Hello KOCONUTS!
If you follow our weekly live music program, “Show! Music Core”, then you must have already seen the first virtual K-Pop idol group MAVE officially making their debut with their first single album, “PANDORA’S BOX.”
Even though this happened a few weeks back, people are still talking about it! Was the formation of the group and it’s performance a pleasant surprise? Or was it just a bit too much?
South Korea is famously known for its advanced technology, and with this technology, Kakao Entertainment formed a young and attractive synthetic K-Pop idol group called MAVE. This is the first K-Pop group formed completely online using the metaverse and Korea’s high technology like machine learning, deep fake, face swap, and 3D production technology.
MAVE consists of four talented members, SIU, ZENA, TYRA, and MARTY, who are also in the process of eventually learning Portuguese and Mandarin to give them a global appeal. Now, MAVE has already become synthetic K-Pop idol sunbaes (also spelled seonbaes) to the girls in the game show “Girl’s Re:verse”.
But this gets more interesting because everyone thought the MAVE group was such a huge surprise, however, there is another elimination metaverse K-Pop idol competition that is currently airing, with 30 different virtual singers In this group twenty-five contestants will be eliminated, and the final five remaining will form a band! So, even though MAVE was a huge surprise, another synthetic K-Pop idol group will be making their debut soon, which will automatically make MAVE synthetic K-Pop idols sunbaes! History is happening fast, y’all, but can the public keep up? Or, more importantly, are virtual K-Pop groups the future we want or the future being handed to us on an internet platter?
For those who are curious about, “Girl’s Re:Verse,” this is a show created by Kakao TV, with thirty girls who have already debuted though their groups may have disbanded or they took a break. These Idols are given a second chance to debut with a new K-Pop idol group, though the catch is, it is all done in virtual reality. In this show, thirty girls from eleven different groups will perform wearing VR devices and are evaluated by celebrity instructors like “Street Woman Fighter’s” Aiki. Through this technology these girls become synthetic K-Pop characters, challenge themselves vocally, and compete with each other to survive each elimination stage to become the world’s first virtual idol group! But it’s not just singing, the girls have to learn how to dance using VR as well. What moves in the real world convey the best online dance routine? This is one of the learning curves the contestants have to solve.
The big question on everyone’s mind is, will synthetic K-Pop stars only be popular in South Korea’s entertainment culture? Or will the world, and especially our KOCONUTS, go crazy about these new virtual reality themed idols as well?
Looking further, this got me thinking…if these virtual stars become popular, will this potentially shake things up in the K-Drama and K-Variety industries? Or perhaps they might merge together both virtual and real, eventually creating a new genre of content. This all awaits to be seen and KOCOWA+ is definitely keeping our eyes locked!
