Blackpink is currently one of the biggest and most popular K-Pop group on the planet. If BTS is the most popular all-male group, Blackpink is the biggest all-girl group. Together with BTS, they made headlines today for being the only acts from Asia to be awarded at the 2020 MTV Music Video Awards. BTS got 4 awards, while Blackpink won the Song of the Summer award for How You Like That.

Song of Summer is a category based on fan votes on MTV’s Instagram Story. It is the first recognition Blackpink got from MTV Video Music Awards.

Blackpink is the highest-charting all-girl K-pop act on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 33 with their 2020 singles "How You Like That" and "Sour Candy". They also peaked at number 24 with Kill this Love at the Billboard top 200.

Blackpink was formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. They debuted in 2016 with the single album Square One, which features "Whistle" and "Boombayah", their first number-one hits.

The group has broken several online records and the music videos for "Kill This Love" (2019) and "How You Like That" each set a record for the most-viewed music video within the first 24 hours of release. How You Like That even got five Guinness World Records. 

They are currently the most-followed girl group on Spotify with 20 million monthly listeners, and the most-subscribed music group, female act, and Asian act on YouTube, with 46 million subscribers. And individually, they are also the most followed Korean entertainment artists on the photo blogging app, Instagram.

Blackpink began forming when YG Entertainment held numerous auditions in South Korea and other countries, to create a new girl group as a follow-up for their successful first girl group 2NE1 in 2009.

Preparations for Blackpink's debut began as early as 2011 when YG Entertainment confirmed that the new girl group includes four members instead of the original plan of having nine members.

With the recent win at the MTV Video Music Awards, there's no stopping Blackpink. They have just captured the biggest entertainment market in the world. And their brand is widely known across Asia, Europe North and South America. 

This is Lexi Mendiola. Social Media personality and model, who is known for posting a variety of commercial modeling work and creating original content for different companies.

She catapulted to social media fame when she posted a photo of herself in one-piece swimsuit without photoshop editing, showing her stretch marks and all, a feature of her body which she felt more insecure.

But netizens were inspired by Lexi's positive post and filled her with encouraging comments. She was even featured in Yahoo! Beauty, People, and other online magazines.

In an interview, she said, "It was at that moment when I caught myself throwing out maybe one of my best photos, only because of lines on my skin. I was about to throw it away, but then I saw the bigger picture (literally!) and realized how crazy it is to let stretch marks dictate what I do, or post, or rethink what I ‘need’ to wear. It was ridiculous, and I just didn’t want to allow something that made me feel embarrassed tell me what to do!”

2020 will surely be a banner year for Lexi Mendiola. As a marketing graduate from De Lasalle University, she sure knows how to market her brand. She's active in most social media platforms, specifically Instagram and YouTube. And her followers are growing each day.

Captain Marvel is the twenty-first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and one of the last movies that will close up phase 3 of the saga. Yes, she is considered as the strongest hero in the Marvel Comic universe, but she is not as popular, and mostly unknown with the general movie-going audience, except maybe, Marvel super fans (like I am).

I just watched the movie literally 30 minutes ago and even though I entered the cinema very optimistic, I left it somewhat... dissatisfied. Considering the history of Marvel Studios of releasing obscure, B-class superheroes that surprised the audience with engaging stories and innovative movie-making magic, Captain Marvel, may have failed in that aspect in comparison. Okay, Think about Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man for a bit. Great visuals, check; engaging storytelling, check; funny as hell, check!

But why did Kevin Feige allow this movie to be released? The veteran marvel actor's contracts are expiring real soon, and characters may die or retire after Avengers: End Game. Also, they needed a new Captain to steer the future of the MCU after Phase 3. The movie may not reach Black Panther box office proportions, Marvel will make sure it can reach or surpass at least Ant-Man's first movie. It will rely heavily on the power of the brand.

Scott Mendelson, a contributor from Forbes best explains it:

"Here’s another MCU movie with a lousy first trailer. Marvel is a trusted brand. The mere pitch of 'Hey, it’s a Marvel movie with a lady in the lead role this time!' should be enough to score pretty huge on International Women’s Day."

I'm very much sure that Captain Marvel's maiden offering will somehow satisfy MCU and comic book fans (just like me!) who are familiar with the character. But for the general movie-going audiences, the consolation is that it is tied-in directly to Avengers: End Game, which will arrive in a couple of months.

In conclusion, this movie really is just fan service. It will give you the early days of Nick Fury and how he lost his left eye; how Phil Coulson, Agent of Shield, gains the trust of Nick Fury; a back story about the Kree and Ronan the Accuser; how Nick Fury got the souped-up beeper we last saw in Avengers: Infinity War post-credit scene; and how everything is connected to the first Avengers movie and Avengers: End Game.

So, if you are not a fan of the franchise and did not follow any of the other twenty movies, then, this is not for you.