The "2009 Asia Song Festival" concert will celebrate its 6th anniversary on Saturday with the performance of 14 popular singers and teams from nine different countries. The event will start at 6 p.m. at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam-dong, western Seoul.
Co-sponsored by Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, the song festival has become one of Asia`s biggest music festivals since its beginning in 2004.
The performers of this year include not only the top idol groups of Korea, Big Bang, Super Junior, Girls` Generation, and 2NE1, but also Gackt and Mihimaru GT from Japan, Chinese star Chris Leez, Taiwanese popular singer/dancer Show Luo, Hong Kong cantopop singer Ekin Cheng, Thailand`s five boy band K-Otic, Vietnamese top singer Ho Ngoc Ha, Agnes Monica of Indonesia, and Ruslana of Ukraine.
All participating singers, except for V6, a six-member boy band from Japan, plan to hold a press conference on Sept. 18 at Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul.
Due to its busy schedule, V6 will have its own press conference before the festival kicks off. Through the conference, the V6 members are expected to announce their plan to hold the first concert in Korea in November. According to organizers, V6 will be awarded "Asia Special Awards" of this year.
Another Japanese singer, Gackt will also meet his Korean fans closer, establishing his fan club "Korea DEARS" at Kwangwoon University in Seoul on the following day.
The newcomer 2NE1 of Korea will be receiving an award for "Best New Artist" at the festival. Debuting with their single "Fire" in May, the four girls have already been making a fresh impact on Korean music scene.
TVXQ, the only boy band who participated in the Asia Song Festival for five consecutive times, will not attend the event this year.
According to the organizers, around 50,000 people, including music fans from other countries, are expected to come and enjoy the festival. For more information on the Asia Song Festival, visit www.asf.or.kr.

By Ryu Seung-yoon (shoong4u@gmail.com)