2018 Winter Olympics: PSY's Gangnam Style Blasted In The Stadium During The Opening Ceremonies

The 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea opened with PSY's 2012 hit, "Gangnam Style," blasting from the background as athletes enter the arena.

Oppan Gangnam Style

For Parade of Nations, the East Asian country used Kpop hits from the biggest local musical acts Twice, Red Velvet, Big Bang, and BTS. The athletes of the United States got the luckier segment as they marched into the stadium to the tune of "Gangnam Style," the viral hit which once was YouTube's most watched video before Latin music claimed the throne with "Despacito."

What made the parade even more entertaining was U.S. Vice President Mike Pence waving at the Olympic Stadium set to PSY's breakout hit.

"Gangnam Style" played a huge role in bringing Korean music or K-Pop to the mainstream. The track was such a big hit that it was able to eclipse songs from bigger, more established pop stars such as Justin Bieber.

According to the Daily Dot, the music video for "Gangnam Style" climbed to 100 million views within 51 days — faster than Bieber's "Baby" — and eventually broke the record for most views on YouTube. Today, it has more than 3 billion views or 1.8 billion less than what "Despacito," now the most viewed video on the website, has now.

PSY became a household name in the United States, making appearances on television shows, or performing during music events. He even took the stage at the 2012 Video Music Awards, the first Korean artist to be invited to perform at the awards ceremony since Rain's appearance in 2005.

2018 Winter Olympics

The opening ceremony also featured a group of Korean singers including Jeon In-kwon (guy with the glasses) perform John Lennon's "Imagine." There was also a point when the entire stadium lit up with lasers as "Life in a Northern Town" blasts from the speakers.

During the competition, songs also became a trending topic as ice skaters perform to pop tracks with lyrics and vocals. Often, athletes use instrumental versions of popular songs or classical music to score their performances but, this year, they were given the freedom to choose any song of their liking, Billboard reported.

Ed Sheeran made his Olympics debut with "Make It Rain," a song used by French ice skaters Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres.

Thanks to the German ice skater Paul Fentz, the internet discovered Paul Anka's version of Oasis' "Wonderwall."

Tags

PSY, K-Pop, BTS