Jay Diez

July 8, 2019

New crews, new songs, new costumes and a high level of talent raising the bar at Deakins Edge, Federation Square in Melbourne on the 5th of July for the 2019 Changwon K-Pop World Festival!

Once again the grand winner would get a chance to perform all the way in Changwon, Korea and represent Australia. This year the amount of talent has definitely raised the bar! It was a night we wont forget!

Here is everything that went down:

Our very own Jae Tan was once again alongside some very well known judges, and as per usual the night began with a special speech from the Korean Consul General. So now, let the talent began!

THE VOCAL PERFORMANCES

The vocal performances began with a soft and soothing cover to ‘Flower Road’ by Sejeong sung by Theodora, wearing all black. You can hear the emotion in her voice. She started off soft and calm and once the song continued on her voice picked up the pitch with very strong and steady vocals. The high notes very well impressed the crowd! She shared with the MC in the post interview that as the first performer of the night she was very nervous, but she did amazing and did not even show it!

The next performance of the night was a very popular song by BTS member Jungkook called ‘Euphoria’. Landa chose this song as her solo and even took up the challenge by also performing Jungkook’s choreography as well as singing. In her all white outfit keeping up with the dance and vocals, it was a very good performance. She was also accompanied by two back up dancers. The crowd went wild as Landa hit that high anticipated high note near the end of Euphoria and ended beautifully.

In the post interview she mentioned that she started off by learning the lyrics and practising her vocals and the dance practise came last. It was also mentioned how the vocals were practised for around a month and the dance was only thought of to do last minute and they practised everyday for a week straight. Her effort definitely paid off!

The third performance of the night was by Wilson and he perfectly sang a popular sing-a-long song by BIGBANG’s very own Taeyang called ‘Eyes, Nose, Lips‘. The crowd was surprised by his very similar voice to Taeyang himself. Wilson started off with very powerful vocals and kept it strong and steady all the way throughout the song. He had a lot of confidence in his voice which was pleasing and even hitting those notes had the crowd responding well.

In the post interview Wilson revealed that he studied Taeyang a lot for this performance. The MC also mentioned that he is an engineer and was surprised and asking him how he started liking K-Pop. Wilson responded beautifully by mentioning how he is continually inspired by K-Pop artists who are different and have so much talent.

The last vocal performance of the night was Yasmin who performed ‘Give It To Me‘ by K-Pop group SISTAR. Yasmin came out with full confidence starting on a chair and hyped the crowd yelling out ‘소리질러’ (“scream” in Korean), and the crowd reacted enthusiastically! She was wearing a very eye-catching shiny outfit and even surprised us with her own tiara during her performance. She had a gentle high toned voice but was powerful hitting the high notes. Yasmin wowed us when she also started rapping a verse from ‘Whistle’ by BLACKPINK during her post interview.

THE DANCE PERFORMANCES

The first dance performance of the night was a solo performance and also the only solo dance performance of the night. Solo dancer Eva was encouraged by her group this year to enter as a solo dancer as she has previously competed only in group form. She took the stage with confidence and took on Chungha’s ‘Gotta Go’ with style. Acing the moves and facial expressions, giving us a great performance to kick off the dance section!

Next up we have Vive Dance Crew coming out with attitude in all black covering CLC’s ‘NO’. All seven members showed complete fierceness in their ‘NO‘ performance. It was later known in their post performance interview that the youngest member is only 15 which definitely blew us away as she showed great stage presence as well as the other members.

The second dance group of the night was Melt Dance Crew performing the song ‘Rumour‘ by Produce 48. In their sexy purple and black outfits they performed the song with all they got and definitely delivered! Also another group with members of mixed ages, the five member group did not hold back. Each member individually showing great energy and was very alluring. In the post performance interview it was revealed that they were trained by the original choreographer of the song ‘Rumour’ and they shared that they felt honoured and was very grateful.

Hustle Dance Crew was next up who aced the popular song ‘Bon Bon Chocolat‘ by rookie girl group Everglow. With great stage presence, the six girls representing Hustle, were really into the song and had very synchronised dance moves that made it even more enticing to watch. This isn’t the first time they have performed at this competition, but it was for their newest member and they were also joined by two more girls this year as mentioned in their post performance interview.

The next performance was the first all male dance group of the night UKC-047, which includes members from a mix of different groups but mainly One For All and UKC (Unimelb Kpop Club). The seven dancers covered the very intriguing NCT DREAM song ‘GO‘ that had the crowd going wild. Dancing with fluorescent colours of green, yellow and mixed with black, each member carried out the dance very well. NCT is known for their clean but difficult dance styles in which UKC-047 portrayed well.

I AM CREW was next up who covered the extremely popular BLACKPINk song ‘Kill This Love‘, and just as expected the crowed sung along, joining the 4 females who confidently performed the song. In matching outfits of grey and black with a touch of their own style, the girls of I AM CREW carried out the dance very well, and also spoke about how they attended BLACKPINK’s recent concert here. They also mentioned in their post performance interview how they would love to one day perform alongside BLACKPINK. The MC also asked what about the Korean culture they like besides the music and food was a must as they mentioned they love Korea’s popular street food Tteokbokki.

