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Music Expo Live 2026 kicks off overseas for the first time in Taipei. Sakurai Sho hosted it, and Lin Chiling’s stunning dance became the focus. Sakurai Sho thanked fans for their feedback, which sparked heated discussion in the community.
The Asian music event “Music Expo Live 2026 in Taipei” held its grand opening at the Taipei Arena on October 25. It brought together four groups of popular artists including ATEEZ, &TEAM, NCT WISH, and Sakurzaka46 to perform one by one.Japan Popular artist Sho Sakurai serves as host and international supermodelLin Chiling He even made surprise appearances as a special guest and added occasional features to the programme.
Video Source: Shhh! star news
“Music Expo Live” is a music festival that brings together top artists active on the Asian and global stage to create a unique special performance music festival. It will be held for the first time in Tokyo Dome in November 2025. This year, it will move beyond Japan to Taipei for the first time and begin overseas performances. The two-day event, originally scheduled for October 24 and 25, was canceled on the first day due to the impact of the storm. On the second day, four groups of artists, Ateez, NCT Wish, Sakurazaka46, and EndTeam, took the stage one after another to bring exciting performances to music fans.
&TEAM, who first appeared on the stage, achieved the great result of breaking into the top 20 of the Billboard 200 list as a Japanese boy group for the first time. They began the performance with “Good Boy (Japanese Version)”. Taiwanese member Nicholas shared local topics with the members, asking everyone about the food they want to eat most and what language they want to learn when they come to Taiwan, showing the cordial interaction that is special to the Taiwanese platform.
Next on the platform is NCT Wish, who continues to achieve millions of sales and has good momentum. Starting with the topical “Boy Meets Girl” reinterpretation of Japanese classic pop songs, they will come to Taiwan again to hold special performances on January 23 and April 3 next year. Six members dedicated themselves to the performance. Even though their clothes were drenched in sweat, they responded to the audience’s enthusiasm with full energy, showing the refreshing charm of a new generation boy band.
Sakurazaka46, who continues to accumulate experience in overseas performances, when the names of the 16 members on stage appeared on the stage screen, fans immediately reacted with enthusiastic cheers. Then they sang “Start Again!” With Natsumi Fujiyoshi as the central member, fully showcasing the expressive power. Through neat and precise dancing, strong stage tension, and different configurations of central members in each track, Sakurazaka46’s unique musical world view was presented.
Another highlight of the event is the special project limited to “Music Expo Live”. &TEAM Special Cover Japanese Band
The Orange Range’s classic song “Telecommunications with Heart” was released in 2004. The original song was released in 2004, and was later covered by Cindy Wang in 2009. Therefore, as soon as the music was played, it was immediately warmly welcomed by the fans in the audience. &TEAM specifically incorporated dance moves from Cindy Wang’s MV while singing. When the song entered the second part, Sakurai Sho and Lin Chiling unexpectedly joined the dance team, becoming a unique cross-ocean dream collaboration.
Ateez, who performed in the finale, delighted the audience with his shocking speed as he took the stage. ATEEZ, together with 14 dancers, began the performance with the explosive “Adrenaline”, showing strong stage tension and precise performance abilities. Continuing the “BAD” that caused discussion on global social platforms, Cui San personally performed the “breast-shaking dance” in Taiwan for the first time, and the fans in the audience were excited.
At the end of the performance, host Sakurai Sho said: “I felt the excitement of everyone in Taipei, ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time!’. As a host, being able to overlook the entire audience from the stage is a special advantage. I saw support fans written in Korean and Chinese characters in the audience, and I even saw support messages in Japanese. I felt everyone’s excitement to connect with each other across the ocean and through music.”
He especially thanked the fans for supporting him, and his sincere thanks immediately made all of LAN’s fans emotional and screaming. Due to the cancellation of the event on the 24th, many people lost the opportunity to meet their idols. Some fans came from abroad just to meet Sho Sakurai. Now not only can he feel his super popularity in Taiwan, but the discussion on the community remains at a high level today, and the related videos have gone viral around the world.
In addition, the content of the “Music Expo Live 2026 in Taipei” program has also been confirmed to be jointly produced by Japan’s NHK and Taiwan’s TVBS, and will be broadcast in Japan and Taiwan respectively. In addition to recordings of amazing live performances, the program is also expected to include backstage interviews and other content, giving audiences the opportunity to further experience the charm of the artists before and after the stage. Detailed broadcast times and related information will be announced through the official channels of NHK and TVBS in the future.
