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If you’ve ever attended a K-pop concert, holding an artist’s official “light stick” is a crucial aspect of the viewing experience. At the Paris 2024 Olympics Games, Team Korea will embrace this special aspect of K-pop super fandom with its own light sticks, an official cheer song, and more in partnership with industry leader HYBE.
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Usually a handheld device with a plastic tubing and a glowing top, light sticks aren’t one-time-use glowsticks but are personalized for each act with specific colors, markers, and designs that become a way for fans and artists to enjoy the live experience together. BTS has an “ARMY BOMB” light stick with a black stand and clear globe atop that can represent said “bomb” and glow a spectrum of colors in rhythm to the group’s music thanks to Bluetooth technology. An artist revealing an official light stick is considered an important career step and signals upcoming concerts.
While HYBE just unveiled the light stick for one of its newest boy bands, BOYNEXTDOOR, less than six months ago, the company’s business unit, HYBE IPX, has been simultaneously in conversation with the Olympic Games to bring its technology to inspire similar fandom to Paris. The company will provide specially designed “Team Korea Light Sticks” to support South Korea’s national team competing in the games. Designed with inspiration from the Olympic torch and stadium, the light sticks utilize the same tech and expertise at HYBE artists’ concerts to change colors and glow in sync with chants.
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“Centralized control is the most outstanding technology that differentiates us from others,” explains Seung Suk Rhee, President of HYBE IPX, in an exclusive interview with Billboard. “Simply put, we can easily control light sticks dispersed in a large space from a centralized console box. We can make variations according to the occasion, starting from K-pop concerts to theme park rides.”
The newly unveiled light stick for Team Korea coordinates with this year’s official cheer anthem, “Fighting,” by SEVENTEEN’s BSS and Lee Young-Ji, which comes with its own accompanying challenge.
“It’s going to be incredibly moving to see the large crowd coming together with one spirit, singing our song in unison to cheer for the athletes,” BSS tells Billboard in a statement. “We’re very proud and honored that ‘Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, could contribute to the excitement for Team Korea athletes at such a historic sports festival.This is all thanks to [our fans] CARATs, who have shown so much love for the song since last year, and we’re once again filled with gratitude for our fans. Through the song’s energetic beat and fun lyrics boosting the passion and enthusiasm for cheering, we hope to pass on BSS’ positivity and energy to Team Korea athletes. We’re rooting for them all the way to enjoy their moment and achieve their goals with all our hearts.”
Speaking more about how the K-pop light stick made its way to the Olympics and where it can go next, read on for more with HYBE IPX President Seung Suk Rhee.
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When did the opportunity to create light sticks for Team Korea come about?
Starting early summer last year, with the Olympic Games Paris 2024 generating significant global momentum, we explored ways to integrate this event into HYBE. We decided that introducing light sticks would be ideal, as they represent the concept of “cheer” and “support” which is equally crucial for both music fans and sports enthusiasts. We approached the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee with this idea and found a mutual understanding to lead the cheering culture, setting sail on the light stick project.
The most crucial factor was the design. We couldn’t just create any light stick but had to come up with a design that symbolizes our country as the national flag, Taegeukgi, does. To maintain the unique shape of a light stick while making it instantly recognizable as a national flag, we incorporated motifs of a torch and a stadium into the final design.
The design is centered on a simple white aesthetic with a shape that echoes a torch or a flame. The light rays, which change colors or flash with each button press, are inspired by the Olympic symbols — including the five circles of blue, red, yellow, green, and black. Since black cannot be produced with light, we replaced it with white, the background color of the Olympic flag, and added a touch of gold, inspired by the logo of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Considering a design that reflects the identity of the Olympics, we also ensured that it blends in with Team Korea’s official uniforms.
What should fans and viewers look out for when the light sticks are televised Opening Ceremony?
Personally, what makes it even more exciting, is that it will be the first time that HYBE’s light stick will be showcased in front of a worldwide audience of each and every nationality. Since Team Korea athletes will make an entrance to the Opening Ceremony holding Team Korea Official Digital Flag, we hope to contribute to spreading out the Olympic spirit, even if it is in the slightest way possible.
