The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games’ opening ceremony highlighted peace and traditional Korean arts but the closing ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 25, will heavily emphasize South Korea’s modernity and do so through performances from some of K-pop’s biggest stars: EXO and CL. The Olympic closing ceremony committee picked well by choosing EXO and CL as representatives to stand in for the K-pop behemoth: Active in several countries and releasing albums in three languages (Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese), EXO is one of the most popular and best-selling boy bands in Asia today, with one of the largest fanbases and numerous accolades to their name. Musically, the pairing epitomize K-pop’s very essence, blending genres and performance styles: CL has dominated as “The Baddest Female” with her hip-pop raps and dynamic performances since 2009. On the business side of things, CL and EXO each hail from one of South Korea’s “Big 3” labels, SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment respectively, and serve as examples of what the country has been able to achieve with its creative industries over the past few decades. Known as two of the most powerful entertainment entities in Korea nowadays, YG and SM each have long histories in crafting K-pop.

Source: Forbes February 23, 2018 05:48 UTC