Award season for the Korean entertainment industry has begun. Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 2021 is one of the most awaited ceremonies for K-pop fans across the world. It will be held on December 11 and Korean music lovers can watch the event live from their homes.
Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year are three top categories of this award show. From this year, fans voting will not be considered for determining the winners in these categories. But the winners of Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 awards and the Worldwide Icon of the year will be completely based on voting by the fans.
All the winners in Artist, Song, and Album categories will be determined considering 40 percent of judges' evaluations. For Artist awards, including Artist of the Year, 20 percent each of physical album sales and digital performances will also be considered. In this category, 10 percent each of global digital platforms and music videos will be included.
The winners in the Song category will be declared after considering 30 percent digital performs and 10 percent each of music video, global digital platforms, and physical album sales along with judges' evaluations. In the Album category, 40 percent of physical album sales, and 10 percent each of global digital platforms and music videos will be considered along with judges' evaluations.
Here is everything to know about the 22nd annual award ceremony, including the venue, lineup, nomination list, live stream details, and host.
Date, Time, and Venue
MAMA 2021 will be held on December 11 at the Contents World of CJ ENM in Paju City, Gyeonggi province. Since 2010, the star-studded event was held outside of Korea and the organizers decided to hold the ceremony in Korea this year due to the ongoing pandemic situation.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the music industry, as well as society as a whole, is in a slump. It would be great if 2021 MAMA blows new vitality into the music industry by being held in K-pop's country of origin Korea while also giving hope and courage through K-pop to the people who have become worn out, Kim Hyun Soo, director of music content at CJ ENM, stated.
Host, Lineup, and Performances
As mentioned above, the 22nd annual award ceremony will be held with several changes. One of them is this year's host. For the first time in the history of MAMA, a female host will be introduced. Lee Hyori is confirmed to be the host of this year. The organizers have shared a teaser video of the artist sharing her achievements in the music career.
"With the concept of MAKE SOME NOISE, 2021 MAMA intends to show the world the renewed and upgraded power of music to respect the value of difference and breakthrough prejudices. We cast Lee Hyori as the host because we felt that she embodied the values that we wanted to embrace for this year's MAMA," a representative from Mnet stated.
The annual award ceremony will kick-start with an opening act by six fourth-generation idol groups. The organizers revealed that the members TXT, ITZY, Aespa, ATEEZ, ENHYPEN, and Stary Kids will work together for the special performance.
The organizers of MAMA 2021 revealed on November 15 revealed that the members of boy band Wanna One will reunite for the annual award ceremony. Both the boy band members and the dance crews of Mnet's Street Woman Fighter are gearing up for a special stage performance on the award night.
"Wanna One, who set a variety of music records within Korea during their promotions and also played a part in spreading K-pop all over the world, and the 'Street Woman Fighter' crews, who are key players in the K-dance scene and have also played a major role in spreading K-pop all over the world, were both recently confirmed to be attending MAMA on December 11. They will be preparing a special performance that will thrill music fans," they stated.
The boyband members previewed their special performance through a teaser video. In the clip, they opened up about their reunion and shared their excitements on working together as a team.
Watch the video below:
Mnet has announced the complete lineup of performers for the annual award ceremony. A total of 12 K-pop bands will attend the event to light up the stage. aespa, ATEEZ, Brave Girls, ENHYPEN, INI, ITZY, JO1, Kep1er, NCT 127, NCT DREAM, Stray Kids, and TXT are the groups gearing up to perform on stage this year.
Two more K-pop groups joined the performance lineup of this year's annual award ceremony on December 3. The organizers announced on Friday that Jannabi and NCT U will showcase their new songs. at the glam event.
Gabee, Kwon Yool, Kim Seo Hyung, Kim Young Dae, Kim Hye Yoon, Nam Yoon Su, Noh Hong Chul, Monika, Rain, Song Joong Ki, Ahn Bo Hyun, Uhm Jung Hwa, Yeo Jin Goo, Lee Do Hyun, Lee Sun Bin, Jo Bo Ah, Jo Jung Suk, Sooyoung, Choi Siwon, Tiffany, HaHa, Han Ye Ri, and Heo Sung Tae are the presenters of this year.
Theme and Live Stream Details
The theme for this year's award ceremony is Make Some Noise. It will also be a platform for the artists and their fans to communicate with each other in different ways, according to the organizers. They revealed that MAMA 2021 aims at reuniting K-pop fans across the globe through this event.
