Organizers have announced the winners of the fan-voted ‘2026 The Awards’ popularity category.
Organizers determined the final winners of the ‘The Awards X UPICK Popularity Award’ at 3 p.m. on the 29th. ENHYPEN’s Heeseung and aespa’s Karina received the ‘UPICK Global Choice’ title. The voting, open from the 6th to the 23rd, featured fierce competition among group members who were finalists in the Best Group and Best Rising Star categories.
In the male ‘UPICK Global Choice’ voting, Heeseung drew attention for an unexpected ‘brother showdown’ against fellow ENHYPEN member Ni-Ki. In this three-way race that also included JayL from group Nine.i, Heeseung secured an impressive total of over 1.449 billion votes, while Ni-Ki garnered over 1.249 billion.
In the female ‘UPICK Global Choice’ category, aespa’s Karina emerged victorious with over 182 million votes after intense competition until the last moment, narrowly edging out BLACKPINK’s Jennie by 5 million votes, who received over 177 million.
ENHYPEN claimed two titles at ‘The Awards X UPICK Popularity Award,’ with Heeseung winning the Global Choice and the group securing Best Group, thus proving their immense popularity. In the Best Group category, ENHYPEN and their HYBE seniors BTS engaged in a riveting contest for the top two spots.
The ‘The Awards X UPICK Popularity Award’ announced winners in six categories, including Best Solo (Male and Female), Best Rising Star (Male and Female), and Best Group (Male and Female). BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Mnet’s ‘Boys Planet’ contestant Choi Ri Woo won the Best Solo Popularity Award in the female and male categories, respectively. The Best Rising Star awards went to Nine.i and Izuna, while ENHYPEN and BABYMONSTER won the Best Group titles in the male and female categories, respectively. Organizers will present the ‘The Awards X UPICK Popularity Award’ during the main ceremony.
Hosted by Sports DongA, ‘The 2nd D AWARDS (D AWARDS with UPICK)’ will take place at 6 p.m. on February 11 at the HwaJeong Gymnasium, Korea University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Channel A Plus will broadcast it live, and Channel A will air it on a delayed basis at midnight.
Image Source: D AWARDS
