One of the biggest nights in the Korean music industry is the KBS Music Festival. On Nov. 12, a source shared to Newsen, "2020 KBS Song Festival will be held on Dec. 18. Due to COVID-19, it will take place without an audience this year." With a date confirmed for the event, fans cannot wait for the day to come. With offline audience disallowed, the event will likely be broadcast for a worldwide audience, this time in "untact mode."
"Untact" refers to an event that is conducted without any face-to-face communication between the performers and the audience. It increases the reach of the show and allow viewers who might never have been able to see the event live and attend it from the safety of their own homes.
The KBS Song Festival is an annual South Korean music show that airs on the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) before the year ends. It has a long history, and many fans and artists are looking to witness the yearly event.
#ThrowBack
It was first aired in 1965 by the Tongyang Broadcasting Company (TBC), also known as TBC Broadcast Music Awards. In 1981, TBC merged with the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). As a result, the program was renamed as KBS Music Awards, which aired on KBS1 every December 30 (starting 1965 until 1994).
In 2005, Kim Jong-kook was the last singer to win the KBS Music Award, and in 2006, KBS discontinued the awards ceremony. During this year also, the program was again renamed as KBS Song Festival, and the network turned the program into a non-competitive music festival rather than an awards show.
Between 2006 and 2016, the festival typically featured performances by 20 to 30 K-pop groups and singers. However, in 2017, the show was on a smaller scale because of the on-going strike. During this event, there were only eight groups, two singers, and contestants from the KBS2 reality show "The Unit."
The event has always taken place at KBS Hall, with two exceptions. In 2015, the event was held in Gocheok Sky Dome, and for the 2019 event, it was held in KINTEX.
The KBS Song Festival of 2019 saw Park Jin-young (Got7), Irene (Red Velvet), and Shin Dong-Yup as the hosts of the night. Apink, Astro, BTS, Chungha, Cosmic Girls, Everglow, GFriend, Golden Child, Got7, Itzy, Mamamoo, Monsta X, N.Flying, NCT 127, NCT Dream, NU'EST, Oh My Girl, Red Velvet, SEVENTEEN, Song Ga-in, Stray Kids, The Boyz, TWICE and TXT were the performing artists for the event.
The success of last year's event and the slew of new artists that have debuted this year have increased the hype of the 2020 KBS Song Festival lineup. Fans are hoping to see BTS once again on stage during their promotional activities of "BE'," their upcoming album, and their junior group, the recently formed ENHYPEN from the reality show, I-Land, among others.
Stay tuned for more updates on the KBS Song Festival, 2020.
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Written by Ishani Sarkar.