The light stick carried by Team Korea athletes features the Korean flag attached to the Team Korea Official Light Stick, standard version provided to the Korean audience. Firstly, we wanted to strengthen the connection between the athletes and their fans. Secondly, we aimed for it to represent the Taegeukgi in a new form rather than just being a light stick. That’s why we also named it the Team Korea Official Digital Flag.
What was the most challenging part of creating this opportunity?
All members part of my team have been working on this project with great gravity. Of course we’ve experienced pressure coming from the magnitude of the event, even with concerts hosted by HYBE artists in arenas. However, this is the first time that we will be putting out our light sticks in front of the world to see. Even more so, this will be the first time that Team Korea athletes will be holding a light stick instead of an ordinary national flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. We hope that our light sticks can contribute to igniting the Olympic spirit amongst Team Korea.
How did discussions to bring SEVENTEEN’s BSS and their song “Fighting” as the official cheer song for Team Korea come together?
BSS’ “Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, emits the most fitting message and the mood for a festive event, especially when the athletes need all the support that they can get. We wanted to keep the excitement going throughout the Olympic Games Paris 2024 for Team Korea, and make it a song that the fans will remember for years to come. We will be playing “Fighting” as one of the cheering anthems at Korea House in Paris, where the cheering event for Team Korea will take place.
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What does an opportunity like this say about K-pop and K-pop fandom?
At HYBE, we don’t see K-pop fans and sports fans as different. We believe that fandoms, whether they’re for sports, games, movies, anime, or theme parks, share a common core “passion.” While they may look different on the outside, they are all driven by the same heartfelt desire to cheer for and support something or someone they love. Whether sports fans wear jerseys and chant slogans, or K-pop fans wave light sticks, they are sending the same message: “I support you.” From this perspective, we realized that we could create a new form of cheering culture by introducing HYBE’s light stick to the sports world. We believe that fans are constantly evolving by actively participating and sending their energy to artists and athletes in various ways.
HYBE IPX first extended this tech beyond music with the Korean esports team T1 for the League of Legends Champions tournament this summer. How did this idea come to be?
It’s been long since we have been preparing for an outbound project that could showcase our light stick technology to a wider audience, even beyond the music industry. With this in mind, we’ve been discussing new opportunities with partners in various fields. We’re currently discussing various collaborations for a long-term partnership, the first of which is the T1 OFFICIAL LIGHT BAND that was first showcased at T1’s “Home Ground” event in late June. HYBE’s production team helped direct the light bands throughout the event.
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Can you share more about HYBE IPX and your role in the company?
HYBE IPX is a business unit that focuses on creating boundless opportunities based on artist IP and delivering fresh experiences to fans. We develop official merchandise for events like tours and birthdays, offer licensed products that bring artist characters and IP into everyday use, and host global pop-up stores that provide fans with unique and immersive experiences. HYBE’s light sticks, now expanding into sports and esports beyond music, are designed, produced, and supplied by HYBE IPX, the mastermind behind the light stick technology.
In addition, HYBE IPX spearheads the planning and execution of collaborative IP projects with multiple labels and other business units within HYBE, including BTS 10th Anniversary FESTA in 2023 and “THE CITY” projects…SEVENTEEN ‘FOLLOW’ THE CITY BANGKOK in 2023, with another exciting edition coming soon in August at ENHYPEN World Tour “FATE PLUS” THE CITY JAKARTA. Brand ambassadorships, commercials, and various partnerships involving HYBE artists are also part of our business.
As the leader of the organization responsible for these various initiatives and projects, I’m fully committed to ensuring that fans have an exceptional experience with the artists they love, as well as creating opportunities for them to connect and enjoy memorable experiences together.
HYBE said, “With this original light stick system, HYBE aims to extend the K-pop-originated innovations to festivals and arenas worldwide.” Can you explain this more?
