Latest news with #BlackPink
New Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Jennie's 'Like Jennie' tops 2025 Female Artiste Streams, beating Lady Gaga
SEOUL: BlackPink's Jennie has truly made a mark with her solo debut, establishing it as one of the most successful launches by a K-Pop/Korean artiste. She's consistently breaking and expanding records across major music platforms. According to Allkpop today, her massive hit, 'Like Jennie', has been crowned the 'Most Streamed 2025 song by a Female Artist worldwide'. This achievement, based on streaming and audio figures from platforms like Spotify and YouTube Music, saw her surpass Lady Gaga's 'Abracadabra'. Furthermore, her album 'Ruby' has received widespread acclaim, being named the 'Best Album by a K-Pop Artist during the first half of 2025' by various specialist media outlets and prominent magazines, including Billboard, Rolling Stone, Complex, and NME. Adding to her accolades, Pitchfork, a highly respected music website, has declared Jennie's 'Ruby' the 'Best Album by a K-pop Soloist of all time'.
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: G-Dragon concert chaos: RM2.87mil scalping ring busted in Taiwan!
TAIPEI: Taiwanese authorities have dismantled a significant ticket scalping operation that illegally resold tickets for G-Dragon's recent concerts in Taipei, netting the ring an estimated NT$20 million (RM2.87 million) in illicit profits. According to reports from China Times and Liberty Times yesterday, Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau apprehended four suspects, including a man identified as Liu, for their involvement in illegally reselling tickets to G-Dragon's world tour, which took place at the Taipei Arena from July 11 to 13. A raid on the group's premises on July 15 uncovered substantial evidence: over 1,500 ticket serial codes, more than 1,000 physical tickets for the G-Dragon concerts, 500 BlackPink tickets for an upcoming October show in Kaohsiung, and NT$164,000 (RM23,557) in cash. Liu reportedly collaborated with a Hong Kong-based ticketing engineer who utilised hacking tools and ID-generating software to purchase large quantities of tickets. Liu allegedly paid a service fee of NT$2,000–3,000 (RM287–430) per ticket, which were then resold at grossly inflated prices. Tickets originally priced at NT$800 (RM115) were resold for as much as NT$9,800 (RM1,407). Even more shockingly, top-tier tickets, initially costing NT$8,980 (RM1,290), were flipped for an astonishing NT$55,000 (RM7,900). The scalpers operated from a hotel located near the venue, where they created fake IDs and hired staff to help buyers circumvent ID checks at the concert. Around 300 scalped tickets were reportedly used on July 11, leading to widespread outrage among fans and numerous complaints to the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs. Consequently, some buyers were denied entry and are now seeking refunds. This incident has reignited criticism of Taiwan's real-name ticketing system. A similar scandal occurred in March 2023 during BlackPink's tour, where tickets originally priced at NT$8,800 (RM1,264) were scalped for an exorbitant NT$400,000 (RM57,455). In response to such persistent abuses, Taiwan revised its Cultural and Creative Industries Development Act in 2023. Under the updated legislation, scalpers now face significant fines of up to 50 times the resold ticket price.
New Straits Times
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Director defends BlackPink's Jisoo's sniper role in 'Omniscient Reader'
SEOUL: All eyes are on Omniscient Reader ahead of its July 23 release in South Korea, but it's BlackPink's Jisoo who finds herself at the heart of a controversy regarding her character's transformation. Koreaboo reported yesterday that fans of the film, which is based on a popular novel of the same name, are upset about changes made to Jisoo's character, Lee Ji-hye. In the novel, Ji-hye is a sword-wielding warrior guided by a powerful sponsor — Admiral Yi Sun-sin. However, in the film, she has been reimagined as a sniper, with her sponsor storyline omitted entirely. Director Kim Byung-woo addressed the backlash, saying the omission was due to time constraints. "Her sponsorship narrative simply hasn't come into play yet; we thought the timing for that part of the story just hasn't arrived within this film," he told Korea JoongAng Daily. "Some fans might worry that we've changed Ji-hye's sponsorship, but I want to clarify that we haven't changed anything." Kim explained that the film only covers the first 10 per cent of the novel and emphasised the importance of focus. "We felt it was much more efficient to only introduce the elements relevant to the events happening in the film." The core theme, he said, is "solidarity" — as protagonist Kim Dok-ja finds strength in new allies when the world turns into a novel he once read. Kim hinted that Ji-hye's full backstory could surface later. "I did think about how I would approach it if I got the chance to make a sequel," he said. Based on the hit web novel by Sing N Song, the film also stars Lee Min-ho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Chae Soo-bin, and Shin Seung-ho.
