Blue Dragon Series Awards 2026 Nominees Revealed: Park Ji-hoon, Hyun Bin and Kim Seon-ho Lead Best Actor Race
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The 2026 Blue Dragon Series Awards has officially announced its final nominees, setting up one of the most competitive streaming awards races of the year.
On July 1, the organizing committee for the 5th Blue Dragon Series Awards revealed the final nomination list for this year’s ceremony.
The awards honor drama and variety content released on domestic and global streaming platforms between June 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026. This year’s nominee selection combined expert evaluation with the first round of public voting held in June, creating a lineup filled with major stars, breakout performers, and hit streaming titles.
Park Ji-hoon and Hyun Bin Face Off for Best Actor
The Best Actor category is drawing major attention because it brings together both rising and established names.
Park Ji-hoon earned a nomination for his acclaimed performance in Recruit,’ while Hyun Bin entered the race for his role in the large-scale streaming series ‘Made in Korea.’
The category also includes Kim Seon-ho for ‘Can This Love Be Translated?,’ Kim Woo-bin for ‘All Your Wishes Will Come True,’ and Park Hae-soo for 'The Scarecrow.’
Best Actress Category Brings Another Fierce Lineup
The Best Actress category is also packed with major contenders.
Nominees include Go Youn-jung for ‘Can This Love Be Translated?,’ Kim Go-eun for ‘Eunjhung & Sangyeon,’ Park Bo-young for ‘Gold Land,’ Park Ji-hyun for ‘Eunjhung & Sangyeon,’ and Shin Hae-sun for ‘Lady Dua.’
The lineup highlights the strength of female-led streaming dramas over the past year, with nominees representing romance, mystery, drama, and genre storytelling.
‘The Scarecrow’ Becomes the Most-Nominated Series
Among this year’s drama nominees, ‘The Scarecrow’ emerged as the strongest overall contender.
The thriller received six nominations, including Best Drama, Best Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Rookie Actor, and Rookie Actress. Its strong showing makes it one of the projects to watch closely on awards night.
The military comedy-drama ‘Recruit’ also performed well, earning four major nominations and confirming its strong impact among both viewers and awards voters.
Variety Nominees Highlight Streaming Entertainment’s Growth
The variety categories also reflect how diverse Korean streaming entertainment has become.
Nominees for Best Variety Show include ‘Driver: The Rival,’ ‘I’m Solo But I Want to Date,’ ‘Yoo Jae-suk’s Camp,’ ‘Office Workers Season 2,’ and ‘Culinary Class Wars Season 2.’
The list shows the wide range of formats currently driving streaming variety, from dating and workplace entertainment to travel-style programs and competitive food shows.
The Best Male Entertainer category brings together some of Korea’s most familiar variety names.
Yoo Jae-suk and Lee Kwang-soo were nominated for ‘Yoo Jae-suk’s Camp,’ while Shin Dong-yup received a nomination for ‘SNL Korea Season 8.’ Joo Woo-jae was also nominated for ‘Driver: The Rival.’
The category is expected to be one of the most closely watched variety races, especially because it includes both long-running entertainment icons and stars with strong recent variety momentum.
The Rookie Male Entertainer category also drew attention for its unexpected mix of names. Nominees include Byeon Woo-seok for 'Yoo Jae-suk’s Camp,’ Kim Seon-ho for ‘Bonjour Bakery,’ musician Car, the Garden, and chef Hu Deok-juk from ‘Culinary Class Wars Season 2.’
Final Voting Opens Through Celeb Champ
The second and final round of public voting will begin on July 2 and continue until **July 30 through the official voting app Celeb Champ.
Public voting is especially important because the final netizen vote will carry the same weight as one judge’s ballot during the final secret evaluation process. This means global fans could play a meaningful role in shaping the final winners.
The 5th Blue Dragon Series Awards will be held on July 31 at 8:30 p.m. KST at Paradise City Chroma in Incheon.
The red carpet and main ceremony will be broadcast live on KBS 2TV.
Before the ceremony, last year’s grand prize winners will attend a hand-printing event at CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall on July 7 at 11 a.m. KST.
With Park Ji-hoon, Hyun Bin, Kim Seon-ho, Kim Go-eun, Park Bo-young, Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Kwang-soo, and Byeon Woo-seok all in the nominee lineup, this year’s Blue Dragon Series Awards is shaping up to be one of the biggest Korean streaming entertainment events of 2026.