Girl group Hearts2Hearts’ Indonesian member, Carmen, has been selected as the K-pop star at the peak of her career among artists who returned with new music in February, according to the fan-voting platform Picnic.

In the poll, which ran from March 13 to March 27, Carmen ranked first with 65,786 votes. Ateez’s Mingi came in second with 30,639 votes, followed by IVE’s Liz with 20,038 votes.


According to Picnic, Carmen’s selection can be attributed to her dedicated activities beyond her popularity alone. She, along with other Hearts2Hearts members, recently wrapped up a fan meet-and-greet event in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 28. Indonesia is the largest consumer of Korean content on YouTube.

Hearts2Hearts — an eight-member group comprising Ye-on, Stella, Yuha, Ian, A-na, Juun, Carmen and Jiwoo — debuted on Feb. 24, 2025, with its first track “The Chase.” The group later released the song “Style” along with its first EP, “Focus,” that same year.

The group dropped its new single “Rude!” on Feb. 20. The music video surpassed 10 million views within about a day of its release and had totaled more than 77 million views as of 1 p.m. Thursday. Hearts2Hearts has also sold out its first North American showcase tour in March.

In collaboration with the Korea JoongAng Daily, Picnic hosts weekly polls on a wide range of topics related to K-pop artists.


BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]