Paulo Avelino, Jisoo, NCT's Jaemin top voting at 2026 Seoul Int'l Drama Awards
Popular figures including Paulo Avelino, Jisoo, and NCT's Jaemin have topped the fan voting for the 2026 Seoul International Drama Awards. The winners will be honored at an upcoming ceremony in Seoul this October.
Why it matters
The global popularity of Asian entertainment reflects the significant cultural influence and economic growth of the regional media industry.
Filipino actor Paulo Avelino, BLACKPINK’s Jisoo and NCT’s Jaemin emerged as the top vote-getters in their respective categories in the popularity voting for the 2026 Seoul International Drama Awards (SDA).
Global fan voting for the SDA 2026 Outstanding Asian Star and Outstanding Korean Drama OST categories was held through the Idol Champ app from June 15 to July 14. Fans from Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, China and Singapore participated in the voting.
The winners from each participating country will be invited to attend the Seoul International Drama Awards ceremony on Oct. 8 in Seoul.
In the Philippines, Avelino won the Outstanding Asian Star vote with 43.63 percent.
Kim Chiu, who won the category in 2024, placed second with 31.06 percent, followed by Anne Curtis (23.72 percent), Sofia "Fyang" Smith (0.8 percent) and Kaila Estrada (0.27 percent). Daniel Padilla won the award last year.
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