There's a special kind of benchmark that musical acts have to meet in order to be considered big enough to headline in Las Vegas.
Celine Dion, Elton John, Britney Spears -- they all fit the bill.
But as the musical world has continued to change over the years, there have been some new acts to check out on the Strip that fans couldn't have seen there in years past.
One of those is Korean pop, which first made an impact when veteran musician PSY cracked the U.S. charts with "Gangnam Style" back in 2012.
But while PSY didn't surge to global status for an extended period of time, seven-member boy band BTS did a few years after its 2014 debut, eventually selling out dozens of stadium shows in the U.S. alone and gaining multiple Grammy nominations.
BTS also sold out four shows in Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium over two weekends of April 2022, raking in $35.9 million and securing the honor of earning the second-highest amount made in history (Bruce Springsteen holds the number one spot).
Now Vegas is hoping to get its hands on more Korean superstars that could generate that kind of turnout, and it's introducing a brand-new event for that very purpose.
Las Vegas' First Korean Pop Expo
A brand-new festival dedicated exclusively to Korean pop music, We Bridge Music Festival and Expo debuts at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center later this year, Billboard reported in an exclusive.
The event will be headlined by seven-member boy band Enhyphen, and will also feature performances from other up-and coming K-pop performers including Kang Daniel, fromis_9, Dreamcatcher, VIVIZ, CIX, ONEUS, and R&B-pop star BE’O.
Enhyphen made its debut in 2020, and is managed by Hybe, the same company that produced BTS.
We Bridge Expo will also host Q&A panels and "hi-touch" events, the latter of which allows fans to meet the artists.
The Financial Bounty of K-Pop
Korean pop conventions are not a new thing. KCon, which features musical performances, activities, and vendors, launched in Los Angeles in 2012 and has been a major success ever since. It now holds events in 10 U.S. states as well as Japan, South Korea, France, Mexico, Thailand, Australia, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
Many businesses are more interested in Korean musicians than ever before after the meteoric global success of BTS, which drove parent company HYBE to make 1.257 trillion won in 2021 ($1.098 billion USD).
However, with BTS' activities on pause as its members begin their mandatory military service (all able-bodied Korean men must serve for 18 months), entertainment moguls are looking for their successor to rake in the profits -- and betting big on another HYBE-owned band is a fairly good bet.
