Not every win of Kpop idols is deemed deserving.
Awards are meant to prove the success of a solo singer or idol group. Therefore, earning trophies during promotions or at year-end awards is the goal of not only artists but also their fandoms. However, many times, K-pop idols get involved in heated controversy when receiving trophies, causing netizens to mock the music shows and award ceremonies for being unfair and not transparent.
NCT 127
The most controversial award of a Kpop group lately is the Daesang at the 31st Seoul Music Awards. Specifically, overcoming many formidable opponents such as BTS, IU, Lim Woong Young, NCT 127 took home this prestigious award.
However, NCTzens (NCT’s fandom) did not have time to celebrate as NCT 127’s Daesang soon sparked great controversy. Most netizens think that the SM boy group does not deserve to receive the Daesang trophy because the other nominees have much more outstanding achievements, surpassing the results of NCT 127 in the past year.
In addition, netizens also pointed out many irregularities and non-transparent points of the SMA such as the way awards were distributed among SM Entertainment’s artists, disregarding the voting results. After the award ceremony took place, the hashtag #SMArigged entered the top of Twitter’s worldwide trending.
Kep1er
Debuting in early 2022, Kep1er attracted much attention from fans and the public. With the popularity of the members and Mnet’s survival show “Girls Planet 999”, the group soon received a triple win for their first title track WA DA DA on Mnet’s M!Countdown on January 20, 2022, surpassing the million-selling boy group under HYBE, ENHYPEN.
However, Kep1er’s victory was soon questioned by many fans, doubting the final score. Specifically, in the digital score, Kep1er earned the maximum score of 4500, while in the remaining criteria they all received lower scores than ENHYPEN. Many netizens claimed that Kep1er is getting the biased treatment from Mnet because the group came out of Mnet’s show, so M!Countdown was said to be the group’s home ground. Although Kep1er’s fans later defended the group by showing that Kep1er made it into the top of Melon Weekly Chart, they still could not end the controversy.
aespa
aespa‘s controversial win is perhaps the most absurd case. Specifically, the group received the trophy but did not cry a single tear. It is rare for a one-year old rookie to win such a prestigious award like Daesang, so expressing emotions should be a normal thing.
However, during award ceremonies and music shows, aespa were all “emotionless”, making netizens extremely confused, some even criticized the group for not appreciating the fans’ support. Many even compare the group with their seniors who cried while receiving awards.
GFRIEND
In 2020, GFRIEND was mocked to receive the “pity grand” trophy at “Show Champion” on July 20th. Specifically, at that time, the weekly winning nomination list included 5 songs “Apple” (GFRIEND), “How You Like That” (BLACKPINK), “1 Billion Views” (EXO-SC), “Summer Hate” (Zico) and “Maria” (Hwasa). In terms of digital music scores, albums and effects, the song “How You Like That” had outstanding achievements. The song “Maria” also created a big trend globally and “Summer Hate” was loved by the Korean public.
Meanwhile, “Apple” is said to be a big step backwards for GFRIEND when it did not achieve high rankings on the charts and the tune was also not trending. Therefore, when the group won out of the rest in the competition, the audience could not help but be surprised and doubt the transparency of this music show.
TWICE
One of the most controversial Daesang trophies in K-pop history was Song of the year – “Signal” (TWICE) at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Worth mentioning, with the weird melody and the haunting chorus, “Signal” is considered the biggest failed hit in TWICE’s career.
The Daesang nomination list that year was full of big names that can easily win the song of the JYP’s girl group such as “Really Really” (WINNER), DNA (BTS), Ko Ko Bop (EXO). “Signal” did not even surpass the achievement of “Knock Knock”, the song released by TWICE in the same year.
Prestigious trophies and awards have never satisfied all fans, however, artists like NCT 127, Kep1er, GFRIEND, TWICE, and aespa have received a lot of criticism and questions for their attitude and transparency when receiving awards. However, it is impossible to deny their dedication and achievements in their idol careers.
