Dhaka’s very own K-pop stars

Nasir Rayhan, dhakatribune.com

Md Ayub Ali Tanvir was been declared as the winner of the local competition

The seventh K-Pop World Festival has finally begun in Changwon and as a part of the global round, the Bangladesh edition of the popular Korean cultural festival was held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on May 19.

Organised by the  and BD K-Family, the first and only Korean culture community here in Bangladesh approved by the South Korean government, this year’s event, like the previous editions, witnessed the enchanting participation of ten Bangladeshi K- Pop enthusiast teams and welcomed a charming audience.

Md Ayub Ali Tanvir was been declared as the winner of the local competition. The sensational singer won an amount of Tk30,000 and a trophy for his singing talents and an equally fabulous guitar play. On the other hand, Xpress D’Crew, a spry street dance crew became the first runners up, winning Tk20,000 and a trophy.

The second runners up position, however, was a tie between Blue Poppers Dance Crew and D Positive Dance Crew. Both of the teams were rewarded with a cash prize money of Tk10,000.

The four qualified Bangladeshi teams from the first round of the semifinals of the contest will fly to Korea to participate in the live competition, to earn a spot in the grand finale.

Ahn Seong-doo, Hon’ble ambassador of South Korea, along with his wife, Song Goeun, Nusrat Imroz Tisha, goodwill ambassador for public diplomacy, Aktari Mamtaz, secretary, Bangladesh Public Service Commission Secretariat,  Hong Haekyung, vice-chairman, Korean community,  and singer Badhon Sarker Puja were present as special guests at the event.

The key organisers of the grand K-pop event were Park Mi-Seol, Tashnuva Zahan, Tina Zahan, Yuhaeng Lee, Saiful Islam and Jeongki Kim.

The K-POP World Festival is an annual international event organised by South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of numerous government agencies. After going through a few preliminary rounds, the selected participants are invited by the South Korean government to take part in the final round of the competition held every year in Changwon, South Korea. The competition has been taking place since 2011, but the regional round in Bangladesh has been taking place since 2015.

86 cities from 69 different countries were selected to hold the event this year.

K-pop, an abbreviation of Korean pop, is a music genre originating in South Korea that is characterised by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. Although it comprises all genres of «popular music» within South Korea, the term is more often used in a narrower sense to describe a modern form of South Korean pop music covering a range of styles and genres incorporated from the West such as Western pop music,  rock, jazz, hiphop, R&B, reggae,  electronica, techno, rave, nu metal, folk, country and classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots.