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Who is Hanbin? Ex 'I-LAND' trainee to perform at Big Hit's New Year's Live concert, excited fans say 'this is huge'

'Omggg hanbin will appear on new year’s eve live? omfggg telll me i’m not dreaminggg,' wrote a fan on Twitter

Former ‘I-LAND’ contestant Hanbin is all set to perform at Big Hit’s New Year’s Live virtual concert presented by Weverse. This is a big deal because despite being eliminated from ‘I-LAND’, the South Korean survival reality show organized by Belift Lab, he has gained a fan following almost rivaling established K-pop idols!

The star-studded lineup at Big Hit’s New Year’s Live is set to include Big Hit Entertainment’s TXT, GFRIEND, and more artists along with a special connected stage featuring Halsey, Steve Aoki, Lauv, and Shin Hae Chul. The grand concert will also feature famous K-pop group Pledis Entertainment’s NU’EST, K-pop soloist BUMZU, ‘You Are The Best of My Life’ singer Lee Hyun, Big Hit’s rookie training group Enhypen who debuted in November 2020.

Fans on Twitter seemed very excited about Hanbin’s inclusion in this prestigious list. So much so, that his name began trending on Twitter with several thousands of people tweeting about him!

“Omggg Hanbin will appear on new year’s eve live????? omfggg telll me i’m not dreaminggg,” wrote a fan on Twitter. Another fan said, “Guys do you realize the amount of exposure hanbin is gonna get from this. The fan event was good but the only ppl getting it are Hannies/I-Land fans. He's gonna be exposed to non-I-Land watchers now. this is huge.” Another fan said, “We need to prepare. Hanbin is really coming to us soon. He is just a ‘trainee’ but Belift lab & bh are willing to expose him to a million people on December 31st. We ain't playing hide & seek here anymore. Hanbin debutation is coming. #hanbin_belift.”

So, who is Hanbin?

Born as Ngô Ngọc Hưng, on January 19, 1998, Hanbin was a Vietnamese contestant on ‘I-LAND’. Having had training for eleven months on the show, he was eliminated in Episode 11 of the show. But before that, he, in the seventh episode, ranked twelfth based on the global votes and was able to move onto Part 2 and become one of the final 12. Prior to appearing on 'I-LAND', Hanbin was the member and founder of the Vietnamese dance crew called CAC. The group is very popular in the country on social media.

What makes Hanbin big is that he is the only ‘I-LAND’ trainee that got his own fan-meet prior to today's news. Although he did not make it into the debut group ENHYPEN, he has a huge fan following across the world, as was demonstrated in the Twitter trend!

Previously, Big Hit’s New Year’s Live was announced to be both offline and online with a limited seating arrangement following the instructions of the Covid-19 pandemic. But later, Big Hit Entertainment announced the event to be completely virtual because of the pandemic. 

2021 New Year’s Eve Live will take place on Thursday, December 31, 2020, at 9.30 pm KST. Fans can get a single view or multiple views tickets from the Weverse shop online. For early birds, the tickets will also include a special gift, a design by one of the members which the viewers can collect.