More About The Leading South Korean Boy-Band BTS Concert
BTS is a South Korean boy-band who gets massive amounts of support from all around the world nowadays. They have become notable artists after having a number of hits and making a breakthrough to the America, entertainment industry. They got more attention even than their senior, PSY, did with Gangnam Style or Wonder Girls along with Nobody.
BTS received a very warm welcome on their coming to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Some of the buildings had turned on special purple lights to welcome the seven boys, including Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. Let’s get to know the reason why BTS A.R.M.Y fell more in love with BTS after the concert in Riyadh. Keep reading!
Became The First K-Pop Artists To Perform in Saudi Arabia
BTS was officially invited to hold a concert in Saudi Arabia. Big Hit Entertainment, the label BTS works with, confirmed their schedule to be in Riyadh, the capital of Arab Saudi on October 11. The concert was the first BTS performance or activity after their five-week summer break last year.
Their decision to say yes to the invitation was not easy, since Saudi Arabian entertainment is quite conservative or ultraconservative. RM, whose real name is Kim Nam-joon, commented about this event in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on October 2, “I wouldn’t say it was easy, but we were officially invited. It’s been a while since we’ve performed in the Middle East.”
Park Ji-min also added,”If there’s a place where people want to see us, we’ll go there. That’s really how we feel.”
BTS Break Their Rehearsal During Adhan (Prayer) Time
During BTS’s rehearsal before holding the concert in Riyadh, they received appreciation due to their act during Adhan time. In the religion of Islam, Adhan is a time calling for praying or worshipping God, which comes 5 times a day.
The rehearsal for the concert, which had the theme Speak Yourself, would take a break when the Adhan time was calling. The boy-band was very respectful of the culture and condition of the city, which earned them more support and reverence.
The concert was being held at King Fahd International Stadium. People went there to see the BTS members’ rehearsal become the witness of their action in stopping practice to respect the Adhan time.
Jimin Mic Got Covered
At the BTS Concert, Jimin got attention when he did flipped his mic. Even though was only a few seconds, fans were glad some people could catch the clip of him using Liam Payne’s signature skill. Liam is a singer-songwriter who has dancing skills, and whose trademark is a microphone flip.
Some fans really exploded seeing Jimin doing the mic flip. Indeed, they also tagged Liam Payne about Jimin’s performance and wanting Jimin to have a mic flip duel together with Liam Payne.
Surprisingly, it got response from the signature artist himself. He replied, “Nah he wins, I’m out.” adding an emoji of raised hands. His response went viral on fan boarding sites, and who knows, someday they may do it together!
BTS and A.R.M.Y Celebrate Jimin Birthday With Arabic Language
BTS fans, or A.R.M.Y, had a plan to celebrate Jimin’s birthday during the Riyadh concert. In fact, Jimin’s birthday falls on October 13, which was two days after the concert was finished, but they were still initiated the birthday greetings.
The idea for the project was to bring yellow balloons to their army bombs dedicated to Jimin’s solo song Serendipity, while handling yellow balloons. The yellow balloons were a trademark from his video clip of Serendipity.
One fan tweeted, “Here is some project Arab A.R.M.Y making, planned 7 k projects, lighted KSA in purple, offered a lot of gifts, and bought Vlives for many ARMYs who couldn’t make it to the concert, and will celebrate Jimin birthday.”
Other Twitter user wrote, “Saudi ARMYs planned an event for Jimin’s birthday. They will attach yellow flowers to their army bomb while holding a yellow balloon during Serendipity a flower shop (Botique WRD), contributed to make this fan project a success!”
A fan tweeted ,“Saudi armys have planned an event for jimin’s birthday for tonight’s riyadh concert. they’re going to be attaching yellow flowers to their lightsticks/will be holding yellow balloons during serendipity. i’m already tearing up.”
In the end, Jimin noticed this surprise birthday project for him from A.R.M.Y, since he was smiling all day. The members of BTS at the concert also sang Happy Birthday in Arabic, and Jimin was jumping around and smiling.
BTS members admitted that they were rehearsing by reciting the lyrics for Jimin’s only birthday.
NOOOOOOO the boys sang happy birthday to Jimin in Arabic and he was so surprised AND STARTED HAPPILY JUMPING AROUND 😭 #BTSinSaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/nRYvkbsm7N
— ᴶᶦᵐᶦⁿᶦᵉ (@JJMOCHIJJ) October 11, 2019
BTS Performed Without Revealing Their Abs
At this concert in Riyadh, BTS prepared a different stage act due to a condition from Saudi Arabia, which is more conservative, and respected the cultural differences. The group changed several moves from their choreography.
A source reported that BTS would not be exposing their abs or showing intimacy between members. Not only BTS, all the staff and dancers who came with them also got education in understanding Moslem cultures before coming to Riyadh.
As we know, Saudi Arabia is a country which has a poor human rights record, making some artists face criticism when performing on their country. But nowadays, Saudi Arabia has lessened some laws, including that women could go to the concert and lessening attire rules. But, BTS worked to respect all that matters to their condition, so they succeeded to grab Saudi Arabia’s heart.
Latest News
Recently, in January 2020, based on dominant news site, CNN, BTS became one of “The 10 who transformed music this decade”. BTS is one, and the only prominently Asian, artist on the list, which includes Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar.
Quoted from CNN:
For: Popularizing K-pop in the US.
Maybe you’ve never heard a BTS song. Maybe you’re one of their biggest fans.
Either way, there’s no denying their impact. The boy band made the first Korean pop album to make it to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, which happened with 2018’s “Love Yourself: Tear.” Even more notable: They had three projects reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in a single year. And they’ve sold millions of albums around the world, including the US.
K-pop has always been big in Asia, but the genre has historically struggled to break into the US. The Wonder Girls, a now-defunct girl group, had a track called “Nobody” back in 2009, which entered the Hot 100 at No. 76. And in 2012, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” even broke the top 10.
But BTS has blown everyone out of the water.
Why they matter
In short, this group has brought K-pop to the mainstream. And because their rise happened pretty late in the decade, it could signify a larger stream of K-pop into the American consciousness in the 2020s.
On New Year’s Eve 2019, to welcoming 2020, BTS performed in Times Square, New York City for ABC’s ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ on December 31. The Bangtan Boys performed “Make it Right” and “Boy With Luv” featuring Halsey.
That’s all about the reason why BTS A.R.M.Y fell more in love with BTS after the concert in Riyadh. Do you agree with all the reason above? Share your thoughts and comment below!
