The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has not stopped MTV from hosting the annual Video Music Awards. However, in order to promote social distancing, the event will be held in various locations around New York City.
BTS has been announced as one of the show’s performers alongside Doja Cat and J Balvin. The K-pop group will also be performing remotely from South Korea. While fans will not be able to see BTS brush shoulders with other stars, the fandom seems to be happy about the idea of BTS filming their performance in their home country. There is a surprising reason for this, so read on below to find out what it is.
BTS will be performing their new English-language single ‘Dynamite’
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In July, BTS announced they will be releasing a single called “Dynamite” on August 21. Unlike their previous singles, this one will be in English.
“We are preparing an album for the second half of this year, but decided to first release a single because we wanted to reach our fans as soon as possible,” BTS said in a live stream, according to Billboard. “Due to COVID-19, people around the world have been going through tough times and we wanted to share some positive energy with our fans.”
Shortly afterwards, Big Hit Entertainment revealed BTS will be performing “Dynamite” at the MTV VMAs via a calendar on Twitter detailing the song’s promotion schedule. Korean news outlets have also reported that, although BTS will promote their songs in America, they will do their performances remotely.
The surprising reason fans are glad BTS will perform remotely at the VMAs
It does not seem like many fans are upset that BTS will perform their song remotely, however. In fact, they seem to be glad. This is because BTS fans have long complained about the camerawork at American award shows. K-pop fans are used to seeing camerawork on Korean TV channels, which focuses a lot more on showcasing choreography. Meanwhile, American shows often interrupt performances to show audience members.
“In addition to this being the safest option for everyone involved, we also get good camerawork and no audience shots,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
Meanwhile, another person said, “Now they can stay safe and still show America how BTS perform when they have a stage of their own production and amazing camera work.”
BTS fans have also called out the VMAs for alleged xenophobia
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While it seems to be a positive thing for BTS to showcase their new song in front of a huge audience, some fans are not too happy at the VMAs.
Last year, K-pop fans called out the VMAs for creating a K-pop category instead of simply nominating BTS in the bigger categories like “Artist of the Year” or “Video of the Year.”
This year, fans continue to be mad at the VMAs for keeping their K-pop category and, once again, not nominating BTS in big categories despite the fact that they can outsell popular artists like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber.
Additionally, fans also believe BTS should have been nominated for “Best Quarantine Performance” for their virtual concert, “Bang Bang Con The Live,” which was watched by over 700,000 people in 107 regions.
“The continuous snubbing from BTS off main categories like video/SOTY/AOTY in these western shows IS xenophobia,” one Twitter user said. “They pull the same (if not more) numbers and have the same impact in the industry as all those other artists and yet aren’t taken srsly because they’re Korean.”
Another fan tweeted, “’Bang Bang Con’ wasn’t nominated for the best quarantine performance we had 750k live viewers and broke a Guinness world record….. this is literally xenophobia.”
However, some fans have pointed out that, since “Bang Bang Con The Live” was a paid performance, it might have been ineligible for the “Best Quarantine Performance” category. In any case, fans still seem to be in agreement that BTS will continue to struggle to get fair treatment in the American music industry.
