KCON, the world’s largest K-culture festival, took Los Angeles through a typhoon last weekend. Held July 26-28 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Gilbert Lindsay Plaza, and Crypto. com Arena, KCON LA 2024 proved to be the ultimate annual success. edition since its launch in 2012, with more than 5. 9 million enthusiasts from more than 170 countries. Attend as a user and/or follow the live stream. Sunday’s M Countdown, KCON’s big nightly concert, was also broadcast live on The CW Network. marking the first national primetime broadcast of a K-pop concert.
This year’s KCON LA also featured the most varied lineup of artists and other celebrities to date, with appearances by prominent Korean actors, including Rowoon, Park Min-young, and Kim so-hyun; legendary artists such as the first-generation K-pop organization God and K-hip-hop pioneer Tiger JK; Korean rock musician LØREN; K-indie singer-songwriter Isaac Hong; the P-pop organization BINI; and the newly created foreign women’s organization KATSEYE.
This is all part of a conscious effort through CJ ENM, the South Korean entertainment conglomerate that puts on KCON, to expand KCON to include outside elements of today’s most popular K-pop idol teams. Array “We, the K-pop fandoms, have become interested in K-pop artists from other generations and genres, and who are interested not only in K-pop, but also in K-cinema, K -dramasArray K-food and K-pop,” says Harry H. K. , director of music entertainment at CJ ENM, artists of other genres and generations, K-drama stars and music teams without Korean members. ”
Clearly, this strategy has paid off. In the days leading up to KCON LA 2024, KCON USA’s Instagram account, as well as K-culture’s teams on Facebook and other online communities, were inundated with comments from enthusiasts saying they were making plans to attend KCON just to see actors Kim so-hyun. Park Min-young and/or Rowoon.
As stars of two of this year’s most popular K-dramas, Queen of Tears and Marry My Husband, Kim So-hyun and Park Min-young held special meetings with their fans to talk about their respective K-dramas and reflect on their performance. . performance. Both fan meetings attracted some of the largest crowds at the convention. In fact, Kim’s fan meeting would have been the most attended meeting in KCON LA’s 12-year history. (As a journalist who organized your fan meeting, I have to admit that I have never noticed an audience as loud and enthusiastic as the one I saw at your fan meeting, perhaps at a K-pop concert in a stadium. I have attended occasions in which crowds went crazy for Hollywood stars, but they all felt like meditative categories compared to the heart-wrenching screams, screams, and screams I heard at Kim So-hyun’s fan meeting).
Korean actor Kim So-hyun’s special fan meeting
I also had the privilege of hosting Park Min-young’s fan meeting, and fortunately the audience was calmer and less thirsty, their respect and admiration for Park and her paintings was not. less palpable. Many attendees also seemed inspired by Park’s ability to converse entirely in English as she spoke in detail about her K-drama Marry My Husband and her illustrious acting career.
Actress Park Min-young poses with the crowd at her special fan assembly at KCON LA 2024
Queen of Tears star Kim So-hyun, who seemed visibly stunned through the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response, extremely cheered up the crowd with her sense of humor and deep appreciation for her beloved fans as she waved and smiled at her reunion. fans.
Kim so-hyun poses with the audience at his special fan assembly at KCON LA 2024
According to a press release from Studio Dragon, the K-drama producing powerhouse that hired Park Min-young, Kim so-hyun, and Rowoon for KCON LA 2024, Park and Kim’s involvement “was part of KCON’s project of offering reporting that encompasses not only K-pop but also K-food, K-beauty, and other facets of Korean culture. By connecting K-drama stars with K-pop fans, KCON aimed to further expand the success of K-content globally.
So what can K-culture enthusiasts expect from next year’s KCON LA?
Although it is still a tactic to make plans for next year’s occasion, it seems that CJ ENM hopes to continue expanding KCON’s reach. “We’ve expanded and evolved the occasion based on what the fandoms need, and I think it’ll be the same next year,” Shin said. “Our company CJ organizes KCON and CJ Group offers a diverse portfolio of cultural offerings, adding food, movies, K-dramas, music and fashion. These are all components of the K culture and we will continue to provide what our targets and consumers need within the K culture. We plan to feature not only K-pop idols, but also other types of artists, so that enthusiasts can enjoy a wider diversity [of artists]. »
Inside the Los Angeles Convention Center at KCON LA 2024
In the meantime, K-culture enthusiasts can take a look at KCON Germany, which will take place at Messe Frankfurt on September 28 and 29, 2024. This is the first time KCON will be held in Germany, the fourth largest recorded music fair in Germany. the. world. market.
The 2024 MAMA Awards, one of the largest K-pop awards ceremonies in the world, will take place in Los Angeles for the first time in November. The three-day ritual will begin in Los Angeles on November 21 before continuing in Osaka, Japan. November 22 and 23.
“Hollywood is the birthplace of pop culture, so in addition to KCON, we’ve been looking to have an awards show in Los Angeles,” Shin says. “As for why the awards ceremony will be held simultaneously in Los Angeles and Japan, The largest music market in the world is the United States, followed by Japan. And since there is a huge K-pop fandom in Japan and the market there is big, we chose Japan.
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