The “Pinoy K-pop Star,” one of the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in the Philippines’ flagship programs, was held online on July 30.
Dubbed “2021 Pinoy K-Pop Star Transcend,” the event was hosted by Kring Kim and streamed on KCC’s Facebook and YouTube accounts. Guests were New Generation Dance Princess AC Bonifacio and P-pop group SB19.
Of the many submitted group and solo entries, six performers were declared winners by judges Happee Sy-Go, vice president and COO of PULP Live World; Dasuri Choi, K-Pop Dance Diva of the Philippines; and Ferdinand Isleta, head of the Arts Section of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
Winning first place is the all-female dance group Alpha PH, which won P30,000 for the feat. Formed in 2016, the group has been actively producing K-Pop dance covers under different genres for live events, competitions and for their very own social media channels. One of their biggest feats to date is their viral dance cover of Everglow’s anthem “Dun Dun,” which now has almost two million views.
Placing second and winning P20,000 is the newbie girl group DES7INY. The number 7 in their name symbolizes the number of days that they work in a week in order to prepare for a particular cover. Their Pinoy K-pop Star was the first time that they danced together.
Bagging third place and P15,000 is Aesir PH, an all-male cover group. K-Pop brought them closer to each other and in turn, it has also inspired them to help one another. Although it was their first time to cover their free song choice by Stray Kids, they took the challenge as a means to prove their skills and flexibility as performers.
Placing fourth to sixth places are Mix’In, Hiyas and Fatal, which will receive KCC gift bags along with trophies.
The six winners will have the chance to represent the Philippines in Changwon, South Korea this October. According to KCC, the six winners will be sent to KBS to be part of the roster of all the winners from all the KCCs abroad.
After which, they will be trimming the list to 20 to 30 groups/performers from which 10 will be selected as finalists. These finalists will be competing at the 2021 K-POP World Festival in Changwon.