I’m sure you’ve been to concerts hosted by K-pop artists or labels. The moment you step foot in the arena, you’ll see fans waving light sticks to support their favorite artists. It is a special culture and technology nurtured within the K-pop industry. “Superfans,” which may be the most trending keyword in the music industry these days, are not limited to the music industry, but they also exist in other industries such as sports, esports, and animation. We’ve witnessed K-pop fans crying, laughing, cheering in happiness [while] raising their light sticks up high. We wish to extend this stirring moment to worldwide fans, no matter who their favorites are.
From the executives interested in this technology to the fans who buy and use light sticks, what else do you want readers to know at this time?
At HYBE, we believe that light sticks are more than just a tool for cheering. It is a way that fans use to show their support for their favorite artists, and athletes, and a medium to create a sense of fellowship with other fans and a “fan culture” that has ripened over time. It’s also a way for fans to take part in stage performances or events and interact with other fans as well as the artists who are on stage. Cherishing the value, we will continue to make efforts to further expand the K-pop originated light stick culture to various areas.
After years of waiting, training and preparing, the world’s most skilled athletes are off to the races with the 2024 Olympic Games after a spectacular Opening Ceremony on the Seine in Paris Friday (July 26). The festivities began with each participating country’s athletes sailing in on boats in a parade down France’s famous river, and […]
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The 2024 Paris Olympics are officially in full swing, and the French capital has been taken over by athletes, artists, fans and celebrities. BTS’ Jin was tapped to be South Korea’s official representative in the ceremonial torch relay. He led a 200-meter portion of the run that went by the Louvre Museum, before handing the […]
After days of rumors that Lady Gaga would be performing at the 2024 Olympics, the pop superstar was the first artist to take the stage in Paris during the Opening Ceremony Friday (July 26).
The show-stopping display opened on a gold staircase with a slew of dancers clad in black, holding fluffy pink pom poms that concealed the headliner’s face. After teasing her presence by doing a saucy dance with only her legs visible, the poms cleared from her face to show that Gaga, indeed, had arrived.
The Grammy winner continued to belt out the French-language “Mon Truc en Plume” (“My Thing With Feathers”) in a minutes-long, highly choreographed routine, at one point playing piano. In honor of the Games’ host country this year, the star opted for a vintage, Parisian cabaret-style performance, hamming up her movements with every opportunity.
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Gaga’s appearance came partway through the procession of the Olympic athletes on the Seine, with each country’s team arriving to the ceremony on boats waving patriotic flags. Elsewhere in the ceremony, the Olympic cauldron will be symbolically lit following a months-long torch relay, in which Snoop Dogg, BTS’ Jin and Pharrell Williams participated.
The A Star Is Born actress was previously rumored to be performing a duet of “La Vie en Rose” with Celine Dion, who is also reportedly set to take the stage on the Seine Friday. In the days leading up to her performance, Gaga was spotted greeting fans in Paris outside of her hotel.
Her trip to France comes in the midst of the singer teasing that her upcoming seventh album is in the works. She recently shared photos from the studio and wrote, “Happy as ever making music … feel so grateful, heart is peaceful. It’s like meditation. I can’t wait for you to hear what I’m working on.”
The singer is also closing in on the release of Joker: Folie à Deux, in which she stars as Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role. A teaser trailer for the dark movie musical dropped earlier this year, promising an Oct. 4 theatrical release date.
Exactly one new sport will make its debut at the Paris Olympics: breaking, an evolution of the phenomenon of B-Boys whirling and spinning in the Bronx during the early days of hip-hop breakdancing in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s a complicated, difficult sport, and star athletes such as Canada’s Phil Wizard train to move just about every part of their bodies, improvising instantly to tracks and beats they have no idea are coming. “We were more culture, now we’re sports,” says Victor Montalvo, 30, one of the U.S. breaking team’s four members, by phone from Philadelphia, a few days before departing for Paris. “Breaking has evolved. It’s way different now.”
