2019 Changwon K-Pop World Festival: A Closer Look At The Mumbai Regional Round

The contest has a total of four rounds – an online round, a regional round, a national round and then the international final round. Winners from the regional round in Mumbai and other zones will participate in the national-level competition for a chance to represent India at the Grand Finale – the international round held in Changwon, Korea. This is the sixth edition of the annual contest in Mumbai and this year’s regionals boasted of a grand total of twenty nine performances.

The Dance Category

NamasteHallyu_AnonymousCrew — [Picture Credit: Leona Michyari]

The Mumbai regional round saw cover dance group ANONYMOUS Crew win first place in the Dance category with their performance of NCT 127‘s ‘Fire Truck‘.

The ANONYMOUS Crew excitedly described their journey – “It was (a) nerve wracking experience as after 2015 we finally made it to the finals this year and its (an) emotional moment for us as we were practicing for many months for this competition and we are happy about it. Finally our hard work paid off.”

In second place was XXIV/VII, with RELEVE coming in at third place.

The Vocal Category

NamasteHallyu_Hitali — [Picture Credit: Leona Michyari]

In the Vocal category, Hitali Vernekar took first place with her rendition of Kim BumSoo‘s ‘I Miss You‘. The solo vocalist, who dreams of one day performing a duet with EXO‘s Chen expressed her happiness on winning the regional round and commented – “I have been participating from (the) past two years now and this is the only stage where you get to perform K-pop songs.“

In second place was Eman Choudhary and in third, Bharti Gupta.

The K-Pop Fans

The enthusiasm and energy of both the performers and the fans was astounding. Here’s what a few of the audience members had to say about the K-Pop contest and their love for K-Pop!

“K-Pop is not just about music and dance but it also portrays Koreans and their culture in general and K-Pop for me is an emotion. It’s about getting people together from all walks of life.”

“This is my first time to watch K-pop contest performances and I got goose bumps while watching participants perform.”

“I am (a) huge fan of K-pop and was excited to see performances. I hope that I overcome my stage fear and I participate next year.”

As the K-Pop fandom grows wider and more diverse in our country every year, fans hope that what was once a niche interest becomes more mainstream and accepted.

Stay tuned for more on the 2019 Changwon K-Pop World Festival!