2012 NY K-pop Festival + Interview with American Idol finalist Hee Jun Han

Festival performers dance to Psy's "Gangnam Style"  (Photo by Regina Kim)

On August 31st at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 4 solo and 5 group contestants took over the stage to compete at the 2012 New York K-pop Festival hosted by the Korean Cultural Service. In its second year, the New York K-pop Festival showcases performances by K-pop fans in front of a live audience. Contestants are ranked at the end according to a combination of the judges’ scores and the audience’s votes, à la American Idol.

About 150 people went to see the festival (Photo by Regina Kim)

This year the festival featured songs by SHINee, the Wonder Girls, and Big Bang.  Some of the contestants chose to sing, while others chose to dance to the songs.  The festival opened with a lively dance performance of the viral mega-hit “Gangnam Style” by Psy, for which all of the contestants danced together on stage.  

3rd-place winner HARU dancing  (Photo by Regina Kim)

As the contest was underway, an audience of about 150 people, most of them between the ages of 12 and 18, cheered the contestants on, but the dance group I Love Dance seemed to already be a crowd favorite when the group came on stage.  However, in the end it was a solo performer, Nicole Mastrodomenico, who won first place with her soulful acoustic rendition of “Replay” by SHINee.  I Love Dance finished in 2nd place with their mesmerizing dance performance of “Sherlock” by SHINee, while another dance group, HARU, danced their way to 3rd place with their own lively performance of SHINee's “Sherlock."

2nd-place winner I Love Dance performing  (Photo by Regina Kim)

Judges included Jung Bong Choi, a professor of cinema studies at NYU; Hee Jun Han, who finished in 9th place on this year’s American Idol; Donnie Kwak, senior editor of ESPN The Magazine; and Benjamin Meadows-Ingram, music editor at Billboard magazine.  Hee Jun Han also gave a special vocal performance of “When a Man Loves a Woman” at the end of the festival, to which the audience applauded enthusiastically.  

1st-place winner Nicole Mastrodomenico performing  (Photo by Regina Kim)

Audience dancing to Big Bang's "Fantastic Baby" during the break  (Photo by Regina Kim)

Grand prize winner Nicole Mastrodomenico posing with her plaque flanked by NY Korean Consul General Mr. Young Mok Kim (left) and Director of Korean Cultural Service NY Mr. Woo Sung Lee  (Photo by Regina Kim)

I sat down for a brief interview with Mr. Hee Jun Han right before the festival to find out his thoughts on the K-pop Festival, as well as the Hallyu phenomenon that is finally starting to make waves in the United States.  

Question:  I heard that you’re going to be giving a special performance today.  What song will you be singing, and why did you choose that song?

Hee Jun Han:  I’ll be singing “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge.  It’s my favorite song.  If you sing it with a live band, it sounds awesome.

Q:  You’re a Korean who went on American Idol and performed English-language songs.  And today, you’ll be seeing many non-Koreans going up on stage performing K-pop songs, here in America.  What do you make of this?  K-pop has already become mainstream in many other countries, but do you think K-pop will ever become mainstream in America?

HJH:  We’re fortunate.  I’m so proud to be part of this whole thing.  Back then, who knew K-pop would become dominant in the music industry?  I do believe that many of my supporters are also fans of K-pop.

I got to work with the core members of the American music industry when I was on American Idol.  They didn’t have any ideas about K-pop--they’re just hearing about it now.  But we should definitely look forward to seeing K-pop’s potential and K-pop becoming a hit [in the United States].

I talked with Jimmy Iovine and Will.i.am, and they talked about how K-pop will dominate the mainstream anytime soon.  They’re both fans of K-pop.  Jimmy is the co-founder and owner of Interscope Records.  He signed the K-pop group Girls’ Generation onto Interscope.  I thought it was interesting to see how core members know about K-pop, so I think we’ll see K-pop exploding soon.

Hee Jun Han (Photo by Regina Kim)

Q:  Any advice for Asians and Asian-Americans who want to break into the American music industry but find it difficult due to stereotypes, etc.? 

HJH:  A lot of artists from South Korea who are huge stars over there never made it far when they came to the U.S.  When you’re a star in Korea, other Asians support you because you’re Korean and you act Korean.  But whenever these Korean artists crossed over to the U.S., they tried too hard to conform their music to suit the Western audience.  They sang in English when they could barely speak it.

Look at Psy.  His song is in Korean, but it’s become a huge internet phenomenon.  Psy’s song came at an opportune moment.  K-pop is growing, and Psy released his song at the right time.  Asians are Asian; we can never be white or black.  We have certain things we can bring to the table, something that’s fresh and something that Americans have never seen.  So we can bring something to the music industry if we stay true to ourselves and to our identity.

I think there are three important things Korean artists need to focus on if they want to succeed in the U.S.  First, music-wise, American listeners have lazy ears.  They just want to listen.  They don’t want to sing along.  This means that you have to make a great song.  

Second, you also have to have the right presentation.  It doesn’t have to be Americanized, but a reflection of who you are.  If you try to be something you’re not, American listeners can tell.  So you have to be who you are and appreciate what you have.

Third, you need to know your audience very well.  In Asia, teenagers move the music business.  But in the States, tweens and the 30-40 age group move the industry because they’re the ones who open their wallets.  If you’re 18 to 20-something, you won’t open your wallet because in the States, you work hard at that age, so you’re not going to spend your money or spend as much time to support the artists.

So these three things—great music, great presentation, and know your audience—are essential.

Korean music stars focus only on commercial marketing.  If they focused on the music more, they’d be taken more seriously.  When you’re in Korea, you’re a star and go on variety shows and shoot a number of commercials.  But when you come to the U.S., you have to focus on your music.  K-pop stars are too focused on catering to their fans and don’t focus enough on their profession as music artists.

(Korean music reps, are you reading this?) 

All the contestants pose for a group picture at the end of the festival  (Photo by Regina Kim)

This article appears in the book Korean Culture Navigation in NY published by the Korean Cultural Center NY.