Intro for January 19, 2026
– 2 min read
Dear Gossips,
Welcome to a new week which, for some people in show business, is Oscar nomination week. Nominations will be announced the morning of Thursday 22 January and the Academy confirmed a few days ago that Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman will be presenting.
The nominations, obviously, will be the primary preoccupation in Hollywood that day. For some of us, though, and we’re not a small minority, we have another priority.
Thursday is when the BTS tour pre-sale happens for tickets in several cities, including where I live and it is not hyperbolic to say that this is basically what I think about the most right now, to the point where I’ve taken the day off work from my TV job on Thursday so that I can be home, with a strong internet connection, battling it out with hundreds of thousands of other people (if not more) for the chance to see RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook live in my city.
By the looks of it, they are going all out with this comeback. The tour schedule looks ambitious AF. And with the name reveal for the album last week, ARIRANG, this era will be Korean AF. Further to that, there are reports today in Korean media about a special performance around the time of the album release on March 20.
Local outlets are saying that their label has been securing permits and working with authorities in preparation for an event to take place at a landmark or landmarks in Seoul, including the city’s symbolic Gwanghwamun Square, near Gyeongbokgung Palace and Sungnyemun Gate, all of them Korean national treasures… just like BTS. According to the rumours, organisers are planning for a show that can accommodate up to 15,000 fans and it would be free. BTS’s agency has not denied the reports.
Remember, before COVID, it was estimated that BTS had contributed between $4-5 billion to the Korean economy and their fanbase has only grown since then. After such a long hiatus, during which all seven members completed mandatory military service, the interest in BTS is more intense than it’s ever been – and they are, as they have always done, using it to spotlight their culture and their country.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
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