On August 6, YG Entertainment announced that it will organize a live exchange event between artists and fans on August 8 in Seoul (Korea), to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the group Blackpink's debut.
Only 40 fans were selected to attend. But the specific time and location were not announced. YG only revealed "a location in Seoul", and detailed information will be announced separately to those selected.
Notably, YG emphasized "the event will have the participation of some Blackpink members, depending on each person's schedule". This means that it is likely that this 10-year anniversary event of the group will not guarantee to gather all 4 members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa.
This information disappointed and angered many fans because this is an important milestone for Blackpink but the event is not organized carefully.
A large Blackpink fan community account with 785,000 followers on X (Twitter) expressed: "Perhaps this event was organized hastily at the last minute because of all the protests and what happened on X before.
The announcement that only members with suitable schedules would attend showed one thing: initially they had never planned to organize any events on August 8th.
This account also posted an article calling for: "We want all 4 of them. Let's gather the 4 members together", and tagged the YG account and the private company account of the 4 members.
Previously, a wave of outrage erupted before Blackpink celebrated 10 years of operation, when YG announced some products including digital badges and a special letter for fans on August 5.
On the same day, Blackpink's collection in collaboration with MUTZ - a souvenir brand of the National Museum of Korea - was launched for sale. The collection includes souvenir products combining traditional Korean elements such as wooden combs and decorative accessories, with black - pink colors and Blackpink's characteristic symbol.
However, what many fans are waiting for is not souvenirs. They want to watch a video or live broadcast with the participation of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa to look back at 10 years, or an event to interact with fans.
On social networks, a large number of fans and international fan accounts have posted messages: "We want Blackpink, not souvenirs". Besides, there are also opinions calling on the group to release commemorative songs, video concerts or share the group's operating plans in the near future.
The disappointment is even greater when comparing Blackpink's activities with the solo activities of each member.
Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé are all actively promoting personal projects through albums, concerts and television programs, and continuously posting interview videos, performance stages and dance practice videos.
Meanwhile, Blackpink's 3rd mini album named "DEADLINE", released on February 27, in addition to the MV and behind-the-scenes video of the album cover photo, is said to have too little content for fans to continue to follow and enjoy.
Facing a wave of criticism, YG announced that it will organize an exchange event between Blackpink and fans on August 8 - the 10th anniversary of the group's debut.
However, the outrage has not subsided when many fans believe that this is just a superficial event that YG and Blackpink quickly decided to soothe the wave of outrage.
Not to mention, the event only selected 40 fans and organized in Korea, which made the group's international fans dissatisfied. They are still asking YG to have a more large-scale and meticulous preparation, to be worthy of Blackpink's 10-year milestone.
