K-pop music — or Korean popular music — is getting famous all around the world, and K-Pop is gaining more and more fans every day not only in Asian countries but also in the U.S. and Europe. Recently, K-pop contests have been staged all over the world, run by Korean Cultural Centers in various countries. These are the preliminary stages of the contest and the finals will be held in Korea on November 26.
| Korean pop groups Kara (L) and Beast (R) perform on stage during the K-Pop All-Stars live concert in Niigata, northern Japan, on Saturday, August 20, 2011 (Photo: Yonhap News). |
The Korean Cultural Center in the UK held a K-pop contest on June 3 with more than 300 K-pop fans participating. The participants sang songs from Girls Generation and 2NE1. They practiced the songs via watching videos over and over and also learnt the Korean language so they could sing in Korean.
The Korean Cultural Center in NY held a K-pop contest on August 16 in Central Park in Manhattan. Despite the hot weather, more than 1,000 people attended this contest. A total of 98 teams participated, eight of which were selected for the finals, and with a powerful dance performance of Jang Woo Hyuk’s “Weekend Night”, 15-year-old Madison Gunst from Florida took first place. Steven Clark took second place with a smooth cover of Navi’s “Heart Damage.”
| K-Pop contest in London (Photo: Yonhap News). |
Also in Los Angeles at the Zipper Concert Hall, a three-hour K-pop contest was held on May 27 and the participants fiercely competed to win. The judges were really surprised at the participants’ performances. The first prize went to Tara Louise who sang ‘8282 ‘by Davichi.
| K-Pop contest in Kazakhstan (Photo: Yonhap News). |
In addition, there is a widespread influence of K-pop in Central Asia, and Kazakhstan held a K-pop contest on February 26. Also, on April 30, there was another contest in Almaty. Participants performed songs from K-pop groups such as ss501 and Girls Generation.
K-Pop contests have also been held in various locations around Japan, with a final round to be held on October 1. Korean Cultural Centers in Germany, Washington, France, Russia, Vietnam, and the Philippines are also planning to hold K-pop contests.
The first-place competition winners from all different parts of the world will be awarded one round-trip airplane ticket to Korea in November to attend the contest finals.
By Oh Jun Kyung
Korea.net Staff Writer
