When Korean Cultural Centre India and LG jointly announced the schedule of the 8th edition of K-pop Contest early in 2019, it was known that the Korean pop wave would sweep us off our feet. with more than 3,000 participants this year!
Regional winners from across India competed at the final round in New Delhi on July 29. And the final winners — Lokalz Crew (dance) — will represent India and compete in Changwon K-Pop World Festival.
The occasion was also graced by many imminent personalities, among whom Alexa, and boy band IN2IT performed at the end of the competition. The seven member boy band IN2IT’s name brings out a direct phrase “In to it.”
The boys rocked the staged and had everyone at their feet cheering and greeting the charming band of youth. I had heard that the boys tend to make their fans fall into their intuitive charms — well, their name justifies their stage presence and power packed performance.
Last time, the group performed on ‘Bole Churiya’, whereas this time they chose a Punjabi song to perform bhangra. In a brief chat the boys shared their thoughts on K-pop, Indian music and food, and their plans of working with Ranveer Singh.
Excerpts form an interview:
What is the reason that K-Pop stands out from other pop music across the world?
K-pop is different, each song has as inspirational story behind, a message to motivate. The performance style is also different, singing and dancing is jointly performed.
Would we get to see you in a Indian music-K-pop fusion in the near future?
We would really wish to work with ‘Gully Boy’ – Ranveer Singh, do a short of rap battle or some music video together. Aamir Khan is our favorite, we loved watching 3 Idiots and Dangal.
This is your second time in India. Have you travelled around?
During our last visit, we wanted to visit to Taj Mahal. This time we have done some research and want to visit red fort. The fans are very expressive. The kind of love and cheers which we receive from India is nowhere else.
What’s your take on Indian food?
We enjoyed paneer naan and butter chicken, tandoori chicken, thali, etc. Now-a-days, we have many Indian restaurants in Korea and we visit those places whenever we miss India! Some of us are also willing to try some street food here as well.
K-Pop is now a global phenomena. How did you decide to become a K-Pop artist? What was the process like?
Inpyo: The reason why I became a singer is because of my family. I can remember a happy memory of going to Noraebang(karaoke) with my parents when I was young. As a result, I naturally listened to many genres of songs and sang along, and eventually found my talent in singing. And it was fun as well, so it became my dream.
People say that it is hard to have a hobby that one likes as a job, but as I ran for my dream while working hard and enjoying it, I then realised that I’d become a singer already. This gives me hope that one can do what they want to if they try hard enough.
Hyunuk: I was an ordinary engineering student, but I had a dream of becoming a singer since I was young. So as I kept trying to pursue my dream, I met with a good opportunity to challenge my dream and became a singer.
Inho: I decided to become a singer after seeing Korea’s famous musical actors, Cha Ji Yeon and Park Eun Tae for the first time. I was so fascinated by their charisma on the stage, stable live performance, and rich facial expressions that I wanted to become like them.
Jiahn: Once I sang in front of many of my school mates when I was young. The feeling that I acquired on the stage combined with my interest in music, made me dream of a singer who can give messages and make people feel through music.
Yeontae: I love music and wish to encourage and empower other people with my songs. It was Insooni – a legendary Korean singer – who inspired me a lot, to have a dream of sharing the feelings that I received from her stage, to become a singer.
Isaac: I can’t live without music and I realised that music is a very important thing in my life. Actually I had a dream to become a singer in Korea since I was 14. I watched TVXQ’s ‘Mirotic’ music video on TV and I decided to become an artist.
About K-Pop?
K-POP refers a pop music from South Korea, covering mostly dance-pop, pop ballad, electronic, rock, hip-hop, R&B, etc. The popularity of the genre increased globally over the last few years through K-pop artists called ‘Idols’. The most well known K-pop band is BTS (Bangtan Boys) — the fist Korean group to win 4 Billboard Music Awards, including ‘Top Group Awards’ in 2019. India recognized K-Pop through Psy’s Gangnam Style in 2012 for the first time, but now the interest for K-Pop and Korean culture of young generation gets more intense despite of language gap through internet.
And that's how it's done! 