By Honorary Reporter Fitri Amalia from Indonesia
Photos= Fitri Amalia

The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Jakarta this year has held roadshows in five major cities in Indonesia: Yogyakarta, Makassar, Semarang, Manado and Surabaya. In addition to introducing Korean culture to residents, the center also held the talent show Bintangnya Bintang, an annual event since 2017 to find Korea-related talent. 

Any Indonesian of any age could show his or her talent in things like performing a traditional Korean dance, imitating a character’s voice, demonstrating taekwondo, doing a K-pop song or dance cover, playing a traditional Korean instrument or speaking Korean.

After auditions were held from February 2019 starting in the first city of Yogyakarta, 12 contestants were selected for the final round in Jakarta on Dec. 21 at Lotte Shopping Avenue. Besides auditions held in the five big cities for the roadshows, online auditions were also conducted for participants who lived in Jakarta and vicinity or in areas not visited by the KCC.

The uniqueness of the talent displayed was one of the event's highlights. The judges were KCC Director Chun Young-poung, SM Entertainment General Manager Lee Kyung-chang and Benedicta Dita Adinda, head of the global casting team at SM Entertainment Indonesia. First place went to singer Olivia from Makassar, second to the dance group Lexell from Malang, third to taekwondo dancer Ayu from Surabaya and fourth to singer Fahrizal from Purwokerto.

In addition, the KCC also presented performances by students from its culture classes held every year like samgomu (drum dance), samulnori (percussion music), janggu (drum), gayageum (zither), K-pop dance and painting. Students who studied for three to four months showed what they learned at this event. The KCC also invites teachers from Korea to teach these arts in Jakarta, the latest being Lee Hee-Jin from Busan National Gugak Center to teach the janggu and the gayageum.

Jeon Jo-Young, diplomatic minister at the Korean Embassy in Jakarta, opened the event with a welcoming speech. He said that at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit in Busan from Nov. 25-26, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and President Moon Jae-in called each other "kakakku (my brother)," symbolizing closer relations between Indonesia and Korea. Awards were also given to top students at the KCC's Korean-language classes in eight levels. And Expecto, the Indonesian representative to the 2019 Changwon Kpop World Festival, gave a performance. 

To conclude the event, the non-verbal performance "Bibap," a Korean production combining comedy, dance and music, received a standing ovation. The title is derived from bibimbap (spicy mixed rice with vegetables), a Korean dish liked by many foreigners. With cooking as its main idea, "Bibap" wowed the audience with its humorous actions and funny voices. At the end of the performance, the audience was invited to sing and dance together with the cast to K-pop songs such as one by BTS. This show comprised eight performers divided into the red team with an Italian pizza session and the green team with a Korean bibimbap session. Several members of the audience were also brought on to the stage to join the show. 

The front of the venue had an exhibition of the winning photos from "Talk Talk Korea," a global contest of Korea-related content, including those from the categories "Hansik & I," "Talk about Korea" and "Illustrations of Peace."

chaey0726@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.