noticed as well, she created digital edits of Greyson as well as host yearly events in Malaysia. At a young age of 13, she was already teaching herself about event planning and editing software all through YouTube, for there was no one to guide her on how - all while being a student! But just like any Asian child, she had strict parents hence, she used it as a motivation to work extra hard in order to accumulate “good points” - to which a lot of younger fans look up to her.
“Work hard, play harder,” she smiles, when asked about what advice she would offer to young fangirls.
Her Journey With Greyson
As a PR graduate from Taylor’s, June mentions how it was her fangirling about Greyson that grew her interest in the field of Public Relations. She further added that she had no idea what PR was until she was sixteen - however, she had been praised by Greyson multiple times prior joining university. Since then, she has made her experience of fangirling about Greyson and turned it into a self-sustaining career.
One of her notable experiences was when Universal Music Malaysia reached out to her via Twitter to ask for ideas about how to market Greyson Chance in Malaysia during his album comeback. Stunned, she found herself in their office suggesting giveaways through encouraging Malaysian fans to stream his album as a team effort and rewarding them with every milestone. With two sold out shows in Sunway Putra Mall and Gurney Paragon, June had pulled it all off at just 18. It was those achievements that had led her to Greyson personally, and since then, she’s been flying to different countries for his shows, meeting new people and fellow friends across the globe.
She recalls how Greyson had excitedly told his team and label about what she had done for him, and prior to her final year in the UK, she managed to work together for multiple giveaways as well as hand in hand with his team to promote his song. Not to mention, she hosted a cafe event for his latest album release in 2019, Portraits, and it had trended on Twitter! She is the definition of what it means to be a lucky and successful fangirl.
When asked about her experience now as a fan and friend watching Greyson perform, June smiles brightly, “It’s an amazing feeling because the inner fan in me still screams whenever I see him on stage.” She explains with sparkling eyes. “Being a fan for a decade and hyping him up on stage, that’s the inner fan in me, but as a friend, I’m really proud of him. Seeing all these people come to his show, it really is an amazing feeling to see that.”. With the pandemic taking a hit to many artists’ shows and concerts, June has taken her PR to the next level, scheduling Zoom sessions with many other fans in conjunction with the release of his latest release, Holy Feeling.
Since 2016, she has attended over multiple events for Greyson, flying to different countries and meeting different people and fans - and making friends along the way. Kristina Minagawa is one of the many friends she has made from attending those concerts. As a fan of Greyson Chance as well, the pair clicked upon their first encounter and are now close friends. Kristina describes how June’s adventurous plans and exciting online presence had convinced her to stay in the fandom during a time where she felt out of place. “June has been one of the most positive people in my life and I hope people do not take her for granted.” Kristina explains when asked about her relationship with June.
From passion to career…
Since completing her degree at Taylor’s, June has ventured into various side projects and is currently freelancing. Her passion and support for Greyson motivated her greatly to learn new programs and to constantly push the limits of an event.
“Do what you love, love what you do. You can turn your passion into something you love doing for your career.”
Unlike many creatives, June had once believed she had not been a creative person, however, she pushed through what it means to be creative. “Never stop creating,” she advises with a warm smile on her face. “You’ll never know when your skills are able to be shown unexpectedly, as you never know when that day will come when your content could go viral.”Self-doubt is not a stranger to her, and to many creatives as well, and it is often the kryptonite to creation. However, June believes otherwise.
“I would ask them this question, do you have time?” she questions, a solemn aura suddenly falling around her cheerful demeanour. “And if their answer is no, I would say you’re lying. And that’s because only dead people don’t have time.” she answers with a smile forged from years of experience.
“You still have time, make the most out of it and get creative.”
June, to many, is a living example that chasing idols and following your passions can lead one to great places. For many young fangirls (or fanboys), like myself, she’s an inspirational figure for us to pursue our dreams. All we have to do now is work hard, for the same chance of a lifetime.
JRN60304 Creative Writing
Alexandria Goh Hui Yi | 0338228
Reflection
This profile feature is one of the most personal pieces I have worked on throughout these 6 weeks, and of course, it was not an easy journey. My initial plan was to do a profile feature on one of the co-founders for Pichaeats however, after our first connection, I was unable to follow up and contact her due to her schedule - that was a week before the initial deadline. I needed a plan and it had to be fast and the first person that came to my mind was a close friend of mine, June.
We have only been acquainted in my first year, which come to think of it, has almost been two years. As a senior at Taylor's, she guided me through my journey in Mass Comm and has been a great friend since. We became friends due to mutual fandom interests - making us both fangirling friends. It was really nice interviewing her as I got to know more about her goals, what drove her and it was a very insightful session. It doubled up almost like a catching up session as after the short interview, we moved on to chatting about our lives and updating each other.
The reason why I chose her was because of how she made her passion, which was supporting and being a fan of Greyson Chance, and turned it into a career opportunity for her. Not many people can say that they became friends with the person they were a fan of and I think that alone makes her an extremely interesting person!
POINT FORM WRITE UP
AUDIENCE
General public (youths to adults) and young creatives
PURPOSE
To remind young creatives and adults that you can turn what you're passionate in, into a career opportunity
PUBLICATION POTENTIAL
The Star - Human Interest
INTERVIEWEES
June Loo: @thefuijune (Instagram), @PlanetCocoGrey (Twitter)
Kristine Minagawa
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