Infinity Challenge festival to shake K-pop market

From left, Taeyang, Hwang Kwang-hee and G Dragon in a scene from Infinity Challenge / Screen capture from Naver tvcast

K-pop fans are eagerly awaiting new hits that will be introduced this summer at a high-profile music festival hosted by TV entertainment show Infinity Challenge.

Saturday’s episode on MBC showed the six regular members brainstorming over what songs to perform at the Infinity Challenge Music Festival. The event has been held every two years since 2007 and each time it has created a real buzz for the songs made by the program’s stars alongside professional singers.

Jeong Hyeong-don, right, and rock band Hyukoh in a scene from Infinity Challenge

As the program is gearing up for the launch of the festival, the public’s interest has grown. The program’s previous episode made headlines as the members met six groups of musicians and each teamed up with one group to perform at the festival.

Some teams have drawn more attention from the public than others, raising curiosity over what songs they will cook up and how well they get along while preparing for the festival.

Jeong Hyeong-don, teamed up with rock band Hyukoh, and

Hwang Kwang-hee with singers G Dragon and Taeyang from idol boy band Big Bang have especially raised fans’ high expectations for their songs.

The program has recorded over 20 percent of TV rating on Saturday, thanks to the festival.