While live stage performances couldn’t be held owing to the pandemic, K-Pop fans needn’t fret as the Bengaluru regional round of the K-Pop India Contest 2020 will be streamed online on August 9 at 5 p.m. The performances have been pre-recorded and will be available to watch on Bengaluru K-Wave Fanclub’s YouTube channel BKF India.
A total of 1,344 people from across the country have participated in the competition which has three rounds: online audition, regional round and grand finale.
The first round had 458 winners from 18 cities. They will now compete in two categories (vocal and dance) for two spots from each city in the regional round, which is scheduled to end on August 16. The cities include Aizawl, Dehradun, Patna, Mumbai, Delhi, and Itanagar, many of which have already held their regional rounds. Since Kerala doesn’t have its own region-wise contest, participants from there have applied through Bengaluru.
Says Neetha Bhat, co-admin of BKF, “Usually, the competition happens on an international level. The people who win in India usually get to perform in South Korea. This year owing to the situation, the competition was cancelled. But in order to keep the spirit of K-Pop going and for all the hard work people have put in, the Korean Cultural Centre, India, has organised a national-level competition.”
She adds, “We are planning to have the event like how it would have been held at the venue, as much as possible. We have messages from certain people, introductory videos, judges’ info, and then we will start the contest comprising 27 performances. In between, we will also have entertainment elements like quizzes and special performances.”
Neetha says the highlight is the predominantly young performers. “The youth are really interested in K-Pop. So, we have a lot of young, talented participants from about 14 years old to 24 years old. It’s really fun to watch! Even if they are young, that is no hindrance to the energy they have and the performance they give. It’s fabulous.”
