Hyperplay, the first ever integrated ASEAN esports and music festival happening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, brought together avid fans on its first day, living up to the expectations of the festival’s hype and thrills. In celebration of our youths, fans got to immerse themselves in a range of esports action and music performances – the two key cultural cornerstones of the generation.

Hyperplay kicked off with the first ASEAN League of Legends semi-finals with Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Hunters taking on Philippines’ Acclaim Empire X. After three intense rounds of powerplay, the Malaysians came out on top with a 2 – 1 victory over their ASEAN counterparts, sealing a spot in tomorrow’s grand finals.

Kicking off the 1st MTV Spotlight, The Sam Willows took the crowd through an adventurous journey with a nine-track set. The quartet wasted no time in getting the party started by opening up the show with a good collection of their past and present upbeat hits – All Time High (led by Benjamin), Baby Don’t Shy, Keep Me Jealous and Thirsty.

Once they established their presence, the quartet brought the tempo down with their more emotionally raw numbers Save Myself and Robot from their latest sophomore album, tugging on the heartstrings of everyone in attendance. From there, the audience was treated to a guitar solo introduction by Jon that led into their dance-worthy number Papa Money that is currently taking over the airwaves.

The foursome closed out the set with their hits For Love and Take Heart, from their previous debut album, right before an injured Narelle was piggy-backed onto Sandra for their exit.

Turning the focus back to esports, Singapore’s Sovereign put up a commendable effort against favourites, Vietnam’s Super Star Destroyers. However, it still wasn’t quite enough to match up to the sheer might of Team Vietnam as they quickly clinched victory in the first game, which took just 25 minutes. Led by Artemis – the main carry of the team – the Vietnamese set the pace of the game with a couple of fallback strategies that Sovereign failed to keep up with.

Right after the 2nd semi-finals match, CL showcased why she’s indeed Asia's Baddest Female as she returned to Singapore on the MTV Spotlight stage. She immediately ushered in her unique brand of intensity with her opening catchy, hip hop track, The Baddest Female, getting fans up on their feet upon get go. Her 13-track set only intensified with immense energy levels with each song performance.

Taking a moment to greet her ‘GZBs’ fans in Singapore, she performed Ain’t No Better Feeling for the first time since going solo as a gift to her fans. CL’s high-octane energy was undoubtable as she performed dance hit after hit while a hyped up crowd happily sang and danced along to – Dirty Vibe, Lifted, Come Back Home, Gotta Be You, Falling In Love, Dr Pepper, MTBD, ₩1,000,000 and Can’t Nobody.

CL was on fire with her performance of Hello Bitches, which was aptly accompanied by a pyrotechnic display and fireballs going off on stage. Epitomising true female prowess, she ended her set with I Am the Best, while her fans continued to roar in wild frenzy.

In celebration of ASEAN Singapore 2018 and part of YOUTHx , Hyperplay is powered by Riot Games and MTV, presented by the MCCY and the NYC, and supported by gold sponsor Clear Men and official Telco partner Singtel. Patrons will be able to catch full set live performances by all acts for the MTV Spotlight stage hosted by MTV VJ Hanli Hoefer.

photo source: Hyperplay 2018