“KPop Demon Hunters” brought a celebration of Korean culture to the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday.
The movie struck gold twice and made history Sunday, winning Oscars for animated feature and original song. “Golden” became the first K-pop song to win an Oscar. Six of the credited writers were also the first South Koreans to win in the category.
“Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone’s singing our song,” said Ejae, who co-wrote the song. “This award is not about success, it’s about resilience.”
Korean instrumentals filled the room as dancers in traditional Korean dress flooded the stage during a performance of “Golden.”
Scenes from the movie played in the background as Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, who provide the singing voices for the demon-fighting trio Huntr/x, performed the movie’s smash hit.
The singing trio wore white ensembles, with dancers swinging golden flags behind them. They were in tears in the audience earlier in the night when the movie won the Oscar for animated feature.
“For those of you who look like me, I’m so sorry that it took so long to see us in a movie like this, but it is here. That means the next generations don’t have to go longing,” said Maggie Kang, the film’s co-writer and co-director while accepting award. “This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere.”
Rei Ami, Ejae and Audrey Nuna perform “Golden” during the 98th Academy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Audience members swung white lit-up globes to the beat of the song.
“Golden” was one of only two live performances from the original song category. Miles Caton, along with a plethora of Black artists, performed “I Lied to You” from the movie “Sinners” earlier in the night.
“KPop Demon Hunters” is not new to breaking records. After premiering on Netflix in June, it became the streaming giant’s most watched movie, with more than 480 million views as of January.
The Oscar wins cap off a successful awards season for the movie. “Golden” became the first K-pop song to take home a Grammy, winning for song written for visual media. It also snagged a Golden Globe for original song and the movie won for animated motion picture. The film also earned a Producers Guild Award for outstanding animated theatrical motion picture.
The movie, which follows fictional girl group Huntr/x as it battles evil with its punchy K-pop beats, became a cultural phenomenon, dominating streaming charts. “Golden” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for more than eight consecutive weeks.
The Huntr/x singing trio performed the breakout hit, “Golden,” for the first time on TV on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in October. Ami previously told The Times that performing at the Oscars or Grammys is “probably one of the highest accolades and achievements you can accomplish as an artist, songwriter and producer. Those are all things we have on our bucket list.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
