Hallyu in India: Skill level of K-POP contestants rising: Korean Cultural Centre

New Delhi: The K-POP India contest 2021 organized by Korean Culture Centre India came to a successful end with the vocal winner – Ayushi Singh from Lucknow and dance winner Fusion Reborn group from Ahmedabad. In spite of challenges due to the pandemic, the event was able to attract huge participation from Pan India. The finale had selected 40 teams; 20 Vocal and 20 from the Dance category with 100 participants.

Chang Jae-bok the Ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to India and Mayank Aggarwal the director-general of DDTV congratulated the winners.

The Director of Korean Cultural Centre India, Hwan IIl-yong said, “As the years go by the skills of the Contestants who participate in the K-POP India Contest is improving. In the current year, we saw some outstanding performances. I think with such remarkable skills we can no longer refer to the participants as amateurs.”

The contest was aired on the Youtube channel of KCCI. This year the finale round had a special performance by KASHYAP, an upcoming singer-songwriter launched by Sony Music’s new label for independent music Day One. Viewers from PAN India enjoyed the live screening.

This year the contest had a curtain raiser performance by K-POP Super Star Hyolyn, who is a former member of the Sensational K-POP girl group Sistar and is now active as an incredible solo artist. Hyolyn did a special Instagram live on the Korean Cultural Centre’s official Instagram channel and interacted with her fans in India and wished participants for their best performances for the final round. Hyolyn’s also gave a live screening of some of her top hits.

Owing to the COVID-19 and the safety protocols in place the K-POP India Contest 2021’s First Round (Online Round) was conducted from July 16th to August 16th and saw participation from 3,664 contestants (Vocal: 1,863/ Dance: 1,801) from across the county. From these 402 contestants (Vocal: 192/ Dance: 201) moved on from the 1st Round (Online Round) to the Regional Round conducted Online in 20 cities from September 25th till October 31st. The Regional Round had 85,098 viewers (likes: 8,484 / Comment: 10,877) tuning in, to show their support for their favorite contestants and to show their support for K-POP.

The Winners of the K-POP India Contest 2021 Solo Singer Ayushi Singh from Lucknow, 8 membered Dance Team Fusion Reborn from Ahmedabad will be receiving some special prizes and an opportunity to visit Korea, if the situation allows. The purpose of the visit is to encourage cultural experiences and exchange as well as visit KPOP-related facilities. And additionally, the 1st Runner up, 2nd Runner up, 4th Runner up, as well as the Popularity Award Winners and all the participants of the Final Round will get a prize.

The K-POP India Contest is an annual conducted by the Korean Cultural Centre India since 2012, and in the current year, it marked 10 years of the contest. In the year 2018, the First Lady Kim Jung-sook of the Republic of Korea, visited India and attended the K-POP India Contest Final Round to encourage participants and K-POP Fans.