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Tamar Herman

Chloe Henson

Ginny Wong

This story has been made freely available. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.
Welcome to the South China Morning Post’s live coverage of the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMAs).
Hosted by Lee Hyori, the ceremony was broadcast live from Paju, South Korea, and included appearances and performances from many popular K-pop acts, as well as special performances from Ed Sheeran. 
BTS were not there but were the night’s big winners, taking home Artist, Song, Album and Worldwide Icon of the Year.


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K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop

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The MAMAs stage in Paju, South Korea where K-pop stars will perform and receive their awards. Photo: Courtesy of CJ ENM

Lifestyle

K-Pop

News

Bands

 Artists & celebrities

Entertainment

Culture

Music

Artists & celebrities


Hosted by Lee Hyori, the MAMA show featured performances by K-pop acts including NCT and a re-formed Wanna One and Ed Sheeran.
Korean stars including Rain and Song Joong-ki made appearances. Superstar boy band BTS were not there but won the top awards.



Hosted by Lee Hyori, the MAMA show featured performances by K-pop acts including NCT, and Ed Sheeran, and appearances by Korean stars including Rain and Song Joong-ki. BTS were not there but were the night’s big winners, taking home Artist, Song, Album and Worldwide Icon of the Year.


K-pop idols

What's hot in Korea

Live

The awards ceremony is not expected to begin until 6pm in South Korea (5pm Hong Kong time), but the red carpet is already well under way. Among the acts that have already turned up are TXT, Enhypen and NCT Dream.





Red carpet event kicks off

It’s not just the boy bands who are in town. Aespa and Brave Girls posed on the red carpet in Paju, too. And we have Itzy too.




More from the red carpet

Among the K-pop acts up for awards on the night are BTS, IU, NCT 127, NCT Dream, Aespa, Itzy, Seventeen, Stray Kids (below), Brave Girls, Oh My Girl, Blackpink’s Lisa, Twice, and StayC. 



The K-pop acts in contention for awards at MAMA

Dancers from the Street Woman Fighter contest show (pictured) will be performing at the awards with host Lee Hyori.



Street Woman Fighter dancers join in the fun

The event will feature a special collaborative performance featuring members of Stray Kids, Ateez (pictured), Itzy, Tomorrow X Together, Aespa, and Enhypen, highlighting the fourth generation of K-pop.



4th-gen K-pop stars to show what they’ve got.

Aespa, the girl group with real and virtual members, win the best new female artist award. They were heralded as the ‘beginning of the future of entertainment’ by SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man.

Seven-member Enhypen, who launched their first mini album, Border: Day One in November 2020, stepped up to accept the best new male artist award.



Best new male and female artist award winners announced.

Four-member girl group Aespa, earlier named best new female artist, win the award for best dance performance by a female group.


And that makes it two awards for Aespa ...

Superstar boy band BTS win album of the year for BE, though they aren’t in attendance at MAMA this year.



And the album of the year award goes to ...

Did you put your vote in for the MAMA Worldwide Fans’ Choice TOP 10?
[#2021MAMA] Twitter VOTE CLOSED  ⠀  <Worldwide Fans' Choice TOP 10>  Twitter VOTE CLOSED!  Winners will be announced soon at 2021 MAMA!
  MAKE SOME NOISE, 2021 MAMA  2021.12.11 (SAT)  ⠀#MnetAsianMusicAwards #MAMA #MakeSomeNoise #Mnet pic.twitter.com/LDQADUkbmX
  — MAMA(엠넷아시안뮤직어워즈) (@MnetMAMA) December 11, 2021


Twitter vote closed

The best OST was Like You, sung by Cho Jung-seok for the second season of Hospital Playlist. Cho, also known as Jo Jung-suk, not only sang for the soundtrack but also starred in the hit series as the charming surgeon Lee Ik-jun.



The best original soundtrack of the year award is…

NCT U premieres the first live performance of their new song Universe (Let’s Play Ball) ahead of their third full-length album Universe, which will drop on December 14.
MAMA 2021  UNIVERSE - NCT U pic.twitter.com/dfsyFVN8Uy
  — 이순동 (@hcddxjikuro2) December 11, 2021


Time to play ball

Ateez take to the stage to perform some of their latest songs, including their brand new song The Real, which dropped on Friday just a day before this year’s MAMAs.


