As the 2022 Korean National Day celebration returns in November 2022
By Yuccee O. Uwah, chief of The Korea Post Nigeria Bureau
The Embassy of Republic of Korea Embassy in Nigeria under auspices of Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria (KCCN) promoted activities in cultural and creative sector enhancing strong cooperation between Korea and Nigeria.
The 2022 K-Pop Dance and Singing Competition organized by Korea Culture Center Nigeria (KCCN), with support from Korea Broadcasting Service (KBS) remains a flagship initiative for young people to express creative and talents in culture and arts sector.
In July 2022, KCCN hosted the year’s edition of K-Pop Dance and Singing Competition with support from Korea Broadcasting Service (KBS), the flagship initiative is a platform for talent hunting and mentoring of young Nigerian culture and creative arts buff. Young people from across Nigeria demonstrated passion, innovation and creative delivery in singing and dancing at every stage of the Competition. KCCN has organised eight editions of the program since inception in 2010. In 2020 and 2021, the program was put on hold due to COVID 19 Pandemic and associated protocols.
Thrills and Sounds of 2022 K-Pop Competition
On July 22, 2022, a total of eight dance crews and ten solo singers participated in the final rounds of 2022 edition in a well-attended ceremony at Sheraton Hotels, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. All the dance crews and solo singers performed their art with passion and commitment looking forward to good outcome from the panel of judges and the audience.
At the best of the competition, the all-round winner was CFly group, a two-man dance group won the 2022 K-Pop Dance Competition with a grand prize of N500,000 and also got automatic place to compete at annual World K-Pop Championship scheduled for last quarter of 2022. The second position went to an-all girl group, Euphoria won N300,000, while an-all boy group, Supreme Six, was third won N200,000.
In the singing category, Godson Ogurie was placed first in the Ambassador’s Singing category with a N300, 000 prize money; while Matthew Gold and Dada Oluwaseun O. took second and third positions with N200,000 and N100,000 cash prizes respectively.
An elated CFly crew dancing comprising siblings, 28-year-old Calistus Chibueze Uzodimma and 21-year-old Peter Chukwuemeka Uzodimma (PBrain), disclosed that they had participated in the competition for seven years with of attempts and near-success in the competition (thrice by Chibueze, and twice by Chukwuemeka) before their current victory.
In a remark at the final event, Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Kim Young-chae commend those that failed to win in the final rounds of the competition to work towards better performance in 2023 K-Pop edition contest.
While noting that beyond being Africa’s largest country, Nigeria has enormous potential in culture sector, which when harnessed will create opportunities from the economy.
“I see great potential in Nigeria’s soft power that is her culture, which includes music, dance, sports, singing, fashion, food, etc. This type of event is also good for both national growth and individuals’ good health.”
It is the first to be set up in Africa and among 32 Centres globally. It is opened to enhance friendship, bilateral relations and understanding between Korea and Nigeria through cultural and educational programs. The Cultural team continues to develop existing cultural projects as well as create new ones.
Korean National Day celebration returns in November 2022
In a related development, the Ambassador announced that the Embassy will host Korean National Day celebration on Monday 7th November 2022 at Transcop Hilton Hotel, Abuja, after a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 as result of COVID 19 Pandemic and resulting social protocols.