Photos of empty seats shocked Internet users.
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The 2024 Fact Music Awards — held at the Kyocera Dome in Japan, it was an exciting night full of awards and performances, but the day after the event sparked strong backlash online.
Photos of the venue’s empty seats quickly went viral, particularly regarding the poor turnout despite popular bands like NewJeans AND Aespa being part of the training.
A post about Interruption highlighted the situation, showing large voids on the second and third floors of the dome and even scattered empty seats on the first floor. The user questioned the decision to hold the event in such a large venue with high ticket prices, suggesting that it would have made more sense to lower the prices or choose a smaller venue with around 10,000 seats.
The second and third floors are pretty much empty, and the first floor has a lot of holes too. Even though it’s a joint concert with a lineup like aespa and NewJeans…
Why do they hold an awards ceremony in Japan, charging such high prices? I won’t go. Shouldn’t they lower the price or hold it in a smaller venue, like 10,000 seats?
— OP on Pann
Many fans speculated that the low turnout was not due to the popularity of the main girl groups, but rather the lineup of male idols. Male idol fandoms are typically known to pack out joint awards shows, but this time, the lineup of male performers seemed to lack the usual star power needed to attract a large audience.
Despite the concerns, some fans defended NewJeans and aespa, pointing out that both groups had recently sold out the Tokyo Dome on their own, proving their popularity in Japan. Many argued that it was unfair to blame the girl groups for the poor attendance at the event, noting that girl group fans are more likely to attend solo concerts than joint awards shows.
- “The training of male idols was too forced.”
- “Some people blame NewJeans and aespa, but they both sold out the Tokyo Dome. Do you really think it’s their fault? Lol. Usually, the power of male idol fandom fills these joint awards. It’s not that NewJeans and aespa have a weak fanbase, lol. I know exactly which fans are complaining here. Just so you know, NewJeans and aespa managed to sell out the Tokyo Dome, which is something your faves could never even dream of. Oh, and for the record, over 900,000 people applied for aespa’s showcase in Japan, lol.”
- “At joint awards shows like this, it’s usually the fans of male idols who fill the venue, but this time the male idol lineup was really lacking.”
- “It’s not NewJeans’ fault. They can fill their solo shows. It’s not like they have the same problem as that other group that can’t even rank on Gallup and has empty fan meetings. Why blame NewJeans if the joint awards show didn’t sell out? Fans of girl groups don’t usually pay money to go to these kinds of events. They’d rather go to solo shows.”
- “Apparently, something was said on Twitter about TMA, and this prompted even more Japanese fans to cancel their participation.”
- “What? I thought NewJeans was super popular in Japan, but now it’s half empty?”
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