K-Pop competition showcases fusion of Jordanian, Korean cultures

AMMAN — On Saturday, Jordan’s qualifying round for the K-Pop World Festival narrowed down five contestants to compete for the chance to represent the Kingdom in the festival’s international finals.

The event was sponsored by Samsung and organised by the South Korean embassy and Korean cultural appreciation club, Jordan K-Pop Lover.

“The idea of the festival is that Jordanian participants join so they can compete with each other for an amount [presented] by the Korean embassy,” event coordinator and founder of the Jordan K-Pop Lover Facebook page, Muna Abed Albaseet, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Sunday.

The first, second and third place winners were awarded $500, $300 and $200 respectively. 

Tefany Nusairat took first place, Malek Khaled took second and Noor Sameer along with groups Polaris and Messier82 took third place for their vocal and dance interpretations of tracks by the Korean band BTS.

All winners were selected based on the talent and visual effects of their performances, as well as how they responded to Saturday’s audience of around 1,000 K-Pop fans.  

Albaseet told The Jordan Times that although previous contestants have not advanced to the competition’s final round, this year’s winners “are still working on it”.

The final round of the competition, which will include 12 participants from each of the 72 participating countries, will be held in Changwon, South Korea.  

The prize awarded to the final contestant varies each year.

According to the South Korean ministry of foreign affairs and trade, the purpose of the contest is to bring fans together to “reinterpret or rearrange K-Pop” songs and dances by “fusing” them with their distinct cultures.

This is the sixth year that Jordan has participated in the festival.