We need to talk about this. Now.
There's nothing else in the world that aggregates me as much as the MAMA awards, and that's exactly why I'm dedicating a post to it. Every single year this award show takes place, and every single year I'm left with anger and disappointment. This event has to be the most rigged, unfair mess of an award show there is, and nothing makes me angrier than seeing groups being awarded when they're not deserving of it in any way. The MAMA's seem to have a clear "no attendance, no award"-policy, at least for the most part, and while it's not always true it's still quite evident.
My favorite MAMA moment has to be back in 2012 when B.A.P and EXO were competing for the "Best New Arist" award, or more so the fans were competing like maniacs, but then Busker Busker came and claimed the victory to many fans' surprise. Well, everyone who didn't live in South Korea at least, because I don't think those familiar to the band's popularity thought of it as shocking. Anyway, these kind of situations are quite rare to say the least, especially considering the show's total ignorance of actual sales which rarely seem to count at all. That's why I feel like so many groups are wronged, both the winners and the losers, because the results often don't really have anything to do with how well the artists have actually been doing.
Now onto this year's show, which I didn't get to watch live because I was in school while it happened, and I think it was for the best really because seeing it all go down as it happened wouldn't have been good for my blood pressure. First of all, EXO. How the hell did they manage to snag 4 freaking awards? Did they even do anything this year other than loosing members? Of course there was "Overdose" which was a mediocre song with a terrible video, and it didn't even do half as well as their promotions in 2013. I think we can all agree that this year was a bad one for EXO, so how did they win 4 awards, one of which for "Artist of the Year"? I just want to scream in frustration because they do not deserve it. I don't care how "hard they've worked" or how sorry you feel for them, this year did not belong to them. While I was skeptical of their award in 2013 I could at least acknowledge their success, but this year I'm truly dumbfounded. I truly hope they know deep down in their hearts that the award should have gone to someone else because if they actually believe the were this year's best artist than they're more delusional than their most delusional fans.
If I were to decide the winners of some of the categories it would look slightly different, because I would give the prizes to the nominees who I think have had an actual impact on the industry this year, and the ones that have actually sold well. Let me show you.
Arist of the Year:
Girl's Day
This was a hard choice actually, as I could have easily seen Taeyang or Akdong Musician win this as well, but this amazing group of ladies have really had an amazing year. It started in 2013 with their two singles that begun to make them more and more popular, and then came "Something" and the nation's next girl group was born. They have both sold really well and become known both nationally and internationally with the previously mentioned single as well as "Darling", so I definitely think they should have won this category.
Song of the Year:
Soyou and Junggigo - Some
I remember all the frustration that arose when this song just kept winning on all the music shows as many fans raged over how their bias bands didn't even stand a chance in snagging the trophy, but it won as much as it did for a reason. I definitely think this song had the most influence and impact as it stayed on the charts for weeks and weeks and in the end everybody knew about this smooth R&B duet. I am however, still pretty pleased with Taeyang's win with "Eyes, Nose, Lips", as that too was a huge hit this year.
Best Male Group:
Beast
Although none of the nominees stood out immediately to me as a clear winner I have to give it to this popular boy group. They have had two comebacks this year, and both did fantastic. Especially their latest one, "12.30", swept the charts and won them a handful amount of music show trophies. I definitely think they have had the most successful year out of all the nominees, and to think they didn't win a single award this MAMA makes me seriously upset.
Best Female Group:
Girl's Day
The reasons I listed above still stand, and to think they didn't win this category that should have been theirs so easily is just tragic. Every K-pop fan is aware of how great they've done this past year, and how the members are getting more and more popular by the minute. I don't see how Sistar beat them in this category at all; sure if it had been 2013 or 2012, but this year was not their greatest one.
Best Dance Performance:
BTS - Boy In Luv
As much as I love Infinite and their dances, the choreography for "Last Romeo" was way below their usual level. BTS on the other hand are getting better and better with every new comeback, and while "Boy In Luv" isn't my favorite routine of theirs, it's still heaps better than all the other nominees. Not only is the choreography amazing, but they're all such a strong performance unit and I would have love to see them being properly acknowledged for it.
Most of the other categories I was pretty OK with, especially Winner getting "Best New Artist", IU winning "Best Female Artist" and Sunmi "Best Female Solo Performance", but the the major awards had some major flaws in them. The annoying thing is that the MAMA's will not change their system because this still works for them. People will still vote like crazy people, engage in serious fan-wars and stream the show live, so why would the change anything? What makes me so sad though is that there are so many acts that do deserve an award, but are being robbed off of it for silly reasons. If these kind of shows based a majority of their votes on sales, both physical and digital, and musical quality and as it should be I'm sure we would have a much fairer result. At least I know I would feel a lot happier then.
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