The 2023 Billboard Fan Army Face-Off is closing in on crowning a winner.
Billboard’s annual Fan Army showdown sees 64 artists’ fan armies enter the battle fray to find out – whose fan base is strongest? It kicked off July 5, and on July 12 at noon ET, 32 fan armies emerged victorious after millions of fan votes to compete in Round 2. Round 2 was tight — multiple match-ups remained too close to call the entire morning of Wednesday, July 19, with several of them down-to-the-wire right up until noon ET. With all the votes in, 16 fan armies emerged victorious for Round 3. Those fan armies made their voices heard throughout the week, and when all was said and done, an Elite Eight — made up of the fan armies for Cardi B, EXO, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, SB19, SEVENTEEN, Shakira and TWICE — emerged victorious to compete in the Quarterfinals, which began July 26 at noon ET.
The Quarterfinals ran through Monday, July 31 at noon ET. After a fiercely competitive face-off to move on to the next level, this year’s Semifinals see the fan armies for Cardi B, SB19, SEVENTEEN and Shakira in a showdown to determine which two will proceed to the Finals. The Semifinals go until Friday, Aug. 4 at noon ET, after which the Finals commence.
Last year was a closely watched showdown, and each fan army deserves a huge shout-out for keeping us guessing. But in the end, only one can win, and for 2022, the winner of the Billboard Fan Army Face-Off was Stray Kids, with STAY pulling out the win on Tuesday, July 19. Past Fan Army Face-Off winners include Super Junior’s E.L.F (victorious twice), T-ara’s Queens (victorious three times) and BIGBANG’s VIPs.
Who will the winner be? This year’s competitors include fan armies who support luminaries in pop, hip-hop, K-pop, country, R&B, rock, dance and more. Some of these icons have been around for decades, changing the game and shifting the direction of culture, while others are newcomers, helping push music in bold new directions. More than a handful of them have graced the cover of Billboard magazine (some more than once), and numerous artists here have topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Check out the 2023 Fan Army Face-Off below – and get voting to make sure your favorite artist wins.