‘D Awards with upick-Bringing dreams and delights to the world with our music!’

Who were the brightest stars that led K-pop this year?

The Korea‘s top sports and entertainment daily Sports Donga will host the K-pop awards ceremony, the ‘D Awards’ (D Awards), on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at the Hwajeong Gymnasium at Korea University in Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.

The Awards, which cheers on those who have made K-pop shine in the world, was established to further promote and encourage the background of K-pop being loved by people around the world by faithfully presenting ‘Dreams’ and ‘Delights.

The awards ceremony is based on two categories: ‘D Awards Delights’ and ‘D Awards Dreamers’. The main award, ‘Dear Awards Delight’, is given to K-pop artists who have been active throughout the year, and ‘Dear Awards Dreamer’ is given to excellent new artists who will lead K-content in the future.

The ‘YEARS’ title that has shone in K-pop in 2024 is divided into awards for this year’s artist, album, song, performance, and Globalist.

In addition, Dear Awards selects and awards ‘Iconic’, which meaningfully highlights and supports members who have become the ‘foundation’ of global K-pop, such as artists and production planners who encompass the past, present, and future of K-pop.

The first Dear Awards ceremony, which took its first step in Korea, the ‘essentials’ of K-pop, is a global fandom platform. ‘Upick’ will be the naming sponsor. The Awards ‘Fanpick’, one of the major award categories and awarded with 100% fan participation, will be held on Upick. Details and schedule regarding the official voting will be announced at a later date.

The nominees for each category for the 1st Awards can be found on the official website and SNS, which are scheduled to open in early January next year. The performance lineup that will shine at the Awards will be sequentially announced in three stages starting at the end of this month. The list of hosts and presenters who will lead the awards ceremony will be announced in mid-January next year.

The criteria for judging the awards for The Awards include a combination of online voting, music and album sales, judging by the judging panel and press, and SNS voting.

The ‘The Awards’, where the top K-pop stars who have shined throughout the year will gather in one place to create a festival, is expected to fill the Hwajung Gymnasium at Korea University in Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul with passion and promise a powerful start to 2025.

▲Date: 6 PM, Saturday, February 22, 2025
▲Location: Hwajung Gymnasium at Korea University in Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
▲Hosted by: Sports Donga·WSM
▲Organized by: upick·WSM
▲Sponsored by: GK link·Itta


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com