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The Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) take place every year. While they have had non-Korean winners in the past, the majority of awards go to Korean artists.
This year they will be taking place at the Tokyo Dome on the 28th/29th of November. And it’s basically a glorified popularity competition, which is on par with a lot of the Kpop world. Most of the categories are about fan engagement (i.e. streams and album sales and votes) and only have a small percentage of panel inclusion.
I think there have been some amazing MAMA performances, but on a whole I’m not that much of a fan. I think I enjoy it most when artists clap back at MAMA at MAMA ✨
That being said, I’m going to go through each category and place my “vote”. I’m not going to do all the categories, but I will be doing quite a few of them.
For more in-depth info about this year awards, check out the Soompi article: 2023 MAMA Awards Announces Nominees + Pre-Voting Begins
Best Dance Performance Male Solo
Taeyang’s vocals for “VIBE” and presence are so superior to everyone else on the list. I do think that Kai’s “Rover” has potential, but I feel that the choreography doesn’t match the song. I will say, Taeyong’s choreography for “샤랄라 (SHALALA)” is the most creative, but I don’t think the skill is fully there to be a super well rounded, best dance performance. The other dances on the list were boring.
So, even though there isn’t much dancing, Taeyang has my vote!
Best Dance Performance Female Solo
Okay, now this is what a dance category is supposed to be!
Hwasa has wonderful stage presence and the dance for “I Love My Body” is upbeat and fun to match the song. Somi’s choreography for “Fast Forward” is also fun, yet also beautiful. Jihyo’s is upbeat and “Killin’ Me Good” fits her style, but it’s a bit lacklustre in comparison to the others.
However, without a doubt, Lee Chae Yeon is getting my vote!
The choreography is wonderful and weaves Chae Yeon so well within the dancers. She’s so much fun to watch as well (plus the song is great 💞).
Best Dance Performance Male Group
This was so hard! I was torn between Seventeen, Stray Kids and ZeroBaseOne.
I love watching Seventeen perform together as each member brings their own presence and yet the groups synchronisation is on a different level. The performance for “Super” is intricate, intense and has a lot of additional dancers which adds such a spectacular element to the performance.
For Stray Kids, while I don’t always like the songs, their performances are always great. Some members have more of stage presence, but the choreography is always good and looks polished and stylish, which is the case for “S-Class”.
I’ve only heard of ZeroOneBase (ZB1), so watching their performance for “In Bloom” was a great surprise. The choreography is both fun and beautiful, and they’re definitely a group to watch out for.
Overall, I’m giving my vote to Seventeen!
Best Dance Performance Female Group
I was ready to give to up with this category until my girls STAYC delivered with Teddy Bear!
Most of these dances are fine or even a little boring or uncomfortable to watch… (G)I-DLE as always have great stage presence and the dance for “Queencard” was fun.
But STAYC is the clear winner for my vote. The dance is super cute, fun and performed really well. The whole performance gives “Kpop” 💗
Best Vocal Performance Solo
Why are all the best vocal performances men?
Anyway, this was a disappointing category. I love Lim Young Woong’s voice, it’s beautiful and in “London Boy” it’s sweet and charming, but there’s something off about the song that I don’t enjoy fully.
However, Dawn has such a soft and raw voice in “Dear My Light” that kept me captivated throughout the whole song. Dawn has my vote for sure this round 💞
Best Vocal Performance Group
I absolutely love AKMU and “Love Lee” is adorable and refreshing! Suhyun has a beautiful voice and Chanhyuk has such a fun and interesting vocal sound that pairs fantastically with his sister. MeloMance is another wonderful duo and I do recommend giving “A Shining Day” a listen if you enjoy feel-good ballads!
However, BTOB can’t be on this list and not get my vote. Their vocals are stunning and “Wind and Wish” is perfect from the off set.
Best OST
Paul Kim has such a beautiful voice that none of the other artists on this list had a chance! “You Remember”, from The Glory, is perfect and has my vote 💗
Best Music Video
Why is this selection so lacklustre?! There are for sure way better music video’s released this year. I haven’t been paying much attention to Kpop releases and even I know that!
Anyway, YG may be a rubbish company, but they know how to make an aesthetically pleasing and pretty music video. Therefore, my vote goes to Jisoo with “Flower”~
Song of the Year
There are a couple of songs I really like on this list and have listened to throughout the year, however, my favourite out of the list is a song I’ve not heard until I went through the nominations for Song of the Year:
BIG Naughty’s “Hopeless Romantic” featuring AKMU’s Lee Suhyun is such a beautiful song. Donghyun has such soft vocals and they go perfectly with Suhyun’s 💗
Who had your votes? Do we share any? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥
DramaRambles 🌸 
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