BTS were the big winners of nine awards, Saturday at the Mnet Asia Music Awards (MAMA), the annual celebration of K-pop. Though the band were not present in person they scooped four grand prizes including “artist of the year,” “song of the year,” “album of the year” and “worldwide icon of the year.”
Solo singer, IU claimed three awards including “best female artist,” “best vocal performance” and “Best collaboration.”
This star-studded hybrid event took place at the new CJ Studio Center at the city of Paju, an hour away from Seoul. K-pop idols and other celebrities were met with 499-strong crowd, armed with light sticks and clappers and an impressive stage setup.
The night was not short of performances from many of the acts named as winners. Itzy’s performed “Loco” and “In the morning” with special guest Heo Sung Tae of “Squid Game.” Brave Girls, a special award winner, brought a summery vibe onstage with performance of “Rollin” and “Chi Mat Ba Ram” in white dresses. Stray Kids, named among the top ten most popular acts, delivered powerful choreographies with “Cheese,” “Thunderous” and “Hey Monster” with hip hop sub-unit 3Racha. Best new male artist Enhypen wowed with their energetic dance performances for “Drunk-Dazed” and “Tamed-Dashed.”
Though the BTS crew were in quarantine, the boys thanked their ARMY of die-hard fans dedicated awards to them in their acceptance speeches.
Ed Sheeran, named favorite international artist, sang acoustic versions of “Bad Habits” and “Shivers.” A special segment paying tribute to Korean hip hop, and celebrating the tenth anniversary of reality TV series “Show Me The Money” saw hip hop artists Dynamicduo, Paloalto, Giriboy, Justhis, Lil Boi, Lee Young Ji and Gwangil Jo share the stage performing “Resume +82.”
The emotional moment of the night was the reunion of disbanded boyband Wanna One as they sang familiar tunes, “Energetic,” “Burn It Up” and “Beautiful.” Awards host, Lee Hyori’s collaboration with dance crews from reality competition program “Street Woman Fighter” also left fans in awe.
MAMA full winners’ list 2021
Tik Tok Album of the Year: BTS “Be”
Best New Male Artist: Enhypen
Best New Female Artist: Aespa
Best Dance Performance Female Group: Aespa “Next Level”
Best Band Performance: Jannabi
Best Hip Hop & Urban Music: Ash Island “Melody”
Best OST: Cho Jung Seok “Like You” from “Hospital Playlist” Season 2
Korean Tourism Organization Breakout Artist: Brave Girls
Favorite Asian Artist: Ini
Tik Tok Worldwide Icon of the Year: BTS
Worldwide Fans’ Choice Top 10 (in order of presentation): Stray Kids, NCT Dream, NCT 127, Enhypen, Tomorrow x Together, BTS, Lisa, Seventeen, Treasure, Twice
Favorite International Artist: Ed Sheeran
Best Asian Artist Japan: Jo1
Best Asian Artist Mandarin: Accusefive
Best Asian Artist Thailand: Tilly Birds
Best Asian Artist Indonesia: Anneth
Best Asian Artist Vietnam: Quân A.P
Best New Asian Artist Japan: Ado
Best New Asian Artist Mandarin: Anson Lo
Best New Asian Artist Thailand: Sprite x GuyGeeGee
Best New Asian Artist Indonesia: Lyodra
Best New Asian Artist Vietnam: Hoàng Duyên
Tik Tok Song of the Year: BTS “Butter”
Tik Tok Artist of the Year: BTS
Tik Tok Favorite Moment: BTS
Best Male Group: BTS
Best Female Group: Twice
Best Male Artist: Baekhyun
Best Female Artist: IU
Best Dance Performance Solo: Rosé “On The Ground”
Best Dance Performance Male Group: BTS “Butter”
Best Vocal Performance: IU “Celebrity”
Best Collaboration: AKMU “Nakka” (with IU)
Best Executive Producer of the Year: Bang Si Hyuk
Best Producer of the Year: Teddy
Best Composer of the Year: Yoo Young Jin
Best Engineer of the Year: Gu Jong Pil, Kwon Nam Woo
Best Video Director of the Year: Lumpens
Best Choreographer of the Year: Lee Jung Lee
Best Art Director of the Year: Mu:E
