Here's everything you need to know about MAMA Awards 2024 • PhilSTAR Life

This year's MAMA awards is just weeks away, and more details have been announced, including the list of nominees and performers.

The ceremony will kick off on Nov. 21 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, before moving to the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan, for the main event on Nov. 22-23. This marks the first time that the MAMA Awards will be held in the United States.

This year's awards' theme is "BIG BLUR: What Is Real."

According to the press release, the theme reflects the "growing trends on blurred boundaries between industries, culture, music genres and technology" while presenting surreal but real experiences and visually captivating performances through the convergence of art and technology.

To know more about the event continue reading below.

Performers

The anticipation for the 2024 MAMA Awards has begun as it revealed its star-studded lineup of performers.

On the first day (Nov. 21), J.Y. Park, RIIZE, TWS, ILLIT, KATSEYE, Young Posse, and Anderson .Paak will perform at the Dolby Theatre, known as the home of the Academy Awards.

Meanwhile, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, TREASURE, ENHYPEN, IVE, PLAVE, BOYNEXTDOOR, ME:I, and izna will perform on Nov. 22 in Kyocera Dome, Japan while G-Dragon, Byun Wooseok, SEVENTEEN, BIBI, (G)I-DLE, aespa, Lee Young Ji, ZEROBASEONE, INI, and MEOVV will rock the same stage the following day.

Where to watch

K-pop fans all over the world can watch the much-awaited event on YouTube through Mnet K-Pop, Mnet TV, M2, and KCON Official. Filipino fans can also watch the K-music award ceremony through BlastTV for free on Friday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. and Saturday, Nov. 23 at 12 p.m.

Hosts and presenters

South Korean actor Park Bo-gum will host the USA part of the ceremony, while Mr. Sunshine actress Kim Tae-ri will host the second night of the ceremony in Japan.

Various A-list Korean stars will also grace the event as award presenters. These include The Penthouse star Lee Ji-ah, Lovely Runner actor Byeon Woo Seok, and Gong Myoung of the Lovers of the Red Sky.

How to vote

The voting procedure for fan-driven accolades, such as Fans' Choice of the Year and Fans' Choice, will consist of two phases, with the first phase starting on October 14 to 25.

According to Korean entertainment website Soompi, only 20 artists selected from the pre-vote for each of the Fans' Choice Male and Fans' Choice Female categories will move onto the second round of voting that will happen on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. KST to Nov. 15, 11:59 p.m. KST.

To support your biases, you may vote via the Mnet Plus platform and on X.

Nominees

K-pop girl group aespa leads this year's MAMA nominees with nine nods, after a significant year marked by the release of their full-length album Armageddon in May. (G)I-DLE and LE SSERAFIM have eight, while NewJeans has seven nominations.

For solo artists, BLACKPINK member Jennie leads the nominations with seven nods.

Below is the complete list of nominees.

Best New Male Artist

82MAJOR
ALL(H)OURS
AMPERS&ONE
NCT WISH
NOWADAYS
TWS

Best New Female Artist

BABYMONSTER
ILLIT
MEOVV
QWER
UNIS
YOUNG POSSE

Best Male Group

ENHYPEN
NCT DREAM
SEVENTEEN
Stray Kids
TXT
ZEROBASEONE

Best Female Group

aespa
(G)I-DLE
LE SSERAFIM
NewJeans
TWICE

Best Male Artist

Baekhyun
Jungkook
Jimin
Lim Young Woong
Taemin

Best Female Artist

IU
Jennie
Nayeon
Taeyeon
Yuqi

Best Dance Performance Male Solo

Jimin – “Who”
Jungkook – “Standing Next to You”
Key – “Pleasure Shop”
Taemin – “Guilty”
Taeyong – “TAP”
Best Dance Performance Female Solo
Hwasa – “NA”
Jennie – “You & Me”
Nayeon – “ABCD”
Sunmi – “Balloon in Love”
Yuqi – “FREAK”

Best Dance Performance Male Group

ENHYPEN – “Sweet Venom”
NCT 127 – “Fact Check”
RIIZE – “Love 119”
SEVENTEEN – “God of Music”
Stray Kids – “LALALALA”
TWS – “plot twist”

Best Dance Performance Female Group

aespa – “Supernova”
(G)I-DLE – "Super Lady"
ILLIT – "Magnetic"
IVE – "Baddie"
LE SSERAFIM – "EASY"
NewJeans – "How Sweet"

Best Vocal Performance Solo

BIBI – “Bam Yang Gang"
IU – "Love wins all"
Lee Mu Jin – "Episode"
Lim Young Woong – "Warmth"
Taeyeon – "To. X"

Best Vocal Performance Group

AKMU – "Hero"
Davichi – "A very personal story"
(G)I-DLE – "Fate"
PLAVE – "WAY 4 LUV"
Red Velvet – "Cosmic"

Best Band Performance

DAY6 – "Welcome to the Show"
LUCY – "The knight who can't die and the silk cradle"
N.Flying – "Into You"
Hyukoh, Sunset Rollercoaster – "Young Man"
QWER – "T.B.H"

Best Rap & Hip Hop Performance

DEAN – "DIE 4 YOU"
Leellamarz – "Boys Like Girls (Feat. Gist, Jayci yucca)"
Lee Young Ji – "Small Girl (Feat. D.O.)"
RM – "LOST!"
Zico – "SPOT! (Feat. Jennie)"

