The grand curtain rises on the new festival of K-pop stars, the ‘1st D Awards’.

The ‘1st D Awards with upick’, hosted by Sports Donga and organized by ‘upick’ and WSM, will be held today (the 22nd) at the Hwajeong Gymnasium at Korea University in Seoul.

The ultimate lineup for the Awards has been completed, with performances by top artists from 14 teams and 16 presenters (presenters). The main MCs of the Awards, which will be the ‘first button’, will be the representative actress of ‘K-Storytelling’, Go Min-si, and the ‘hot icon’ of the home theater, Lee Jong-won.

▲A fantastic lineup that you can‘t see anywhere else

The splendid performance lineup is the reason why ‘The Awards’ has been eagerly awaited. N.Flying, P1Harmony, ENHYPEN, FIFTYFIFTY, tripleS, ZEROBASEONE, RIIZE, 82MAJOR, YOUNG POSSE, QWER, TWS, NCT WISH, UNIS, and KickFlip are preparing a stage that can only be seen at the ‘The Awards’. They will show a stage that maintains the group’s unique color while adding a ‘Kick’ just for the ‘The Awards’.

The lineup of presenters is also notable. Various stars such as Cha Seung-won, Park Sun-joo, Hwang Chan-sung, Go Kyung-pyo, Bang Min-ah, Kang Nam, Noh Jeong-ui, Park Jin-young, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Hak-joo, Kim Ji-eun, Jo Yi-hyun, Jung Gun-joo, Bae In-hyeok, Seo Beom-jun, and Mimi Minu (Kim Min-woo) will appear as award presenters. A very special corner hosted by Mimi Minu has also been prepared. Among the artists appearing at the ‘The Awards’ to celebrate the Year of the Snake, the ‘Snake Year stars’ will come together to show a special event.

▲Fair results combining sales and evaluation

The awards ceremony is largely divided into two categories. The ‘D Awards Delights’, the main award, will be given to K-pop artists who have been very active throughout the year, and the ‘D Awards Dreamers’ will be given to excellent new artists who will lead K-content.

The ‘Years’ titles that will shine brightly in K-pop in 2024 will be divided into Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Performance of the Year, Trend of the Year, and Rookie of the Year, and will be awarded. In addition, the ‘D Awards Iconic’ will be selected and awarded to members who have become the foundation of global K-pop, including artists, producers, and planners who encompass the past, present, and future of K-pop, and who have meaningfully highlighted and supported them.

With the global fandom platform ‘upick’ as the naming sponsor, the ‘The Awards Fanpick’, one of the major award categories and a 100% fan-participated award, the ‘The Awards’ Popularity Award, is also awaited. The ‘The Awards’ judging criteria include online voting, music and album sales, as well as the judging panel‘s evaluation, to select the winner.

▲Pre-winners of genres and special categories

‘The Awards’ revealed the pre-winners on their official SNS. ‘BEST CHOREOGRAPHY’ went to Tours and Aylitt, and ‘BEST BAND’ went to DAY6 and QWER. Also, ‘Discovery of the Year’ went to Fifty Fifty, Triple S, 82major, Youngpa C, Eunice, and Kickflip respectively. ‘Best OST’ went to N.Flying, ‘Best Video’ went to aespa and RISE, and ‘Best Tour’ went to ENHYPEN and TREASURE. ‘Best Stage’ went to ZEROBASEONE and P1Harmony, and ‘Best Group’ went to ENHYPEN and RISE.

The winners of the ‘Upick Popularity Award’ were ‘Best Male Group’ ENHYPEN, ‘Best Female Group’ Triple S, ‘Best Male Solo’ Lee Seung Yoon, and ‘Best Female Solo’ Red Velvet Wendy, who took home the The Awards signature trophy ‘D Cube’ based entirely on fan votes. The ‘Upick Global Choice’ male category went to ZEROBASEONE’s Zhang Hao, and the ‘Upick Global Choice’ female category went to TWICE‘s Chaeyoung.

The ‘1st The Awards’ will be held today (the 22nd) at 6 PM at the Hwajeong Gymnasium at Korea University in Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, and will be broadcast exclusively on Channel A and Channel A YouTube Play (play channelA) from 10:30 PM on the same day.


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.