BTS Bookends ‘Love Yourself: Her’ Promotions Performing New & Classic Tracks at Countdown Showcase

Caitlin Kelley
·3 min read

Trophies are filling up BTS’ bag after “DNA” racked up eight wins across Korean music shows.

As Billboard previously reported, Korean channel Mnet gave the K-pop powerhouses their second music special on Thursday (Oct. 12) following the Sept. 21 airing of their comeback show. This showcase is the bookend to their promotions for their EP, Love Yourself: Her, which ended last week on Inkigayo.

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Similar to the format of their previous special, BTS tapped into the literal meaning of variety. Resident dad jokester Jin acted as the MC during the talk show portion, there appears to be a recurring skit where the members act as business men and they even had a short mukbang (Korean eating broadcast).

Full English subtitles continue to elude international ARMYs. But outlets like Soompi recapped memorable portions, like when Jungkook made V choose between him and actor friend Park Bo Gum. Spoiler alert: Jungkook was the winner.

The boy band also gifted fans with performances of eight standout tracks from their discography, including “Tomorrow” and “Go Go.” Watch them here:

1. “Go Go”

This performance opens with a dollar bill edited over each member’s face, stamped with the words “Billboard Hot 100” — a reference to their recent achievement as the highest charting K-pop group at No. 67. The sweeping camera movements across the venue make it clear that BTS is dominating this expansive domain.

2. “Tomorrow”

This Suga-penned track explores darker themes and the group manages to incorporate this somber throwback into their set without throwing off the tonal balance.

3. “I Like It”

In this throwback to their schoolboy era, the now-20-somethings wear school boy outfits while performing their jazz hand dance of yesteryear.

4. “BTS Cypher 4”

“Shout out to all the ARMYs all over the world,” Rap Monster says in English at the start of the song. “You should love yourself, man.” If you’ve ever seen one of the rap-line’s four Cyphers live, you know how hype it gets the audience. And the ARMYs in the crowd are visibly jumping up and down by the end.

5. “Lost”

The vocal-line — composed of Jimin, V, Jungkook and Jin — has their time to shine with a relatively minimalist performance highlighting their unique vocal colors.

6. “Dope”

The spatial recognition of their past performances of this song literally goes out the door. Rap Monster’s “Welcome, first time with BTS?” intro gets some futuristic treatment as he initially appears on a TV screen instead of directly in front of the camera. But they harken back to their past by donning those outfits everyone compared to the Village People.

7. “MIC Drop”

Suga’s mic drop is even more aggressive at the end — it’s unclear whether the feedback noise was edited in or came from the mic itself.

8. “DNA”

The aesthetic goals of the warm lighting set against the galaxy backdrop enhanced the atmosphere of their closing performance. In keeping with the M! Countdown format, they even had an encore stage where they danced to “DNA” at double speed, pulling it off with precision.

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