Controversial History of Concerts in Korea: Celebrity Privileges for Bruno Mars, 2-Hour Delay for Michael Bolton
Foreign artists’ concerts in Korea are marred by controversies: Celebrities granted special treatment, delays, and more.
♦︎ Bruno Mars’ Concert in Korea: Controversy over Celebrity Privileges and Seating
Bruno Mars’ two-day concert in Korea, held on June 17th and 18th, received high praise. There were no flaws in his performance.
Ticket sales were highly competitive, to the extent that numerous cases of ticket scalping were uncovered last month. The fact that celebrities occupied the coveted front row of the ground seats sparked controversy.
The organizer also sold obstructed view seats, but it was revealed by a spectator that some seats offered no view of the stage or screens.
In the end, the organizer clarified that there were seats either reserved for celebrities who were invited by the artist themselves, or were tickets purchased by the celebrities’ agencies. They emphasized that they did not extend separate invitations to celebrities.
♦︎ Michael Bolton’s Concert in Korea: 2-Hour Delay
Michael Bolton held concerts in Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome for two days on January 14th and 15th. However, problems arose during the first day of the concert. The production company that organized the concert, announced that the concert would start at 6 PM KST. However, Michael Bolton did not appear until 8 PM KST.
The organizer announced the participation of Korean singers as guest performers during the concert. It is common to see domestic singers participating as guests on the opening stage of foreign star’s concerts in Korea. However, the problem was that the guest performances lasted for nearly 100 minutes.
Although the tickets clearly stated that the performance would start at 6 PM, the main concert began at 8 PM, causing anger among the fans. Furthermore, Michael Bolton’s own performance lasted for only about an hour.
♦︎ Ariana Grande’s Concert in Korea: Lackluster Stage
Ariana Grande held her first concert in Korea in 2017, but it was far from satisfactory. At the time, Ariana Grande arrived in Korea just three hours before the concert, without any rehearsals, causing controversy over the lack of preparation.
The concert ended up lacking smooth coordination in terms of stage setup, camera angles, and sound. Despite having a spacious stage, Ariana Grande confined her performance to a limited area. She could have utilized the stage more effectively and delivered a better performance, but her somewhat passive attitude was evident. The concert ended relatively early, lasting only about an hour and a half.
While she arrived in Japan two days prior to her concert there, in Korea, she arrived just three hours before the concert and reportedly left the country at midnight on the same day, receiving criticism.
♦︎ Britney Spears’ Concert in Korea: Lip Syncing Controversy
Britney Spears also held her first concert in Korea at the Gocheok Sky Dome in 2017. She showcased her passionate stage presence and performances reminiscent of her heyday.
However, various issues arose. Although the Gocheok Dome had a capacity of 30,000, only about 17,000 fans attended the concert. Additionally, there was an incident where some seats were overlapped, causing a delay of approximately 20 minutes.
Britney Spears performed several hit song medleys, but it was perceived as lip-syncing, leaving fans disappointed.
Following the incident, Britney Spears expressed her frustration in an interview, “It’s really funny. Many people think I didn’t sing live because I was dancing so energetically. This really makes me angry. I really sang and danced with all my might.”
Source: daum