Next to take the stage was last year’s winner Pulse Dance Crew who covered ACE’s song ‘Undercover‘. With high anticipation the group successfully dominated the dance, dressed in all red and black along with accessories. The five members which includes one female and four males, mentioned that they are all of different dance style backgrounds and decided to come together with this song to challenge themselves. The performance was filled of high energy from start to end and had sharp dance moves. After their performance they wowed us with their duality during their post performance interview with a short K-Pop girly dance to a female song. It caught us by surprise for sure!

The next group to take the stage is also another group who is also familiar to the KWF stage and dance scene here in Melbourne, who also came 2nd place at last years competition, KM United. They are also a mixed group of female and male members, who did not come to play. They covered Stray Kids’ song ‘Miroh‘ and already had their game faces on from the moment they walked onto the stage. From beginning to end the energy was crazy and each member delivered the song very strong and clean, which also had the crowd go wild with fan chants and screams. Dressed in fluorescent colours mixed of pink, green, yellow and black, their creative outfits fit the performance very well. Struggling to catch their breath after that crazy performance, they mentioned in their post performance interview that they also have members of another group in Melbourne called Nerve Dance Crew.

AO Dance Crew was up next – a very popular and humble group who have been around for a while, has now has decided to take the stage once again with a playful song by Big Hit Entertainment’s new boy group TXT called ‘Crown‘. This song has a very technical dance which requires each member to conquer each move down perfectly for it to be executed well and AO did just that, and it was amazing. AO delivered a very satisfying yet playful performance and they made it look so effortless, especially with those happy facial expressions. The crowd also seemed to love the performance and it was seen that the crowd had slogans for AO to show support!

The next performance was by an all female group who is also known on the dance scene called Dare Dance Crew. Another group who is familiar with the KWF stage, who last year tried out with CLC’s song ‘Black Dress‘, are now back with the opposite wearing all white with a hint of red. This year they performed Dreamcatcher’s song ‘You And I‘. They are also the only group that danced with props. Dare Dance Crew came out looking like K-pop idols with eye catching outfits and head mics, dancing with red scarfs and one with a wand.

The second last performance of the night was a very impressive dance by BE-7 Crew, taking up a Seventeen song called ‘Highlight‘. This song is especially difficult to perform as it is the performance team’s song (made up of Hoshi, Jun, The8 and Dino) and Seventeen‘s performance team is known for their intricate dance moves. They rocked the stage and crowd, wearing navy blue and grey outfits. During their interview with the MC after their performance they revealed that each member wore a special accessory as apart of their costume as a ‘Highlight‘ to match the song – we loved that!

And to conclude the night of outstanding talent, the highly anticipated 3 member male group from interstate called Triple Threat performed. One member only arrived to Melbourne an hour before the show! The group took on Weki Meki’s song ‘Picky Picky‘ and also dominated the dance. With only 3 members they carried out their performance in a satisfying manner with a bust of energy and even more confidence! They definitely showed us what they got! They were wearing altered school uniform-like outfits with their own flavour and even heels! They put on a show for sure to end the night, and so effortlessly too! It was such a unique performance.

AND THE WINNERS ARE..

The time has finally come to announce the winners of the night. This year there will be a first, second and third placing, The 3rd place will win a cheque of $100, the second place wins $300 and 1st place winner will be representing Melbourne, Australia in the next round of the competition along with $500!

All the performers of the night gathered on stage with anticipation for the announcements.

Coming in 3rd place is the all-girl group Melt Dance Crew with their cover of ‘Rumour‘ by Produce 48! Their alluring and entertaining performance earned them the third place spot. The girls crowded together for a photo with happiness and emotion in the air.

2nd place goes to AO Dance Crew with their well deserved performance of TXT’s song ‘Crown‘, continuing to smile as they also gather with their cheque for their group photo.

And 1st place is awarded to Pulse Dance Crew! This was also very much well deserved with their cleanliness of choreography and stage presence! It was honestly such an outstanding performance. The group gathered with mixed emotions as they accepted their award and take their group photo.

Tonight was such a bar raiser of talent in Melbourne. Every group did absolutely amazing and we all came together for the one thing they love, which is K-pop. There were nerves at the start but it was all worth it in the end. We would like to congratulate and acknowledge every single performer of the night for their hard work, sacrifices and performances. We cannot wait to see how much they step it up for next year! We wish you all the best for the future!

What are your thoughts on this year’s 2019 Changwon K-Pop World Festival and performers? Any special words? Feel free to leave a comment below! You can see full photos here!

Also a big thank you once again to the Korean Consul General for giving us the opportunity to cover this amazing event!

Keep following Officially Kmusic for more exclusive events and music updates!

Written by Jay

Edited by Lindsay

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