KIIS FM’s K-POP VILLAGE Shines With Its First Event At KCON LA!
IHEARTMEDIA’S KIIS FM FIRST-EVER
KIIS FM’S K-POP VILLAGE AT KCON
Artists from KCON LA, the World’s No.1 K-Culture Festival, To Appear at KIIS FM’s K-POP VILLAGE Include ATEEZ, Kep1er, XG, & xikers!
(photography by: Kim Francis Trazo)
This year’s KCON LA 2023 partnered up with iHeartMedia’s KIIS FM to bring us the first KIIS FM K-POP VILLAGE. It gave K-pop fans a way to see performances along with interviews with artists from the KCON LA lineup.
The KIIS FM KPOP VILLAGE was situated right outside the convention center making it convenient for fans to join in on the outdoor fun! It featured multiple food truck vendors such as Boba Time, McDonald’s, Davinci Resolve, a booth for KOCOWA+, a Ferris Wheel, and the KPOP Village Stage where both opening acts and lineup artists delivered performances.
Artists such as NOTD, Tkay, Benson Boone, and Leo, a former Trainee A, also performed at the K-POP VILLAGE Stage. Each delivered an exhilarating performance and mesmerized the audience.
A highlight of the KIIS FM K-POP VILLAGE was the interview with K-pop sensation, ATEEZ who sat down to chat with JoJo Wright. Their introduction and the response from the audience made you aware of how big their popularity since their debut. Amongst many of the questions, JoJo was able to ask “How exciting is it to be back here at KCON?”. Yeosang replied “Finally we did it, I’m so excited!” Leader Hongjoong added, “Every time we met our international fans, we are so surprised because we live in Korea, but they always give us a lot of loves and cheers and I love it too…we are surprised every time we visit here and everywhere, so I just say thanks to our fans ATINY, thank you”.
JoJo did not forget to discuss the world hit EP, THE WORLD EP. 2: OUTLAW, and if the members can express what this album meant to them. Yunho gladly took the mic, “We planned it for ATINY, so it’s ATEEZ’s present.” Hongjoong completed with ‘I think there is something in there that ATINY wants to hear and show things in there, so I think it’s (while pointing back to Yunho), he said it already, but it’s a present for ATINY”.
When JoJo asked if the members expected the success of the song “Bouncy”, Hongjoong questioned the success and asked the fans instead for their response. ATINY did not miss the chance to sing the chorus to the members making Hongjoon stand up from his seat to dance along. This naturally leads us to the next question of teaching the main dance move of the song. All the members stood up to help and Mingi rapped his section live into the chorus turning the moment into a mini concert for ATINY.
They wrap up the interview with their last thoughts with Jongho expressing his love for ATINY and Hongjoong reminding the audience to watch out for their performance tonight. Mingi ends with a shoutout to the fans before the group heads off stage to prepare for tonight’s big show.
Global girl group, XG was another highlight interview as each member happily came on stage to greet the amazing energy from the audience. The girls were all smiles and waving at their fans as JoJo talked about their fresh debut in 2022, which gained an explosive and continuous positive response from global fans. This compliment gave Maya a chance to express her gratitude and she doesn’t forget the love, support, and collaboration with incredible artists like Ciara and Jackson. Leader Jurin answered that she “loves LA” and Santa Monica Beach as the things they’ve enjoyed since coming to LA. Harvey even happily responded about meeting their fans on the streets and talking with them directly “that was so good, thank you so much”.
JoJo talks about their new album, which drops September 27, and what if they explain the album NEW DNA. Jurin takes the lead and discloses that there will be six songs total with different concepts and messages, and she hopes the fans will like it. Maya kept their new song “NEW DANCE” a secret as she did not want to spoil anything, but it is coming as it will be a summer song. It brought us to their goals for the remainder of the year, making fans chant for them to have a world tour. Jurin expresses the members would love to go around the world to meet their fans, and this is a goal of theirs. Lastly, Maya represented all her members to say the last message to their fans, “We love you guys so so much… I hope you guys know that and our new first mini album is coming…”. The members excited off happily, but not before showing love for their fans with many hearts.
We would like to give a huge thanks to iHeartMedia’s KIIS FM for giving us the opportunity to cover this event.
