february

The Lumiere era kept me busy over the first few months of 2020 - like 2020 so far had been all about it. As time went on, things went more hectic but I was becoming more excited.

Prior to this, BTS pre-released a song last month with "Black Swan" before ultimately returning on D-day with "On". There were so many reasons why I had to look forward to Lumiere - from performances from Aliza and alternate leader Harry and the new Dolby Atmos sound format, which were among the first things that came to mind, to the launch of a web series (inspired by Bon Voyage) and a visual art project (inspired by the 4 seasons event series) which all made Lumiere the most serious event in Caratime. But what made me look forward to Lumiere was the fact that I had been working on this event for - and this is only coincidentally - 7 months, as every other event in 2019 until ending up as its final iteration that is Lumiere in 2020, and almost ended up as part of 4 seasons since it was originally made as the 2019 Rainbow Festa.

I spent almost half of 2019 on Lumiere, so I was excited to see everything I worked on finally paying off. From the moment the comeback was announced and building up to D-day, Lumiere turned out to be a huge success as seen in how MOTS7 sold millions and topped the Billboard charts once again, as well as the 7 (later 7+1) day extension in Nasugbu which came after, where MDTV was discovered to be a new activity to try for the holiday. Everyone were engaged when I played the whole program in the room. It was an experience I will never forget.

Plans have changed, however, as we moved into a new era in Caratime - the 7 era. By the end of February, the 2020 TMAs which was supposed to be the ending to Lumiere was postponed indefinitely. That is due to COVID-19 becoming worse than we could imagine.

Right before our very senses.. our meaning of normal was about to change.