A Filipino-Korean mom won at the K-pop World Audition contest held in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province in South Korea.
Karen Aguilar Kim, who is married to a Korean and has two kids, bagged the gold prize or second place at the competition held on May 25 in celebration of the Cheonan K-Culture Expo, taking home 3 million won (P127,000).
Karen Aguilar Kim performing at the K-pop World Audition contest in South Korea where she won second place (Photos from Karen Aguilar Kim)
Kim, who is from Malolos, Bulacan in the Philippines and now a resident of Sejong in South Korea, performed "Song of the Wind" by veteran Korean singer Cho Yong-pil to bag the prize.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin on May 31, Kim described it as a miracle about her journey in the competition.
Under the K-pop World Audition, contestants can sing, dance or rap. The contest was divided into two categories: Koreans and foreigners.
A total of 406 teams consisting of 1,026 people from 22 countries auditioned for the K-pop contest.
Kim said the head of the multicultural center in Sejong called her to audition for the contest. Although she was having trouble with her voice at the time, she was able to record a song titled “The Dream” which she submitted as her audition piece.
When the results of the first qualifying round were announced on May 7, she was not chosen in the top 12 competitors among foreigners.
“Kasi yung competition ay world talaga, yung mga nag-audition mga taga-Russia, Indonesia at Vietnam (The competition was really worldwide, those who auditioned were from Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam),” said Kim.
However, when she looked at the list, she was No.1 on the waiting list.
“In case na walang makarating na isa or dalawang group, kami po ang kukunin. Nawalan na ako ng pag-asa pero pray pa rin ako ng pray. Kasi matagal na akong walang singing competition (In case one or two groups will not be able to make it, we will be the ones to be included [in the top 12]. I lost hope but I kept praying. Because I didn’t have any singing competition for a long time),” she said.
The following day, organizers called her to say that one group didn’t make it because of a visa.
“Iyak po ako niyan, tumatalon po ako sa tuwa. E napasok po ako sa top 12 (I cried and jumping for joy. I entered the top 12),” she said.
There were 12 Korean semifinalists who competed on May 23 and 12 foreign semifinalists on May 24 including Kim.
Among the 12 in each group, six were chosen as finalists. Kim was among the six finalists in the foreign category. The 12 finalists competed on May 25.
Five judges evaluated the finalists based on creativity and artistry (10 points), completeness (30 points), technique (10 points), star quality 30 points and on-site voting (20 points).
Among them were Lee Sol-lim, the former director of SM Academy under SM Entertainment, and producer Kim Seung-nam from YG Entertainment, the Korea Times reported.
Japanese exchange student Tsutsumi Rai, 21, who danced to EXO member Baekhyun’s “UN Village, won the grand prize, taking home 10 million won (about P423,446).
Kim won the gold prize and 3 million won followed by the Korean dance group 4X4 Studio, which won the silver prize and 2 million won (P84,686) and Korean student group SUS4, which won the bronze prize and 1 million won (P42,345).
In addition, she also won in another contest, a trot singing competition, at the expo, taking home 700,000 won (about P29,600).
According to Kim, she has been living in South Korea for 10 years, starting in 2014, where she met her husband.
Since she was little in the Philippines, Kim said she has been into singing because her uncles were members of a band.
“Seven pa lang kumakanta na ako sa school tapos 13 nagbanda ako, mga tito ko yung ka-banda ko.
In 2020, Kim was declared the grand champion in the Migrants Arirang Multicultural Festival (MAMF) singing contest in South Korea.
The following year, she won again in the MAMF Battle of the Champions, edging out competitors from other countries.
Kim said her Korean husband is very kind and he is the one who searches for competitions for her. Sometimes she declines to join competitions because her priority is her family.