Published : Sept. 21, 2012 - 21:05
Psy
Singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style” is predicted to soon top the U.S. Billboard Single Chart “HOT 100,” after the song jumped from 64th place last week to 11th on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old singer became the second South Korean artist and the first South Korean male artist to make the “HOT 100” chart after Wonder Girls’ “Nobody” ranked 76th in 2009. He is also the first singer to reach the chart with a song in the Korean language.
Billboard said 188,000 people downloaded “Gangnam Style” from its website in the week beginning Sept. 10, a 210 percent increase over the previous week. Psy’s profile exploded after his guest appearances on popular U.S. television shows such as “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Today,” “Saturday Night Live” as well as the MTV Music Video Awards.
The sensational song that has gone viral globally since its mid-July launch was ranked at the top of iTunes’ worldwide music and video chart, and set a 224-million-viewer record on YouTube as of 1:20 p.m. on Friday.
By Lee Hyun-jae, Intern reporter
(lhj137@heraldcorp.com)