Almost three years after its K-pop debut in August 2016, wildly popular girl group Blackpink is making back-to-back U.S. TV debuts: first on late-night TV via The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday night, followed by daytime TV on Good Morning America Tuesday.
The TV appearances coincide with the social media announcement of the dates for the North American leg of their “2019 In Your Area” world tour, posted on the girl band’s official Instagram and that of their label, YG Entertainment—the Korean entertainment company that’s also behind other big K-pop names like 2NE1 and Big Bang (with whom they did a collaboration back in 2016).
#BLACKPINK WORLD TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA!
— YG FAMILY (@ygent_official) February 12, 2019
Blackpink is coming to your AREA
TOUR INFO @ https://t.co/3OTd31Fsf6#블랙핑크 #BLACKPINKinNORTHAMERICA #BLACKPINK2019WORLDTOURwithKIA #INYOURAREA #POWERHOUSELIVE #POWERHOUSE #KIA #GOLDENVOICE #YG pic.twitter.com/SZl3uz4Bc4
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtxBBssnzWi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The tour kicks off in Los Angeles on April 17, “in between the two weekends of Coachella, where they’ll also be performing,” Billboard reports. “They will become the first K-pop idol group to appear during both weekends of Coachella 2019,” the website notes in a separate report.
According to Billboard, the band will be performing in arenas and plans to release a new EP next month. The quartet’s first U.S. performance was at Universal Music’s annual Grammy Artist Showcase last week.
Blackpink’s members are Jisoo, Rosé, Lisa, and Jennie (who also made her solo debut last November and is the first Korean female soloist to hit iTunes top 10 in the U.S.). Their songs include “Whistle,” “Boombayah,” and “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du.” (The video for the latter, released in June 2018, became the most watched music video by a Korean group on YouTube, now with over 660 million views as of this writing.) Besides their singles, you might also be familiar with their collab with Dua Lipa, “Kiss and Make Up.”
Tickets to all U.S. tour dates are rumored to go live on Feb. 20, and fans, who call themselves Blinks, are getting ready to shell out to see their K-pop idols.
“Shut up and take my money” is pretty much what every Blink is saying now:
More on: https://t.co/gI9e0aa1lF pic.twitter.com/E8cju9Qw4u
— BLACKPINK 💭 COMEBACK 블랙핑크 – HOW YOU LIKE THAT (@YG_BLACKPINK) February 12, 2019
Can we buy them now???
— fake happy (@goldensol_) February 12, 2019
A GIRL IS SELLING HER LIVER FOR THESE TICKETS
— CEASE FIRE 🍉🔻 (@saddisttic) February 12, 2019
Blinks in the U.S. are very emotional about this announcement:
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
— dj 🍂 (@luvskitconnor) February 12, 2019
OMG ATLANTA!!!! I’m literally crying 😭😭😭😭😭
— TimidPeep (@blink_peeps) February 12, 2019
Some stans have already scoped out the venues and their respective capacities:
https://twitter.com/jennievantes/status/1095156792907173888
https://twitter.com/jennievantes/status/1095161539550736386
So far, only five dates have been announced in the U.S. (L.A., Chicago, Newark, Atlanta, and Fort Worth) and one in Canada (Ontario). Blinks have yet to see whether the quartet will hear the clamor for more dates and venues. There seems to be a lot of fans begging for a South America tour leg, too:
https://twitter.com/yeonjunkywoo_/status/1095155828926099463
BLACKPINK IN LATIN AMERICA? I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT
— cami (@trilogykv) February 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/bpchaelvly/status/1095156226336452609
https://twitter.com/swftjennie/status/1095157521646583808
YG Entertainment should consider the calls for more tour stops. Especially after Blackpink’s late-night television performance of their hit single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” naturally earned them more new fans, including @TheLateShow Twitter, which “is now a Blackpink stan account.”
This is now a BLACKPINK stan account. https://t.co/At6tm8OX8K
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) February 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/nceety/status/1095205200376356865
The Blinks blew up Twitter, expressing how “proud” they are to watch their favorite Korean female group on American television. “It’s their first time performing in U.S. and they did so great,” gushed @chichuchikin.
https://twitter.com/chichuchikin/status/1095198120198197248
https://twitter.com/jennievantes/status/1095199271740162049
https://twitter.com/JenLis23/status/1095197502846885889
This is the group I stan and I couldn’t be more proud 💕#BLACKPINKonLSSC https://t.co/hruzUjJqWE
— 젠득의 젠덕 toni👑 (@black2dpink824) February 12, 2019
they did great omg so proud of them 😭#BLACKPINKonLSSC pic.twitter.com/G1jp4RqvpH
— shu 🕷 (@intoblackpivk) February 12, 2019
Fans praised their dancing skills and vocals:
https://twitter.com/jennievantes/status/1095197535591940096
THEY SOUND SO GOOD THEY’RE DOING SO WELL #BLACKPINKonLSSC
— 젠득의 젠덕 toni👑 (@black2dpink824) February 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/ultchaelis/status/1095199498681311232
https://twitter.com/lovechaees/status/1095204918573465600
https://twitter.com/rubyjanemanoban/status/1095199913158176770
The Blinks are an organized fandom that can make hashtags trend in the U.S. and worldwide—like last night’s #BlackPinkonLSSC. They’re poised to make #BlackPinkonGMA trend any minute now.
https://twitter.com/jennievantes/status/1095121925364424705
https://twitter.com/exobp_updates/status/1095138609399771136
Trending #1 worldwide!!! BLINKnation scream!!! 🖤💖#BLACKPINKonLSSC @ygofficialblink pic.twitter.com/pOk2mEgRXE
— lilogurl ♕ ♕ ♕ ♕ (@lilogurl88) February 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/OnlineBLACKPINK/status/1095203802452557824
Let’s get those fans working on booking more tour dates.
H/T Billboard