A bit of ‘Turbulence’ with Ateez

Actors Ahn Bo-hyun and Jo Bo-ah present the first of the two fan-voted awards to Stray Kids and NCT Dream. Each group presented their thank you messages in several languages, and many speakers expressed their excitement at the return to performing in front of a live audience.



The Worldwide Fans’ Choice awards are presented …

The boy band perform several of the hit songs they released this year, beginning with Frost before performing a dance break that led into Lo$er=Lo♡er – a pop-rock anthem for a generation facing a world in chaos.


Tomorrow X Together take to the stage

Rain and Noh Hong-chul present the next of these fan-voted awards to NCT 127, Enhypen and Tomorrow X Together.
[#2021MAMA_Moment] BEST NEW MALE ARTIST #enhypen
  You made it! Honorable winner of the night! 🏆  #2021MAMA #MAMA #MakeSomeNoise #Mnet pic.twitter.com/5iGC7S7nDB
  — MAMA(엠넷아시안뮤직어워즈) (@MnetMAMA) December 11, 2021


Next three Worldwide Fans’ Choice awards go to …

The boy band takes to the stage to perform many of this year’s releases, including their songs from their Noeasy album.


Stray Kids get Thunderous

Minari star Han Ye-ri introduces the star, who performs Bad Habits and Shivers.
#2021MAMA 에드시런 방탄소년단 언급#방탄소년단 #BTS @bts_twt pic.twitter.com/O2T3ZRG1ha
  — ФИLЧ МФМЄИГ Vᵇᵘᵗᵗᵉʳ(뚜리) (@ONLY_MOMENT__V) December 11, 2021


Ed Sheeran performs

Ed Sheeran takes the award home after his acoustic performance.


The Favourite International Artist award goes to …

What are the artists and groups doing before they take to the stage? If you ask Aespa, it’s all about looking fierce in the MAMA viewing room, of course.
[#2021MAMA_Behind] MAMA VIEWING ROOM #aespa
  Meet the artists who are at MAMA VIEWING ROOM Before on stage!  * 본 콘텐츠는 코로나19 방역 지침을 준수하여 촬영되었습니다.#2021MAMA #MAMA #MakeSomeNoise #Mnet pic.twitter.com/5Ir15ifAyw
  — MAMA(엠넷아시안뮤직어워즈) (@MnetMAMA) December 11, 2021


Behind the scenes

After JO1 winning the Best Asian Artist Japan award earlier in the night, Accusefive take home the Best Asian Artist award for Mandarin artists, Tilly Birds wins for Thailand, Anneth wins for Indonesia, Quan A.P for Vietnam. Best New Asian artists are: Anson Lo for Mandarin, Sprite X GuyGeeGee for Thailand, Lyodra for Indonesia and Hoang Duyen for Vietnam.
Fans reacted in confusion to Lo, a Mirror member, being named in the Mandarin category, as the widely popular Hong Kong group sings in Cantonese. 
ANSON LO IS LITERALLY SINGING IN CANTO HOW DID HE WIN BEST NEW MANDO ARTIST
  — em🎄 (@chnIele) December 11, 2021


Regional awards are handed out…

The youthful NCT team performs their 2021 singles Hello Future and Hot Sauce, which helped them sell more than 3 million albums this year.


NCT Dream greet the future

Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae presents the award to BTS. 

It is the band’s second of the night’s main awards.
[🏆] @BTS_twt #MAMA2021
  Congratulations to BTS on Winning "Album Of The Year" Daesang with "BE" Daesang at the 2021 MAMAs!! pic.twitter.com/vOvxk46OaD
  — Dalbit Bangtan⁷ (@dalbitbangtan) December 11, 2021


The TikTok Worldwide Icon of the Year is …

The boy band, formed during the 2017 season of the Mnet series Produce 101, was a temporary group active from 2017 through 2019, but reunited to perform at MAMA 2021. Ten of the band’s 11 members are in attendance. 



The return of Wanna One

The singer took to social media to thank his fans and expressed his hopes that more people can know Hong Kong music.



Anson Lo thanks his fans

The popular rising girl group appears to perform hit songs of the year, Next Level and Savage. The performance incorporates several augmented reality elements, including an appearance by the band’s counterpart avatars.
the ae-members have appeared #MAMA2021 pic.twitter.com/UXsquvVSJc
  — ♡ (@yoojimx) December 11, 2021


Aespa take things to the metaverse

Actor Kwon Yul presents the award to BTS.


