[Exclusive]"AAA won 5 times." ATEEZ's "Antal Challenge"? Make sure to catch it next time" [Interview 1]

*This content was translated by AI.

The fruits that have been produced after a long time through the rough wind do not easily lose their light. Instead of looking back, the group ATEEZ (Hong Joong, Seong Hwa, Yun Ho, Yeo Sang, San, Min Gi, Woo Young, and Jong Ho)'s journey is ongoing.

ATEEZ, who debuted in October 2018, first entered Billboard's main album chart Billboard 200 in the U.S. with their seventh mini album "ZERO: FEVER PART.3" in 2021. Since then, it has reached the top of the same chart with its second full-length album "The World Episode Final: Will" (THE WORLD EP FIN: WILL) in 2023, marking another milestone.

It then topped the Billboard 200 for the second time with its 11th mini album "Golden Hour: Part 2" (GOLDEN HOUR: Part. 2) released in November 2024. On top of that, ATEEZ's move soon remains a record as it takes the stage of "Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival," the K-pop boy group's first largest music festival in the United States.

At the "10th Anniversary Asian Artist Awards 2025" hosted by Star News at Kaohsiung National Stadium on December 6 last year, it won five trophies, including Best Artist, Best K-pop Records, New Wave (Yun-ho Yoon) and Best Choice (Hong Joong), the highest honor award.

-At the '10th Anniversary AAA 2025', he held as many as five trophies in his arms. How do you feel about attending.

▶Sung Hwa = We did a lot of year-end performances this time, and it was a highly satisfactory award ceremony because it seemed that you captured our performance well at the '10th Anniversary AAA 2025'. I think ATEEZ members and ATINY (the name of ATEEZ's fandom) all ended the year happily because they gave us so many awards. It was also a ceremony where consideration stood out. Thank you for allowing the artist to focus on the stage and for considering the needs of the fans.

▶Woo Young = Half joking, half joking, but he gave the artist such a good hotel because maintaining his condition is important. (laughs)

▶Hong Joong ='10th Anniversary AAA 2025' was the 10th anniversary, and ATEEZ was the first to attend. In the future, I thought I should continue to work hard to become an artist who can attend these awards ceremonies and receive many awards.

-Is there anything you couldn't say at the time.

▶Yun-ho = I received the New Wave Award (actor category), and I was so surprised that I couldn't even remember how I felt about it. Last year, I tried and challenged new things, and I was able to have fun and confidence thanks to the support and fans of the members. But at the time, I couldn't say thank you because I was nervous.

-When it comes to ATEEZ, it's the stage. Was the performance from '10th Anniversary AAA 2025' to 'ACON' satisfactory.

▶Hong Joong = 360 was also a stage, but there were not many songs released last year, so I thought a lot about the setlist. I was given time to perform two songs in 'AAA', and I paid particular attention to what kind of composition I would show. We thought that various artists would show their charms, and we also focused on clearly embodying the image of ATEEZ. In "AAA", he tried to perform a performance with sexy charisma, and he performed a song that had never been shown other than a concert by naturally connecting it with "In Your Fantasy." On the "ACON" stage, we prepared a performance full of energy so that you can feel a new charm.

▶ Mountain = It was a stage with high satisfaction. As we have more stage experience, we can feel that they are caring about us when we look at the stage equipment, lighting, and camera settings, but we also said thank you a lot because we felt that "AAA" was truly watching, researching, and trying to capture it.

-Is there any other artist's performance that you remember the most from "10th Anniversary AAA 2025"?

▶Woo Young = Personally, I admired Cortis' stage. The stage composition is also novel, and I thought I was really good when I saw the stage filled with a relatively small number of members.

▶San = Former NEXZ is also memorable. I thought they set up a great stage, so I thought that although they are juniors, there is something to see and learn. After watching the stage at 'AAA', I also searched more about the team.

▶Hong Joong =I received a lot of questions about the year-end stage when I came back this time, and the common thing was that "I was motivated a lot by watching other artists' performances." And the biggest trigger was '10th Anniversary AAA 2025'. We prepared something, but while watching other artists' performances, we talked about 'it would have been nice to use the stage like that' and 'it would be nice to try something like that'.

-It was also captured in a frame of the 'Antal Challenge' that became a hot topic. What if you were picked?

▶San = I'm not confident, but there are seniors and I would have told them to die. (laughs)

▶Woo Young = San would have done well if he had been caught. If you have another chance like this in the next 'AAA', please catch it.

-following the interview ①

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*This content was translated by AI.