The group TWS (TWS) added another trophy at a major year-end awards show, proving their global popularity.
TWS (Shinyu, Dohun, Youngjae, Hanjin, Jihoon, Kyungmin) won the Best Musician institutional sector group award at the 10th Asia Artist Awards 2025 (10th AAA 2025, hereafter AAA) held at Kaohsiung National Stadium on the 6th. This marks their second consecutive year winning at this awards show, after receiving the New Artist award and Best Artist last year.
TWS said, "We are honored to receive such a meaningful award on the 10th anniversary of AAA," and thanked 42 (the fandom name), "We are grateful to the 42 members who always support us with the same 마음 at this venue. We will continue to be artists who can be the pride of 42."
TWS unleashed explosive energy befitting the "next-generation performance powerhouse" and closed the first part. Jihoon, who opened the "Head Shoulders Knees Toes" set, expressed wandering through a confusing dream with an artistic solo dance, and TWS then captivated the audience with an intense performance together with multiple dancers.
On the upbeat "OVERDRIVE" stage, a story unfolded of TWS waking from a dream, gradually becoming lively and returning to reality. Their performance, which made broad use of a 360-degree open stage, a thrust stage and LED lifts while remaining tight, delivered a thrilling sensation to viewers. The stadium stands became a rainbow wave of fans waving light sticks in time with the lyric "my heart goes thump!"
During the interview, the "aegyo challenge" that heated the year again drew attention. This challenge using the "OVERDRIVE" choreography centers on a cute aegyo move timed to the "Umm" lyric. Following demonstrations by Dohun and Kyungmin, top stars seated in the artist section took turns participating in the "aegyo challenge," prompting cheers and laughter from the audience. Immediately after the broadcast, X (formerly Twitter) saw "TWS stage," "HeSholNiTo," "aegyochallenge" and "OVERDRIVE" enter real-time trending, proving high interest from global fans.
Meanwhile, TWS has been active this year with notable results on global music charts. Billboard Japan released on the 5th the 2025 year-end charts (tracking period Nov. 25, 2024–Nov. 23, 2025), where the mini albums play hard and TRY WITH US ranked 38th and 57th respectively on Top Albums Sales. On Top Singles Sales, the Japanese debut single Nice to see you again (original title はじめまして/はじめまして) ranked 49th, and single album 1 Last Bell came in at 75th. Riding this popularity, TWS placed 46th on Spotify's Top Groups of 2025 Japan ranking compiled this year in Japan.
[Photo] Provided by PLEDIS Entertainment Co.
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