BTS' ARMY Reflects on Seeing Band on 'Ellen', 'Kimmel Live!' & More

Though usually separated by an ocean, some of BTS’ ARMY got up close and personal with the boy band during their trip to the States earlier this month. Here to perform at the AMAs, the septet hit up several television shows and American fans of the act were able to see the band in a variety of intimate settings.

Billboard spoke to several members of BTS’ fan ARMY who attended tapings of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Late Late Show with James Corden about their experiences:

Interacting with BTS: My favorite moments of that day were the interactions we had with the members in-between breaks when the cameras weren’t rolling.The boys tried to wave “hello” to as many of us as possible, smiled a lot at us; Jimin threw a lot of finger-hearts at us, Jin threw his infamous flying kisses, and [they] shared laughs with us. By far my favorite moment was during a break when Ellen had music playing in the background, specifically had the song Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd, and the boys started to sing it at us and we were singing it at back at them as well so we were having fun just singing our hearts out at each other.

Name: Brittney Jordan

Location: Carlsbad, CA

Age: 21

Attended Jimmy Kimmel Live! outdoor concert and the Ellen Degeneres Show taping.  The experience: Ellen's crew especially left a great impression on me. They were all smiles from start to finish and did an outstanding job at making sure everything was organized. Initially we were told we were only going to be watching one performance but they ended up letting us stay to watch the interview and watch a second performance as well. They even let a group of fans who weren't chosen to watch the performance into the riff raff room where they brought BTS in for them! [And] you could really tell the members were giving it their all [during the performance] despite most of the studio audience [at Ellen] not even knowing who they are. Overall I am so grateful that I got the chance to see BTS make history by performing not once, but twice on two big American talk shows. I think both production staffs really handled the events well and I'm so grateful that they invited BTS to showcase their talent and represent the K-pop industry. I hope this provides more opportunities for not only BTS, but even other K-pop groups to grow in America.

Name: Courtney Scheidt

Age: 19

Location: California State University, CA

Attended The Late Late Show with James Corden

Being a fan since before they debuted in 2013: They had an attitude like they didn’t care about what others thought and being a redhead I standout so I have learned to do the same through them. I can die in peace even though this was my fifth time seeing them live. Overall it was an amazing experience being a fan from the beginning and seeing them on their first American late night show was an honor.

Attending: I applied to get tickets [online] . We stood in line for about four hours and the taping was about one hour. The reaction of some audience members -- they were really shook. We only saw “DNA” performed but we were the first international audience to see [it] performed live. There were about 50 or so fans, so we were all really proud of the fan chants that we did.

Name: Pebbles Vargas

Age: 23

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Attended the Jimmy Kimmel Live! concert

Bringing the ARMY out: My friend was lucky enough to get tickets and she brought me as her guest, which I will forever be grateful for! I loved the moments before the concert when they were doing soundcheck. We could hear them from outside the gates and everyone was singing/dancing along together. It was also fun to see the reactions of the staff when we all had our ARMY Bomb [light sticks] in the air and did the fanchants. I think it was a few hundred fans around the stage but more who didn’t have tickets were sitting outside, standing on cars and climbing gates outside to try to get a glimpse. ARMY basically took over those Hollywood streets for the day. It was so amazing to see all the army who came to support our boys. To see the impact BTS has had on so many people regardless of language barriers is inspiring. It shows that we all have so much in common and if we put away judgments and stereotypes we’d be able to appreciate so much more and come together.

Name: Kat Syhanath

Age: 22

Location: San Diego, CA

Connected with ARMY to attend the AMAs and Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Before attending the AMA's, I kept in touch with other ARMY attending L.A. schedules through various social media. I adored the unity of the fandom through powerful fan chanting and the ocean of ARMY light sticks in the crowd. I especially loved the interactions the group had during intermission [at Live!], such as V exclaiming, "Our fans ARMY, you made all of this possible. Thank you!" With the large audience, many fans actually stayed after to clean up the trash post-event to help keep the venue clean.

[They performed] “Mic Drop Remix”,” Blood Sweat and Tears,” “Go Go,” “Save Me,” “I Need U,” and “Fire.” As we waited in line for the event to receive our wristbands and be let into the venue, we were able to hear soundcheck for all of the songs. During intermissions between songs, the boys happily interacted and hyped up the crowd. Through their remix collaboration, Steve Aoki sent their energetic hip-hop track "Mic Drop" to the next level. The high energy stage complete with intense choreography, fiery vocals and rap and deliver lyrics that showcase their success and popularity, despite opposition from others.

Photo: AOL