The breaking events, which kick off Aug. 9, involve one-on-one battles during which hip-hop DJs provide the beats and competitors take 60-second turns known as “throw downs.” They choose from three broad categories of moves: “top rock,” or standing dances; “freeze,” a halted position on heads or hands; and “down rock,” or flashy, acrobatic spins. In a competition last year, Jeffrey “B-Boy Jeffro” Louis, 29, now on the U.S. team, repeatedly twirled his body while upside-down, feet in the air – balancing himself alternately on his head, upper back and a single forearm.
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“His style is super-musical. He goes off feeling. He has a lot of character, showmanship, stage presence,” Montalvo says of his teammate. “He just brings it all to life.”
Breaking, the sport, took off in the early 2000s when Red Bull sponsored events such as Lords of the Floor, treating the competition not like an old-school throwback but a series of hyped-up wrestling or boxing matches. Back then, Montalvo was learning his moves on his driveway with a cousin, and Louis’ older brother, Kenny, was teaching him and another brother, Pierry, how to do it. Today, they’re two of the 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls who will battle for Olympic gold. They spoke with Billboard in separate interviews a week before today’s opening ceremony.
Jeffrey “B-Boy Jeffro” Louis
How familiar are you with the competition? Are you scouting?
We’ve been competing against these guys from the beginning of 2022, so we’re pretty much familiar with everybody. We know what everybody’s going to throw out and what they’re going to do. But everybody has a strategy, and we’re trying to strategize based on their strategy. It’s like a game of chess. At the end of the day, I know my moves. The judges might see my moves falling in a different category than what I believe my moves fall in — so you’re trying to understand the judging system, but you’re also trying to understand where you fall in that judging system, and analyzing your strengths and weaknesses within that judging system. It’s maintenance work right now.
What do you mean by maintenance?
Strength and conditioning. Doing physical therapy on my groin, because I had an injury a couple years ago, so I’m just trying to make sure I don’t strain it or injure myself. A lot of breakers are getting hurt because they’re overtraining and pushing themselves. It’s just getting into that mindset of don’t overdo it.
How does physical preparation for breaking compare to a traditional sport?
Everybody has their own style, so you want to train the way your dancing is performed. Some people live on their hands. They can walk, flip, spin — and stay on their hands the whole time. I’m more of a grounded person, so my training’s going to be different. I train through my fitness program, FitBreak, where I take breaking moves and combine it with traditional exercises.
How much do you study old-school hip-hop breakdancing?
I have to study everybody. If you’re involved in breaking, you have to go back. You have to know the history. There are a lot of moves back then that are not used right now. People might see it as “they’re basic,” but when you haven’t seen something in forever, and something reappears, people say, “That’s a classic move.”
Will your brothers be in Paris?
They’re part of my crew. Both aren’t able to make it, but one of them is — Sweet P. That’s [Pierry’s] breaker name. He was with me at the last qualifier in Budapest. He was there when I qualified to make the Olympics, and just having him there was such a boost. My personality shined more, my character shined, my mindset, feeling like I didn’t have to prove myself.
Any opponents you’re especially focused on?
Everybody’s high level. One person I would love to met in the competition would be Phil Wizard. Everybody’s saying this is the guy to beat. And my friend, Dany Dann, he’s from France, we just have one of the most natural connections whenever we battle.
What is your battle plan?
When I try to think of moves, it hinders my style. Going back to the beginning of how I started dancing — why I fell in love with breaking — it’s that freedom of movement. My goal in Paris is to get into that traditional Jeffro style of just moving and listening and connecting. When I’m that free, I’m unstoppable.
It’s like you’re describing a jazz musician improvising.
Yeah. You have to be able to connect with your whole surrounding, whether it’s the floor, the music, the DJs on set, the crowd. Because if you’re not, you can tell, there’s some unbalanced factor in your dancing. You have to have a conversation with your opponent through moves, and if you’re not doing that, then you’re just showcasing.
Victor Montalvo
How are you training for the Olympics?
For now, I’m simulating the battles. I’m doing a lot of breaking interval training, which requires 30-to-40-second rounds and 30-second rest.
