Last October 21, a number of K-pop acts graced the stage along with homegrown P-pop (Pinoy pop) artists in one night, bringing together fans of both worlds at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Parañaque City, and we’re here to relive the highlights from that event.

Among the K-pop acts are South Korean rapper BE’O, former SISTAR member and solo artist Hyolyn, girl groups LOONA, VIVIZ, and BRAVE GIRLS, as well as former 2NE1 member and solo artist Park Bom.

Kicking off the festival were the P-pop groups G22 with their songs “Shooting”, “Babalik”, and “BANG”, followed by their brother band VXON with their songs “FIYAAH”, “P.S.” and “The Beast”, setting off the fiery atmosphere despite the rain-drenched stage and leaving a strong impression across the festival crowd.

Another P-pop male group, ALAMAT, then followed suit, showcasing their prowess with their songs “ABKD”, “Say U Love Me”, and a yet-to-be-released track from their new album “Pasulong”.

And as the first Korean act to perform, rapper BE’O then graced the stage with 8 tracks for the crowd. He repeatedly thanked the Filipino crowd for their wonderful energy, saying that he got more energized performing here despite his busy schedule.

Among the songs he performed were his smash-hit “Counting Stars” and the songs “Complex” and “Nostalgia”, and he spared no water bottles filled with fresh water on refreshing the audience as part of his performance, just right for the hot atmosphere that night.

Next on the K-pop setlist is no other than Hyolyn, who returns to the Philippine stage after many years. She performed some of her solo tracks, such as “Dally”, “NO THANKS”, “Layin’ Low”, “BAE”, “SEE SEA”, and even a medley of some SISTAR tracks such as “Touch My Body” and “Shake It”, which further ignited hotness that night due to her powerful vocal prowess and sizzling dance moves.

One of the anticipated groups that night, LOONA, then followed suit. Being first-timers in the Philippines, Filipino Orbits (fans of LOONA) collectively cheered for the group loudly as they performed their tracks “Flip That”, “Star”, “Dance On My Own” and “Paint The Town”, showing them that they have a lot of Filipino fans waiting for them for a long time to come here.

In the short talk with host Ryan Bang, LOONA members shared that they are enjoying Filipino Orbits’ energy and were even delighted to see some who are eagerly waiting for them at the airport during their Manila arrival. Member Heejin even shared some of the Filipino words they learned, including the iconic “shot puno” phrase.

They also said that they would love to return and even expressed regret that Manila isn’t part of their recently-ended “LOONATHEWORLD” world tour. In the end, they said, “Orbits, Mahal ko kayo” (Orbits, we love you) altogether.

The next K-pop group, Brave Girls, brought us back to the summer era with their chill tracks “Chi Mat Ba Ram”, “We Ride”, “Whistle”, and the viral smash-hit track “Rollin”, which every K-pop fan might have heard already at some point.

The group shared that it is also their first time in Manila as performers and that they’re really loving the energy of their Filo Fearless (fans of Brave Girls).

VIVIZ then followed on-stage with their tracks “Loveade”, “Love Love Love”, “Red Sun” and “BOP BOP”. While they are not first-timers in the Philippines (they’ve been here multiple times when they were with GFRIEND), it is their first after re-debuting as VIVIZ.

As they enchant the crowd with their catchy tracks, fresh voices, and dance steps, people there can’t help but sing along. They even showed their goofy act on stage by playing around, which they were known for when they performed their song “Red Sun”.

Park Bom, who is the final K-pop act gracing the stage for that night, then appeared on stage, performing some of her tracks including 2NE1’s “Fire”, “Spring”, “4:44”, “Don’t Cry”, and “You and I”.

Filipino Blackjacks and Bombshells showed their love for the K-pop legend as she soulfully interacts with the audience with her angelic voice, saying that she missed the Filipino crowd and that she loves them so much, expressing her happiness for the energy the crowd is giving her since then. Her performance ended with some fireworks, marking the end of the K-pop lineup that night.

Continuing with the next set of P-pop artists, Felip, who is also a member of the P-pop group SB19, set foot on stage first with his own songs “Bulan”, “Palayo”, and a soon-to-be-released track, hyping up his fans up to its release.

Female P-pop group Calista followed then with their tracks “Race Car”, “Christmas Rush” and their newest track “Don’t Have Time”, making the Popstival stage the first stage performance for that track. Another female P-pop group, KAIA, followed after with their songs “BLAH BLAH”, “Dalawa” and “Kaya”, giving fans some energy boost needed as the show goes on further.

P-pop male group Press Hit Play then followed suit with performances of their tracks “Tell Me”, “WIN” and “Forever Young”, followed by girl group BINI, who performed their tracks “I Feel Good”, “Strings”, and “No Fear”, which they revealed for the first time on the live stage.

Another solo artist, Lady Pipay, then appeared on stage with a breathtaking aerial rope dance, as well as dancing to multiple Filipino music hits and dance covers.

Capping the strong lineup of Filipino pop artists are no other than the P-pop group SB19, who performed the songs “WYAT (Where You At)”, “MANA”, “MAPA” and “BAZINGA”. The crowd from the general admission section was then let into the VIP area to let them jam more with SB19’s almost-midnight performance.

Sharing that it’s their last concert here before they head on their world tour, SB19 members encouraged the fans to enjoy every bit of their performances and thanked the crowd as well as the K-pop fans and artists, who they said were their inspiration, to push the Filipino music and talents to the world stage, just like what many K-pop artists are doing nowadays.

The event promoter, Neuwave Events and Productions, also teased two upcoming events during the festival, which is the “Be You 2”, happening on December 8-9, with the lineup yet to be revealed as of writing, and “EPICON”, which is set to happen on February 4-5 next year.

With that said, it was a night full of excitement for the fans of both worlds. And as it seems, the event was made to showcase P-pop not only to K-pop artists but also to Filipino K-pop fans who can also be the target market for the rising P-pop stars of this generation. -HallyuLife.com

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#POPSTIVAL2022 is made possible by Neuwave Events and Productions. HallyuLife would like to thank them for the media invite and for making it possible.

Check out our photos from the event at photos.hallyulife.com.