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Blackpink stans, the Blinks, seize Twitter as K-pop idols come to America
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Blackpink stans, the Blinks, seize Twitter as K-pop idols come to America

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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube

The Blinks are freaking out.

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).

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:

Blinks in the U.S. are very emotional about this announcement:

Some stans have already scoped out the venues and their respective capacities:

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:

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.”

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.

Fans praised their dancing skills and vocals:

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.

Let’s get those fans working on booking more tour dates.

H/T Billboard

Trixie Reyna

Trixie Reyna

Trixie Reyna-Benedicto is a lifestyle editor and writer based in the Philippines. Previously, she helmed Cosmopolitan Philippines’ website, Cosmo.ph, as its founding editor. She later served as editor-in-chief of lifestyle and entertainment portals for Manila-based media company TV5. Her work has appeared in several print and online publications in her country, and she contributes to Speed Magazine, DG Traveler, and Connected Women, among others. Visit her website, trixiereyna.com.

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