The Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines treated mallgoers to rousing performances by aspiring Filipino talents during the recently concluded Pinoy K-pop Star at the Music Hall of SM Mall of Asia.

A joint project of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines, the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines, and KBS World in partnership with SM, the event was an opportunity for meaningful cultural exchange and the promotion of Korean culture through music.

Ten participants in the vocal and performance categories vied to be the country's representatives to the 2022 Changwon K-pop World Festival in Korea.

In the performance category, girl group Alpha bagged the grand prize with their performance of "O.O" by Nmixx. Principium's cover of "Hot" by Seventeen placed second, while Project One's dance performance to the tune of "Jikjin" by Treasure got them third place.

Joy Lorenze Locsin was hailed the grand winner in the vocal category with her performance of "So What" by Hyolyn. Merry Mia Sinaguinan's rendition of "My Sea" by IU won second place, and Sandra Faith de la Cruz placed third for her version of "Hello" by Kim So-hyang,

Korean Embassy Consul General Lee Kyooho led the panel of judges, which included Anne Luis, head of the Sentro-Rizal Cultural Affairs Office of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts; Dasuri Choi, content creator and celebrity; Happee Sy-Go, vice president and COO of Pulp Live World Production Inc.; and Joseph Francia, first vice president of GMA International.

The jampacked K-pop Day started with a K-pop Open Stage led by the Philippine Kpop Convention Inc., which featured fan merch booths, games, and performances from K-pop fan cover groups and P-pop boy group Vxon. Rising P-pop girl group KAIA also treated the audience to performances of their debut single "Blah Blah" and cover of Le Sserafim's "Fearless."