By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Roufida Aboualwafa Ahmed from Egypt

K-pop is a whole separate world that has its own fans, events, news, industry, merchandise, idols, groups, fashion style and community, but are K-pop groups only made in Korea? The answer is yes, but they also inspire many people around the world to do what they love.

Among many is the five-member group Glitch Gang here in Egypt that qualified for the final round of the K-pop World Festival. They are known in the Korean community in Egypt. They perform in many concerts and events, one of which was held recently at the Korean Ambassador’s house. They won in the preliminary round of the K-pop World Festival 2018 in Egypt in both dancing and performance categories, and they represent the K-pop wave in Egypt. I sat down with the five talented girls and interviewed them to have a glimpse about K-pop.

- First I'm happy to meet you all, can you please introduce Glitch Gang to our audience?
Well we were originally a group of four members Enna, Teadia, Safaa, Samin called Gang but in the K-pop World Festival 2018 our fifth member Yumi joined in and that's why we call ourselves Glitch Gang.

- Is there a certain concept to your group?
Our concept is to have a reverse charm, since we're a girl group people get a little bit shocked when we perform strong, energetic dances. But when they engage with us off stage we stay cute and friendly. So our concept is reverse charm.

- The K-pop World Festival is an important competition for K-pop lovers all around the world. Can you tell me how different it was for you than any other performance?
Well it wasn't our first time performing in front of a huge audience, but it had a different energy and vibes. That is because, first, we were judged and rated on our performance and, second, the judges were Korean, and they were working in major K-pop companies. This fact was exciting and scary at the same time, and that's why when we came in first in the dancing category we were very glad and proud of all our hard work.

- Congratulations girls for winning the silver medal as performers, too. How long did it take to practice your routine, and also how hard was it to practice as I know some of you are in high school?
Well two of our members are in high school, so it was hard to schedule practice time, but we agreed to practice after everyone was done with their studies. We practiced nine times as a team over the two months before the preliminary round, and each of us would work on our own part at home. Then we’d come together and mesh it all.

Thank you Glitch Gang for your time, and I hope to interview you again as K-pop World Festival 2020 final winners.

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.