Actress Awkwafina is set to appear during The CW‘s upcoming live broadcast of the 2024 edition of KCON Los Angeles, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
The 36-year-old actress will appear as a special guest with host Kim Soo Hyun, a wildly popular Korean actor, during the K-pop festival’s primetime broadcast.
Earlier this month, the Nexstar-owned broadcast network and Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM announced they were partnering for the live broadcast of the KCON L.A.’s Sunday night concert, which is set to air at 8 p.m. ET on July 28. The broadcast will be the first time a K-pop performance show will be shown on national TV in primetime.
“This is a groundbreaking broadcast for K-Pop and the music industry and having Awkwafina as a special guest for the evening is a dream come true,” CJ ENM’s head of music entertainment Harry H.K. Shin said in a statement. “Her dynamic personality and presence on stage will add that extra layer of excitement we are looking for to make the night one for the whole country to remember.”
CJ ENM has also announced that The CW broadcast will include a special pre-recorded stage from boy group Enhypen, along with special performances from BIBI, Hyolyn, INI, TWS and ME:I. They join previously announced performers Jeon Somi, NCT 127, STAYC, Zerobaseone and Zico for the Sunday night concert.
Izna, the newly formed girl group comprised of seven contestants from the recently concluded South Korean music survival show I-Land 2: N/a, were initially slated to perform, but the festival announced Friday night that the group will be unable to participate in KCON L.A. due to unexpected visa issues.
KCON — a global K-pop festival featuring performances and panels — has had a consistent presence in Southern California for more than a decade and considers L.A. to be the flagship event of the CJ ENM-produced festival series.
The three-day event, taking place this year at the Crypto.com Arena, L.A. Convention Center and Gilbert Lindsay Plaza in downtown Los Angeles, gives K-pop fans the chance to see a slew of popular groups. Expanding from years past, KCON plans to utilize four stages: The M Countdown (named after the weekly Korean music show from KCON’s parent company) stage is inside Crypto.com Arena, and the others — including a showcase stage to introduce L.A. fans to rookie acts who haven’t promoted heavily in the U.S. — are at the Convention Center and plaza.
For daytime programming, the festival puts on fan activities and live performances, and it ends each day with a concert at Crypto.com Arena. Samsung Galaxy is the title sponsor for this year’s festival.
The L.A. festival will take place July 26-28, with tickets available on the festival’s website.
