The Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines treated mall visitors to outstanding performances by aspiring Filipino talents in the Pinoy K-pop Star Contest at the Music Hall of SM Mall of Asia.

Stephanie Aseron, grand finalist in the vocal category, covers Leehi’s song ‘Only’.

P-pop boy group VXON

ALPHA, winner of the grand prize in the Performance category, shines in NMIXX’s song “OO”.

Rising P-pop girl group KAIA

Vocal winner Joy Lorenze Locsin wows audiences with her rendition of Hyolyn’s “So What.”

A joint project of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines and KBS World, in partnership with SM, the event highlighted the promotion of Korean culture through music and was a wonderful opportunity for cultural exchange.

Ten entrants in the voice and performance categories competed to be the country’s representatives at the 2022 Changwon World K-pop Festival in Korea.

In the performance category, girl group ALPHA won the grand prize with their performance of “OO” from NMIXX. PRINCIPIUM’s cover of Seventeen’s “HOT” placed them second, while Project One’s dance performance to the tune of TREASURE’s “JIKJIN” earned them third place.

Joy Lorenze Locsin was hailed as the big winner in the vocal category with her signature performance of Hyolyn’s “So What.” Merry Mia Sinaguinan’s rendition of “My Sea” by IU won her second place, and Sandra Faith Dela Cruz placed third for her version of “Hello” by Kim Sohyang.

Korean Embassy Consul General Lee Kyooho led the distinguished jury consisting of Anne Luis, head of Sentro-Rizal’s Office of Cultural Affairs (NCCA); Dasuri Choi, content creator and celebrity; Happee Sy-Go, vice president and chief operating officer of Pulp Live World Production Inc.; and Joseph Francia, Senior Vice President of GMA International.

The action-packed K-pop day began with an open K-pop stage led by the Philippine Kpop Convention Inc. (PKCI) which featured fan merch booths, games and performances by fan cover bands from K-pop and a P-pop boy group. VXON. Up-and-coming P-pop girl group KAIA also wowed audiences with performances of their debut single Blah Blah and a cover of Le Sserafim’s Fearless.

A special awards ceremony for the 2022 Pinoy K-pop Star Contest was held at the Korean Embassy.