By Damiete Braide
It was not just a dance and singing competition but a blend of Nigerian and Korean culture displayed by Nigerian youths at this year’s edition of Korea Pop Festival, organised by Korean Embassy and Korean Cultural Centre, which was held at TerraKulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, during the week.
With their mesmerising moves, the contestants took to the stage to show the audience what K Pop was all about, with the music and energy flowing through the celebration of the power of K Pop and unity.
In the singing category, 10 contestants made it to the finals and sang different Korean songs of their choice while contestants in the dance category had 10 teams dance to various Korean songs.
Winner of the Dance category, Team Ray Jay, danced to “Alexa” by Wonderland, and they won N500,000 and a trip to Korea, while the first runner-up, Team Switch, received N300,000 with their performance of “Save Me” by Bits. Triumphant X emerged the second runner up with their performance of “On” by Bits, and received N200,000.
In the Singing category, Joy Malik emerged the winner with her poem, “You” by Taeyeon, while Joy Elo Ossai emerged first runner-up with her song “Child by Mark Lee”, as Olonode Joseph emerged second runner-up with his song “Eyes, Nowse, Lips” by Taeyang.
In his address of welcome, Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Kim Young Choe, said 20 teams succeeded in reaching the finals through practice and teamwork. The winners of this competition will have an opportunity to visit Korea by the invitation of the Korean government.
“I commend the founder of Terrakulture, Bolanle Austen-Peters, and her team for being part of an advocacy for the promotion of arts and culture, and the partnership will further flourish in the coming years.
He disclosed Korea had developed mutually beneficial relations with Nigeria since 1980.
“On the cultural front, Nigeria is a super power in Africa in terms of her music, movie, literature, fashion and painting. Today’s K Pop Festival is to further promote the pop culture which is very popular in Nigeria and at the same time create a bond between Nigeria and Koreans living in Nigeria.
Kayode Akiolu, member of House of Representatives, Lagos Island Constituency II, said the future of the world belonged to the youths and all the contestants have chosen a path in their life, which was a right path in entertainment which is a major industry in the world, and we are happy that youths participation is increasing in entertainment.
“I urge Nigerians to also partner with Korea in the entertainment sector. Nollywood is number two in the world, and with the youths, we will surely become number one in the entertainment world.
“I am so glad to be here to see young Nigerians working hard to do things for themselves positively, and I know Nigeria has a bright future. Through this K Pop Festival, culture has fostered peace and unity between Nigeria and Korea.”
Vallery Jerry, leader of Team Jay, which won the competition, said, “We feel good and overwhelmed because we didn’t expect to win the competition, winning it is like a surprise to us.
“We thank God for giving us the grace to win the competition, and we are going to work harder and our fans should expect the best from us.”