The King of Korean Singing Competitions to Arrive in Town with Major Changes

miss A member Suzy poses in front of the camera before an interview with 10Asia. [Lee Jin-hyuk/ 10Asia]

It is this time of year when college students throw themselves into singing with a will on Korea's oldest annual singing competition.

The 36th College Musicians Festival [CMF] hosted by MBC will present 14 teams at MBC Dream Center in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, Seoul on November 8, according to MBC officials.

Established in 1977, the longest-living Korean audition has stood out from mushrooming audition reality shows such as SBS "KPOP STAR" and Mnet "Superstar K." However, the talent-seeking program will be facing some major changes from 2012.

Until last year, contestants were limited to singer-songwriters who are enrolling in Korean colleges but now it is breaking that tradition and accepting college students from abroad as well.

The 11 Korean finalist teams have went through three preliminaries to go into fierce competition with overseas talents who passed local preliminaries. The three aspiring teams from abroad are Cherelle Thompson from England, YAA from France and Monique Macasaet from the United States.

Another big change at the 36th edition is its nine-year female host Lee Hyo-ri getting replaced by Suzy of girl group miss A. Korean musician Lee Juck will stay by her side to host the show smoothly.

The officials added that hip-hop duo LeeSSang, rock band Nell, male quintet Sweet Sorrow, songstress IU, indie musician Verbal Jint and girl group SISTAR will put on special performances to show their support for these young talents.

French college band YAA heats up the stage during their showcase for the 2012 College Musicians Festival [CMF], held at the KT&G Sangsangmadang in Hongdae area Seoul, Korea on November 3, 2012. [MBC]

English college musician Cherelle Thompson heats up the stage during her showcase for the 2012 College Musicians Festival [CMF], held at the KT&G Sangsangmadang in Hongdae area Seoul, Korea in Korea, on November 3, 2012. [MBC]

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