Blackpink, Westlife held concerts, Maroon 5, Charlie Puth, Katy Perry came to perform, marking the year many international artists landed in Vietnam.
Blackpink’s two-night concert at the end of July attracted more than 60,000 spectators, making it the biggest music event of the year. At the meeting to vote for the year’s most outstanding cultural events, a representative of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that they had considered putting Blackpink’s successful concert on the list.
In addition to Blackpink's concert, many K-pop artists came to Vietnam to perform. In March, the Super Junior Concert attracted more than 15,000 spectators at the Military Zone 7 Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City. Fancon (an event combining a fan meeting and a concert of the Super Junior subgroup at Phu Tho Stadium (Ho Chi Minh City) in September had 5,000 attendees. BamBam's (GOT7 member) concert in Ho Chi Minh City had 3,500 spectators.
Big music festivals featuring many Kpop artists such as Wow-K Music Festival (HCMC, October), Seen Festival (Hoi An, June), Hozo (December, HCMC), attracted tens of thousands of people.
Not only Korean stars, many US-UK artists also unexpectedly came to Vietnam last year. Westlife - a famous boy band in the 2000s - brought The Wild Dreams Tour - to Ho Chi Minh City at the end of November. Initially, the organizers planned to open it for one night, then decided to add another show due to high audience demand. Each night, the group had about 15,000 fans. Kenny G brought the audience back to their youth with a concert with 4,000 people in Hanoi , November.
Charlie Puth and Maroon 5 also performed at the 8Wonder music festival series, in Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. Katy Perry sang for the first time in Hanoi at the Vinfuture awards ceremony, on December 20.
Artists contribute to promoting tourism, promoting Vietnamese culture and cuisine. According to a report by the Hanoi Department of Tourism, total revenue from tourists is estimated at 630 billion VND in two nights of Blackpink's performances. Images of Vietnamese bread, pho, bun cha, and conical hats were spread by many artists, creating a positive effect.
According to musician Huy Tuan, the fact that artists choose Vietnam as a destination is something that people in the profession like him have been waiting for a long time: "People do not have many opportunities to go abroad to enjoy international tours, artists choosing to perform in big cities in our country will help music lovers save on travel and accommodation costs, and can enjoy high-class shows right at home". Regarding the reason for becoming a new destination for international shows, musician Huy Tuan said that producers are starting to pay attention to Vietnam because of its young population structure, high demand for music enjoyment and willingness to spend money on idols.
However, there are still many problems in organizing programs with international artists in Vietnam, related to technology and organization because domestic equipment is limited, most of which must be imported or rented. 80% of the equipment used to organize Blackpink shows is imported from Korea and Thailand.
Organizing the Hozo music festival in December, Huy Tuan said he encountered difficulties because each international artist had different needs for accommodation, travel, and technical requirements. He had to import a lot of equipment from Thailand or rent it from the US. Some food and drinks, the organizers had to buy from Singapore.
When arriving in Vietnam in November, Kenny G's team also provided a list nearly 60 pages long, including details related to logistics.
Some shows lost points due to the messy and unorganized organization. Typically, the organizers of the Westlife show in Ho Chi Minh City allowed advertisements for virtual currency exchanges and gambling to appear at the live show venue. The organizers apologized for setting up tents that obscured the audience’s view. Some viewers said the seats were dirty and dilapidated. In addition, many people criticized the stage for being small, and the projection screen was not large enough for people sitting far away to see the singers clearly.
Concert ticket prices in Vietnam are still quite high compared to many countries in the region. In July, when Blackpink held a concert in Hanoi, the highest ticket price was nearly 10 million VND, higher than most countries in the region.
According to Kbizoom , earlier this year, Thai fans protested the increase in ticket prices for K-pop concerts to an average of 5,270 baht ($165), 17.9% higher than the pre-pandemic price of 4,470 baht ($140). The country's consumer association then filed a complaint with the authorities, hoping to adjust ticket prices.
The situation of holding tickets and ticket scalpers before each show with international artists also makes it difficult for music lovers, forcing them to buy tickets at many times higher prices.
At the end of the year, many fans regretted that the K-pop music show, previously announced to take place on December 23 and 24 at My Dinh Stadium (Hanoi), was canceled at the last minute. The artists participating in the program all announced the reason for their withdrawal because "the organizers did not fulfill their commitments". Some Korean news sites such as allkpop and kbizoom later also reported on the incident. Media expert Hong Quang Minh said that a big show being suddenly canceled could affect future negotiations with artists, making them more cautious when signing contracts with Vietnamese organizers.
Vnexpress.net
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