BTS wins TIME 100 reader poll for second straight year
KBy JONATHAN HICAP
-pop boy band BTS won the 2019 TIME reader poll of the most influential people in the world, the second consecutive year that they topped the online voting.
BTS became No. 1 in the 2019 poll with 6 percent of the votes, compared to 16 percent when they first won in 2018.
Michelle Obama placed second with 3 percent while those who got 2 percent were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Greta Thunberg, Jacinda Ardern, Lady Gaga, Meghan Markle, Serena Williams, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Christine Blasey Ford, Justin Trudeau, Bernie Sanders, Rami Malek, Oprah Winfrey, Simone Biles, Queen Elizabeth, Donald Glover, Prince Harry, Angela Merkel, Beyoncé, Tarana Burke, Elon Musk, Colin Kaepernick, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Emilia Clarke, Nancy Pelosi, Priyanka Chopra, Marie Kondo, Jordan Peele, Bradley Cooper, Jimmy Kimmel, Rihanna, Naomi Osaka, Juan Guaidó, Ariana Grande, and Robert Mueller.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un got 0 percent of the votes.
“(BTS) has earned about 6 percent of the vote for readers’ choice in the TIME 100 poll. While TIME editors are responsible for selecting the eventual TIME 100, the online reader poll allows the general public to give its input. The official TIME 100 will be announced April 17 on TIME.com,” according to TIME, which said the online voting started on March 27 and ended on April 16.
Last December, BTS won TIME’s Person of the Year Reader’s Poll with 9 percent. In 2017 and 2018, TIME named BTS as one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet.
They were on the cover of TIME magazine’s Asian and South Pacific editions last October when they were chosen as one of the 2018 Next Generation Leaders.
It has been a phenomenal week for BTS. Their music video “Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey)” became the most viewed MV in the first 24 hours in YouTube history with 74.6 million views and the fastest to reach 100 million views, achieving the feat in under two days.
“Boy With Luv” also peaked at No. 3 on Spotify’s top 200 global daily chart, a first for a K-pop artist.
“Map Of The Soul: Persona,” their latest album became No. 1 on iTunes in 86 countries and terAs ritories and “Boy With Luv” topped the chart in 67 countries and regions.
“We find strength and happiness in every moment. You’ve given us so much love, and now we want to get to know our fans more. We filled our album with our genuine feelings and the messages that we want to share with you,” said BTS.
On the Hanteo chart, the album sold 1.47 million copies on the first day of release and reached 2 million in sales in five days since April 12.