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Dispatch has overturned expectations and announced a K-Pop concert, DFESTA, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Dispatch. And the line-up is to die for. Interestingly, this is a marked shift from their usual New Year reportage.
Most people who follow the Korean entertainment industry have their eyes on Dispatch on 1 January 2022, for the latest New Year's Day dating scandal that the media agency promises to reveal. This year, the agency had different plans.
Over the years, Dispatch has been severely criticized for their voyeuristic reporting into the personal lives of celebrities.
Incidentally, while the agency is mostly involved in propagating and discussing scandalous tabloid rumors, Dispatch’s reports often take the side of the celebrity, as in the case of Kim Seon Ho and NCT’s Taeyong.
With that being said, DFESTA's announcement has evoked fascinating reactions across the K-pop fanbase.
DFESTA will commemorate Dispatch's 10th Anniversary
This year, Dispatch discontinued their annual couple reveal tradition in favor of announcing a special anniversary concert titled 'DFESTA.' While the teaser hints at a techno themed concert, what really surprised fans was the all-star lineup.
While other agency concerts tend to have a few big names interspersed with smaller artists, DFESTA has somehow managed to attract all the A-Listers, beating even the MAMAs. In the line up are:
- BTS
- NU'EST
- Seventeen
- TWICE
- NCT 127
- NCT Dream
- Stray Kids
- TOMORROW x TOGETHER
- ENHYPEN
Intriguing reactions to DFESTA's announcement
Dispatch has not revealed any other information about the upcoming concert with no tentative date on the table either. While fans are excited to watch their idols perform, the exceptionally power-packed lineup has attracted a lot of attention. However, most of it has aroused suspicion.
Curiously, the message in the teaser for the Dispatch concert says:
“There are no perfect secrets in the world.”
This disclaimer has given birth to a lot of speculation, the most popular of which appears to be that DFESTA is a “Hostage concert.”
Several fans of the lineup appear to believe the K-Pop groups are performing so that Dispatch does not expose scandalous stories about their members.
The inclusion of BTS and TWICE, who did not perform at any other year-end music ceremonies this December, has added fuel to the theory that this was their only option. BTS, in fact, was on an extended break, which makes their sudden inclusion in a concert appear strange.
Several netizens echoed these sentiments and commented on DFESTA's YouTube teaser, some of which are:
Furthermore, Twitter is abuzz with discourse on the upcoming “Hostage Concert”:
Given that March will welcome the 10 year anniversary of Dispatch’s existence, fans can expect DFESTA to also take place that month.
