Backstreet Boys Join Westlife for Online Concert on Super-app WeChat

Chinese fans of ’90s and aughts pop music can experience the magic of the Backstreet Boys’ 2022 DNA World Tour, thanks to a livestreamed concert — the first in the group’s history — on the super-app WeChat. As a bonus, the Irish boy band Westlife will also appear at the event.

Scheduled for Friday, June 24 at 8 PM China time, the concert is produced by East Goes Global and made possible via a partnership with WeChat.

More than 40 million viewers are expected to tune into the concert. Not only has a related hashtag on the microblogging platform Weibo garnered almost 37 million views, but in just 24 hours, the event’s teaser was liked 82,000 times on WeChat.

In December 2021, East Goes Global was also responsible for organizing Westlife’s first online concert on WeChat, which was a massive success, to say the least.

For most Millennials and Zoomers in China who were introduced to the Backstreet Boys and Westlife by their school teachers, both bands have accompanied them throughout their youth.

“OMG, Backstreet + Westlife! I’m wide awake upon hearing this news,” gushed a fan on WeChat.

“Two gods performing on the same stage? Do I deserve to watch this? I must have saved the planet in my last life,” reads another fan’s hyperbolic comment.

Founded by Andrew Spalter, East Goes Global is making a splash in the entertainment industry by connecting big-name brands, celebrities, athletes, and entertainers — such as Will Smith, Jessie J, and John Legend — with the Chinese market.

As the tour manager for Jessie J when she competed (and won!) in the sixth season Chinese singing competition Singer, Spalter traveled to China for the first time in 2017. On this trip, Spalter discovered Chinese social media platforms and marketing strategies — an experience that inspired him to found East Goes Global.

“That’s what really opened my eyes to how disconnected we were from China as a whole,” he tells RADII.

Given the strict Covid-19 travel restrictions in China, Spalter sees such partnerships as a means to fill a gap in the market by essentially bringing live concerts into people’s homes.

When asked what he expects from the event, Spalter shared, “I’m stoked. The Westlife event reached 28 million concurrent users, so I hope that this event will reach even more. We’ll see — fingers crossed.”

Cover image via Depositphotos