KPop Demon Hunters star EJAE has revealed what she had planned to say before her Oscars acceptance speech was abruptly cut off by organisers.
The South Korean singer, whose real name is Kim Eun-jae, made history on Sunday (15 March) when KPop Demon Hunters hit song “Golden” took home the prize for Best Original Song.
It is the first K-Pop track to win the award in the ceremony’s 96-year history. “Golden” became a breakout hit after the film’s Netflix debut last year, topping the charts in over 30 countries.
Eun-jae also sings on the track, which she co-wrote with Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Name, Jeong Hoon Seo, and Teddy Park.
Taking to the stage on Sunday (15 March), Eun-jae became emotional as she thanked the Academy. “Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop but now everyone is singing our song and all the Korean lyrics,” she said.
“I’m so proud. I’ve realised the song and the award is not about success, it’s about resilience. I’m just so grateful to our team.”
After thanking her family and the team behind KPop Demon Hunters, she then passed the microphone to Yu Han Lee before instrumental music began playing, prompting the winners to leave the stage.
While both Sonnenblick and Eun-jae began signalling to production to let Lee finish his speech, the programme cut to an abrupt ad break.
Speaking backstage to press later, Eun-jae revealed what the team would have said if they had been given more time on stage.
“We feel very grateful and very honoured. We all worked so hard and this is such a collaborative effort, we just need to thank our directors. They created a beautiful film,” she said, according to Deadline.
“Everyone was a part of it and we are just so happy that the hard work paid off. Also, I needed to thank Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna onstage, but I didn’t get to because they just cut us off. They killed it with their singing and they’re just incredible people and I love them so much.”
Lee added: “I would like to thank all our families, my fellow Idol members and Teddy Park. This is an incredible honour.”
Sonnenblick, who also didn’t get a chance to speak, said that he would have thanked his family, some of whom, including his husband, were present at the ceremony.
“But also just to say everybody who worked on this movie, all the animators, it was a real collaboration across the board,” he said. “It’s a movie where part of the movie is about looking at someone that you have been taught to hate and to fear and starting to trust, maybe even love them. And that’s part of what the movie is about.”
The Netflix film follows K-Pop group Huntrix as they juggle their music careers with their secret roles as demon hunters. Arden Cho, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo provide the characters’ speaking voices, while Eun-jae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami sing for them.
The film also took home the award for Best Animated Feature at the ceremony, with Korean-Canadian co-director Maggie Kang saying that the win is “for Korea and Koreans everywhere”.
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