K-Pop fest at SM North SkyDome
The Korean Embassy’s Korean Cultural Center recently treated mallgoers to a K-Pop festival featuring the Happy Hallyu Day and the 2016 Pinoy K-Pop Star competition at the SkyDome of SM City North EDSA.
A joint project of the Korean Cultural Center of the Korean Embassy, in partnership with SM and the Philippine K-Pop Convention, Inc. (PKCI), the Happy Hallyu Day promoted Korean culture and products as well as KPop music and dramas. “Hallyu” is the term used for the Korean cultural wave and its fast-growing popularity of entertainment and culture.
The Hallyu Day celebration included fun activities and games about all things Korean — the Trip to Korea musical chairs and the Korean Drama Quiz. There were also Korean artists photo areas, fans club exhibits and booths, talks by different K-Pop writers about traveling to Korea, K-Pop fashion and style, Korean make-up demo and open-stage performances. Winners in the performances have an opportunity to be an opening act for the annual K-Pop Convention in December. The Korean Cultural Center also opened the 2016 Pinoy K-Pop Star competition to talented Filipinos with the growing interest in Korean culture. Twenty finalists showed off their talents as they aimed to be the Philippines’ rep- resentatives for the K-Pop Festival (dance competition) and the KBS K-Pop World Festival (singing competition) in the performance and vocal categories.
In the vocal category, Andrea Fe Padilla was declared as the grand prize winner, followed by John Paul Soliva for the second place and Venisse Nicole Siy for the third place. Andrea and John Paul will represent the Philippines in the Online Regional Finals for the upcoming K-Pop World Festival in Changwon, South Korea.
In the dance category, 10 groups showed off their K-Pop moves with costumes to complement the whole performance. EXOTIX emerged as grand champion, winning a free trip to Korea to participate in the K-Pop Festival in Changwon. The group will represent the Philippines and compete with other dance teams from around the world. AMIGO7 and NOXX placed second and third, respectively.
The event was opened with a performance by last year’s winner Val John Librea. Dasuri Choi, the Korean Cultural Center of the Korean Embassy K-Pop dance instructor and Eat, Bulaga!’ s Korean Dancing Diva, was a hit with K-Pop lovers. Hwang Yohan, the Grand Touristar of ABS-CBN’s I Love OPM serenaded K-Pop fans as the closing act of the whole event.