The Taylor Swift and K-pop fandoms went into meltdown after the singer was spotted with BLACKPINK star Lisa.
Lisa—whose given name is Lalisa Manobal—rose to fame in the K-pop group, which is one of the most popular of all time. She got to meet Swift on the second night of her sold-out run of six shows in Singapore. Swift is performing her Eras Tour in the city-state; controversially, it is the only place in Southeast Asia where she is taking her tour.
The K-pop star showed off her slew of friendship bracelets and photos of her posing backstage with Swift after the show. Swifties—as Swift's fans are known—exchange bespoke friendship bracelets at her concerts in a long-running tradition.
"Had such a blast at The Eras Tour! Amazing performance," Lisa told her 101 million Instagram followers (Swift has 282 million).
The meeting of the two pop sensations was a very big deal and sent their fandoms into a frenzy.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW POWERFUL THIS PICTURE IS. THE BIGGEST KPOP ARTIST WITH THE BIGGEST ARTIST IN THE WORLD IN ONE FRAME," wrote one person in the comments.
Another added: "Two of the most powerful women on earth in one frame."
A third person wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "It's real i'm crying."
And a fourth posted: "The power this picture [has] is crazy, biggest kpop artist and biggest artist in the world."
Lisa was not the only K-pop star to take in Swift's Eras Tour. Her BLACKPINK bandmate Rosé was spotted at one of Swift's Japan concerts in February. Shinee member Minho also attended the Singapore show with Lisa after his group performed at Singapore Indoor Stadium the night before.
The Singapore government came under fire in February when Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin accused it of offering Swift around $3 million per show if she performed there exclusively.
"If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand," Srettha said at a business forum in Bangkok.
Singapore's tourism and youth ministries only confirmed that the tourism board "supported the event through a grant," in a joint-statement to Time.
As a result, Swifties have been flying in to Singapore from across the region to catch one of her six concerts, with airlines even getting in on the fun.
Philippine Airlines handed out "friendship bracelets" to Swifties flying to Singapore that read: "Fly Pal (Philippine Airlines)."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
