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It’s going up, up, up!
“KPop Demon Hunters” has won the Golden Globe for best original song, “Golden.“
Accepting the award were songwriters EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick and Lee Hee-joon.
A tearful EJAE said, “When I was a little girl, I worked tirelessly for 10 years to fill one dream, to become a Kpop idol, and I was rejected, and disappointed that my voice isn’t good enough.” She went on to say, “I’m so glad to be part of a song that is helping other girls, other queens and everyone of all ages to get through their hardship to accept themselves.”
After Sonnenblick thanked the team at Netflix and Sony Animation, EJAE dedicated the award to “to people who have their doors closed at them, and that, I can confidently say ‘rejection is redirection,’ and so never give up.” Quoting the lyrics of “Golden,” she ended by saying, “It’s never too late to shine like you were born to be.”
Its win comes a week after the Netflix hit was named best animated feature and also earned a prize for best song for its chart-topping hit “Golden” at the Critics Choice Awards.
Also nominated in best original song were “Dream as One” from”Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “I Lied to You” from”Sinners,” “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble” from “Wicked: For Good” and “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams.”
EJAE previously told Variety, “One of the biggest assets I brought to the movie, or when writing the songs, was being bilingual. It was important for our co-director, Maggie Kang, to have Korean in the lyrics, and I just love that it’s not just the verses; it was in the actual song too.”
Last year, Rei Ami, who is the singing voice of Zoey in the film, spoke to the success of the film. She told Variety, “As women of color and Korean women, we were often told we have to work twice as hard, we have to show up earlier, we have to show out more than our average counterparts in order for us to receive the same kind of accolade or even recognition.” She went on to say, “I think we all can relate to how hard we have worked to get to this point individually, and then we come together as a group, and we create this beautiful synchronicity that infects the world, and they’ve received us so well.”
“KPop Demon Hunters” nabbed three Golden Globe nominations in total, including best animated film, cinematic and box office achievement and best original song for “Golden.”
Since its debut on Netflix in June, the film became the streamer’s most popular movie of all time as it dominated the No. 1 spot for weeks. Meanwhile, three of its original songs — “Golden,” “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” — have been mainstays on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Last month, it earned three Grammy nominations, including the coveted song of the year for “Golden.”
Also nominated for cinematic and box office achievement are “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “F1: The Movie,” “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” “Sinners,” “Weapons,” “Wicked: For Good” and “Zootopia 2.”
“KPop Demon Hunters” has been such a phenomenon that the theatrical-averse Netflix decided to bring a sing-along version of the film to theaters for fan events in August and October. During the first go-around, “KPop Demon Hunters” topped the box office with roughly $18 million over two days. Then around Halloween, the movie collected $5 million to $6 million, which is noteworthy considering it had been widely available on streaming for months.
Variety parent company PMC owns Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Prods. in a joint venture with Eldridge.
See all the Golden Globes winners here.
English (US) ·