Quarantine… We have officially stepped into another month of social distancing and all-around move-and-work limitations. For some, it feels like we have been this way forever while for others the thought of living like this since March or even earlier seems unimaginable. The news and the media have been flooded with all kinds of information regarding politics, health organizations, economy… the list goes on and on. The tension grows by the day so we’re here to tell you to take a deep breath and just relax. Even if it is just for a moment. We can talk about something that almost always brings joy – “what is happening inside of our K-Pop world?” More precisely, today we will not be focusing on persons on the big screen, today we will talk about how are those feeling who are watching everything. Today it is all about our loving people inside the K-Pop community!
BTS online concert
In the spirit of all that, we have made a little survey and short interviews with K-Pop lovers all around the world. We gathered 7 quick questions and asked our friends to share their thoughts. Even though the questions are quick, we told them not to limit themselves and answer in a way they find most suiting. Not to keep our readers waiting any longer, here is the list of our questions:
1. What do you miss the most in the K-Pop world since the lockdown?
2. Online concerts vs Live concerts: in your opinion, what are the biggest pros and cons?
3. Since there are no meet and greets, promotions etc… how did you stay connected with the idols?
4. How do you think the agencies are handling the world pandemic?
5. What do you think, how are the artists feeling now that they cannot perform?
6. What did you learn during the pandemic? (Doesn’t have to be K-Pop related)
7. And for the end, what’s your message to the other fellow K-Pop lovers?
At the end of this article, you will find two interviews – one from Milica (Serbia) and one from Tina (Greece). They both send their greetings and wish for everyone to stay safe during these trying times. But until we reach the ending, we will use this spare moment to discuss the survey results.
Most of the K-Pop lovers feel really worried about how everything is affecting their biases. As performing and promoting live is a big part of their career, this must have been a big shock to them all. Luckily the companies made a way to meet everyone in the middle – the solution being online concerts, events, promotions and so on. Of course, the charm of actually seeing the idol is gone. That is one of the biggest flaws of online communication. Especially when it comes to idols. The magic of being in their presence is what every fan looks forward to the most. The stage, the minutes before the show, the actual show, the idol-fan interaction, the costumes, the performance. Everything about it has its own magical charm. In those moments people get so overwhelmed with happiness and that is the moment when happy tears fall down. In that moment we all forget about our worries and just live and savor the moment. It is something that no online concert can bring to life. We all miss it. But hopefully, things will go back to normal soon.
BTS online concert
To light up this article, not all is dim and covered in grey shades. A lot of stans stated that they are happy that our idols now have time to properly rest – as that is something they rarely do.
“Comebacks are happening on the weekly basis so they must be feeling extremely exhausted, now they can take time and enjoy their own life without feeling the pressure to preform so frequently”, said Alice (United Kingdom).
Other cheerful news – BLACKPINK’s new album dropped and since it is their first full album, fans all around the globe are thrilled and excited. In my humble opinion, it was just the right medicine. The new music video is phenomenal as the stans say and the songs are straight fire.
Cover for BLACKPINK’s new music video “Lovesick Girls”
The one – maybe most surprising – is “Bet You Wanna” which is featuring Cardi B. Cardi B and BLACKPINK, huh? Who would have said that those would cross paths? But the collaboration is here and it’s worth every compliment it gets!
“THE ALBUM” by BLACKPINK
Not to make you wait any longer, meet Milica and Tina! They are two wonderful girls who were very excited to respond to our interview. Enjoy!
Interview with Milica (Serbia):
1. What do you miss the most in the K-Pop world since the lockdown?
Their music and dances are all I need to survive and that is what I got, soooo nothing really.
2. Online concerts vs Live concerts: in your opinion, what are the biggest pros and cons?
In my opinion live concerts are so much better, because when you are actually there you can really see them and feel their energy and that’s something that online concerts can’t replace. On the other hand, online concerts made it possible for anyone in the world to join the concerts. So now people who live in smaller countries don’t have to travel and spend lots of money just so they could see their favorite group.
3. Since there are no meet and greets, promotions etc… how did you stay connected with the idols?
Through their music of course. I, honestly, didn’t really go to meet and greets, so pandemic in that way didn’t affect me.
4. How do you think the agencies are handling the world pandemic?
I think they are handling it fine. I know for BlackPink it’s definitely great – we didn’t get this much comebacks from them since their debut.
5. What do you think, how are the artists feeling now that they cannot perform?
I think it’s good rest for them, but for now only. I think we all need that idol-fan interaction and live connection.
6. What did you learn during the pandemic? (Doesn’t have to be K-Pop related)
I learned new dancesssssss 😆
7. And for the end, what’s your message to the other fellow K-Pop lovers?
I love yaalllll 😍😍🥰🥰
Interview with Tina (Greece)
1. What do you miss the most in the K-Pop world since the lockdown?
I feel like the one thing that kpop fans and me included miss the most is probably the live concerts and interactions between the fans and their fav groups. And because of the lockdown we aren’t able to experience that like we used to.
2. Online concerts vs Live concerts: in your opinion, what are the biggest pros and cons?
The biggest pros of live concert is getting to hear your fav artists sing and dance live in front of you of course but also, I feel like fans can meet other people in concert who enjoy the same artist/group as them, and become friends. Now for the cons of live concert, to be honest I don’t think there is any? Maybe waiting in line for a lot of hours if the venue is big or maybe getting hurt if the fans try to get through so they can be closer to the stage but besides that I can’t think of something else. Now for the pros for the online concert, I think that it’s a great alternative for now, since we are all in quarantine with not a lot of things to do and locked up in the house, getting to watch an online concert is very exciting and fun experience for the fans since they can’t see them live. The cons are probably that the fans can’t get closer to each other through an experience like that and the idols probably feel bad for not being able to see their fans as well.
3. Since there are no meet and greets, promotions etc.. how did you stay connected with the idols?
As far as the promotion goes, we did get to see idols perform their songs although the fans couldn’t attend, we at least got to support them and see them through social media. I stayed connected with them by watching the content they put out such as vlogs or other videos of them playing games or stuff like that. Of course, I got to listen to their new songs and watch the mv’s they put out. A lot of them are doing lives so they can talk to us which is nice. We can also stay close to them through social media and such.
4. How do you think the agencies are handling the world pandemic?
I think agencies are trying their best to keep the idols safe but also finding ways to let their artist stay connected to fans by making online concerts possible. So I think they are handling it okay.
5. What do you think, how are the artists feeling now that they cannot perform?
A lot of them have expressed through social media they feel very sad and heartbroken since they can’t visit their fans all over the world and perform for them their new music. But at the same time they are aware of the situation and that they cant do anything to fix it so they try their best to stay positive and cheer their fans as well.
6. What did you learn during the pandemic? (Doesn’t have to be K-Pop related)
To appreciate live contact so much more, I think that is something we have all learned during these times.
7. And for the end, what’s your message to the other fellow K-Pop lovers?
I hope all the kpop fans can stay patient until this pandemic is over so then we can go and see our idols live. Until then I hope everyone is doing okay and can still cheer up for the idols and enjoy the music.
—-Jasmine Avulovic