We love how the Hallyu wave has also taken over the world of sports lately. It wasn’t all that long ago that BTS’ Jung Kook electrified the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar with a spectacular performance of Dreamers. Now, another K-pop band, BLACKSWAN, has done the same. On January 11 2023, BLACKSWAN performed in India during the 2023 Hockey World Cup’s opening ceremony, entertaining 40000+ audience members in the Barabati Stadium.
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Hockey World Cup 2023 witnesses BLACKSWAN’s electric performance
The all-girl group is made up of four members – Fatou, Gabi, Sriya and new member NVee. The K-pop group played some of its most popular songs including ‘Tonight’, ‘Over & Over’ and ‘Close To Me’. Their appearance marked the first time that the K-pop band BLACKSWAN was performing in India.
BLACKSWAN gave another performance during the Rourkela City Festival 2023
After performing at the opening ceremony, BLACKSWAN performed once again on the 14th during the Rourkela City Festival 2023 which was taking place alongside the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023. This festival is being held from 14 to 22 January as part of this year’s hockey celebrations in Odisha.
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BLACKSWAN’s India connection
For the unversed, the presence of Sriya, who hails from Odisha’s Jharsuguda, makes this K-pop band all the more special for Indians. The first Indian to feature in a k-pop band, Sriya is also a fan of Bollywood actress Disha Patani.
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Earlier during the opening ceremony, Sriya had also expressed her excitement to be in India.
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Sriya Lenka was selected by DR Music last year after an existing member of BLACKSWAN had exited the group. Sriya made it to the k-pop band from 4000 applicants. This K-pop band had another new member join in recently called Alena Smith with the stage name NVee. She had previously acted in the fan film Avatar: The Last of the Airbenders Part 1 as Liu.
The band was called Rania before being renamed BLACKSWAN in 2020. In 2021, they released their first single album as BLACKSWAN called Close To Me.
Hero image credit: Instagram/blackswan___official
Featured image credit: Instagram/blackswan___official
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Currently, BLACKSWAN has four members - Sriya, Gabi, Fatou and NVee.
Yes, Sriya Lenka is from Odisha, India.
The current leader of BLACKSWAN is Fatou, who has been a member of the band since 2020.