"We won't be able to invite many people to the audience , but we believe it's a big change that the artists and the audience are meeting. It will be carried out in accordance with the government's disease prevention guidelines," Park Chan Wook, Chief Producer of Mnet, explained.
The annual award ceremony can be streamed live online on the official website and VLive. The event will be broadcast live with subtitles and people from various parts of the globe, like the US, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, India, Singapore, Japan, and other countries can watch it online.
Nomination List
The nominees of MAMA 2021 were announced in November 2021. Popular K-pop bands, including EXO, BTS, TWICE, RED VELVET, BLACKPINK, MAMAMOO, SHINEE, TXT, are nominated in various categories. Rookie bands, like aespa, STAYC, ENHYPEN, will also compete with each other this year.
Best New Male Artist
- DRIPPIN
- ENHYPEN
- EPEX
- MIRAE
- P1Harmony
Best New Female Artist
- aespa
- Jo Yu Ri
- Kwon Eun Bi
- LIGHTSUM
- STAYC
Best Male Artist
- EXO member Baekhyun
- EXO member D.O.
- EXO member Kai
- Kang Daniel
- Lee Mujin
Best Female Artist
- Heize
- IU
- BLACKPINK member Lisa
- BLACKPINK member Rosé
- Girls' Generation member Taeyeon
Best Male Group
- BTS
- NCT 127
- NCT DREAM
- SEVENTEEN
- Stray Kids
- TXT
Best Female Group
- (G)I-DLE
- Brave Girls
- ITZY
- Oh My Girl
- Red Velvet
- TWICE
Best Dance Performance Male Group
- BTS for Butter
- NCT 127 for Sticker
- NCT DREAM for Hot Sauce
- SEVENTEEN for Ready to love
- SHINee for Don't Call Me
- Stray Kids for Thunderous
Best Dance Performance Female Group
- aespa for Next Level
- ITZY for In the morning
- Oh My Girl for Dun Dun Dance
- Red Velvet for Queendom
- STAYC for ASAP
- TWICE for Alcohol-Free
Best Dance Performance Solo
- EXO member Baekhyun for Bambi
- HyunA for I'm Not Cool
- BLACKPINK member Lisa for LALISA
- BLACKPINK singer Rosé for On The Ground
- Jeon Somi for DUMB DUMB
- Girls' Generation member Taeyeon for Weekend
Best Vocal Performance
- AKMU for NAKKA with IU
- Davichi for Just Hug Me
- Heize for HAPPEN
- IU for Celebrity
- Lee Mujin for Traffic light
Best Band Performance
- 10cm for Sleepless in Seoul (feat. AKMU's Lee Suhyun)
- CNBLUE for Then, Now and Forever
- DAY6 for You Make Me
- Jannabi for A thought on an autumn night
- N.Flying for Moonshot
Best Hip Hop & Urban Music
- ASH ISLAND for MELODY
- CHANGMO for GJD
- Jessi for What Type of X
- WINNER member Song Mino for Run away
- YUMDDA for 9ucci (feat. DOGE)
Best OST
- 10cm for Borrow Your Night from Romance 101
- Jo Jung Suk for I Like You from Hospital Playlist 2
- Choi Yu Ree for Wish from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
- Lee Mujin for Rain and You from Hospital Playlist 2
- Highlight member Yang Yoseob and Apink singer Jung Eun Ji for Love Day from Romance 101
Best Collaboration
- AKMU for NAKKA (with IU)
- Coldplay & BTS for My Universe
- Gaeko & Kwon Jin Ah
- Hyolyn & Dasom for Summer or Summer
- Rain for Switch to Me (duet with Park Jin Young)
Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10
- (G)I-DLE
- aespa
- AKMU
- ASH ISLAND
- ASTRO
- ATEEZ
- Brave Girls
- BTS
- Chungha
- CL
- Davichi
- ENHYPEN
- EXO
- fromis_9
- Heize
- HyunA
- iKON
- ITZY
- IU
- Jannabi
- Jessi
- Kang Daniel
- Lee Mujin
- Lee Seung Gi
- BLACKPINK member Lisa
- LOONA
- MAMAMOO
- WINNER member Song Mino
- MONSTA X
- NCT 127
- NCT DREAM
- NU'EST
- Oh My Girl
- Rain
- Red Velvet
- BLACKPINK member Rosé
- SEVENTEEN
- SF9
- SHINee
- Jeon Somi
- STAYC
- Stray Kids
- Sunmi
- Super Junior
- Girls' Generation member Taeyeon
- THE BOYZ
- TXT
- TREASURE
- TWICE
- Weeekly
