Famous k-pop artists CL and EXO took the stage at the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, sending compliments to athletes for their hard work and victories.
At the closing ceremony held on February 25, 2018, CL took the stage to present the future vision of the country through K-pop under theme of "Song of Passion." The former member of 2NE1 entered the stage at Olympic Stadium, singing her hit song "The Baddest Female," with fireworks. She later sang 2NE1's song, "I am the Best," which emphasized that everyone at the Olympics is a winner.
The charismatic k-pop female star's performance at the closing ceremony was followed by the Olympic flag handover ceremony, which PyeongChang Mayor Sim Jae-guk returned the Olympic flag to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who later gave the flag to Chen Jining, the mayor of the 2022 Winter Olympics host city, Beijing.
After Bach's speech, EXO took the stage. Under theme of "the Future Depends on Imagination," its program began with the beat of a traditional gong and an electronic drum, and Kai started his solo performance on a backdrop of drawings by artist Seonglip, mixing music and visual art in fashion. The rest of EXO members then appeared on four-wheelers and sang their hit single "Growl" with some 40 dancers, heating the atmosphere of the closing ceremony. They then sang their another hit song "Power," to deliver excitement to fans and athletes around the world.
Did you enjoy watching the closing ceremony? The famous k-pop stars' performance was good, and they drew cheers at the open-air arena.
By the way, it seems there are some people who were not satisfied with their performance at all. They insist that the performers for the closing ceremony should have been other k-pop artists, saying CL and EXO can't be said to be the most popular k-pop singers. They insist that more popular k-pop singers such as PSY and BTS should have been the the performers for the closing ceremony. What do you think?
At first, Song Seung Hwan, the chief director of the closing ceremony, contacted PSY. You know, PSY's song "Gangnam Style" was a huge hit around the world, and the chief director hoped to cast the male k-pop super star, who is well known to people all over the world. However, PSY refused his offer, saying he would feel uncomfortable performing at the closing ceremony because he had taken fierce criticism after performing at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014.
After then, after much consideration, the chief director chose CL and EXO as the performers of the closing ceremony. Winter Olympics is one of the biggest national events, and that's why the chief director and people around him chose the performers very carefully. Even though it's true the chief director is very close with Lee Soo Man, it's not the only reason why he chose EXO as the performer of the closing ceremony. Of course, I can't deny the fact that CL and EXO could get the good chance to perform in front of people all over the world relatively more easily than other k-pop singers because they belong to SM and YG, two of the biggest k-pop agencies, but there are some reasons why they were chosen as the performers for the closing ceremony.
No doubt, EXO is one of the most popular k-pop idol groups. Of course, some of you might still say that there are more popular k-pop idol groups than EXO and one of the idol groups should have been the performer of the closing ceremony, and it's true BTS is doing better than EXO in the U.S music market these days. But the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics chose EXO as the performer for its closing ceremony for some reasons.
First, it's true BTS is more popular than EXO among Korean teenagers these days, but EXO is more famous than BTS among older people because EXO has been active in the k-pop world longer than BTS. You know, the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics is a festival for everyone, not a k-pop concert for teenagers. The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics needed an idol group who is famous not only among teenagers but among older people.
Second, EXO has attended many national events in recent years, serving the country. It could be a troublesome work for k-pop singers to attend national events because they can't earn much money by attending the events. They have to make time to prepare for their performance and attend the events, which means it would be better for them to hold their concerts in foreign countries or prepare for their new albums if they wanted more money. However, EXO attended national events whenever they were invited. They've served the country for years, and they deserved the good chance to perform in front of people all over the world.
Then, why do you think the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics chose CL as another performer for its closing ceremony? There is no doubt that CL is one of the most popular female k-pop stars. But that's not all. A notable strength of CL is that she is totally different from the other female k-pop singers. Unlike most of the other female idols who usually show cute and lovely performance, she captivates audiences by showing powerful and charismatic performance. She is the one who can electrify audiences, and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics needed a female idol like her. Some of you might say other famous female singers such as BoA and Taeyeon can do the same thing, but think about it, EXO had been chosen as one of the performers for the closing ceremony, and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics needed someone who didn't belong to SM Entertainment.
I understand some k-pop fans's complaint about EXO and CL's appearance on the closing ceremony. However, only two k-pop artists could perform at the closing ceremony. Even though the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics chose the performers very carefully, it was nearly impossible for them to satisfy all the k-pop fans around the world. As I mentioned, even PSY, a k-pop singer who had achieved the greatest thing in foreign music markets, took fierce criticism after performing at the Inchen Asain Games. If CL and EXO hadn't appeared on the closing ceremony and other k-pop artists had performed at the ceremony, they would have taken some criticism too.
CL and EXO did good at the closing ceremony, and I just want to compliment the k-pop artists, who entertained people around the world.
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