Two K-pop powerhouses -- Big Hit Entertainment and SM Entertainment -- will celebrate New Year’s Eve and Day with online concerts.

Under the title 2021 New Year’s Eve Live, Big Hit Entertainment will begin streaming its first joint concert with Big Hit Label through the agency’s community platform Weverse at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The paid online concert will feature live and prerecorded performances by BTS, Tomorrow X Together, ENHYPEN, GFriend and NU’EST. The concert will also feature special collaborations with international artists Halsey, Lauv and Steve Aoki.

BTS’ Suga, who has been taking a break from official activities to recover from his shoulder surgery, is expected to participate in the New Year’s Eve concert without physical performances. 

SM Entertainment will welcome the beginning of 2021 with its free online concert SMTown Live Culture Humanity, scheduled to stream at 1 p.m. on Friday.

The performances will feature over a dozen global K-pop stars, including NCT units, TVXQ, Super Junior, SuperM, EXO’s Baekhyun and Kai, Red Velvet and Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon.

All performances that were prerecorded will be available across many online platforms -- Naver’s V Live, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Japan’s KNTV.

Big Hit Entertainment and SM Entertainment said the online concerts look to give a message of comfort and hope for global music fans in tough times of the coronavirus pandemic.

Both online concerts will provide a front-row experience for online fans through cutting-edge technology using multiview mode, augmented reality and 3D computer graphics.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@herarldcorp.com)