The TikTok Favourite Moment of 2021 is …

The boy band takes to stage with a theatrical set that begins with ribbons before kicking off with Drunk-Dazed.


Enhypen gets festive with their Dilemma

Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung and Tiffany present the award to Twice, who accept the award via video.


The Best Female Group is …

IU, via video, accepts her wins as the MAMA 2021 Best Female Artist and Best Vocal Performance.


IU wins twice

The MAMAs announce a slew of back-to-back awards.
Baekhyun wins Best Male Artist, Rosé of Blackpink wins Best Dance Performance Solo, Akmu and IU win Best Collaboration with Nakka. Bang Si-hyuk of Hybe is named the Best Executive Producer for his work with BTS, TXT, Enhypen and more.
YGX Leejung wins 'Best Choreographer of the Year' on MAMA 2021 🏆🖤 #SWF
  for her choreography on BLACKPINK LISA's 'MONEY'. Leejung 축하합니다! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Y9cJaqtBKD
  — Street Woman Fighter Updates (@SWF_updates) December 11, 2021
Teddy is named Best Producer for his work with Lisa, while Yoo Young-jin wins Best Composer for his work with Aespa. The Best Engineers of the Year are Gu Jong-pil and Kwon Nam-woo for their work with IU, while the Best Video Director of the Year is Lumpens, for his work with BTS and others. Lee Lee-jung is awarded Best Choreographer. The Best Art Director is Mu:E for working on BTS’s Butter, NCT 127′s Sticker, and more.
Congrats BTS and Lumpens 🏆 "Best Video Director Of The Year" at MAMA 2021💜💐👏 pic.twitter.com/Xbo095FhKY
  — korejin (@syifa120408) December 11, 2021


The awards go to …

The group kicks off their set with Favorite, followed by a remix version of Sticker.


NCT 127 takes to the stage

BTS’s Butter is named the Song of the Year, and BTS themselves are named Artist of the Year, winning all four of MAMA 2021′s main awards.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR & SONG OF THE YEAR with BUTTER. Simply unparalleled. Congrats @BTS_twt! @MnetMAMA #MAMA2021 #bts pic.twitter.com/oVGXHqKnmr
  — KpopHerald (@Kpop_Herald) December 11, 2021


Song of the Year and Artist of the Year go to …

The stars of this year’s hit dance competition show Street Woman Fighter teamed up with host Lee Hyori for a collaborative stage performance.



Make some noise for the ladies

The event ends with Lee and the Street Woman Fighter dancers cheering on the audience, and asking them to “make some noise” - the theme for this year’s ceremony.


Lee Hyori ends MAMA 2021

BTS were the night’s big winners, taking home the big four awards: Artist, Song, Album and Worldwide Icon of the Year. They also were named the Best Male Group and won one of the 10 fan-voted Worldwide Fans’ Choice groups.
Twice, IU and Baekhyun were the night’s other big winners, named the Best Female Group, Best Female Artist and Best Male Artist, respectively.
This year’s MAMAs were all about the rising younger K-pop groups, and opened with a special stage highlighting members of Enhypen, Stray Kids, Aespa, Ateez, Itzy and Tomorrow X Together.
The night closed with a nod to the success of the popular Mnet dance competition show Street Woman Fighter, with host Lee Hyori performing with the dancers.


Quick takeaways from the night

That concludes our live coverage of the 2021 MAMA awards.
For more great stories on Korean entertainment, artist profiles and the latest news, visit K-post, SCMP's K-pop hub


As it happened: K-pop’s 2021 MAMAs sees BTS win big, and Twice get Best Female Group nod

Hosted by Lee Hyori, the MAMA show featured performances by K-pop acts including NCT and a re-formed Wanna One and Ed Sheeran. Korean stars including Rain and Song Joong-ki made appearances. Superstar boy band BTS were not there but won the top awards.

Hosted by Lee Hyori, the MAMA show featured performances by K-pop acts including NCT and a re-formed Wanna One and Ed Sheeran.

Korean stars including Rain and Song Joong-ki made appearances. Superstar boy band BTS were not there but won the top awards.