HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, June 26: Guwahati, on Sunday, hosted the regional round of the ‘All India K-Pop Contest 2023’ as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of diplomatic ties between Korea and India. The contest, organised by the Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI) in collaboration with LG Electronics, witnessed enthusiastic participation from 19 teams (9 dance and 10 vocal) at the Birinchi Kumar Baruah Auditorium, Gauhati University. K-fans in attendance cheered and supported the participants.
The K-Pop Contest consists of four rounds: online qualifiers, regional, semi-finals, and grand finale. The online qualifiers, held from April 26 to May 13, saw a record-breaking participation of 11,071 teams from across India, making it the largest participation since the contest’s inception in 2011. The selected participants from the online preliminaries will compete in the regional round, which takes place in 11 cities.
Hwang Il-Yong, the director of the Korean Cultural Centre India, highlighted that K-Pop has become a global phenomenon, connecting people worldwide, including talented K-Pop enthusiasts in India. The contest aims to provide a platform for Indian youth who love Korea and K-Pop to showcase their talent, enjoy the show, and pursue their dreams. The director expressed hope that all participants and the audience would connect with K-Pop and freely express themselves through the platform.
Jeon Hong-Ju, MD of LG Electronics India, expressed delight in co-hosting the K-Pop Contest with the Korean Cultural Centre India and acknowledged the growing popularity of K-Pop in India. The contest offers young individuals a platform to pursue their passion, and the overwhelming response with over 10,000 team submissions reflects the interest and enthusiasm of the Indian youth towards K-Pop.
Participants from various cities, including Kolkata, Itanagar, Kohima, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Guwahati, and Lucknow, are gearing up to give tough competition in the regional rounds. Winners in the vocal and dance categories from the regional preliminaries will advance to the semi-finals. The top 10 winners (5 vocal, 5 dance) in the semi-finals will receive training from experts through the ‘K-Pop Academy’ program. The winners of the semi-finals will then compete in the finals, and the ultimate winner will be awarded a trip to Korea as a prize. The semi-finals and final round will be hosted in Delhi as part of a special cultural event celebrating the G20 Summit, featuring renowned K-Pop artists from Korea.
The All India K-Pop Contest, organised annually by KCCI, is now in its 13th edition. After being held online in 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s contest marks a return to an offline, large-scale festival event.
