Webtoons, K-pop come together in Tving's XR music competition show 'Webtoon Singer'

South Korean online streaming service provider Tving is scheduled to premiere an extended reality music show called “Webtoon Singer” in February.

“Webtoon Singer” is set to present K-pop artists’ performances, combining hit webtoons with extended reality, or XR, technology.

XR is an umbrella term encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. The computing technology can merge physical and virtual worlds, bringing digital elements to the viewers.

A total of 16 webtoon series from Naver Webtoon -- South Korean tech giant Naver's web comic platform -- including the hit zombie webtoon “All of Us Are Dead” by author Joo Dong-geun, the action webtoon “God of High School” by Park Yong-je, the mystery webtoon “Dr. Frost” by Lee Jong-beom and more will be featured.

“Webtoon series are enjoyed by a wide range of readers around the world. Combining them with the Korean pop craze, the show will present musical performances that webtoon readers and K-pop fans have never experienced before,” a Tving official told The Korea Herald on Monday.

The official added that the songs which will be performed on “Webtoon Singer” will either be remakes of original soundtracks from webtoons or new songs created for the show.

The participating singers, who have yet to be announced, will be competing in a contest aiming to win viewers' hearts and be crowned the best performer.

Singer Minho of SHINee, comedians Jang Do-yeon and Yoo Se-yoon are slated to host the show.

Songs related to webtoon stories came into the spotlight after the release of “Slightly Tipsy” from the soundtrack of the Daum webtoon “She is My Type” by K-pop boy band B1A4’s Sandeul. The song reached the No. 2 spot on the local streaming platform Melon just after BTS’ “Dynamite” in 2020.

Bolstered by the webtoon’s large fan base and popular singers like Gray, Crush, K.Will and Gummy, webtoons and musicians joined forces for their mutual success.

The webtoon and K-pop-themed music competition show is set to premiere Feb. 17 on Tving.