Young Egyptian singer inspired by Korean pop

Christeen Louis is famous in Egypt for singing K-pop song. 

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Roufida Abouelwafa

Photos = Christeen Louis

Christeen Louis, a young rising K-pop singer, has earned her place and has become well-known in Egypt for being the best K-pop singer there. Over the past year, Louis has won almost every K-pop contest held by the Korean Cultural Center in Egypt, and since then there has been high demand for her K-pop covers at the cultural center and at other organizations in Egypt related to Korea.                                                            

Louis sings in front of the Korean ambassador, during the K-lover’s Night concert in Cairo.

In 2016, Louis covered the song ‘’You are my Everything’’ from the soundtrack to the soap opera "Descendants of the Sun" (태양의 후예) (2016). The cover went viral in many Arab-speaking countries and was praised by many of the show's fans.

  

Christeen Louis records the cover '’You are my Everything' in the studio, winning great praise from her fans. 

Louis is a talented, dedicated person with a lovely personality. I was lucky enough to interview her and to ask her some questions. 

- So, Christeen, what made you want to sing in Korean? I mean, it’s not a common thing to do. There must be some story behind it. 

It all started with me watching the Korean soap opera "City Hunter" (시티헌터) (2011). I was so into it, especially the soundtrack. So I started memorizing the song and singing it by heart. I uploaded a video to my Facebook profile, of me singing it. The day after, I found many K-pop fans had shared and commented on my video. They loved it. I was surprised and thankful at the same time.

- Wow. So basically, the growing popularity of Korean pop, TV and movies in East Asia and elsewhere inspired you to do this. Can you tell us who's your favorite Korean pop group? 

Yes it did. It started with a few songs. Then I was overwhelmed by the number of songs out there and started to seek any Arab-speakers who sang K-pop in Korean. I love so many pop groups, but the dearest to my heart is the singer Chen from the group EXO. I love his voice and personality, and also because his song helped me to win first place at the K-pop World Festival Egypt in 2016. 

Christeen Louis wins first place at the K-pop World Festival Egypt in 2016, covering the song 'Best of Luck' that was originally sung by Chen from the pop group EXO. 

- Tell us, Christeen, didn't you ever find it hard to sing in Korean? I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a totally different language. 

I’m glad you brought that up. To be honest, yes, it is an obstacle, but most of the time I get lucky. I mean, I didn’t study Korean before and I depend solely on my listening skills. However, before the festival I used to attend a K-pop academy at the Korean Embassy in Cairo. There, I met the voice coach Sejong. I'm forever grateful to her. My Korean was poor and so was her English, but we clicked and until now she has been the best instructor I’ve ever had. Because she believed in my potential and gave me that support, it was all reflected in my performance.  

- How charming! That makes me wonder about your favorite part of being a K-pop cover singer. 

That’s easy. There are two specific moments. One is when I was walking to the stage to perform my song and I was surprised by the audience's reaction. I could see that they recognized me and even started singing along with me. The other was when I was announced as a winner and they didn’t want me off stage. They wanted me to sing all over again! That still gives me goose bumps. 

I am very grateful to her for her time to sit with me, and also I personally loved her cover from the soundtrack to "Descendants of the Sun." Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.

wisdom117@korea.kr

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