Gyeonggi Province Opens Finals of '2020 Seniors Cultural Arts Competition: One Person 9988 Talk Talk Show'

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province will hold the finals of the '2020 Seniors Cultural Arts Competition: One Person 9988 Talk Talk Show,' a talent performance festival for seniors in the province, on the 28th at the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theater in Suwon.

The '9988 Talk Talk Show,' which began in 2016 and is now in its fifth edition, carries the meaning of "let's enjoy cultural and leisure activities vigorously up to age 99." This year, 20 finalists who passed the preliminary rounds in four categories—singing, instrumental music, dance, and guitar—will showcase the skills they have honed over the years.

Taking into account social distancing, the preliminary rounds were conducted in August through user-generated content (UCC) video reviews, and the finals will be held as a non-audience event. For those unable to attend in person, the event will be live-streamed on YouTube's '9988 Talk Talk Show' channel.

Through on-site judging, all 20 finalists will be selected as award recipients, with the ceremony honoring one Grand Prize winner, three Excellence Award winners, five Merit Award winners, seven Encouragement Award winners, and four Popularity Award winners, who will receive certificates and prize money from the provincial governor.

Cho Tae-hun, director of the Gyeonggi Province Senior Welfare Division, said, "We hope this competition will provide a bit of vitality to seniors exhausted by COVID-19, and we ask for the interest and viewership of those who are interested, as the event will be live-streamed."

Meanwhile, the province has been running the 'Seniors Artwork Contest' from August with the theme 'Passion, Challenge, and Perseverance in Life,' and has selected 40 award-winning works.

The award-winning works include ▲Literature Grand Prize: Choe Oe-suk (female) 'Package Sent by Spring' ▲Literature Excellence Award: Kim Young-il (male) 'Blue Dream of Two Scarecrows,' Kim Jong-du (male) 'The Last Night Train' ▲Fine Arts Grand Prize: Kim Young-du (male) 'Autumn Love' ▲Fine Arts Excellence Award: Park Hwa-sun (female) 'Hardship and Joy,' Kim Kyung-gu (male) 'The Scene of Life' ▲Calligraphy, Literati Painting, and Calligraphy Art Grand Prize: Kim Ok-nam (female) 'Bamboo' ▲Calligraphy, Literati Painting, and Calligraphy Art Excellence Award: Kim Kyung-hee (female) 'Bottle Gourd,' Lee Sang-man (male) 'Evergreen Tree' ▲Photography and Video Grand Prize: Ryu Soon-mi (female) 'My Past Days' ▲Photography and Video Excellence Award: Kang Tae-su (male) 'The Strength of Age,' Kim Tae-un (male) 'Path,' and others.

The award-winning works will be compiled into a collection and distributed to agencies implementing the 'Seniors Cultural Enjoyment Project,' and will be sequentially displayed at six locations throughout the province—including the Gyeonggi Province Government Northern Building, Bucheon City Hall, and Goyang City Hall—beginning in November. An online exhibition is also planned for December.