They’re going up, up, up; it’s their moment. EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park — the team behind the global smash “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” — took home the original song award at the Oscars on Sunday.
It is a first-time win and nomination for all seven members behind the hit. It is also the first K-pop song to win in the category.
“KPop Demon Hunters” is an animated, musical film about a fictional K-pop girl group tasked with saving the world by defeating demons. Netflix has said it is the platform’s most watched film of all time and has amassed hundreds of millions of hours viewed worldwide. It also produced the highest charting soundtrack of 2025 with eight of its songs landing on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Thank you so much to the Academy,” EJAE started her speech, holding back tears. “This award is not about success, it's about resilience.”
“Golden” beat Diane Warren for “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless,” Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson for “I Lied to You” from “Sinners,” Nicholas Pike for “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” and Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner for “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams.”
When nominations were announced in January, EJAE told The Associated Press that she was totally shocked by the recognition. “It just doesn’t feel real even right now. I’m just still trying to digest the situation. It’s just definitely a dream come true. And that’s why, you know, we write — to have a song that everyone can sing, and not just sing, but make them feel good, because the lyrics (are) very uplifting, and challenge them to sing those high notes,” she said. “For me, also, it’s the fact that there are Korean lyrics in it. It is just kind of really crazy to see everyone from all different countries and races singing it. So, I’m just forever grateful to be a part of this incredible film that I wish I grew up watching, too.”
Three-time Academy Award winner Göransson won the Oscar for original score for “Sinners,” winning his third Academy Award.
Göransson beat Jerskin Fendrix (“Bugonia”), Max Richter (“Hamnet”), Jonny Greenwood (“One Battle After Another”) and Alexandre Desplat (“Frankenstein”).
Göransson previously won original score Oscars for 2018’s “Black Panther” and 2023’s “Oppenheimer.”
“My dad bought his first blues album in Sweden, 1964,” Göransson said, crediting his dad’s love of music for his own. He “devoted his whole life to music,” the composer said. Eventually his father gave him a guitar and opened up his world.
“I love the guitar,” he continued. “It was the guitar that eventually led me to one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Ryan Coogler.”
“Sinners” is filmmaker Coogler’s bluesy, vampire, gangster musical about the tenuousness of life in the Jim Crow South. But it’s also a story of two brothers coming home to Mississippi in 1932 to launch a juke joint after spending time on the German front in World War I and then learning from Al Capone in gangland Chicago, as The Associated Press’ Jocelyn Noveck writes in her review. It’s a also story about love, and one about music, especially the transporting power of the blues. “Sinners” entered the night with a record-setting 16 nominations.
When the nominations were announced in January, Göransson told AP that he was grateful for the recognition for this project in particular.
“We woke up to a bunch of amazing, beautiful texts and calls. And it’s very much like a family affair, this film. Everyone on “Sinners,” we’ve been working together for a long time and we’re kind of like a family,” he said. “What’s cool about this film, and what’s incredible about this movie, is that it’s about blues music. It’s about a guitar player. ... Anything we’re hearing today on the radio and from Western culture, you know, wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for blues. Ryan (Coogler) was able to show that in the movie and through the movie.”
For more coverage of the 2026 Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards
Miles Caton, far left, performs 'I Lied to You' from "Sinners" with Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, and Wunmi Mosaku during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Serena McKinney, left, and Ludwig Göransson arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Ludwig Göransson accepts the award for music (original score) for "Sinners" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
NEW YORK (AP) — Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America" during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Donald Trump with sufficient “negative firepower," according to a long-awaited post-election autopsy released on Thursday by the Democratic National Committee.
The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.
On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."
Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him on the ticket or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.
“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”
A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation.
“Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote on social media.
The postelection report, which was authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera, calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”
“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.
The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”
Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.
The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”
“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”
The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”
Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.
Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.
Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.
The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”
“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”
The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.
“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC headquarters, Jan. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)
