Smiti Iyer (New Delhi)

Delhi Regional Round of K-Pop India Contest 2022 was conducted online on YouTube Channel of Korean Cultural Centre India on 3rd June at 2PM (IST). Here’s an excerpt from the statements given by vocal and dance category winners as well as the organiser Korean Culture India Fan Club of the event. Let’s take a look at them.

Vocal Category

Unnati Bilwal (Winner)

Hello, my name is Unnati Singh Bilwal, I am 20 years old and I am from Noida, Uttar Pradesh. I am the Delhi Regional Round winner of K-Pop India Contest 2022 and right now the finalist for the same. My experience of K-Pop India Contest has been both rough and fun. This is my fourth time I have participated in this contest but through this contest I have learned that you must never give up because some day you will get what you desire. This year I just gave my best without thinking about the outcome of winning or losing. I just thought that whatever I will get I will accept the result without being depressed or tensed about it. I actually didn’t even expected this year to be any different than the last 3 times I tried but yes this year just gave me the outcome and happiness that I worked hard for and I achieved my first goal towards being a singer.

This year was the least I expected to win or even get the popularity award but yes I can say that all my hard work paid off. I would really love to thank Korean Cultural Centre India for organizing such a great event for K-Pop fans like me and giving us this opportunity to showcase our various skills and talents. I would just like to say to everyone who wishes to be a singer like no other, just focus on what you do better and don’t compare yourself with anyone else. Because you should know that what you do and what skills you have are the most important part of your talent. Never try to achieve something which can damage you both mentally and physically and just loosen up and have fun. If you stay true to yourself and to your talent, then all your hard work and goals will just come to you on their own. As BTS says always love yourself and soon you will achieve every desire and goal you always wanted.

Prachi (First Runner-up)

Annyeong-haseyo, My name is Prachi Sharma, and I participated in K-Pop Contest 2022 through vocal category (Delhi) and was awarded with the second position. I always wait for this contest yearly as it is not only a platform to showcase one’s talent but also, we get to know so many artists and the exposure to such great talent is just amazing. I am really thankful to Korean Culture Centre of India to give this outrageous opportunity to candidates like us where we can enjoy this fabulous culture of Korea and K-Pop with so much fun and dedication. I started listening K-Pop during late 2016 through BTS and since then I’ve been a fan of K-Pop. One thing I really love about the contest is that experienced judges chose the winner of this competition and it is not based on voting solely which serves justice to new talent.

Talking about the event management, it was really great. We got tips from our event manager from Delhi- Ms. Prerna and she is the sweetest person ever. Her tips helped make this performance more engaging and enjoyable to us and our audience as well. She was always there when any of us needed her guidance. Some tips that I’d like to serve to the participants is that do not take this contest as a competition, like really. Try to give what you enjoy, what you really feel is connected to you. Your audience will to connect to it automatically. The contest is only to expose yourself to this culture, to new talent and artists and just go with that flow. Thank you! Saranghae.

Arundhati (Second Runner-up)

It was a really fun and unique event to be a part of. I have been wanting to participate in K-Pop contest since 2016 and I’m glad I took the leap and finally do it this year. I hoped to qualify to the regional finals when I participated in the preliminary online round but I didn’t expect that I would be one of the winners. It was overall not only an excellent opportunity to showcase my love for K-Pop and my abilities as a performer, but a learning experience as well. Even though the contest was online and I did not get to perform on stage, I am glad that I could still connect with my fellow contestants and make some friends along the way.

While preparing for the contest, my biggest tip to future participants would be to focus on the overall performance instead of trying to perfect a single thing such as a note or a run, and ignoring everything else. The judgement criteria is very holistic and includes pronunciation, stage presence, along with vocal ability. If i could do things differently, I would definitely work more on my pronunciation!

Dance Category

Vungi (Leader of MIXDUP) (Winner)

Me and my group MIXDUP were really excited when the announcement for K-Pop contest 2022 came out. It was a hectic month of choosing the song, preparing the choreography, thinking of outfits and locations but we made it all possible. Getting chosen for regionals was a dream come true for all of us. We were given a week to come up with the video. Again, going through the process of choosing outfits and thinking of location was a tedious job, but our hard work paid off and today we’re here as the winner of regional round of Delhi 2022, it definitely feels surreal but it is all because of the effort and hard work we put in, all these months. Throughout the process the members encouraged and motivated each other. All I want to say to the aspiring future contestants is that, if you’re going to participate in this contest, be ready to give your 100%, it isn’t easy, but with your will and motivation you can make it happen!

