Colombians take to stage in homeland of K-pop

Winners of Colombia’s first K-pop reality show take first step toward stardom


The winners of the first K-pop audition show overseas had their wishes come true when they performed in the homeland of Korean pop music on Wednesday.

Since April, Arirang TV, Korea’s English-language broadcaster, and Caracol TV, a Colombian broadcaster, have jointly produced “K-pop Reality,” a K-pop audition show in Colombia.

It was the first such show created jointly by a Korean and foreign broadcaster in a foreign country.

K-pop enjoys huge popularity in Colombia and the reality show, reflecting the trend, was held to expand its presence in the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in Latin America after Mexico, according to Anny Choi of Arirang TV.

The six winners of the Colombian show, selected from some 2,000 contestants, won a trip to Korea as a prize, including a chance to perform on “Simply K-pop,” Arirang TV’s K-pop music show. They also get to meet their favorite K-pop stars and experience Korean culture.

“It’s a great opportunity. We’ve never been here before, but we are going to present what we have been working on for months. We are very excited to perform in the home country of K-pop,” said Andrea Velaquez, 26, in an interview with The Korea Herald on Wednesday.

Another member of the team, Robinson Velaquez, 20, said, “It’s a great privilege to be in Korea. I’ve always dreamed of coming to Korea since I started K-pop. And I’m really happy that the dream has come true.”

The team consists of three girls and three boys with the youngest member aged 16 and the oldest 26. 

Female members, Daniela Isabel Garcia, Andrea Velaquez and Lina Arroyave, performed “Fire” by 2NE1. Male members, Juan Pablo Perez, Robinson Velaquez and Jose Luis Cuesta, staged “Hands Up” by 2PM for their debut performance on “Simply K-pop.”

What drew them to K-pop and made them apply for the audition show?

“I saw video clips of SHINee performances on YouTube. I soon fell in love with K-pop because they had very cool style in unique colors. And I watched all the video clips related to K-pop,” said Robinson.

A professional dancer, Cuesta’s passion for K-pop also started with a YouTube clip.

“I was planning to put a different choreography together for a show in Colombia. And I saw ‘Heartbeat’ by 2PM and really liked it. I sort of broke the moves in the song and made them into my own,” said Cuesta.

“Through the process, I came to like Asian culture and people,” he added.

The six winners have also visited some of the key tourist sites in the capital including Gyeongbok Palace, Insa-dong, Jogye Temple as well as the Yeosu Expo since their arrival on May 26.

The Korea they saw in person was completely different from what they saw on YouTube, they said. In particular, they were surprised at the level of the country’s technology and development.

The team had a surprise meeting with Korean boy groups U-Kiss and EXO-K during the rehearsal of “Simply K-pop.” U-Kiss served as one of the judges for the Colombian K-pop audition show through video.

The team will make an official debut starting with a national tour in Colombia in June, according to Lim Jin-myoung, the Colombia-based agent representing the team.

“They will be a group that aims to sing K-pop style songs,” she said.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)