Read the articleYour browser does not support theaudio element. 0:00 (☞Subscribe to the Hankyoreh newsletter H:730. Type ‘h:730’ in the search bar.) K-pop has finally overcome the Grammy barrier. The Netflix animation ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ OST ‘Golden’ was selected as the winner in the ‘Best Song Return for Visual Media’ category at the 68th Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles, USA on the 1st (local time). This is the first time that a K-pop composer and producer has received a Grammy trophy. At the Grammy pre-event awards ceremony held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on this day, EJAE, Teddy, 2NE4 (24), and IDO (Lee Yu-han, Kwak Joong-gyu, Nam Hee-dong), who participated in composing ‘Golden’, were named as winners of the ‘Best Song Return for Visual Media’ award. This category is an award given to evaluate the performance of songwriters among songs created for video content such as movies and dramas. Although it is a pre-event award and not a major category, it is meaningful in that it goes to the composer and producer who created the song. In the past, engineer Hwang Byeong-jun and vocalist Sumi Jo have received Grammy Awards, but this is the first time that a K-pop creative team has received a Grammy Award. Producer 2Ani4 said immediately after receiving the award, “I dedicate this honor to Teddy, my teacher and colleague who has been with me through this entire process.” The main creative team behind ‘Golden’ is from ‘The Black Label’, which was founded independently by Blackpink’s producer Teddy, and Jae Lee, who participated in composing and singing, is a former K-pop trainee. Although it is an animation theme song made with American capital, it has ‘K-pop genes’. ‘Golden’ also stood out on the global charts along with the animation success. For the first time among K-pop artists, it created a global sensation by simultaneously taking first place on the US Billboard main single chart ‘Hot 100’ and the UK official single chart ‘Top 100’ at the same time. However, the K-pop trend did not carry over to the awards ceremony held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Neither ‘Golden’ nor BLACKPINK’s Rosé and Bruno Mars’ ‘Apartment’ failed to win the main awards, including ‘Song of the Year’. The ‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance’ category, in which ‘Golden’, ‘Apartment’ and ‘Gabriella’ of Hive’s American localized girl group Cat’s Eye, were nominated, also went to Cynthia Irivo and Ariana Grande, who sang OST ‘Defying Gravity’ from the movie ‘Wicked’. Lim Hee-yoon, a popular music critic, said, “The Grammys are basically a local awards ceremony voted on by people in the American recording industry.” He added, “These K-pop nominees have entered the most American format so far in terms of production, distribution, and marketing, but there was still a wall in winning the main award.” Still, K-pop singers made their presence known by shining on the awards ceremony stage that day. Rosé was the first K-pop singer to perform on the Grammy opening stage. The event started with a passionate performance of ‘Apartment’, a hard rock re-arrangement with Bruno Mars. Cat's Eye, the first K-pop singer to be nominated for the Rookie of the Year award, took part in the Rookie of the Year nomination relay stage. On this day, the Grammy’s highest honor, the ‘Album of the Year’ award, went to Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny’s album ‘Devi Tirar Mas Photos.’ ‘Record of the Year’ went to Kendrick Lamar and Siza’s ‘Luther’, and ‘Song of the Year’ went to Billie Eilish’s ‘Wildflower’. The New Artist Award went to British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean. In addition, Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, garnered attention by winning the audiobook/narration category. Meanwhile, on this day, President Lee Jae-myung posted on Official Reporter Lee Jeong-guk jglee@hani.co.kr