Global Hallyu stars are getting together Wednesday for the 2016 Asia Artist Awards.

The awards ceremony, in its first iteration this year, aims to recognize Korean entertainers who rose to international fame across Asia this year.

A panel of judges will decide the final winners, but fans have already voted online to determine the finalists for three of the awards’ categories. 

Boy band EXO earned 40 percent of votes to emerge as the top candidate for the most popular musician category. Meanwhile, Girls’ Generation’s Im Yoona and EXO’s Byun Baek-hyun took first place in the actress and actor categories, respectively.

Big name actors, including Park Bo-gum, Park Hae-jin, Ryu Jun-yeol, Namgoong Min, Suzy and more, from this year’s biggest hit TV dramas are set to attend the event. K-pop groups Black Pink, Mamamoo, VIXX, Twice, EXO, Block B and others are also expected to appear.

The Asia Artist Awards will be held at Kyung Hee University’s Grand Peace Palace on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The event will air live in Korea, China and Japan.

By Kim Yu-young (ivykim@heraldcorp.com)