JAKARTA - The big victory of the KPop animated film Demon Hunters at the 2026 Golden Globes became an emotional stage for EJAE.
The song writer, whose real name is Kim Eun Jae, was unable to hold back tears when "Golden" was named Best Original Song, and also led the film to win the Best Animated Film title.
When accepting the award with his co-writers, Mark Sonnenblick and Lee Hee-joon, EJAE recalled his bitter past in the South Korean music industry.
"When I was a child, I worked tirelessly for ten years to fulfill one dream, to become a K-pop idol, and I was rejected and disappointed because my voice was not considered good enough," EJAE said with a trembling voice on the podium, citing Variety, Tuesday, January 13.
For him, "Golden" is a message for anyone who feels marginalized. He feels honored to be part of a song that helps women and people of all ages to get through difficult times and learn to accept themselves.
The message of toughness became the core of his speech which inspired many people.
"I can say with confidence that 'rejection is a diversion'. So, never give up. There is never a late word to shine as your purpose was born," he added.
This achievement also made history for Maggie Kang. As Chris Appelhans's assistant director, Kang became the first Asian woman to win the Best Animated Film category at the Golden Globes. He followed in the footsteps of Hayao Miyazaki who won a similar award in 2023.
In his speech, Kang expressed his gratitude to all parties who believed in a film rooted in Korean culture. He emphasized that this film aims to portray a strong, brave, sometimes ridiculous, but very real female character.
The dominance of KPop Demon Hunters is hard to deny. Since its debut on Netflix in June, the film has broken records as the most popular film of all time on the platform. This success at the Golden Globes follows a similar victory at the Critics Choice Awards last week.
Not only that, the song "Golden" is now aiming for victory at the Grammy Awards after receiving the Song of the Year nomination.
This phenomenon even forced Netflix to release a sing-along version in theaters, which surprisingly grossed millions of dollars even though the film was already available on the streaming service.
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