--- title: EXO, Kpop Bands Steal the Show at Olympics Closing Ceremony description: K-pop bands like EXO and CL wowed with Olympics closing ceremony performances in PyeongChang. K-pop fans went crazy for the performances. canonical: https://time.com/5174898/olympics-closing-ceremonies-k-pop-performers/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-26T02:25:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-15T18:28:30.000Z og:title: K-Pop Fans Went Crazy Over the Olympics Closing Ceremony og:description: EXO and CL performed og:url: https://time.com/5174898/olympics-closing-ceremonies-k-pop-performers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1973566c7b6afc94/698928df4ee2627e5b311021/exo-closing-ceremony.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: 2018 Winter Olympic Games - Closing Ceremony og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: K-Pop Fans Went Crazy Over the Olympics Closing Ceremony twitter:description: EXO and CL performed twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1973566c7b6afc94/698928df4ee2627e5b311021/exo-closing-ceremony.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Very Passionate K-Pop Fans Inevitably Lost It Over the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony Performances > Sponsored content. 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Updated: Jan 15, 2026 6:28 PM UTCPublished: Feb 26, 2018 2:25 AM UTC Highlights from the 2018 Winter Oympics Closing Ceremony  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Jan 15, 2026 6:28 PM UTCPublished: Feb 26, 2018 2:25 AM UTC Sunday’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics closing ceremony brought plenty of pomp and circumstance — but for many K-pop fans, it was all about closing ceremony performers EXO and CL. [K-pop](http://time.com/5124176/best-k-pop-artists/) — the umbrella term for the music churned out by South Korea’s music-making factories — attracts a rabid fanbase in general, but boy band EXO consistently breaks records for its sold-out shows and hugely popular albums. EXO members’ ever-changing hairstyles and alien alter-egos, each with a different superhero, only add to the mystique. It’s no surprise, then, that fans went a little crazy over the group’s K-pop performance at the closing ceremony. Fans worldwide tweeted about EXO eight million times in just four hours, [according to the head of social media for the International Olympic Committee](https://twitter.com/alexhuot/status/967820762995335171), and many of them were bursting with enthusiasm. > [](https://twitter.com/sehunfanboy/status/967738555253407745) > [](https://twitter.com/XIUKDT/status/967737407331160069) > [](https://twitter.com/Dena%5FVang/status/967958779538169857) > [](https://twitter.com/mom%5Fexo/status/967856326884732928) > [](https://twitter.com/swxggytea/status/967925216272896002) K-pop star CL, formerly of the girl group 2NE1, also got plenty of love for her closing ceremony performance, singing hits like “The Baddest Female” and “I Am the Best.” > [](https://twitter.com/Exo%5FGsD/status/967769736250580992) > [](https://twitter.com/ninjaLim4/status/967751157622845445) > [](https://twitter.com/NetizenDrama/status/967768255237681152) > [](https://twitter.com/EmiliaKarkela/status/967747770848333825) ## Transcript [00:00] For the people who don't know who CL is, what is your [00:02] career, who are you, and what are you doing here? [00:05] [ MUSIC ] [00:11] America's introduction to K- Pop was via Psy, [00:13] Gangnam Style. [ MUSIC ] That was 2012 and since [00:18] then K- Pop has grown in much more substantial and [00:21] significant ways. [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ] [00:25] Hiphop stars are touring America more than ever [00:28] where seen the fandalists are a much more substantial [00:30] in growing. What is it gonna take for an Asian [00:34] start breakthrough in musically. That's I think the [00:37] interesting question. [ NOISE ] A dear friend [00:42] of mine about to [00:46] make her They fired [00:50] main hero giving up [00:55] for. [ MUSIC ] My name is [ UNKNOWN ] and I come [00:59] from [ UNKNOWN ]. I'm a performer artist, musician. [01:01] I'm in a band called 2NE1. [ MUSIC ] She's like the [01:12] Nicki Minaj of that world which is the coolest artist to [01:14] work with, I think. Right now I'm working on my solo [01:17] album in America You know sitting on it's own, maybe [01:20] just the creation process. The first thing that we're [01:23] actually going to do is pretty simple, is just recite the [01:25] lyrics to [ UNKNOWN ] The whole thing? I got myself a [01:29] 40. I got myself [01:37] a shorty. [ MUSIC ] [01:45] And she is very [ UNKNOWN ] I didn't see [01:47] [ UNKNOWN ] doing the right way because she is [01:48] coming to the right channel so, she is like getting new [01:50] friends and also developing what [01:55] is putting around [ UNKNOWN ] record. Do talk shows [01:58] and then people forget about her she's developing and [02:00] gaining fans from the ground up. [ MUSIC ] [02:09] Me coming to US is not that different because To [02:14] me being creative is expressing myself and i've been [02:17] doing that for a long time and the only deference [02:20] would be that i'm singing in English now. [02:31] [ MUSIC ] There's no Asian artist on a music scene [02:35] really that is a very small Club that is deciding that is [02:38] deciding who is in, who's out. Tons of gatekeepers and [02:42] what not. It's almost easier for an asian star to pick [02:46] up and leave America and go to Korea where their [02:49] kind of guaranteed the sort of interest and fame. [02:51] [ MUSIC ] My names Eric. [02:58] Eric Nam working based out of Seoul but originally [03:02] from Atlanta. [03:07] [ MUSIC ] Growing up in the states you don't have any [03:10] Asian American or Asian faces doing music here. And [03:13] so I never thought it was possible and so I always [03:15] thought to myself I guess I have to go to Korea if I ever [03:18] want to do music. Photo time. The goal and the dream [03:22] would be to cross over into the States. That would be [03:26] the coolest thing, it would be a dream come true. To [03:29] be able to perform in what I consider to be my first [03:32] home, in my native language and in front of my friends [03:36] and family, we're all here. Korea's had its eye on [03:39] America for a couple of years now, and I think there's [03:43] been a lot of interesting experiments. [ MUSIC ] [04:25] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [04:45] Dean is so interesting too because I think he's really [04:49] quick to distance himself from the k pop world. He's [04:53] Coming up strictly on his own terms and releasing the [04:55] videos when he wants and you know, getting the right [04:58] people that will ensure people are talking about him. [05:01] [ MUSIC ] It isn't just money wise, it's about [05:05] taking it to that next level and trying to represent [05:07] something larger. Someone like CL, that's what I think [05:10] really burns her and really ignites the passion I [05:15] feel like there's not one pop star. Like, no one female [05:19] pop star that's representing all the girls that's living out [05:22] here. I want to represent, you know, Asian girls. [05:32] To be honest, the challenge is that America is a huge [05:36] country with many different cultures and many talented [05:38] artists. [ FOREIGN ] Race kinda just has to drop out of [05:40] the picture. The music just has to be really good. It has [05:43] to be something that people want to connect with and [05:45] dance to and sing along with. An Asian star will be a [05:47] success when you see everyone copying their route. [05:50] Cuz all it takes This is what ?>> What I need right now [05:54] for me to make it here is, it's a matter of time [05:58] [ LAUGH ]. 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