Riya Choudhary and Seema, Delhi
Guntur Regional Round of the K-Pop India Contest 2020 was conducted online on 3rd August 2020, at 5:30 p.m. on the YouTube channel, AP K-POPPERS. Here is an excerpt from the statements of the winners of the Dance and Vocal categories and the Regional Round organiser, AP K-POPPERS, regarding their experience of this event.
Dance Category
Ms. Pooja Singha (Winner)
Hello! I am Pooja Singha, and I am 21 years old. I am the winner of the Guntur Regional Round in the Dance category. I participated in this contest because of my love for K-Pop and the happiness that I derive from it. Just being a part of this contest makes me feel amazing. Dance is my passion, and winning in this category is priceless to me. Winning the regional round has boosted my confidence to prepare even harder and give my best at the finale. My inspiration to take part in this contest is the K-Pop culture. I have been keenly watching how beautiful and accepting the K-Pop culture is. Another inspiration is the K-Pop idol, Alexa, who also performed at the K-Pop Contest 2019. Her energy and charisma impacted me when I saw her performing last year. Since then, I made up my mind that I will perform on her song for sure. And there I was dancing on Alexa’s song ‘Bomb’ that became my winning performance.
Ms. Ankita Majumdar (First Runner-up)
Hello! I am Ankita Majumdar, and I am 19 years old. I am the first runner-up of the Guntur Regional Round in the Dance category. I still remember I was so excited when I got to know that I was selected for the regional round; it meant so much to me. And then winning it was like a dream come true for me. I am an ARMY and a Byulharang, so BTS and Chungha have always been my inspiration. Also, thanks to my younger sister who was selected in last year’s Regional Round in the Vocal category. She made me witness the craze of the Hallyu Wave in my state. I was so fascinated that I wanted to participate as well. It is one of the best decisions that I have ever taken, and I bet not a single K-Pop and K-Drama lover would ever regret participating in it. The experience itself is amazing!
Ms. Bandhavi (Second Runner-up)
Hello! I am Bandhavi, and I am 21 years old. I am the second runner-up of the Guntur Regional Round in the Dance category. I first came to know about K-Pop in 2019 while surfing YouTube and decided to do a dance cover of the BTS’ ‘Boy with Luv’. It was my friend who told me about this contest, and since then, my journey into the world of K-Pop started. In 2019, I participated in this contest and got selected till Nationals, which I did not expect. Due to the lockdown, I thought this year there would be no K-Pop Contest, but then they announced the online contest. Winning again makes me happy, and I will never forget these memories. Since childhood, I wanted to be a dancer and a singer, but I had never got the opportunity where I could showcase both. After knowing about K-Pop, I felt this is what I have always dreamt of, and this drove me to participate in this K-Pop Contest. I will be practicing more to achieve my dream of becoming an idol.
Vocal Category
Mr. Satvik Chenjeri (Winner)
Hi! I am Satvik Chenjeri, and I am 17 years old. I am extremely grateful that I was chosen as the winner of the Guntur Regional Round in the Vocal category. When it was announced that the K-Pop Contest would take place this year as well, I was extremely excited, and I dedicated several hours to practice my song so much that now, even my family members know the song. After getting selected in the Online Round, I was delighted, and I decided that I had to give my best to it. I have always been into music and singing, especially for the last 2 years, and I am also a huge K-Pop fan. So, I saw this contest as an opportunity to grow as a performer and an artist. Hence, my drive and passion for music and performance inspired me to take part in the K-Pop Contest 2020 and ultimately win the Regional Round.
Ms. K. Sai Raxita (First Runner-up)
Hello, I am K. Sai Raxita, and I am 15 years old. I am the first runner-up of the Guntur Regional Round in the Vocal category. Overall, taking part in this contest was a really good experience for me. Honestly, I did not expect that it will be held in such a smooth manner. The only inspiration for a K-Pop and a K-Drama fan is to visit South Korea once. That is the same for me as well. When I was practicing, I had the urge to showcase my talent and love for rapping. Watching other participants perform, thrilled me, and I was happy to be among such talented people. Both AP K-POPPERS and Korean Cultural Centre India did an amazing job of collecting the participants’ information and holding the live stream. Thank you for having me in this contest!
Ms. Zeenat Farheen Yesmin (Second Runner-up)
Namastey, India! 안녕하세요! I am Zeenat Farheen Yesmin, and I am 23 years old. I am the second runner-up of the Guntur Regional Round in the Vocal category. This is my first time participating in the contest. When I was qualified for the Regional Round, I was excited to showcase my voice to the world. The song I chose to sing was ‘Epiphany’ by Jin of BTS. I could barely contain my excitement! I have been an avid K-Drama and K-Pop fan since 2010. Later on, in 2016, I went on to become an ARMY, fandom name for BTS. My love for K-Pop nudged me to give this contest a shot. Since this year’s contest took place during the lockdown, we had to send a video from the comfort of our home. This was my inspiration behind participating in the K-Pop India Contest 2020. Saranghae!
Regional Organiser: AP K-POPPERS
Ms. Sravya Penikilapati
Hello! I am Sravya, the Head of Operations at AP K-POPPERS. First of all, we would like to thank KCCI for giving us this opportunity to organise Guntur Regional Round as a part of the K-Pop India Contest 2020 amidst the pandemic. We dream of bringing our beloved K-Culture to our state, Andhra Pradesh, and this contest one such attempt to introduce the culture to the state. Previously, we had teamed up with the Hyderabad-based Korean fan club to organise the K-Pop Contest in 2019. However, this year Guntur’s Regional Round was managed exclusively by AP K-POPPERS.
We were excited and nervous at the same time as organising a huge event at this scale was a first-time experience for us. It was a little difficult and challenging for us since our team is new, but they are all young and exuberant members. The groundwork really seemed hard, but we pulled it off. From gathering participants to social media advertising, editing, creating content, budget planning, they were so many things to do than we assumed initially. But one thing we can say that it was a good opportunity for us to learn new things.
You can watch the Guntur Regional Round here:
