The broadcaster says venue and participating artists will be announced later, with only Enhypen and Zerobaseone said to have confirmed so far
MBC announced Wednesday that its flagship music program “Show! Music Core in Macau” will take place on Feb. 7-8, but the national broadcaster has yet to secure a concert venue or finalize the artist lineup, according to an industry source familiar with the matter on Friday.
The broadcaster also said that details regarding the venue and participating artists would be announced at a later date. However, multiple industry insiders say event preparations remain incomplete.
According to the source, Macao has only three venues capable of hosting a large-scale K-pop broadcast: Galaxy Arena, Venetian Arena and Macao Outdoor Performance Venue in Cotai.
“Riize already has a concert scheduled at Galaxy Arena on Feb. 7-8, while a Chinese artist is booked at Venetian Arena on those dates,” the source told The Korea Herald on Friday. “That leaves only the Outdoor Performance Venue, but it has not been booked yet.”
The source explained that the outdoor site is government-owned land requiring approval from the Macao government before any event can be held.
“It is a vacant site owned by the Macao government, and permits must be granted for each event,” the source said. “We checked, and no performance — including ‘Show! Music Core in Macau’ — has received venue approval so far.”
The source added that MBC has applied to rent the outdoor performance venue as the event site, but the request remains under review.
Beyond the venue issue, the artist lineup is also largely unknown. While Enhypen and Zerobaseone have been confirmed as headliners, they are reportedly the only acts whose participation has been finalized.
“’For a ‘Show! Music Core’ overseas concert, some 12 artists are required,” the source said. “As of now, only two groups have been confirmed.”
Concerns over MBC’s overseas concert operations have surfaced before. The broadcaster previously drew criticism after announcing plans to stage “Show! Music Core” at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium, only for it to emerge that the venue had not been secured.
At the time, the Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association, which is set to host the “Dream Concert” at Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong on Feb. 6-7, determined that unfinalized lineup information had been submitted to the Kai Tak Stadium in an attempt to get the already booked venue.
jaaykim@heraldcorp.com