Rachita (First Runner-up)

Greetings!! My name is Rachita and I participated in K-pop India Contest 2022 Regionals Delhi. I am the 1st runner up of the Delhi Regionals round. It was a very amazing experience. Everyone was exceptional in their skills. Our admin gave us lot of tips and tricks on how to improve, whether it is dancing, singing, expressions or video shooting. We are all very great full for hat, it helped us to improve in various aspects. On the whole it was a very great experience which helped me to improve my performance and skills. To the future participants there is only one tip from my side that is to be confident and enjoy your performance the most and of course practice a lot , be it the steps or the expression just practice and record yourself again and again. Once again thank you KCCI for giving us various opportunities to show our talents. Thank you.

Mallika (Second Runner-up)

As much as I love dance, it is hard for me to showcase it publicly. The more I look at my recordings, the more flaws I identify, which sometimes encourages me to work on myself, or sometimes to give up. Still, I try my best to include dance in my life and work on my skills. This was my 3rd attempt for applying in the K-Pop India Contest. I didn’t clear the online round in my first two attempts. However, surprisingly that only motivated me to work hard for the next upcoming round. I feel it was the experience which made me really enjoy the process, irrespective of the achievement. This year, I participated as a solo contestant. Choosing a solo choreography was a tough task. I had a doubt if I could actually pull off the choreography of ‘Advice’. However, watching it multiple times made me take up the challenge. On the day of the recording, despite all the practice, I was filled with doubts. Somehow, I collected my guts and went for it. After a few weeks, the results were out. My friends congratulated me, while I was in the process of digesting the information. That sparked my motivation to give my best in the coming round. With great competitors from Delhi, I didn’t believe I could land a position in the regionals. So, being the 2nd runner up was a total shock for me. It really made me feel happy and accomplished. I feel this achievement will remind me to work hard when I’ll feel like giving up. I would like to thank everyone who supported me throughout the competition.

Performers who wish to participate in future should select a choreography they would enjoy performing. This will keep them motivated to work towards it. Visual learning could help in better understanding of the steps, it’s details and memorization. After learning the steps, consistent practice is required for a smoother performance. Listen closely to the song to identify the beats and flow of the choreography. Lastly, importance on expression and presentation are a must to make the performance more attractive.

Popularity Award Winners

Unnati Bilwal (Vocal Category)

Hello everyone, I am Unnati Singh Bilwal. I am 20 years old and I am from Noida, Uttar Pradesh. I am one of the finalists of the Kpop India Contest 2022 and the popularity award winner of the Delhi Regional Round. This is my fourth time participating in the K-pop India Contest and I didn’t expected to win the popularity award. I worked very hard for it and asked for help from a lot of my friends and family. They all supported me and voted for me. I am really happy that I have so many people who supported me and helped me to achieve my goal. I really didn’t expected at all to even win the popularity award. I am really thankful towards Korean Cultural Centre India for providing me such a great opportunity to showcase my talent. Thank you so much.

Navyaa (Leader of Ripped Souls) (Dance Category)

It was a splendid experience participating in the K-pop India Contest 2022 and winning the Popularity Award (Dance Category) of Delhi Regional Round. It was our first time participating in this contest and yet we reached this far. We all worked very hard and we’re proud of us for achieving something like this even though we had less time to prepare and many hurdles to pass through, but we stood strong and performed our absolute best in every aspect from choreography to location, make-up and even our attire. Also, thank you to the people who watched us, appreciated our talent, saw our potential and showered us with so much love and support. We are also grateful to the amazing regional organiser, the judges and the people working behind the scenes to make this wonderful contest happen. It was a great opportunity that provided us with a platform to showcase our talents to a huge audience. Next year, we look forward to seeing many more participants participating with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. Hope the best always win! Best wishes from our side!

Regional Round Organiser

Korean Culture India Fan Club

I am Prerna Tiwari, the admin of Korean Cultural India Fan Club as well as the organizer for Delhi Regional Round of K-Pop Contest 2022 would like to express my gratitude towards Korean Cultural Centre India, Limese and Hallyuism for organising and supporting this K-pop Contest. The online contest has shown everyone once again that the love and passion for Korean Culture are still growing strong in India. Slowly and gradually, it may also witness huge events in the coming few years. The interest in Korean Pop Music, Korean Dramas and Korean Beauty has also started increasing in India which is helping the Indian audience to get more glimpse of Korean Culture.

The participants in the Delhi Regional Round had been excellent performers and their support for each other was never-ending. I would also like to thank the fans for their never-ending support and love as they have always been an excellent audience.