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The OTT K-drama industry shone bright with the 1st Blue Dragon Series Awards held on July 19 at Incheon's Paradise City. The awards ceremony was created to recognize excellence in series and variety shows aired on and produced by streaming platforms.
The title Blue Dragon already has a prominent stature, as the Blue Dragon Film Awards, hosted annually by Sports Chosun, is one of the highly-coveted awards in South Korea. A ceremony specifically for OTT shows was conceptualized after the expanse of streaming platforms proved to be ever-increasing.
The most significant awards of the night went to Lee Jung-jae for Best Actor, Kim Go-eun for Best Actress, and D.P. for Best Drama.
Squid Game and D.P. emerge with the highest wins in the 1st Blue Dragon Series Awards
The 1st Blue Dragon Series Awards was hosted by Girls' Generation's YoonA and prominent T.V. personality Jun Hyun-moo. Since the announcement of its inception a month ago, the audience waited with bated breath as it was the first ceremony created solely for streaming services.
Coupang Play, Kakao TV, WATCHA, TVING, wavve, seezn, Apple TV+, Disney+, and Netflix are the streaming services that are currently available in South Korea.
In the drama category, D.P. and Squid Game won the highest number of wins, i.e., two awards. Read below for the entire winners' list.
- Best Drama: D.P.
- Best Actor: Lee Jung-jae for Squid Game
- Best Actress: Kim Go-eun for Yumi's Cell
- Best Supporting Actor: Lee Hak-joo for Political Fever
- Best Supporting Actress: Kim Shin-rok for Hellbound
- Best Rookie Actor: Goo Kyo-hwan for D.P.
- Best Rookie Actress: Jung Ho-yeon for Squid Game
- TIRTIR Popularity Award: Jung Hae-in, Han Hyo-joo, KANGDANIEL, Lee Yong-jin, DKZ's Jaechan, and Park Seoham
The variety section only had five categories. The winners were:
- Best Variety Program: Transit Love
- Bale Male Entertainer: Kang Ho-dong for New Journey to the West Special: Spring Camp
- Bale Female Entertainer: Celeb Five (Song Eun-yi, Ahn Young-mi, Shin Bong-sun, Kim Shin-young) for Celeb Five: Behind the Curtain
- Bale Rookie Male Entertainer: EXO's KAI for New World
- Bale Rookie Female Entertainer: Joo Hyun-young for SNL Korea
Numerous celebrities adorned the red carpet for the 1st Blue Dragon Series Awards. Girls' Day's Hyeri and Yura, Park Ji-hu, Choi Yi-hyun, Lee Do-hyun, Kim Young-dae, Yoo Jae-suk, Kang Ho-dong, Lee Jung-eun, and many others attended the awards ceremony.
The presenters' list announced previously was also star-studded. SHINee's KEY, Park Hyung-sik, Lee Se-young, and Noh Jong-ui were some celebrities who presented awards to their respective winners.
Meanwhile, fans' reactions to the 1st Blue Dragon Series Awards were positive, as the ceremony gave them yet another reason to catch some priceless moments revolving around their favorite stars. The sweet interactions between celebrities and the winning speeches had fans talking about them non-stop on Twitter.
Although a few were disheartened as shows such as All of Us are Dead, and Lee Do-hyun did not receive any awards, it was nevertheless a fun-filled and exciting day for viewers who love OTT content.
