Usually, the only time I care about an award ceremony is to see if my favorite artist will perform. I just feel that recently, awards are less about acknowledging the artist’s music and the hard work they put into it, and more about fans bragging about their bias being better than someone else’s bias. So I’ve stopped paying attention to who won what, and all that.
But on Sunday I made an exception for the late singer Jonghyun. He was nominated for a Bonsang at the 33rd Golden Disk Awards for his last album Poet | Artist. The award is given to Korean artists for achievements in physical album releases.
Jonghyun’s group members in SHINee, Taemin and Minho, accepted the award on his behalf. The whole thing was very bittersweet. While it was nice to see Poet | Artist win the Bonsang, it made Jonghyun’s death feel more…official in a way. Probably because this will be the last — if not one of the last — awards he will ever be nominated for. Like it’s finally sinking in that he’s really, truly gone now. 😭😭😭
Rest in Peace Kim Jonghyun. You did well.
