EJAE, the singing voice behind KPop Demon Hunters‘ Rumi, says she’s still haunted by a shaky moment during her BAFTAs performance earlier this year, and she’s pinning it on an unlikely culprit, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Performing Golden alongside fellow HUNTR/X vocalists Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami at the February ceremony, EJAE cracked slightly on one of the song’s toughest high notes, and she says locking eyes with DiCaprio in the audience right beforehand threw her off completely.
“The BAFTAs haunt me,” she told The Times.
“I made mistakes. I cracked a little bit on the high notes. Leonardo DiCaprio was [in the audience] right in front of me and he was not smiling.”
She explained the moment happened right as she was about to hit the high note on the line “born to be”.
“That’s what put me off. He made me so nervous. It was already so nerve-racking to be in front of all these celebrities, and then I look up and lock eyes with Leonardo DiCaprio? Come on.”
DiCaprio was seated with a direct view of the performers that night as the star of One Battle After Another, which swept the ceremony with six wins including Best Film and Best Director.
EJAE found her footing again just days later at the Brit Awards, where she said performing for fans rather than a room full of A-listers put her at ease.
“Because it was performing to fans, kids being like ‘Rumi, you got this!’ I never knew that sentence would be so heartwarming and helpful.”
