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Korean pop fest unearths Zim’s untapped talent

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO Follow Winstone on Twitter @widzoanto

THE country has great artistic talent that needs nurturing and given platforms to express themselves and enjoy benefits of their gifts.

These were the collective thoughts by guests who witnessed some local promising dancers and vocalists perform at the K-Pop World Festival 2022 Zimbabwe Preliminaries on Friday at The Venue in Avondale, Harare.

The competition was organised by the South Korean embassy in Zimbabwe.

Five winners were selected at the competition that featured 22 contestants selected after the first-round of online submission of a one-minute video of them singing or dancing to a Korean pop song.

The six-member Chitungwiza-based Extreme Dreamers Dance group scooped the first prize of US$500, while Tanaka Nicole pocketed US$300 in second place and Jam received the US$200 third prize.

The Best Visual Artist, Ashley and Best Team Work, Team Mamero got US$200 apiece for their efforts.

Hip-hop awards founder Aldrian Harrison and famous choreographer John Cole made up the competition’s judges panel.

Speaking to NewsDay Life & Style on the sidelines of the competition, Extreme Dreamers Dance spokesperson said being versatile did the magic for them to win the competition.

“We are honoured to scoop the first prize. It was a tough competition, but since we are versatile with almost all dance types, we managed to prove our prowess on the stage,” he said.

“We had a great time rehearsing dancing to TNX (South Korea music group)’s song titled Move, and we eventually emerged top.”

Speaking at the event, South Korean ambassador to Zimbabwe Bongkae Do said Zimbabwe has great talent and hopes this year a local team or artiste would get the ticket to the K-Pop World Festival final event.

“The K-Pop World Festival 2022 Zimbabwe preliminaries are a very special cultural event showcasing Zimbabwean talent in Korean pop singing and dancing, and is one of the biggest events the Korean embassy hosts throughout the year,” he said.

“We advertised the K-Pop World Festival 2022 Zimbabwe preliminaries and started receiving entries from May 9 till June 10. We received 44 entries in total, broken down to 22 in the dance category and 22 in the vocal category from youths of all ages throughout Zimbabwe.

“The mainstream pop music of Korea is so popular in the world. This is why even in Zimbabwe, the youth are able to experience and enjoy K-Pop as they copy the dance moves of the popular artists such as BTS and Black Pink to name but a few,” the ambassador said.

After going through preliminary rounds, applications of the winners in different countries are sent to Changwon, South Korea and 10 artistes will be chosen for the festival’s grand finale set for September.

“I know that the Zimbabwean team is yet to be invited to the final competition. Those selected have a good chance of being invited to join the 2022 Changwon K-Pop World Festival in September together with the winners of the other regional rounds,” he said.

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2022-06-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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