[GOLDEN DISC] NewJeans takes Grand Prize for 'Ditto' at Golden Disc Awards

NewJeans won the Grand Prize for the Digital Song of the Year at the 38th Golden Disc Awards on Saturday with its 2022 hit dance track “Ditto,” starting off the year on the right foot as a girl group gearing up to take the K-pop throne.

Girl group NewJeans, winner of the Grand Prize of the Digital Song of the Year award at the 38th Golden Disc Awards [ADOR]

NewJeans won the Grand Prize for the Digital Song of the Year at the 38th Golden Disc Awards on Saturday with its 2022 hit dance track “Ditto,” starting off the year on the right foot as a girl group gearing up to take the K-pop throne.

The 38th Golden Disc Awards took place at the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS) with audience members filling up the venue with thunderous roars at every minute. It was hosted by singer and actor Cha Eun-woo and singer Sung Si-kyung and sponsored by Mandiri, the largest commercial bank in Indonesia.

The Golden Disc Awards, hosted by the JoongAng Group, is a unique pop music ceremony that gives out multiple honors and one grand prize in three main categories — Digital Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Rookie Artist of the Year — and popular vote awards for male and female acts.

NewJeans beat 19 other candidates in the song category: (G)I-DLE, aespa, AKMU, DK (December), Fifty Fifty, H1-KEY, IVE, Le Sserafim, NCT Dream, STAYC, Parc Jae-jung, BSS, Seventeen, Woody, Lim Young-woong, Jungkook of BTS, Jimin of BTS, Jisoo of Blackpink and Taeyang of Big Bang.

Girl group IVE gives a speech after winning the Best Digital Song of the Year award at the 38th Golden Disc Awards on Saturday at the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS) in Indonesia. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group Le Sserafim gives a speech after winning the Best Digital Song of the Year award at the 38th Golden Disc Awards on Saturday at the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS) in Indonesia. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

NewJeans also received the Best Digital Song award along with (G)I-DLE, IVE, Le Sserafim, STAYC, Parc Jae-jung, BSS, Seventeen, Jungkook and Jisoo.

“[The year] 2023 has been such an astonishing year for us,” member Danielle said after receiving the award from actor Ha Jung-woo. “We’ve been able to learn and share so much. We are ever so grateful for this."

“Every stage and performance we put on, we did so with a heart grateful that so many people have loved our song,” Haerin said. “We’ll keep on making many new songs, and we hope that we’ll get to enjoy it with so many people, like we’ve been doing so far.”

The year 2023 was indisputably a remarkable one for NewJeans.

Girl group NewJeans gives a speech after winning the Grand Prize of the Digital Song of the Year award at the 38th Golden Disc Awards on Saturday at the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS), Indonesia [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

NewJeans has been one of the hottest names in the K-pop scene ever since debuting in July 2022 in a way that no other girl group had ever tried, with a style of music that every other girl group in the 2020s K-pop scene has kept a distance from.

“Ditto” peaked at No. 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, a record that was later beaten by “OMG” (2023), which peaked at No. 74 upon its release. "OMG" sold 1 million copies within a month of its release, of which 20,638 were sold in Japan.

In March, they were recognized by the British Guinness World Records for reaching 1 billion streams on Spotify in 219 days, the shortest time ever for a K-pop artist.

“Get Up,” released on July 21 last year, gave the girl group its first million-selling album with 1.2 million copies sold on the first day alone. That number jumped to 1.65 million after a week, again a record high for the rookie girl group.

The 38th Golden Disc Awards taking place at the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS), Indonesia [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

The 38th Golden Disc Awards was the fifth time that the music awards ceremony was held outside of Korea, following the 26th edition in Japan, 27th in Malaysia, 29th in China and 37th in Thailand. The Golden Disc Awards began in 1986 to recognize and honor the popular music that garners significant attention each year.

K-pop's biggest stars shone at the awards ceremony, putting on never-before-seen performances for the global audience.

Boy bands Seventeen, Stray Kids, Tomorrow X Together, Enhypen, BoyNextDoor, Parc Jae-jung, La Poem and ZeroBaseOne and girl groups NewJeans, IVE, Le Sserafim, STAYC and Fifty Fifty’s Keena all took the stage, while hosts Sung and Cha also flaunted their soft vocals in a special duet stage for the show.

NewJeans performed its hits “Cool With You” (2023) and “Ditto.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]