Winners emerge at 2024 K-pop festival music, dance contest in Lagos

Winners have emerged at the grand finale of the regional preliminary round for the 2024 K-POP World Festival music and dance competition recently held at the Terra Arena, Victoria Island Lagos.

The festival was organised by the Korean Cultural Centre in collaboration with Terra Kulture to keep up with its annual tradition of celebrating the best of dancers and this year, singers as well.

This edition featured a dance and singing contest, parading 20 finalists from the rigorous selection process and it was an opportunity for the contestants to showcase their talents using Korean songs as the medium of expression in dance and songs.

Songs from K-pop icons such as BTS, Kai, Hwasa, and Bae Suji among others in the hot playlist. Despite the language barrier for some in the audience, the energy of the show proved top-notch with every performance with judges being Jang Eun Jae, Praise Nelson and Seo Ye Na.

In his opening speech, Consul General, Lagos Office of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Lee Sang-Ho expressed his gratitude to partners and commended the contestants, describing Nigeria as Africa’s superpower in creativity.

He said, “On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the K-POP World Festival in Nigeria this year, it is also an honour for this grand finale of the regional preliminary round to be held in Lagos, the economic and cultural hub of Nigeria.

“As you know, K-POP World Festival is the world’s largest Korean wave festival in which global fans from all over the world participate. Since its inception in 2011, this event which is being hosted jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea and Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), is held through preliminary rounds in many countries around the world.

“Several teams of the world that passed the preliminary rounds will advance to the finals which promises to include spectacular stage performances by famous Korean idols and artists, which will be held in Changwon city in Korea and broadcasted to the world through the KBS World broadcast channel.

“I acknowledge the unique potentials, talents and artistry story of the Nigerian youths, especially their exceptional passion for dance and music which is recognized globally. I believe this has resulted in Nigerian musicians constantly creating popular sensational music with global acclaim.”

Sang-Ho further stated that the event serves as an avenue for cultural exchange and promotes good diplomatic relations between Korea and Nigeria.

“At this juncture, I would like to mention that this event is important as it affords a significant value for cultural exchange between Korea and Nigeria which established diplomatic relations in 1980. Since 2011, with the opening of the Korean Cultural Center Nigeria (KCCN), the first in the African continent which commemorated the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between both countries, this cultural exchange has witnessed the expansion of modern Korean waves like K-POP, K-Drama, K- Foods, K-Beauty, K-Fashion, and even K-Music led by BTS, Blackpink (these artists are very popular among Nigerian youths).”

“Among the Korean Wave Cultures, the K-POP is trending, becoming more popular these days among many young people, especially Nigerian youths. K-POP beats and dance steps are tunes that the Nigerian youths can easily dance, sing, relate and vibe with as it keeps their hopes, aspirations and dreams alive making it more enshrined among teenagers

“The 2024 K-POP Festival is being held in Lagos for the second consecutive year. I hope in the near future more such Korean Waves cultural events will be held in Lagos, as Lagos is evolving into a MEGA CITY and the cultural exchanges between Korea and Nigeria is becoming more active and exhilarating.”

In the end, the winners were announced in the singing category with Mayowa Miller winning the second prize of 300,000 and Victory Nwago clinching the first prize of 400,000.

In the dance category, B stars won the third prize of 300,000, Femmeforce came second with a 500,000 prize, while X-MOB won the first prize of 700,000. All the winners also got special household appliances from the sponsors of the event LG.

One of the highlights of the K-pop festival was the singing and dance performances by two South Korean judges Jang Eun Jae and Seo Ye Na.

 

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