4. Face Off
From left to right: Rupert Matthew Manalili, Micko Rivera, Angelo Lim, Jason Manuel, Gie Rosario
The song they used during their debut performance was Face by Nu’est They apparently just added, “Off” at the end. Viola, hello Face Off! Face Off was inspired by their K-pop idols, from moving music, original style, and creative fashion. They’ve been invited to a lot of events in Batangas, Palawan, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro and many more cities here in the Philippines. Indeed, the Face Off fever has reached many provinces and cities in the Philippines!
3. SHINErs
From left to right: Vincent Igno, Nan Portus, Yuuki Ito, JJ Namardo, Miko Geslani
They describe themselves as innovative because they come up with new ideas to let their group stand out from the crowd. They’ve represented the Philippines twice in South Korea and once in Indonesia with twelve grand championships and several TV appearances. One of their inspirations to come together and develop into a cover group is SHINee, the K-pop male group they are covering. They also enjoy dancing and consider it as an honor to promote K-pop music without forgetting to showcase Filipino talent and passion for dancing!
2. EXOTIX
From left to right: Demn Sanga, Jerville De Guzman, Jeremiah Basye, Chris Trinidad, Angelo Mateo, Leonel Madrigal, Roan Datu, Niknok Cruz, Rico Caldero, Pyungmon Kang, John Elmer, Joshua Karangalan
The name EXOTIX came from the unofficial fan club name of EXO before – Exotic. This has brought them to perform in more than a hundred K-pop events in the country and this is not a pure exaggeration. Just last August 23, 2015, in the 2015 K-pop Cover Dance Festival, they got to go up onstage for the 100th time. EXOTIX did not even intend to form a cover group. They were just going to shoot a cover dance video of SHINee’s Sherlock to submit an entry to SM Entertainment’s online contest. During that time, the dance practice of History by EXO was also released so they learned the steps as well, just for the love of dancing!
1. Se-Eon
From left to right: Josh Santos, Stell Ajero, Carla Chua, Candy Chua, Leon Barron, Gelou Villanueva, Ken De Guzman
Se-Eon, the group that stands out the most in this list, because not only do they have male members, they have female ones too. As for their group name, their debut stage had eleven members. They tweaked the word, “ONSE,” so it became “SE-ON.” Carla, the leader, added the letter “E” so it will sound Korean. They’ve been fans of K-pop as early as 2009, but they debuted as a group in 2011.
Se-Eon covers K-pop groups like BIGBANG, EXO, Infinite, but chiefly Bangtan Boys (BTS). Last 2014, they represented the Philippines in the K-pop Festival in Incheon after winning in the Pinoy K-pop Star 2014 organized by the Korean Cultural Center. They also made Filipinos, especially K-pop fans, proud once more when they battled in the K-pop ASEAN Festival Dance Cover Competition in Singapore and brought home the champion title. Se-Eon won the championship in the Pinoy K-pop Star 2015 and as a result, they would represent the Philippines in the K-pop Festival 2015. Moreover, they competed in Indonesia in the K-pop ASEAN Dance Cover Festival 2015 and became the victor! Luckily, they were given the once in a lifetime opportunity to meet their idol K-pop group, Bangtan Boys (BTS), after their performance at a concert in South Korea.
As these groups are proving, the best dreams happen when you’re awake. Don’t let your dreams be just dreams. If you can dream it, you can do it!
