K-pop festival heats up Dallas
2018 Dallas K-pop Festival. Courtesy of Dallas branch of the Korean Consulate General in Houston
By Dong Sun-hwa
The Dallas branch of the Korean Consulate General in Houston and KPOP Dallas held a 2018 Dallas K-pop Festival, a Korean culture and K-pop competition, on Saturday, with 17 teams participating and 700 spectators.
The first preliminary took place online on May, with people voting for their favorites among 52 teams composed of 120 contestants. Seven teams for singing and 10 teams for cover dance moved on to the Saturday festival.
The winner of the cover dance contest was Tere Akira from Miami, who danced to the song “MOVE” by Taemin, a member of K-pop boy band SHINee.
Annabelle, who sang the ballad version of the song “Into the New World” by K-pop girl band Girls' Generation, won the singing sector.
“I first learned about K-pop thanks to YouTube. I like K-pop because the songs are rich in sentiment, helping people share feelings,” Annabelle said.
“The Dallas K-pop festival is not merely a stage to single out finalists heading to Korea, but is rather a flagship hallyu festival of Dallas and a place for communication that shows the power of Korean culture,” said Lee Sang-soo, a Korean diplomat stationed in Dallas.
“We will work enthusiastically to let American mainstream society know about our nation, with K-pop as a medium.”
The winners face one more round in the U.S. in a bid to make the final in Changwon, Korea, on Oct. 5.