Sitting backstage at HallyuPopFest Sydney, the members of OH MY GIRL — Hyojung, Mimi, YooA, Seunghee, Yubin, and Arin — find themselves locked in an impromptu compliment relay. Everything they cover — beauty, style, and character — all leads to effusive praise of each other. Some own it with pride, tossing their hair back and inviting more commentary. Others are painfully embarrassed, hunching into their seats and hiding their faces in their hands. Still, they all take solace in the knowledge that they’re truly seen by one another, and are better together.
OH MY GIRL debuted in 2015, and for seven years, have alternated between ethereal and bubbly concepts, voices ringing clearly over deceptively powerful dances. In 2019, they won second place on the survival-style television show Queendom and rocketed to unprecedented levels of popularity. The lead single of their 2020 EP, “Nonstop,” and B-side “Dolphin,” became the two longest-running girl group songs on the MelOn Daily Chart. Their next EP Dear OHMYGIRL then sold more than double of Nonstop, and its lead single “Dun Dun Dance” reached first on local music charts.
They bring this consummate professionalism and experience to HallyuPopFest Sydney. Performing with nine other artists over the second weekend of August, OH MY GIRL showcases a variety of sides to themselves in a 30-minute set: “Real Love,” “Dolphin,” and “Dun Dun Dance” are cheerful, inviting fierce fanchants from the audience; “Drip” is sensuous; “Guerilla,” their final Queendom performance, shows off their incredible vocals; and “Checkmate” allows for them to interact with fans more closely.
Their exuberance isn’t reserved for the stage, for it brightens up even the most austere of conference rooms. They’re unfailingly polite as they enter, but once they’re seated and the conversation’s started rolling, they’re all in.