The anticipation is running high for the upcoming Finale to the annual ‘K-POP India Contest 2020‘!
The K-POP CONTEST held Worldwide may have been cancelled this year but the Korean Cultural Centre India decided to go ahead and host the Indian edition of the K-POP Contest 2020 and after 2 rounds and months later, it is now time for the Grand Finale to be held on the 12th September (Saturday) at 5 PM IST which will be aired LIVE on the Korean Cultural Centre India‘s official YouTube channel.
The annual contest is an event that K-POP fans in India look forward to every year as it allows fans, cover artists and K-POP artists to come together for a few hours. But despite having transitioned to an entirely online platform to cope with and adhere to precautions against the COVID-19 pandemic, the enthusiasm has not faded. In fact, it seems to be just as high if not higher!
The Online Round
This year the rules for participation were drastically different. For one, group participation was prohibited to maintain social distancing. Both dance and vocal entries were covered by solo participants. The were no real changes of course to the first round – the ‘Online Round‘. Entries were uploaded to YouTube from 15th May to 15th June.
The Regional Rounds
The second round or the ‘Regional Rounds’ held from 15th July to 16th August, were hosted in eighteen selected regions and were handled on an online platform. These eighteen cities were – Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Guntur, Hyderabad, Imphal, Itanagar, Kohima, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna and Pune.
The Grand Finale
The third and final round or the ‘Grand Finale‘ this year will be held on 12th September at 5 PM and aired LIVE via the Korean Cultural Centre India‘s official YouTube channel. Out of 1344 selected entries, 36 finalists will be vying for the chance at winning the Grand Prize – a trip to South Korea!
The K-POP Contest’s Grand Finale has always been one of the main K-POP events on the calender for Indian K-POP fans. Every year prior, the winners of the regional rounds would travel to the state where the Grand Finale is being held to perform LIVE, infront of excited fans, professional and celebrity judges.
The result of the final round this year will be based on “100% public voting” as earlier announced by KCCI, differing greatly from previous years where the results were decided by judges. However, the method of voting and “Voting Criteria” is yet to be announced.
Another change in the rules this year, is that participants who have reached the finals will NOT be allowed to introduce surprise elements into their performance. However, Vocal participants must cover the first half of their song in Korean and the second half of their song in their own regional language or in English.
One might also wonder how the prizes have been affected. This year there will be a total of FOUR Grand Prize winners – two Dance category and two Vocal category winners will be receiving free trips to South Korea!
Check out the preview for the Grand Finale on KCCI’s IGTV – here!
With the finals looming before us, the anticipation is already running sky high and the latest announcement from KCCI is sure to have it peaking to a fever pitch. There will be a special message during the finale from Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Government of the Republic of Korea and… Everyone’s favourite global boy group BTS!
Yes! The boys of BTS have a special message for Indian K-POP Fans and it will be aired exclusively during the ‘K-POP India Contest 2020: Grand Finale‘!
So don’t forget to follow and subscribe to the KCCI‘s official YouTube channel to watch the ‘K-POP India Contest 2020: Grand Finale‘ on September 12th, at 5 PM IST!
Stay tuned for more!
