Indy K-Pop Club wins Indy Live

On Dec.10, students flocked to the auditorium to watch Independence’s third annual talent show, Indy Live. The show featured 12 competing acts and amassed over 750 tickets sold by Independence’s Student Council Association. As Indy K-Pop Club stepped onto the stage to perform, they faced daunting circumstances, but they did not disappoint. 

Their act, a high intensity dance routine set to a compilation of K-Pop’s hottest hits, won the most votes from Independence’s student body. Indy K-Pop Club was granted first place in the talent show and a $150 Amazon gift card prize.

Indy K-Pop Club originally formed in the 2020-2021 school year from the leadership of then junior co-presidents Jason Zheng and Angela Pham. Zheng reflected, “Angela and I had a really strong passion for K-pop and wanted to find others with the same interests.” 

The virtual school year posed challenges though, and Indy K-Pop Club remained relatively dormant during their first year. When students came back to the building for the start of this school year, Zheng had big plans for the group. He recounted, “Angela and I knew we had to compile the club and make it better than ever. As we assembled the group together, I wanted to find others that had a passion for dance like I did. I made a Google form and got a small group together. As time went on, we bonded closer and got more consistent as a performance group.”

This performance group, a smaller faction of the club consisting of Nithya Angadi (11), Gwendolyn Holt (11), Isabel Letona (9), Vindhya Marri (9), Hema Ravikumar (11), Julie Shin (12), and Jason Zheng (12), entered and ultimately won the talent show.

The group began their preparation process by creating the song compilation. Group members chose some of their favorite K-Pop hits including “Butter” by BTS and “I Can’t Stop Me” by TWICE. Zheng took the primary role of editing the songs together with assistance and feedback from other members.

Dance practice for the Indy K-Pop Club performing group began on Nov. 16. Senior Julie Shin, a leader of the performance group, said, “A lot of the choreography was learned at our homes. When we met up to practice, we mostly focused on transitions and sync.” During the week preceding the talent show, the group met everyday before and after school to perfect their routine.

By the time of the talent show, their act was there, or as close to perfect as possible. The crowd loved the performance, cheering at every sharply hit dance move. The four minute, energetic routine kept the audience engaged for its duration, and was even met with a standing ovation from some students as the final pose was struck.

Sophomore Quin Demcsak was part of the adoring audience. She said, “There was never a moment in the performance that the crowd wasn’t cheering. I really enjoyed watching it.”

Mirroring the spectators, Indy K-Pop Club’s performers were overjoyed

throughout the performance and after its conclusion. Zheng shared, “We were having a great time and the crowd cheering made the experience even better. After the performance we all felt amazing and wanted to savor every minute.”

Riding the high of the talent show win, the future seems bright for Indy K-Pop Club, and the group already has plans.

“We definitely want to perform more. As for something outside of school, we are planning to do a K-Pop-in-public challenge and post it to our Youtube channel,” said Zheng.

To watch the full performance, visit and subscribe to Indy K Pop Club’s Youtube Channel (Indy K-Pop) and follow them on instagram (@indykpop).