IU Named South Korea’s Favorite Singer of 2014

by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com

K-pop soloist IU was crowned South Korea’s favorite singer of 2014 in a poll conducted by Gallup Korea.

According to Yonhap, the poll was conducted from October to November and surveyed 2,774 people, ages 13 to 59, across the nation. IU topped the poll with 12.9 percent of all votes, edging out Girls’ Generation, who came in a close second with 12.4 percent of votes.

Earlier this year, the 21-year-old singer released a mini-album titled A Flower Bookmark, which was entirely comprised of covers of nostalgic K-pop songs from the late ’80s. Despite the lack of promotions, the album was a critical and commercial success, with most of her songs topping Korean music charts. The soloist was even featured in K-pop pioneer Seo Taiji’s song “Sogyeokdong,” making IU the first artist to collaborate with the veteran in 22 years.

Other artists that ranked in the top 10 included Sistar, EXO, Lee Sun-hee, Girls’ Day, Lee Sung-chul, Cho Yong-pil and BEAST.

According to Gallup Korea, a majority of teens picked EXO as the country’s favorite artist this year. Meanwhile, voters in their twenties and thirties chose IU.

Photo courtesy of Loen Tree.