Riya Choudhary, New Delhi

Guntur Regional Round of the K-Pop India Contest 2021 was conducted online on 3rd October 2021 at 7:00 p.m. IST on the KCCI YOUTUBE CHANNEL. 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.

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Dance Category

Team Hexons (Winner)

We are TEAM HEXONS, a six-member girl group consisting of group leader Nisha Kumari, and members Amisha Kumari, Puja Kumari, Mahi Rani Minz, Princy Tigga and Deeksha Baa from Jharkhand. We are the winners of the Guntur Regional Round in the Dance category. At first, we didn’t know each other personally, we were like strangers to each other but the devotion and love towards K-Pop helped us to unite together and form a group.

The overall experience was hectic as well as fun. We were all busy with our classes and we all had other things to do so our practice schedules didn’t match with each other. But we didn’t give up. We kept practicing at our home to clear our steps. We took time from our busy schedule once a week to practice together in which we mostly focused on our coordination and formation. Every member’s hard work has made winning in the regional worth it. We took part in this contest to prove how K-Pop has influenced our life. As K-Pop fans and a dancer, we want to show our talent, passion, and love towards kpop culture and challenge ourselves to work hard to compete against other amazing fellow participants.

Zannat (First Runner-up)

Hi K-Poppers! This is Zannat Jenifar Yasmin, and I won the first runner-up place in the Dance category from the region of Guntur. I came to know about this contest through KCCI and so I was really determined to participate this year and to top the cherry on that, I won as well for my dance on Dalla Dalla by Itzy at the regionals. Being an ARMY since 2017 with BTS,  the love for K-Pop, K-Dramas led me to show my talent and the prize was to win a trip to South Korea. What can be more fascinating than this? A huge thank you to KCCI and to APK Poppers from the core of my heart for hosting this.

Bandhavi (Second Runner-up)

Hi, I am Bandhavi DVS from Vizag. From my childhood, I wanted to be a performer where I loved to dance and sing all the time. So I started learning dance from the age of 5 years and it gives me immense pleasure while I sweat out and it’s like a huge relief. I used to have small concerts with my family and friends where we used to jam to songs and dance crazily. I had a lot of fun while practicing the song that I have chosen this year because it is a really hard choreo and I am happy that I could reach till here. I always used to dream of performing Live on a stage where I could give A whole vibe of Positivity and cheerfulness Which lead me into K-Pop and I feel grateful that I am enjoying Myself in the immense World of Music.

Vocal Category

Tejaswini (Winner)

Small town girl with Big World dreams. Music is what makes me feel alive. I am a Grade 8 Vocalist from the Trinity College, London. Inspired by the likes of Sohyang Shi, Son Seung-yeon Shi, Davichi shi, Ailee Shi, IU shi, Bangtan Sonyeondan. The overall experience has been nothing short of extraordinary. It was a dream come true. I took part in the contest to connect with more like-minded individuals who have a similar taste in Korean tradition, music, arts, and culture.

Satvik (First Runner-up)

Hi, I’m Satvik Chenjeri. I’m an aspiring singer-songwriter and performer from a small yet lively city in Andhra Pradesh, Vizag. I have always dreamt of being on stage ever since I was a kid and started professionally learning to sing right around the time I found K-Pop, so three years of me practicing and learning and I’m so glad it helped me get to this point in the contest, last year I was able to get to the finals but I’m so glad I got a runner up position this time because it shows that the competition in the contest is growing very much and that makes me very happy! I hope I come back next year! I chose a very tough song to cover and had been practicing for a month before the auditions were open and I was so glad that I got to get this far in the competition! It was amazing!! My immense love for performing and kpop, and this is the exact combination of both and I couldn’t be happier that I got this opportunity! Thank you.

Varshitha (Second Runner-up)

I’m Varshitha and I’m from Vizag, Andhra Pradesh. Music has always been my biggest therapy. Ever since I was a kid, I was so into singing, and I also took part in a number of competitions. Being on stage and performing gives me happiness. K-Pop was one big turn in my life. I started focusing on every detail and I also got to try different styles of music that I’ve never sung before. This was such a great opportunity for me! I’m extremely happy to place 3rd and I sincerely thank KCCI for giving all of us this opportunity to express ourselves and our love for K-Pop. I have always loved singing and performing, and Kpop is what made me love it more. So both combined together are what made me take part in this contest.

Regional Organiser

Apkpoppers

Hello, We are Apkpoppers! Just like last year due to the pandemic,  we had to continue with the online contest. Organizing the contest is not an easy task, especially with only a few people handling a whole lot of participants. All the organizers have their own busy schedules,  despite which, we tried our best by sharing tasks among ourselves. We were finally able to coordinate and work within the deadlines. Everything fell in place and turned the outcome better than we expected.

We Apkpoppers Thank Korean Culture Center for trusting us with KPOP CONTEST 2021 Guntur Regional for two years in a row. And our Team Sravani Penikilapati, Sowjanya Vanapalli, Madhuri Kolli will continue to do our best and work towards it in the future as well.

You can watch the Guntur Regional Round here: