Big Hit’s statements for Seoul Concerts
On the 28th of February, Big Hit Entertainment announced that Seoul's concerts for the “BTS MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR,” scheduled on April 11, 12, 18, and 29 at Olympic Stadium, had been canceled due to the global COVID-19 outbreak.
In the official Weverse post, they apologized to all the fans who were looking forward to the concerts, stating that they had to “take into consideration the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of guests as well as our artists.”
In order to “cooperate with the government’s measures on restricting public events”, they decided to be careful and avoid any possible risks due to the impossibility to “predict the scale of the outbreak” of the virus.
Reported data stated that by March 11 there were 7,700 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in South Korea, especially in the Daegu area. The number of daily infected people have been steadily dropping since then, but the danger isn’t over yet.
World TOUR & “Reinforcement”
European concert tickets presale has been delayed to April 29. Live Nation UK tweeted on March 17 that “the schedule may change depending on the situation.”
As for what actions will be taken for the American Tour, starting on April 25, the company has decided to postpone these tour stops. As of right now, nothing is canceled, but no updated dates are confirmed. It is highly likely that this leg of the tour will not be resumed until the outbreak has ebbed quite a bit, since as of March 17, 48 states have declared a state of emergency over COVID-19.
Thankfully, the concert tickets already bought for the North American leg of the tour will all be honored in the future, with the new tour dates. ARMY with purchased tickets are recommended to keep a close eye on BigHit's upcoming announcements.
In terms of financial income, this was a serious blow for the South Korean entertainment industry, including Big Hit’s small microcosm, as the agency has said that “tickets already reserved (for South Korean concerts) [would] be refunded in full.”
South Korean ARMYs had the great idea to donate their ticket refunds to Korean organizations to help deal with the COVID-19 emergency, donating under BTS’ and ARMY’s name. They followed the great example set by Yoongi, who donated 100 million won ($83,000) for the “Hope Bridge” organization.
BTS AND ARMY vs COVID-19
As for BTS and ARMY, the news of the possible cancellation of the tour is terrible, even if we understand the reasons behind it. Tours are one of the main events ARMY cherish, as it gives us a chance to see the members, to have fun with them, and to strengthen our bond. It's a bit of a blow for us.
That being said, it doesn’t mean we are not reasonable. We know what it takes to cancel, or to even just postpone it. It’s a hard move money-wise, since it includes many external organizations. Emotionally, though, that’s a different story, both for ARMY and for BTS.
In his emotional VLive from March 10, Namjoon talked about the struggle the members are facing due to the possibility of not being able to perform worldwide this year.
“I had no energy throughout promos. We had a comeback, but there was no audience. Same for the concert too. It's really hard,” are Namjoon’s words. “We had so many things we prepared. We prepared for such a long time. We practiced so much. We wanted to show this in front of you. I would be at home and be so angry. Because we had so many things we wanted to show you but it was so unfair. We can't always talk about the good things. But we kept saying at least we can be on tv, borrow the power of media.”
BTS has never shied away from admitting they missed us in the periods of time they didn’t have concerts or shows, going online on Twitter or Weverse to chat with ARMYs, so this outcome of the virus is hard on both parts. They work hard for every comeback, and ARMY works hard to show their love and give them the energy they need during the tiring weeks of a busy schedule, but when the possibility gets taken away from us it becomes a mental straining situation.
“The current situation is not so good. Not everything is in our control,” Namjoon added. ”I wasn't sure I wanted to do this VLive. It was a huge burden. I really didn't want to do it this time but we didn't have opportunities to talk to ARMYs directly.”
Never lose hope!
Unfortunately, there is not much we can do about this situation.
ARMY will keep showing our support to BTS and respect the choices Big Hit takes for the health and safety of both BTS members and ARMY. BTS and ARMY keep each other going.
We can keep cheering them on virtually as we do daily, because even if we can’t be there with them physically in every moment, we can still use social media to give them full support and keep their spirits up. The love we share won’t crumble.
It seems it’s better being sad for a while than to risk everyone’s health. And what is better than turning our disappointment into hope for the future?
ARMY will continue to love BTS and be grateful to Big Hit for taking care of all of us. Hopefully, this situation will end soon, and things will be okay again.
DISCLAIMER: We do not own any audio & visual content in this video except for the editing. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS. No copyright infringement intended.
Written By: Antonella
Edit By: Aury
Comentários