Green Day, Netta Barzilai, BTS cancel performances over coronavirus fears
"We have decided together to cancel one performance so as not to put ourselves and our loved ones in danger."
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERSWinner of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, Netta Barzilai of Israel, takes part at the "Orange Carpet" opening ceremony of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel May 12, 2019.(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
US rock band Green Day on Friday called off all of the shows in Asia in its upcoming world tour because of the coronavirus outbreak, the latest musical act to cancel performances in the region.The punk band Hella Mega canceled a tour that was planned to have taken them to Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, Taipei, Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and Tokyo in early March, before a European leg due to kick off in Moscow in May.“We have unfortunately made the difficult decision to postpone our upcoming shows in Asia due to the health + travel concerns with coronavirus. We know it sucks, as we were looking forward to seeing you all, but hold on to your tickets. We’ll be announcing the new dates very soon,” Green Day said in a statement on its official website.The move followed the decision by South Korean boy band BTS – the biggest K-POP band in the world – to cancel four concerts in Seoul’s Olympic stadium in April that were due to kick off its latest world tour, citing concerns over coronavirus.BTS, whose new album, Map of the Soul:7, topped charts in Germany, France and Britain on Friday and is expected to do the same in America, has spent the past several weeks in the United States, where they recorded a performance at New York’s Grand Central Station and appeared on Carpool Karaoke with late night TV host James Corden.BTS is currently still scheduled to perform several dates in California in late April.Last week, British rapper Stormzy and American R&B singer Khalid also postponed all the Asian concerts on their tours from late March to mid-April that would have taken them to cities including Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.Closer to Israel, Netta Barzilai canceled her performance in Croatia’s national pre-Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday over fears of the novel coronavirus, Channel 12 reported Saturday afternoon.According to Channel 12, Barzilai, who brought the Eurovision Song Contest to Israel after winning it in 2018, decided to cancel her performance in the show after several cases were discovered in Croatia on Tuesday. While the Croatian show is expected to take place as usual, Barzilai’s PR manager, Ofer Menahem, told Channel 12, “Canceling the performance in Croatia was done by joint agreement with the Croatians following the growing coronavirus-related developments in the state. For that reason, we have decided together to cancel one performance so as not to put ourselves and our loved ones in danger.”If no changes are made due to the outbreak, the Eurovision Song Contest is expected to be held mid-May in the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