Which competitors are you thinking about as you’re prepping?
There’s been a couple athletes that are in the same bracket as me, so I have to watch out for them. I’m just worrying about myself for now — bettering my style and moves and concepts.
How surprised have you been that breaking turned into an Olympic sport?
I feel like the whole community was shocked. We did not expect it. This was out of our heads. It was really cool, like, “This is a new goal we can achieve.” We’re stepping into the sports world. We’ve never had that opportunity to show the dance, and now we do. It’s really cool to see the positive reactions and the support we’re getting. There are a lot of people supporting me who haven’t seen breaking — or haven’t seen it since the ’80s.
Which members of your family are coming to Paris to watch you compete?
I have my cousin. He was the one who taught me breaking — my first ever power move, which was the windmill. From there, it never stopped. He’s coming to the event. He’s not going to be in Paris the entire time. He’s going to be there for my event, then heading back to the U.S.
Where do you get inspiration for your moves?
You see someone you look up to and you create your own path. It’s all about taking, but recreating. Most of the moves we’re doing are from tribal dances, martial arts. It’s a melting pot of inspirations.
What do you want viewers to know about this new Olympic sport?
We can’t repeat in our competition. Let’s say in figure skating, you have a full routine that you have to practice, and it’s like two minutes. In breaking, we have 15 full routines, 15 signatures that we rehearse, and we can’t repeat them. So once you do that one signature, you can’t repeat it the entire event. Because you get points taken off, you’ve always got to come up with new things each round. It’s all based off of improvising and adapting in the moment. You never know what’s going to happen.
How challenging is it to train for this type of improvisation?
Even with your moves rehearsed, you’ve got to have your moves in your head. You might forget [during] the third round, so you’ve got to adapt. It’s all like a mind game.
That sounds tough.
It’s just competing. I’ve been doing it for so many years — I’ve been competing internationally for 12 years, but in total, I’ve been competing for 18 years — and you just start understanding the formula and start having this muscle memory from all the dancing you’re doing. It comes alive without even thinking. It comes out of nowhere, like your body knows what to do.
Luckily, they didn’t drop it like it’s hot. Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams both carried Olympic torches Friday morning (July 26) in the final leg of the 2024 relay, which will soon culminate in the lighting of the cauldron at the opening ceremonies, signifying the beginning of the Paris Games.
More than two months after the Olympic flame was first lit in Greece — after which it crossed the ocean to be relayed all over France — the Doggfather transported his torch through a stretch of Seine-Saint-Denis. In a video posted shortly afterward, the 52-year-old rapper Crip Walks and waves to nearby fans while carrying the precious cargo.
“I look at this as a prestigious honor and something I truly respect,” Snoop, who will provide on-the-ground coverage of the Games for NBC this year, previously told the Associated Press of being tapped for the relay. “I would have never dreamed of nothing like this. I’m going to be on my best behavior. I’m going to be on my best athleticism. I’ll be able to breathe slow to walk fast and hold the torch with a smile on my face, because I realize how prestigious this event is.”
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Later, Pharrell served as the final bearer of the torch before the flame makes its way to the Olympic cauldron, carrying it to the top of the Basilica of Saint-Denis. French journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi and actress Laëtitia Casta first completed the final handover of the flame to the producer, who then entrusted it to the Keeper of the Flame for storage in the official lantern ahead of the opening ceremonies Friday afternoon.
The “Drop It Like It’s Hot” collaborators are just two of the latest musicians to carry the torch in Olympic history. BTS’ Jin carried the flame earlier this month, while John Legend, Olivia Newton-John, Will.i.am, Loretta Lynn, Lance Bass, Mel C and more have also all participated in the relays of years past.
The Olympic Opening Ceremony is set to kick off around 1:30 p.m. ET Friday, taking place on the Seine. The festivities will air live on NBC, streaming on Peacock, DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and FuboTV.
Watch Snoop participate in the 2024 Olympic torch relay below.
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