Before 2014 officially ended, one event managed to captivate the Kpop crowd yet again. Presented by Pulp Live World, the 6th Annual Kpop Convention received a remarkable upgrade this year as it brought to Manila some of the hottest Kpop acts today: singer Bernard Park, rising rookie group GOT7 and the popular girl group SISTAR. On December 28, the SMX Convention Center became the home of multitudes of Kpoppers who were more than excited to dress up and meet their idols.

Kpop Con 6 ushered in crowds of thousands of Kpop fans from various fandoms. Long queues were seen outside before the gates officially opened at 10am. There halls were divided into two areas: the booths and the main stage. The booths displayed a wide array of customized and original Kpop merch such as apparels, facemasks, magazines, pins, DVDs and CDs. There were also fanclub booths whose members sponsored trivia and board games and gave prizes to selected winners.

Over at the other side was the main stage where all the magic happened. Something interesting was always up. The main highlights included a dance showdown, dance tutorial, auction and well, of course, the much awaited highlights of the day. Hosted by the bubbly Krimmy couple, the grand winners of the recently concluded reality TV show “I Do”, the entire show turned out to be engaging and lively.

Bernard Park, the champion of Kpop Star 3, amazed the crowd with his smooth vocals as he sang “Before the Rain”, “Right Here Waiting” and a cover of “Still with You” (originally performed by Eric Benet).

GOT7 gave a fun and energetic performance. Composed of Mark, JB, Jackson, Jr., Youngjae, BamBam and Yugyeom, the seven-member boy group has been gaining popularity for their catchy tracks and their numerous appearances in famous variety shows. Known for their charisma and humor, the group definitely did not disappoint the crowd as they performed their hits such as “Stop Stop It”, “Gimme”, “A” and “Girls, Girls, Girls”.

Lastly, SISTAR left everyone in awe. As one of the most prominent Korean girl groups, Hyolyn, Bora, Dasom and Soyou made sure to dazzle everyone in the audience with their innate charms. They performed their ever appealing tracks including “Touch My Body”, “Ma Boy” and “I Swear”.

Except for the captivating live performances of the three acts, what made Kpop Con 6 precious for the attendees was the opportunity to see the candid sides of the artists as they played various games with the hosts and the crowds. They were even put on the spot as they were interviewed on the spot, generating a lot of interesting responses from their side.

Bernard Park rendered a short cover of “Nasa’yo na ang Lahat” by Daniel Padilla, mistakenly (and very amusingly) singing “…patay ang puso ko” (which translates to “My heart is dead”).

GOT7 ruled over fanservice as they gave the fans a great time as they played a guessing game and held their high touch event onstage. The boys were all very willing to oblige the crowd with their candid personality which they are known for. They even gave extra free hugs to some fans during the high touch event. The crowd also greeted JB who would be celebrating his birthday on January.

The four girls of SISTAR were alluring as they cheerfully participated in the games and mingled with the crowd. They were up for anything including dancing Ryzza’s Cha Cha, speaking beki/gay lingo and playing a dress up game with the fans wherein they had to use crepe paper for decoration.  Their official fanclub even got the chance to show them a short video presentation which moved the members. SISTAR were very thankful for the warm reception they received here. They said if they would have a tour in the future, they will definitely come back here.

Kpop Convention 6 was another success. It definitely was a great clincher to a year which brought a good number of extremely interesting Kpop acts. We can only expect the next one to be bigger and better.

Special thanks to Pulp Live World!

Photos and Writeup by Sandra Mae Laureano