MANY K-pop fans have been doing song, dance, and instrumental covers of their idols’ music and sharing these on social media, especially TikTok and YouTube.
These range from solo song covers at home, random dances on the streets, and flash mobs to band covers.
But what if these performers won’t need to be limited to just doing covers? What if they could actually perform with some of their favorite idols?
It is possible through the K-Community Challenge.
The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in the Philippines announced the opening of the registration period for its 2023 K-Community Challenge, where winning fans would be given the chance to visit South Korea for a week and perform on stage with K-pop groups iKON, KARD, and LIMELIGHT.
Winners would not need to worry about travel expenses because the organizers will cover all expenses for their flight, accommodation, and tour, the KCC said.
Contest mechanics
The K-Community Challenge is a video challenge that seeks to highlight Korean culture.
Participants will need to record their own performance videos based on three genres: Taekwonmu, K-percussion performance, and Joseon-Pop.
Interested applicants may register until September 10.
Anybody who loves Korean culture can join the challenge, according to its website. It is open to individuals around the globe and to foreigners living in South Korea.
Each group should have at least one representative, but only five persons per group will have the chance to win prizes and other benefits.
Participation genres
Participants will have to choose from the three participation genres for their video performances and use songs from specific Korean artists.
For Taekwonmu, applicants will have to mix Poomsae or Taekwondo patterns in their routine as they dance to iKON’s U. They can also incorporate traditional dances from their home country or use Korean costumes or cultural props for the visuals.
The K-percussion Performance will require a combination of modern performance style and traditional Korean percussion rhythms. Applicants will perform KARD’s ICKY using ordinary percussion instruments.
Meanwhile, Joseon-Pop performers can either add their own choreography or use Korean cultural props for their performance to AUX’s Bak taryeong.
The song is based on the Korean traditional folk music pansori, which is performed by a vocalist with a drummer called gosu.
A guide video for this genre showed a modern band since Joseon-Pop blends performances of both traditional Korean music and popular music elements.
How to apply
To apply for K-Community Challenge, participants will need to follow these six steps:
- Subscribe to the official YouTube channel of K-Community Festival
- Choose one participation genre
- Download the official sound source from the genre you have chosen
- Watch the tutorial video or guide video and practice
- Record the performance video
- Post the video on your personal YouTube channel, including the hashtags #KCF #kcommunity_challenge #kcommunity_festival #Its_Ktraditional_time #KOFICE #KOCIS
Video titles should follow this format: [K-Community Challenge] genre_country_team name.
Participants are required to share their videos as the number of views will be taken into account during the evaluation.
Prizes and benefits
There are four kinds of prizes that will be given to the winners of the K-Community Challenge.
The Special prize and the Encouragement prize will consist of a Korean traditional culture gift set and a K-pop artist signed CD.
The Excellence prize will consist of a modernized Hanbok and a K-pop artist signed CD.
The Grand prize will give winners the chance to perform on stage at the K-Community Festival, a seven-day trip to South Korea, Hanbok or Taekwondo uniforms, and a K-pop artist signed CD.
The tentative date for the announcement of winners is in October.
The K-Community Festival will be held on November 24 at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul.
