At the 2024 The Fact Music Awards held at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on Sep 8th, NewJeans was named the “Worldwide Icon”. The award is given to a singer or group with global influence among the “Artist of the Year (Bonsang)” winners.
Before receiving the “Worldwide Icon” award, NewJeans also took home “World Best Performer”, which is awarded to the team with the most outstanding stage performance, “Artist of the Year”, which is based on album sales, chart rankings and judge scores, and “Musinsa Popularity Award”, which is determined by fan votes.
After receiving the Musinsa Popularity Award, NewJeans member Danielle said, “I am honored to receive such a cool award as the Popularity Award” and “I really love and thank our CEO Min Hee-jin who always cherishes and protects us.”
In addition, after receiving the Worldwide Icon Award, member Hyein grabbed the microphone again right before leaving and said, “I don’t think I can say this anymore, so I want to say it again,” and “Thank you so much, CEO. I love you so much, CEO.”
Via this speech, NewJeans expressed their gratitude towards former CEO Min Hee-jin, who was recently dismissed, at an official event. In particular, NewJeans focused the industry’s attention by not calling Min Hee-jin “former CEO” but “CEO Min Hee-jin”. The industry naturally interpreted this as NewJeans supporting former CEO Min.
For their Japanese fans, NewJeans performed the Japanese version of “Bubble Gum” and further amplified the hip vibe with their powerful stage for “How Sweet”, which received an explosive response. This was the first time NewJeans performed as a full group for “How Sweet” on a broadcast stage, which aired live on Japan’s TBS.
Source: Daum