New Straits Times
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: BlackPink first K-pop group to top Spotify's global weekly chart twice
SEOUL: BlackPink continues to dominate the global music scene, proving they're not just K-Pop royalty but a worldwide pop powerhouse. Their latest single, 'Jump', has soared to No.1 on Spotify's Global Weekly Top Songs chart, making them the first K-Pop group to top the chart twice, according to The Korea Herald. Following their 2022 hit 'Shut Down', 'Jump' solidifies BlackPink's position as the K-Pop act with both the first and most No.1 entries on the platform's global chart. Released earlier this month, the track garnered over 44.7 million streams in just one week — the biggest debut of any song released in 2025 so far — and maintained the No.1 spot on Spotify's global daily chart for six straight days, as reported by YG Entertainment. The group's success extends beyond streaming. 'Jump' debuted at No.18 on the UK Official Singles Chart, marking their highest placement yet and their ninth appearance on the chart overall. Meanwhile, the song's music video, which premiered on July 11, became the most-viewed video on YouTube within 24 hours and has held the No.1 spot on YouTube's Global Daily Top Music Videos chart for an entire week. Currently, BlackPink is thrilling fans worldwide with their BlackPink World Tour, which spans 16 cities and 31 shows, with stops in Bangkok, Jakarta, Bulacan, and Singapore.
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
How Jennie's Fashion Choice Made Vibram FiveFingers the Must-Have Shoe of 2025
Okay, let's be real here. If your college roommate showed up wearing shoes that looked like they were designed by someone who had never seen actual human feet before, you'd probably stage an intervention. But when BlackPink's Jennie rocks up to Incheon Airport wearing what can only be described as "athletic socks that went to engineering school," suddenly everyone's like "OMG, where can I get these?" This is the kind of power that makes you wonder if celebrities could convince us that wearing traffic cones as hats is the next big thing. Jennie literally made thousands of people look at shoes that separate each toe - EACH TOE - and think, "Yes, this is what my feet have been waiting for their entire existence." The funniest part? These aren't even new shoes. Vibram FiveFingers have been around since 2006, apparently just waiting for the right moment to traumatize the fashion world. For almost two decades, they've been sitting in sports stores, making hikers and marathon runners look like they're cosplaying as human-duck hybrids. But one airport appearance later, and suddenly they're the hottest thing since sliced bread. It's like that one friend who's been trying to make "fetch" happen for years, and then suddenly it actually happens because the popular kid said it once. Except instead of fetch, it's convincing people that their toes need individual apartments. The Great Toe Liberation Movement of 2025 The speed at which these shoes sold out is honestly terrifying. We're talking about footwear that looks like it was designed by someone who took the phrase "think outside the box" way too literally. Within days, every major retailer in Korea was basically like "Sorry, we're fresh out of foot-gloves." What's hilarious is watching the mental gymnastics people are doing to justify wanting these shoes. "They're actually really good for your posture," they say, as if they weren't perfectly happy with their posture last week. "It's about natural movement," they insist, while probably spending 12 hours a day sitting in front of a computer. The resale market going absolutely bonkers just adds another layer of absurdity. People are paying ₹41,000 for shoes that originally cost ₹12,200, which means someone looked at footwear that resembles surgical gloves and thought, "You know what? This is worth three times the original price because a K-pop star wore them once." It's the same energy as paying premium prices for "vintage" items that were probably just sitting in someone's closet being ignored until they became "retro." Except this time, the vintage item is designed to make your feet look like they belong in a medical textbook. The whole situation is peak 2025 behavior: taking something that was perfectly functional in its original context and turning it into a fashion statement that makes zero sense but somehow works because the right person wore it at the right time.
