The number of votes for the PRISZM Popularity category at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards is a hot topic in the Korean online community.
While the professional acting categories are all judged by the jury, the PRISZM Popularity award in Baeksang is entirely voted by the audience. Therefore, this category is equivalent to the Most Favorite Actor award.
The voting gate will open for 10 days, from 12:00 on April 23 to 16:00 on February 2 (Korean time). There are 35 actors and 35 actresses participating in this race. The actor and actress who wins the highest number of votes will be the winner of the award.
After the first 2 days, the race began to be equalized by those with the highest number of votes. In particular, the actress's voting table with a total of more than 5,800,000 votes as of the afternoon of April 25, is 5 times more than the number of votes for the actor with more than 1,100,000 votes.
This shows that the public is paying more attention to the race of female actors.
In which, the Top 3 actresses are Hyeri, IU and Kim Hye Yoon, each receiving millions of votes. Next were a number of actors with more than 10,000 views including Haewon, Kim Tae Ri, Song Hye Kyo, Kim Go Eun.
Specifically, Hyein is currently the face that dominated the vote with more than 2.1 million views. IU received 1.8 million votes and Kim Hye Yoon with 1.7 million votes.
They are all actors who starred in Korean hot dramas in 2024 and the first half of 2025. IU played 2 roles in "When Life Gives You Tangerines". Kim Hye Yoon is the female lead of the historical romance film Lovely Runner.
Hyeri impressed with the female lead in the mystery horror film Friendly Rivalry, revolving around the prestigious Chaehwa High School for girls, where a fierce academic achievement competition takes place.
Hyeri plays Yoo Jae Yi, a female genius with perfect appearance, scores and family background. She has never lost her top position and is influential in the school. Jae Yi's world suddenly changes, when her interest is aroused by a newly transferred student - Woo Seul Gi (Chung Soo Bin).
In the film, Hyeri shocked everyone when she had a same-sex kissing scene with Chung Soo Bin. Although not broadcast on major online platforms, the dramatic story of Friendly Rivalry along with Hyeris impressive acting has helped the film become popular with international audiences, especially in the Chinese market.
The film started with a rating of 9.3 on the Chinese Douban platform, currently maintained at over 8 points. "Friendly Rivalry" ranked No. 1 on the highest film discussion points chart on Douban during its broadcast time.
Thanks to the power of the film, actress Hyeri also admitted many new members to her fan community. Among them, Chinese fans are one of the most enthusiastic fan communities.
This is a condition that helps Hyeri dominate Baeksang's audience favorite actor award nomination, even though she is not on the list of nominees for Best Actress (IU, Go Min Si, Kim Tae Ri, Kim Hye Yoon, Jang Na Ra).
The 61st Baeksang Awards Ceremony is scheduled to take place on the evening of May 5, broadcast live via JTBC.
