While 2020 may have robbed us of the visual spectacles often on display at K-pop concerts, the innovative industry instead focused its creative talents on music videos, creating visuals that have well and truly lifted the bar when it comes to fun and flair.
Here are 10 of the best music videos released this year that showcase K-pop's enduring visual appeal, arranged alphabetically.
1.'Come Back Home' by Oneus
Released as part of the Road to the Kingdom Final Ep, the video is heady mix of the usual and the surreal. There's plenty of tightly synchronised and audacious dance routines shot in an empty opera house, but things get really interesting when all that smooth footwork is juxtaposed with outdoor epic battles scenes as members fight with what appear to be zombie soldiers. How very 2020.
2. 'Eight' by IU
Featuring BTS rapper Suga, this release by IU is futuristic in both sound and vision. Complementing the Avicii-esque beats is a video that alternates between 3D live action scenes and 2D animation sequences. Both aspects represent the song's themes of alternate worlds and the power of memories.
3. ‘Eternally’ by Tomorrow X Together
Tomorrow X Together always had a taste for the dramatic, as evidenced by the band's name alone. Now, they have released a music video matching their ambition. Running at an epic 19 minutes, Eternally can be considered a surreal short film to be appreciated by both movie buffs and K-pop fans. It's full of evocative images that are as beautiful as they are nightmarish, with an abstract plot partially set in an apocalyptic landscape.
4. ‘Fallin’ Flower’ by Seventeen
K-pop crew Seventeen continue their international outreach with this Japanese-language single. The video boasts a hazy filter, giving the visuals a dream-like vibe. Scenes have the mega boyband dancing through various backdrops, ranging from a cold lunar landscape to a flower-strewn studio. The video even sees members indulge in a spot of painting while wandering around empty museums. It's not clear what all this means, but it seems to suit the track's propulsive beats, and it's certainly visually pleasing.
5. ‘Girls’ by Nature
Spooky and fun. The ebullient nature of this dance production is undercut by some slightly more chilling images. The video moves back forth between performance and scenes of paranoia from the band's members sitting in empty rooms, grimy bathtubs and blindfolded amid empty bird cages.
6. 'How You Like That' by Blackpink
Underscoring the global appeal of Blackpink, this music video became one of the fastest to reach 100 million views on YouTube after only 32 hours earlier this year. Standing now with more than 700 million views, there is much to see in this super colourful release. All members take on queen-like roles as they rip through various scenes featuring statues, Trojan horses, burning umbrellas and even a fake snow machine.
7. 'Love Killa' by Monsta X
If you are younger fan, then you will enjoy Monsta X's usual array slick dance moves on offer in this video. For pre-millennials, this is fun romp through the horror and thriller films of the past two decades. Look out for nods to films such as The Silence of the Lambs, American Psycho and Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker.
8. 'Oh My God' by (G) I-dle
There is so much going here. The choreography is sensual and features masked dancers, while the backdrops range from lush red settings and stark white rooms, to neon-lit staircases and eerie outdoor scenes that see members sing from behind barbed wires. A great example of why K-pop videos are visual treat.
9. ‘On’ by BTS
The single proved to be BTS's American breakthrough, cracking the top 5 in the Billboard Hot 100 charts. A lot of the appeal is down to the great video that cleverly references a slew of hit movies and television dramas including Bird Box, The Handmaid's Tale, The Lion King, Game of Thrones, Narnia, and Dolittle. Such was its viral appeal, the video reached a staggering 10 million views in one hour
10. 'Spit it Out' by Solar
No deep and quirky concept here, just great and kinetic choreography. Solar and her crew keep it moving across various locations such as neon-lit dance studios, garages and a warehouse. It's both fun and furious.
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Read more:
BTS named Time 'Entertainer of the Year'
Five must watch K-pop documentaries: From Blackpink and BTS to Nine Muses
From BTS to Mariah Carey: eight music industry deals that earned stars millions
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
More on Quran memorisation:
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%3Cp%3ECreated%20by%3A%20Darren%20Star%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Lily%20Collins%2C%20Philippine%20Leroy-Beaulieu%2C%20Ashley%20Park%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202.75%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
New schools in Dubai
Scorline
Iraq 1-0 UAE
Iraq Hussein 28’
RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
Need to know
When: October 17 until November 10
Cost: Entry is free but some events require prior registration
Where: Various locations including National Theatre (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, Zayed University Promenade, Beach Rotana (Abu Dhabi), Vox Cinemas at Yas Mall, Sharjah Youth Center
What: The Korea Festival will feature art exhibitions, a B-boy dance show, a mini K-pop concert, traditional dance and music performances, food tastings, a beauty seminar, and more.
For more information: www.koreafestivaluae.com
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About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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