CLOSE YOUR EYES Adds 35th Seoul Music Awards Rookie Honor After Eight Wins

CLOSE YOUR EYES received the Rookie Award at the 35th Seoul Music Awards, held on June 20 at INSPIRE Arena in Incheon. The team, which debuted in April 2025, added its name again to the rookie category at a major awards ceremony after already collecting eight rookie awards.

The win served as a check on whether the buzz from the group's early debut period has continued beyond one year and translated into stage and album results. With the Seoul Music Awards Rookie Award added to the list, CLOSE YOUR EYES has entered a stage that is hard to describe simply as this year's rookie act.

Seven-member boy group that began with PROJECT 7

CLOSE YOUR EYES is a seven-member boy group made up of Jeon Min-wook, Ma Jingxiang, Jang Yeo-jun, Kim Sung Min, Song Seung-ho, Kenshin, and Seo Kyoung-bae. The group was formed through JTBC's survival program PROJECT 7 and quickly expanded its fan base through its debut mini-album ETERNALT and subsequent album promotions.

By the time the group received the Dreams Silver Label at The Awards in February 2026, it had collected eight rookie-related trophies from the K World Dream Awards, Brand of the Year Awards, The Fact Music Awards, TikTok Awards 2025, Korea Grand Music Awards, Korea Culture Entertainment Awards, and Golden Disc Awards. The Seoul Music Awards Rookie Award is another honor added to that momentum.

Three mini-albums surpass 1.2 million cumulative sales

The cumulative sales of the group's three mini-albums are known to have exceeded 1.2 million copies. The group also gained experience winning first place on music programs with its debut song All the Poems and Novels Inside Me and Snowy Summer.

The New Wave Artist Award received at TikTok Awards 2025 also explains the group's early position. The ceremony brought together around 3,000 creators and fans, and CLOSE YOUR EYES was included among the winners in the K-pop artist category. For a rookie boy group, short-form platforms are where choreography, facial expressions, and choruses are judged most quickly.

Lyrics and choreography participation on OVEREXPOSED

What stands out in the group's recent activities is its participation in production. On the digital single OVEREXPOSED, Jeon Min-wook and Jang Yeo-jun took part in writing lyrics for all tracks, while Kenshin contributed to creating the choreography for the title track.

Rookie awards are usually given for potential, but in this team's case, the way that potential is being shown has taken concrete form through stage, album, and short-form results. Going forward, it has become more important for the group to make its name come to mind first through signature songs and performance ability rather than through the number of rookie awards. If CLOSE YOUR EYES maintains its current pace through overseas tours and new music, the Seoul Music Awards Rookie Award will remain a trophy that carries the group beyond its debut year and into the next stage.