[CloudUSA editorial] Together, we can accomplish anything.
Well I tell you, Clouds, our own MTV Music Awards odyssey was one incredibly long, exhausting, but oh-so-exciting rollercoaster ride, wasn’t it?
I want to thank, on behalf of Terri and myself, our sister Rain fan sites, forums, blogs, and all of you individually for voting and voting like madwomen, tweet-trending like it was going out of style, streaming video for other fans, facebooking live updates, texting and throwing out LAX news moment to moment, journeying to Los Angeles and supporting Rain in every way that was humanly possible, and doing the Cloud name proud from the very start to the very finish of this thing.
We came together and made it happen. WE the fans handed that award to Rain. (Thanks to our countless overseas Cloud sisters as well, for voting and banging the drum and helping fight the good fight! Aja hwaiting!)
I don’t think I’ll be forgetting this past Sunday evening, the 6th, any time soon. It might as well have been a military operation LOL! There we were, Base of Operations: Terri’s place, family room. Terri on desktop computer at the 9 o’clock position. Me on Omma Betty’s laptop, on the sofa, at the 6 o’clock position. Massive widescreen LCD television primed on the MTV HD channel, at the 12 o’clock position. Various family members at the ready to fetch food or drink and to offer cheers or derisive jeers at the TV screen, as needed. Twitter. Facebook. Tweettrack. Red carpet live streams. Cloud USA Forum, with a host of dedicated Clouds from all over the world signed in and at the ready. Email open… watches synchronized… multiple tabs and Windows open… flex and loosen up the fingers… get set… GO.
And we were off.
Oh my, the fun. Our forum members—our beloved friends—were the most amazing women that night as we all watched the show together and cheered Rain on to victory. (You are what life is all about, my dears, and we adore you.)
Now that all the craziness is over, we’ve celebrated, and Rain is safely home, pat yourselves on the back and take a well-deserved rest. 🙂
°
While watching the footage of the hero’s reception that Rain received in Korea after landing at Incheon Airport today, two sets of feelings came over me… both very powerful, and yet different.
One was utter pride at what we had accomplished, Clouds. How can anyone look at the joy that has been on Rain’s face since his name was called in that auditorium and not feel the same? OMG. He wanted this so badly, and my happiness for him knows no bounds. How about yours? But at the same time… I am saddened. Terribly. Only Asia is allowed to give Rain a hero’s welcome or departure—we are not. Only Asia is allowed to take pictures of him on our streets—we are not. Clouds living in the US were so instrumental in descending upon MTV and voting Rain Biggest Badass Star that—yes, I’m going to go there, I’m going to say it—if we hadn’t, it is not certain that he would have won the award. It took all of us, fans here and overseas, to get that win, not just some of us. But only some of us reap the benefits.
(MTV hadn’t even put a bio up for him! He was the only nominee without one. Terri immediately shot over there like a cannonball and addressed the issue all over the site, and got her threads deleted, and then riled up other Clouds and banged that drum until MTV finally got with the program, which took a while. She did that, with Michelle and a bunch of you joining that fight.)
We don’t want to own Rain. We don’t want to take up so much of his time that we’re practically running his life. I’m simply saying that if Clouds in the States dedicate themselves to a cause here and bring about not only change on their own awards show but real success, then they could at least get one or two seconds of Rain walking through LAX so that they could cheer and support him as a group. He didn’t even have to stop walking, that would have been fine. Some fans flew in and drove in from other states for just a glimpse of him and didn’t even get that. In fact, if he hadn’t won the Biggest Badass Award, guess what? We wouldn’t have seen him at all.
Only one minute and two seconds of Rain on stage, over a four-day period.
And more than likely, with the ZEPP tour, the new drama, the upcoming album, and the military looming, he won’t be able to return to the US until sometime during the next Ice Age.
Maybe we should all just move to Japan.
(We’ll never abandon you, Ji-Hoon. Don’t ever worry about that.)
— Stephe ^@@^
Cloud USA 
Venting is healthy. ❤️❤️
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I agree.^^ After those exhaustive weeks, although I was soooooooo happy at the results and for Rain, I just had to get that out.
Stephe ^@@^
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I just wait for the day that Rain rewards us U.S. fans with a tour. Even though we were only able to see Rain when he won his award, I am happy all the same that we got to SEE him win that award he worked so hard for. Though I must say that I do envy his Asian fans terribly.
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and i don’t know if many remember, but the same thing happened when Rain appeared at the 2008 Olympics. “will he or won’t he?”
(nobody had clear info),later it was revealed by Rain that he had signed a contract of secreacy as well as all other participants.
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you know sometimes a marketing strategy can leave huge question marks in the public mind. now, i am just speculating here, but here’s what i think happened. once MTV saw the huge interest in Rain initially starting with the demand for his bio inclusion, it was announced by JTune that Rain had received an invition to appear. but notice, JTune never provided air travel details. fans tracked it down themselves. once they had the info., which still had confusion of arrival time, they gathered to greet Rain at the airport. seems that no one considered an optional exit for him at the airport (which could have been arranged by MTV, that added to the confusion).
i am so sorry that fans missed his arrival cause they were so pumped at the thought of greeting him. however, some fans did get a chance to see him off (if only for a second, and a few even saw him seated at the venue). Rain made a trip here some time ago, and fans caught him in the garage parking lot, taking him by surprise, but got a up close contact with him and autographs. and of course we know about the inpromt meeting he had to apologize about the concellations. what i am speculating here is that MTV may have played a role in keeping Rain out of public view until the surprise moment of announcing his award. (i mean they had to come up with something to keep his fans engaged about this). i thought about this reason because on all other occasions US fans have been able to see and greet him, not only in LA but in NY as well even for the Colbert show. i just think something else was at play here.
CloudUSA you did a magnaminous job for fans from beginning to end and i for one realize this and offer a HUGE THANK YOU.
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Ladies, I salute you!
What fine job you did. I hope Rain get to read this post and realised how much he is being adored, not just in Asian but in the West, too.
I am proud to be part of this experience.
Because of Rain, I’ve learned to tweet… the basic anyway.
Well done, Rain. And hats off to you Terri and Stephe and my sister Clouds.
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yes, we did an excellent job working together! And don’t be sad; we will get him here in the US very soon. Next year for sure!
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Yes yes.
And NEXT time someone comes to Atlanta, they’d BETTER stop by to see me and Stephe.
That’s all I’m saying… :-}
Terri :-}
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I agree, Stephe, Rain is definitely NOT the blame for this.
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Nicely said, loridee.
We don’t blame Rain for the situation.
Stephe ^@@^
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I was wondering why we US fans didn’t get to see Rain anywhere in LA until the night of the awards show. It was like he was being hidden from us, and I don’t understand why. I know Rain belongs to Korea and Asia, but we US fans love him too – we proved that by voting like crazy for him to win the award. It’s unfortunate that we US fans can’t enjoy him and throw a celebration for him too. It saddens my heart :-(.
But I am very thrilled and happy for Rain. He deserved the award because he worked very hard and acted very well in “Ninja Assassin”. Congratulations, Rain, on your win. And I hope that someday we US fans will get to throw a celebration for you like how your home country did. You are blessed with wonderful, loyal fans that care very deeply for you. Your fans are all over the world – and we all just want to share in your joy and give you the celebration you deserve. 🙂
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