MUSIC EXPO LIVE 2026 in Taipei featured ATEEZ, NCT WISH, Sakurazaka46, and &TEAM, with Sho Sakurai and Lin Chi-ling hosting.

On October 25, the live event "MUSIC EXPO LIVE 2026 in TAIPEI," in which four artist groups including ATEEZ and Sakurazaka46 performed together, was held at TAIPEI ARENA in Taiwan. "MUSIC EXPO LIVE" is a music festival where luxurious artists active globally from Asia gather together and present special stages that can only be seen here. This event, which was born last November 2025 at Tokyo Dome as "MUSIC EXPO LIVE 2025," was held in Taiwan this time as its first overseas event. Of the two days of performances that had been scheduled, "DAY1" on Saturday, October 24 was unfortunately canceled due to the influence of Typhoon No. 30, but on Sunday, October 25, "DAY2" featured four groups: ATEEZ, NCT WISH, Sakurazaka46, and &TEAM. The MC was Sho Sakurai, who also enjoys immense popularity in Taiwan. In addition, Taiwanese big star Lin Chi-ling appeared as a special guest. J-POP and K-POP crossed the sea and excited the more than 10,000 visitors gathered at TAIPEI ARENA. At the opening, MC Sho Sakurai escorted guest Lin Chi-ling and appeared on stage. Lin Chi-ling's appearance had not been announced in advance, so it was a pleasant surprise for the fans in the venue. Following Lin Chi-ling's opening declaration, when all four performing groups lined up, the venue was filled with loud cheers. The first performance was &TEAM. The nine-member group, which this year achieved the feat of charting in the Billboard 200 Top 20 for the first time as a Japanese boy group and proved its global popularity, started with "Good Boy (Japanese ver.)." In "FIREWORK," which they also performed at last year's NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, they captivated the audience with a stage themed around fireworks. In the MC talk between songs, NICHOLAS, who is from Taiwan, asked the members questions such as, "What do you want to eat in Taiwan?" and "What words do you want to learn?" creating talk unique to a stage in Taiwan. They performed all six songs, including "Chincha Omoshiroi," which made the audience sing along in chorus, and the cute love song "Love Jang," filled with &TEAM's own affection. Next was NCT WISH, who continue their rapid advance with a string of million-selling hits. They began with "BOY MEETS GIRL," a remake of a hit J-POP song representative of the 1990s that became a hot topic this summer, and then performed refreshing, colorful pop songs such as "Steady" and "poppop (Japanese Ver.)," raising the heat in the venue so much that the members were drenched in sweat. The six members of NCT WISH, who have already decided to hold a solo concert in Taiwan next year, brought a fresh breeze to TAIPEI ARENA with a youthful five-song stage. Next was Sakurazaka46, who are actively expanding the scope of their activities by performing live overseas and appearing at festivals. When the names of the 16 members appearing on this stage were displayed on the venue monitors during the Overture, Buddies (Sakurazaka46 fans) also supported them with calls. They followed the expressive "Start over!" by center Karin Fujiyoshi with "BAN," whose Japanese lyrics are striking. Furthermore, they performed all six songs, including "How Old Were You When You Wanted to Go Back?" featuring a solo dance by Ten Yamazaki, and their latest song "Ai MUST BE," in which Airi Taniguchi served as center and performed contemporary dance based on ballet. Although Sakurazaka46 was the only girls' group that day, they left a strong impression with a powerful stage in which all the large number of members united their hearts, and with their unique worldview that unfolded as the center changed from song to song. In the "special project" that has become a regular feature of "MUSIC EXPO LIVE," &TEAM covered the J-POP classic "Ishin Denshin." "Ishin Denshin," released by ORANGE RANGE in 2004, was later covered in 2009 by Taiwanese top star Cyndi Wang and is also a popular song in Taiwan. In addition to &TEAM singing with dance incorporating choreography familiar in Taiwan from Cyndi Wang's music video, Sho Sakurai and Lin Chi-ling also joined in the dance from the latter half of the song. A dream collaboration across the sea by Asian big stars, something that can only be seen this time, was realized. The headliner of the event was ATEEZ. The eight members, who have won first place on the U.S. Billboard 200 three times and boast worldwide popularity, appeared on stage, and TAIPEI ARENA was filled with huge cheers like screams. With 14 dancers added, ATEEZ's stage began with the fiery, energetic "Adrenaline." "BAD," which became a topic on social media around the world this year, was performed in its Japanese version, and at the climax of the song, the excitement in the venue rose sharply with the "all-member knockout dance," in which they moved as if bouncing their pectoral muscles. They captivated the audience with a wide range of expression, from the refreshing summer song "WAVE" to "NASA," which created a fantastical space-themed space together with dancers. Furthermore, in the slow numbers "Turbulence" and "Better," the entire venue was enveloped by their overwhelming vocals. Finally, they performed "Guerrilla." With a heavy and energetic performance, they closed the final part of a stage of 11 songs with a strong impression. At the end of the approximately three-hour event, MC Sho Sakurai, special guest Lin Chi-ling, and the performance artists &TEAM, NCT WISH, Sakurazaka46, and ATEEZ all gathered on stage once again. They walked across the main stage and the entire center stage, waving to the 10,000 audience members, and brought the Taipei night to a close. In addition, it has been decided that the footage of "MUSIC EXPO LIVE 2026 in TAIPEI" will be broadcast in Japan by NHK and in Taiwan by TVBS through a joint production between Japan's NHK and Taiwan's broadcaster TVBS. The program is planned to include not only the passionate performances but also backstage interviews, and detailed information such as the broadcast date and time will be announced later on the respective NHK and TVBS websites. ◆Comment from MC Sho Sakurai after the event: I felt the heat of everyone in Taipei saying, "We've been waiting for this!" I think one of the privileges of being an MC is being able to look over the entire audience from the stage, and in the audience there were fans with Korean, Chinese character, and Japanese message fans, and I thought it was a wonderful space where people were united across the sea by the common language of "music." ■Performance outline "MUSIC EXPO LIVE 2026 in TAIPEI" Date: Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2026 *October 24 was canceled due to a typhoon Venue: TAIPEI ARENA (Taipei) <Set list> October 25 (sun) [&TEAM] 01. Good Boy (Japanese ver.) 02. Back to Life (Japanese ver.) 03. FIREWORK 04. We on Fire (Days of Youth ver.) 05. Chincha Omoshiroi 06. Love Jang [NCT WISH] 01. BOY MEETS GIRL 02. YO-I-DON! 03. Steady 04. poppop (Japanese Ver.) 05. I SPY [Sakurazaka46] 01. Start over! 02. BAN 03. How Old Were You When You Wanted to Go Back? 04. Approval Desire 05. Lonesome rabbit 06. Ai MUST BE [&TEAM] 01. Ishin Denshin [ATEEZ] 01. Adrenaline 02. BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS) 03. BAD (Japanese Ver.) 04. WORK 05. WAVE 06. NASA 07. Ice On My Teeth 08. Turbulence 09. Better 10. The Real (Excitement ver.) 11. Guerrilla ■Related link Official site of "MUSIC EXPO LIVE 2026 in TAIPEI"