The biggest annual music awards show in Asia has finally opened its polls for fans to rack in votes for their favorite K-Pop artists. On October 20, Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) finally released their list of award nominees.
This year’s nominees included the best K-Pop artists that stood out in 2017 and had the biggest impact on the music scene. The said awards show will be held in three different locations namely in Vietnam on November 25, in Japan on November 29, and finally on December 1 in Hong Kong.
EXO and BTS battle it out once again
Last year’s awards shows were most likely remembered to be the fiercest battle between fans and the top K-Pop idol boy groups.
EXO and BTS were neck to neck in votes and both went home with major awards from various ceremonies.
The two internationally recognized South Korean groups have been pitted against each other once again in same categories. They will also be competing against new popular boy groups such as Wanna One and Seventeen, who have recently been amassing a huge fan base.
BTS and EXO have been nominated for Best Male Group along with GOT7, Seventeen, Wanna One, and surprisingly NU’EST W, who just released their first song earlier this month. Aside from that major category, BTS and EXO are also vying for other major awards such as Best Dance Performance for Male Group and Best Music Video.
Meanwhile, TWICE’s “Signal” has been nominated for Best Music Video and they are the only girl group included in the category.
There have been a number of notable K-Pop girl groups this year, but TWICE along with Black Pink, GFriend, Red Velvet, and MAMAMOO dominated the lists.
Aside from these groups, the biggest set of categories that have caught fans’ attention is the Best New Artist nominations. Former I.O.I members Chung Ha competes with Yoojung and Doyeon’s group Weki Meki, while former “Produce 101” Season 2 finalist Samuel Kim is pitted against the show’s final winners, Wanna One.
Veteran K-Pop artists also in the run
Aside from the new popular K-Pop artists, veteran idols have also been included in the 2017 MAMA’s nominations. These artists have a huge fan base all over the world and they have largely contributed to the Hallyu (Korean) Wave, which has pretty much reached every corner of the world.
Girls’ Generation, also known as SNSD, has been nominated in some categories including Best Dance Performance Female Group for their recent hit, “Holiday.” Meanwhile, Girls’ Generation member Kim Taeyeon has also been nominated in major categories for her solo releases.
BIGBANG’s leader, G-Dragon has been nominated for Best Male Artist. He will be going up against ZICO, Zion T, Joon Shin Yoon, and the worldwide sensation, PSY in this category.
