Appeal and Fanbase
According to some opinions, the music itself is not the decisive factor in the popularity of K-pop. A publication in New York Magazine calls K-pop "catchy but derivative" and states that Girls' Generation fans admit to liking the group for its members' looks and their personality, radiating what the magazine calls "humility" and friendliness to each and one of the fans. A fan stated to the magazine that when Girls' Generation performs on stage, you get the illusion of the girls sometimes looking right at you and interacting with you personally.
Many K-pop fans travel overseas to get the chance to see Korean bands. Tours from Japan and China bring many fans to see K-pop concerts. A K-pop group tour from Japan had more than 7000 fans fly to Seoul to meet the boyband JYJ. During the Korean boy band JYJ's concert in Barcelona, fans from many parts of the world camped overnight to gain entrance.
K-pop fans purchase bags of Fan rice as gifts to their favourite bands in order to show their love and support. According to Time Magazine, for BIGBANG's first show in months, 12.7 tons of rice were donated from 50 fan clubs around the world and stacks of rice bags were lined up like shrines to the "K-pop idols". There are businesses dedicated to making sure the rice gets to the idols. Roh Seung-gu got into this industry when fans just bought bouquet towers for the bands. Now he has 24 offices around the country helping source and ship rice from South Korean farmers to various venues.
Another way for a fan to show devotion is sending lunch to the stars, and there are special lunch providers in South Korea for this purpose. The trend started when fans picked up complaints that the stars do not eat properly due to their busy schedule. K-Pop was also mentioned during a U.S. State Department briefing on October 3, 2012, when a reporter asked spokeswoman Victoria Nuland if she had heard about Gangnam Style, to which Nuland replied: "No, but I bet you my daughter does. She loves Korean pop."
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Famous quotes containing the word appeal:
“I appeal now to the convictions of the communicants, and ask such persons whether they have not been occasionally conscious of a painful confusion of thought between the worship due to God and the commemoration due to Christ.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)