April 27th: This is it! This is the new sensation. K-Pop World Festival 2018 Bahrain and don’t forget the hyphen.
Not so long ago, whodoeswhat.tv covered a Korean Food Festival, around the time of the Winter Olympics. Shock horror (almost), what we thought was to be a ‘Food Festival’ as the name suggests, in true South Korean obsession, the evening turned into a singing and dancing talent contest of which the media had no inkling until an explosion of kids descended on the place and the wannabees climbed on stage.
Screaming and shouting for every act, not just their favourites, it was mayhem. Quite odd in many ways, but sweet at the same time as there is not one drop of animosity or aggression towards the various contestants, good or bad. A sign of the times maybe and a Fabian Marxist trait of indoctrination to level everyone to the Lowest Common Denominator, or maybe just a very happy time.
So what happens at the K-pop World Festival 2018 Bahrain? You guessed it! Throngs of kids, as young as 6 or 7 and none older than 16 at most, many with parents in tow. City City Bahrain was bursting at its seams, turning each floor into balcony viewing. Parking? What parking? The biggest surprise to many unaware of K-Pop or its meaning, is the enormous number of kids who turn out for these things and how the hell do they get to know about it? No street posters, no radio advertising, nothing that anyone over 18 would have noticed. But there it was, thousands, just as the Food Festival turned out.
Pink Floyd junkies, even Rod Stewart fans would need Valium after attending something like K-Pop. This is the new generation and it was NEVER like this in the old days. If you thought Gangnam style was a bit beyond your rocking chair, then you really don’t want to watch this video.
Sanctioned by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign affairs, K-Pop takes place in many cities around the world and again throngs of kids turn up having practiced for months… weeks…. days….. ok, maybe a few hours in front of the mirror (in some cases), getting up there and flailing to the beats of tunes mum and dad have never heard of, but obviously huge on the Korean pop scene. In Bahrain it was organised by the Korean Embassy and took place at the City Centre Mall, under the patronage of the Korean ambassador to Bahrain H.E, Koo Hyun Mo who really does get involved and a nicer man you couldn’t wish to meet.
Bahrain’s got Talent…. Or maybe not, but just look at the video footage, the mall was packed on all levels like a Roman Colosseum on Gladiator day or unfortunate Christians hearing distant roars. Talking of sound; it is fair to say that some of the acts were well off-key as again, nothing can be heard above the screams and cheers. How on earth someone can sing on stage without monitors or even hear their own backing tracks and even then, the crowd behind the artists as well… well, a mystery. Likewise, they may as well be deaf dancers feeling the beat through the floor of the stage one assumes. Old timers will remember going to Beatles concerts in the 60s, it was only to see them, because nobody, but nobody could hear them over screaming hyper-ventilating girls. Bahrain City Centre was alive for several hours and all that could be heard was a cacophony of ecstasy as the kids roared for each and every act, good or …um…er… not so good.
It must be and Asian thing to get that top prize, for that prize is to get to be recommended to join the others from all corners of the globe at the big K POP finals in Changwon … South Korea… Which is held every year. For this event, the Korean Embassy flew in two special features. A Taikwando team, not only doing um…er…. Taikwando, but to music as well. Also topping the bill was ‘GIRLKIND’ The Korean Idol Group. Now you are wholly enlightened!
Who won…Singer Lydia Apparently.. and 2nd place went to dancers “KISMET” followed by Maram Ashoor. Who knew?