Siblings in ‘Heaven’ After Winning K-pop Contest
With their emotional performance of Ailee’s “Heaven,” a brother and sister duo beat out more than a dozen other finalists to win a K-pop singing contest open only to non-Koreans.
Angky and Arlene Budiardjono, who were born in Jakarta, Indonesia and immigrated to the U.S. in 1999, don’t speak Korean fluently, but memorized the lyrics to the K-pop ballad and repeatedly watched Ailee’s performances to prepare for the second annual American K-Pop Contest, sponsored by the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Only non-Koreans whose first language is not Korean were eligible to compete in the singing contest, the finals for which were held June 8 at Zipper Concert Hall at Colburn Music School in downtown L.A.
