K-pop fans in India have now started dreaming big, thanks to a major Korean song-and-dance competition
STELLA K. ZODINPUII, 24, from Mizoram has not abandoned her childhood dream, to become a K-pop (Korean pop) star. Or at least perform next to her K-pop idols in South Korea one day. “I want to visit Korea and sing in the biggest K-pop cover competition in the world,” says Stella. “I do not care if I win or not, but I want to share the stage once with my most cherished idols.”
Stella lives with her mother and three siblings in a modest, rented, south Delhi flat. Her parents are divorced and her elder sister is the sole breadwinner in the family, teaching English in a private school. Stella, who needs to find a full-time job soon, has been trying her luck at the India edition of Changwon K-Pop World Festival for the last three years. The festival is her only possible gateway to South Korea, where young attractive Koreans sing and dance with flawlessly synchronised movements, and train for years to become international pop stars, developing legions of rabid fans worldwide.
The Korean Wave or Hallyu has found a solid market in the US and Asian countries like Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand since the 1990s. And, India is no longer a blip on the K-pop radar. While the northeast is generally considered the epicentre of the K-wave in India, today Delhi-NCR has the highest number of K-pop fans, with sizeable chunks in Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 12, 2018 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 12, 2018 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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