Kpop vocalist EJAE is opening up about the moment Leonardo DiCaprio threw her off during a major awards show performance.
The KPop Demon Hunters singer and ‘Golden’ co writer recently discussed performing ‘Golden’ at this past year’s BAFTA Awards. EJAE recounted how seeing Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio in the audience affected her live vocals.
“I made mistakes,” she said. “I cracked a little bit on the high notes. Leonardo DiCaprio was [in the audience] right in front of me and he was not smiling.”
At the London ceremony, DiCaprio attended as an acting nominee for One Battle After Another, ultimately losing to I Swear star Robert Aramayo.
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EJAE was onstage as one of the three singing voices of Huntr/x, the fictional pop trio from Netflix’s smash animated film KPop Demon Hunters, in their first performance of ‘Golden’ outside the United States.
The BAFTAs do not have a category for best original song, but that did not stop EJAE and ‘Golden’ from becoming part of a full blown awards season phenomenon. The track went on to take the Oscar, with EJAE taking home a trophy as one of its writers.
Even though EJAE was already on the path to awards glory, the Titanic icon still had the power to shake her confidence.
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Before hitting the “born to be” note in the song, EJAE recalls catching sight of DiCaprio in the audience at the BAFTAs. “That’s what put me off,” she said. “He made me so nervous. It was already so nerve racking to be in front of all these celebrities, and then I look up and lock eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio? Come on.”
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Awards season also brought EJAE a happier encounter when she met her favorite vocalist, Beyoncé, along with Jay Z. “I was at their afterparty and Jay Z came up to me and said, ‘Hi, my name’s Shawn,’” she said. “I was beyond starstruck. Beyoncé is my idol and she said, ‘You have an incredible voice.’” She added, I asked her, ‘Do you know ‘Golden?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, my girls sing it.’”
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By the end of the season, ‘Golden’ became the first Kpop song to win a Grammy as well as the first to win an Oscar, cementing EJAE’s status as a breakout Korean vocalist and songwriter on the global stage. EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami performed the song throughout awards season and will have to work hard to one up themselves, as a sequel to KPop Demon Hunters is in development.
