By Honorary Reporter Neo Hui Ying from Singapore

Photos = Neo Hui Ying

In the 1980s, trot was the main musical genre in Korea with singers like Nam Jin, Seol Undo and Na Hoon-a. With the rise of the K-pop idol format in the 1990s, trot saw a major decline in popularity until 2004, when trot singer Jang Yoon-jung's "Eomeona" (Oh My Goodness) became a hit. A younger generation of the genre's singers like Park Hyun-bin and Hong Jin-young began appearing on variety shows to bring trot back into the spotlight. 

In 2019, the reality competition show "Miss Trot" on the cable TV channel TV Chosun started a new boom in trot as part of Hallyu. The following year, the male version "Mr. Trot" catapulted the genre to new heights. Trot went from being music only for Koreans ages 50 or older to a new driver of domestic pop popular among all age groups. "Mr. Trot" ended with a high rating of 31%, with over seven million votes sent in by text.  

The top six finishers are now household names in Korea. One of them, Park Young-tak aka Young Tak, has enjoyed global fame since singing his hit "Jjiniya" (Pitiful) at last year's Melon Music Awards in Seoul. His performance instantly went viral on social media due to the repeating lyric "Jjin, jjin, jjin" sounding like the name of BTS member Jin. 

The six finalists appear on the highly rated TV Chosun reality shows "Ppong (Trot) School" and "Romantic Call Center. They have also held concert tours nationwide in cities like Seoul, Daegu and Busan and plan to hold more in Incheon and the Gyeonggi-do Province cities of Suwon and Goyang. Ninety percent of their performances have been sold out despite the pandemic, attesting to their high popularity. 

I went to see them in concert in Busan. They held five shows over a weekend from Friday to Sunday, and all tickets were sold out.

People wait for the concert outside the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, or BEXCO.

They performed for almost three hours without intermission. From group medleys to solos, each member sang their best songs from the competitions and new material. As they gave encores, the fans gave deafening applause as shouting or cheering was banned due to COVID-19 restrictions. Despite a pandemic-mandated seating arrangement, fans like myself enjoyed the concert.

I brought my Young Tak support banner to the Busan concert.

I had the interesting experience of attending a packed concert with no cheering. Everyone obeyed social distancing rules, and I saw firsthand why the singers are so popular. Their vocal skills, ability to wow a crowd and chemistry with one another made the concert the complete package.

enny0611@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.