New Delhi: Just like the monsoon waves, Hallyu waves have also entered Delhi city. The Hallyu waves (K-POP) which were earlier assumed to be popular only in the North Eastern part of India have slowly gained momentum in the heart of Delhiities and also in many other states of our country. For Indians, Psy and his iconic Gangnam Style made this genre so popular, that even in the weddings we could see people grooving to the beats of the Gangnam Style.
Looking at the craze for K-POP in India, the Korean Culture Center, had organized the 5th edition of “K-POP CONTEST” at Korean Cultural Centre, Lajpat Nagar. The auditions in India began with Delhi Auditions. The contest which started as a small event in the capital back in 2012 has now gone national with participation from all over the country.
The first K-pop performance in India was done by N-Sonic in 2014, after which the craze for K-POP in India went on increasing with time. More than 70 participants were selected from Delhi round, the hall with the seating capacity of 500 audiences over crowded.
This year the contest had been organized in 7 regions namely Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna, Bengaluru, Chennai and Sikkim.
The judges’ panel included- Kim Kum Pyoung – Director Korean Cultural Centre, India, Byungsun Lee - Director, Korea Tourism Organization, Namkyu Kim - General Manager, Korea International Trade Organization, Hyosun Choi - General Manager, LG electronics.
Judge Byungsun Lee said, 'looking at such a positive response from Delhi crowd, I was completely amazed as I have heard that in India the maximum love for K-POP can be seen in north-eastern parts. But looking at such an enthusiastic participation I can say for sure that the Hallyu waves had made their way into the heart of Delhi people.'
Kim Kum Pyoung, Director of Korean Cultural Centre India said, 'Participation this year was huge. The hard work of participants was seen in this competition. Selecting the finalist was a toughest job. Now, we can truly say that K-POP has made its place in the Indian Heart.”'
Dinesh and Aditya from Flo Fist Crew were participating for the 2nd time. They found the competition tougher than last year. Their Dream is to perform with BTS Band (Famous Korean Band).
Abhishek and Kapil from Evolution Crew are trained dancers and have worked on Hip Hop, Bollywood, Popping, Western and Indian Folk dance.
Tsering Palzom from Girl Crush Crew said that she is following K-POP dance from 2008. After seeing the video of K-POP dance over net, she fell in love with K-POP. Their group consists of 5 members, all crazy for K-POP. They are also huge fan of BTS Group and JJCC band.
The contest officially took off in May 2016 with its online audition, which was judged by celebrity judges JJCC’s (Jacki Chain Group) Eddy and Simba.
The dance finalist for Delhi auditions were: FloFist Crew, Evolution crew, 3 plus 4 crew, The Mad Max Crew, klassy kats dance crew, Rhythmix, Devil Squad, Soulja's, Girl Crush and Lokalz crew. All the dance crews gave their enthusiastic crowd the most energetic and power pack performances.
The much awaited dance crew was 3 plus 4 Crew, who had also performed in the 2015 “K-POP” Delhi finale. The power packed performances of all the dance crews made the crowd dance on their beats.
Along with the dance contest there was also a music contest which showed us the most talented K-pop singers of the region. The selected singers for Delhi regional round were Sangkim & Aarciah, Shambhavi Srivastava, Wilson, Abhijeet, Sohidzi Hasnu, Sumit Sadawati, Jincy Jacob, Emmy Haokip and Jimmy Abraham, Saakshi Varsha Lama, Stella, Bharti Gupta, JeN-X, Pranjli. Listening to these talented singers was an exhilarant moment for the crowed. The singers were so proficient that they made the crowd dance to their mesmerizing tunes.
But while the crowds cheered, the judges had a very tough time in deciding the winners among all the talented participants.
The winners from the regional round will compete for the Grand Finale in Chennai. The winning team at the grand finale will be nominated for the Changwon K-POP World Festival.
