The first night of the 2023 MAMA has concluded in great disappointment
On November 28, the first night of the 2023 Mnet Asian Music Awards (2023 MAMA) took place. Expected to be the hottest entertainment event of the year’s end, MAMA aims to honor the top names in the music industry and deliver outstanding performances, only to greatly disappoint.
In particular, many audiences have opted out of watching this awards ceremony, and most were even completely unaware that it was held. This raises questions about whether MAMA is still a prestigious and eagerly awaited event.
The downfall of the 2023 MAMA can be first and foremost attributed to its artist lineup. In particular, on the first day, there were not many familiar names to audiences, making the event bland and unattractive to many.
Many find it puzzling that MAMA, an extremely prominent awards ceremony, has so few remarkable names in its performing lineup. Scrolling through social media, it’s easy to see the disappointment of the audience. Some even claim to know only 20% of the artists in the lineup.
Of course, the performances at the 2023 MAMA have so far not disappointed, with the combination of names like Lee Youngji, Eunchae, Zhanghao, Hyunsuk, Yoshi, and so on. However, these artists were not powerful enough to make the program go viral on social media.
Recalling previous MAMA seasons, viewers were once thrilled with high-profile performances by BigBang, EXO, Sunmi, Taemin, and many more. These acts have even become part of the history of this award ceremony, unforgettable for any viewer.
Moreover, in recent years, there have been many controversies over MAMA being a “charity awards ceremony”. To specify, it introduces too many made-up awards to attending artists, to the point viewers have to question if the awards have any meaning at all.
On the first day of the 2023 MAMA, a post saying, “People just finding out MAMA is (held) today just shows how far they fell off as an award show”, was published on the SNS platform X, garnering over 40,000 likes and 1.6 million views.
The same post was later discussed on a topic on the Korean forum “theqoo”, where various netizens show their agreement.
In the comments under the post, many viewers expressed that they haven’t looked forward to watching MAMA for a long time because the show lacks innovation. This can be seen in recent MAMA editions, where the viewership did not explode as expected.
On the other hand, even the Grammy Awards, one of the most prestigious music awards ceremonies globally, is also not immune to being turned away by the audience. In recent years, the Grammy Awards have continuously recruited popular K-pop stars like BTS and BLACKPINK to the program, but has still failed to “Revive” its prestigiousness.
The decline of MAMA and of music awards as a whole can perhaps be explained by 2 factors. First, the unfair judgment, where some artists are robbed off their prizes due to not attending or other elements.
Secondly, as streaming technology grows, music awards have lost its significance, and many even consider their existence to be purely symbolic. Instead of emphasizing music awards’ trophies, fans now are more focused on the numbers on streaming platforms and sales.
Source: Saostar, theqoo, X
