By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Diana Trifonova from Bulgaria
Photos = Bojana Doneva and Diana Trifonova
Video = Changwon K-pop World Festival

Have you ever secretly imagined that you were performing on a big stage and that all the lights are pointing at you? Have you ever dreamed with your whole heart that you would be able to visit your favorite country? Finally, have you ever worked for months and years to reach your one goal?

For many Bulgarian fans of Korean pop music, the answer to all those questions is, "Yes," and to fulfill their dreams they compete in one event, the annual K-pop World Festival. The festival has been running since 2011 on the initiative of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with KBS, a broadcaster. Since its first edition in 2011, the number of countries participating in the preliminary rounds, as well as the number of participants, has increased.

The same applies to the regional rounds of the competition in Bulgaria that took place starting in the beginning of July. Over 100 participants performed on stage at Sofia’s Rainbow Plaza. Double that and you get the number of applicants who submitted a video during the pre-selection rounds of the Bulgarian national contest. The end results of the Bulgarian final in 2018 saw crowned as a winner the dance cover group Toxic with its performance of A.C.E’s song "Callin." The second Bulgarian finalist in the singing category, who is going to fight for the hearts and minds of the Korean jury, was Simona Ivanova with her passionate performance of Ailee’s song "I Will Show You" (보여줄게).





Both Simona and Toxic are now in the phase of the competition where videos of their performances are uploaded online and voted on by the public and by a Korean jury of dance and music professionals. They will decide which of the national teams get to fly to Korea and perform on a real K-pop stage in Changwon together with their favorite K-pop idols.

The K-pop World Festival holds a special place in the hearts of Bulgarians. It is the only official competition in the country that gives a chance to any K-pop fan to experience Korea in this unique way. It is also because of this event that more and more people join or create K-pop cover groups around the country and learn to sing in Korean. Until this year, a Bulgarian finalist hasn’t had the chance to perform on the big stage in Changwon. However, now everyone in Bulgaria is keeping their fingers crossed for the success of the Bulgarian finalists. As they would say in Korea, "불가리아, 화이팅!"

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.