'MBC College Song Festival' made a spectacular comeback as a music festival that connects generations after 13 years.
The 2025 MBC College Song Festival - lighting youth, which aired on the 26th (directed by Kim Moon-gi and Han Seung-hoon, writer Jung Ji-sook), drew enthusiastic responses from viewers after captivating the live audience with performances full of youthful passion and sincerity.
The finals, held at the arch lawn park of National Korea Maritime & Ocean University in Busan, heightened the excitement as the crowd's cheers continued despite heavy rain, hosted by MCs Jang Doyoun, Lee Jun-young and Kim Min-joo.
The final stage featured participants from a variety of genres, including bands, singer-songwriters and traditional Korean music, expanding the musical spectrum. With participation from 115 universities worldwide and about 2,000 college students, it drew unprecedented interest, and after fierce preliminaries, 11 teams advanced to the finals to sing their youthful passion with original songs.
Judges Yoon Sang, Lee Juck, Park Kal-lin, Lee Won-seok (Daybreak), Lee Young-hyun, Yuk Joong-wan and Kim Yong-jun (SG Wannabe) took part, delivering fair evaluations and witnessing the birth of new stars.
The broadcast also featured special stages celebrating the revival of the college song festival. Past winners and performers, including Lee Sang-mi of EX, the grand prize winner in 2005, Xdinary Heroes, HITGS, idntt, Dynamic Duo & SINCE, WOODZ, Lee Mu-jin and LUCY, participated to reinterpret past winning songs.
Particularly notable was the stage with the late Shin Hae-chul's children, Shin Ha-yeon and Shin Dong-won, performing with LUCY. 'To You,' the 1988 college song festival grand prize winner and one of Shin Hae-chul's signature songs, resounded across generations, and the performance included the late artist's actual voice restored using AI technology. Before the song began, the voice of the late artist recreated through technology developed by NEXT UNITED evoked old memories among viewers and added a deep resonance.
After a fiercely contested final judging, the grand prize went to Cadenza, the gold prizes went to H.i.M and Y507, the silver prize went to Kim Ga-yeon, and the bronze prize went to Cho-dong. The winners cheered and embraced one another, and warm applause poured from the judges' seats.
The 2025 MBC College Song Festival - lighting youth served as an emotional stage that reminded people of the meaning of youth across generations and announced a new starting point for Korean music.
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