Best Collaboration

GroovyRoom – "Yes or No (Feat. Huh Yunjin, Crush)
Jay Park – "Taxi Blurr (Feat. Natty)"
Lee Young Ji – "Small Girl (Feat. D.O.)"
Sung Si Kyung, Naul – “Even for a moment”
Zico – "SPOT! (Feat. Jennie)"

Best OST

Roy Kim – "Whenever, Wherever" ("My Demon" OST)
Lee Chang Sub – "Heavenly fate" ("A Not So Fairy Tale" OST)
ECLIPSE – "Sudden Shower" ("Lovely Runner" OST)
Taeyeon – "Dream" ("Welcome to Samdalri" OST)
Crush – "Love You With All My Heart" ("Queen of Tears" OST)

Best Music Video

aespa – “Armageddon”
K.will – “No Sad Song For My Broken Heart (Prod. Yoon Sang)”
IU – “Love wins all”
IVE – “HEYA”
SEVENTEEN – “MAESTRO”

Best Choreography

aespa – “Supernova”
ILLIT – “Magnetic"
LE SSERAFIM – “CRAZY”
NewJeans – “Supernatural”
RIIZE – “Impossible”
Taemin – “Guilty”

Artist of the Year

(Nominees for the artist categories are automatically nominated)

82MAJOR
aespa
ALL(H)OURS
AMPERS&ONE
BABYMONSTER
Baekhyun
ENHYPEN
(G)I-DLE
ILLIT
IU
IVE
Jennie
Jimin
Jungkook
LE SSERAFIM
Lim Young Woong
MEOVV
Nayeon
NCT DREAM
NCT WISH
NewJeans
NOWADAYS
QWER
SEVENTEEN
Stray Kids
Taemin
Taeyeon
TWICE
TWS
TXT
UNIS
YOUNG POSSE
Yuqi
ZEROBASEONE

Song of the Year

(Nominees for the song genre categories are automatically nominated)

aespa – “Armageddon”
aespa – “Supernova”
AKMU – “Hero”
BIBI – “Bam Yang Gang”
Crush – “Love You With All My Heart” (“Queen of Tears” OST)
Davichi – “A very personal story”
DAY6 – “Welcome to the Show”
DEAN – “DIE 4 YOU”
ECLIPSE – “Sudden Shower” (“Lovely Runner” OST)
ENHYPEN – “Sweet Venom”
(G)I-DLE – “Fate”
(G)I-DLE – “Super Lady”
GroovyRoom – "Yes or No (Feat. Huh Yunjin, Crush)
Hwasa – "NA"
Hyukoh, Sunset Rollercoaster – "Young Man"
ILLIT – "Magnetic"
IU – "Love wins all"
IVE– "Baddie"
IVE – "HEYA"
Jay Park – "Taxi Blurr (Feat. Natty)"
Jennie – "You & Me"
Jimin – "Who"
Jungkook – "Standing Next to You"
K.will – "No Sad Song For My Broken Heart (Prod. Yoon Sang)"
Key – "Pleasure Shop"
LE SSERAFIM – “CRAZY”
LE SSERAFIM – "EASY"
Lee Chang Sub – "Heavenly fate" ("A Not So Fairy Tale" OST)
Lee Mu Jin – "Episode"
Lee Young Ji – "Small Girl (Feat. D.O.)"
Leellamarz – "Boys Like Girls (Feat. Gist, Jayci yucca)"
Lim Young Woong – "Warmth"
LUCY – "The knight who can't die and the silk cradle"
N.Flying – "Into You"
Nayeon – "ABCD"
NCT 127 – "Fact Check"
NewJeans – "How Sweet"
NewJeans – "Supernatural"
PLAVE – "WAY 4 LUV"
QWER – "T.B.H"
Red Velvet – "Cosmic"
RIIZE – "Impossible"
RIIZE – "Love 119"
RM – "LOST!"
Roy Kim – "Whenever, Wherever" ("My Demon" OST)
SEVENTEEN – "God of Music"
SEVENTEEN – "MAESTRO"
Stray Kids – “LALALALA”
Sung Si Kyung, Naul – “Even for a moment”
Sunmi – "Balloon in Love"
Taemin – "Guilty"
Taeyeon – "Dream" ("Welcome to Samdalri" OST)
Taeyeon – "To. X"
Taeyong – "TAP"
TWS – "plot twist"
Yuqi – "FREAK"
Zico – "SPOT! (Feat. Jennie)"

Album of the Year

(Only albums that sold over 1 million copies are eligible)

aespa – "Armageddon"
ATEEZ – "THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL"
Baekhyun – “Hello, World”
ENHYPEN – "ROMANCE : UNTOLD"
(G)I-DLE – "2"
IVE – "I'VE MINE"
Jungkook – "GOLDEN"
LE SSERAFIM – "EASY"
NCT 127 – "Fact Check"
NCT DREAM – “DREAM()SCAPE”
RIIZE – "RIIZING"
SEVENTEEN – "SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN"
Stray Kids – "樂-STAR" ("ROCK-STAR")
TWICE – "With YOU-th"
TXT – "The Name Chapter: FREEFALL"
ZEROBASEONE – "MELTING POINT"

Fans' Choice Male

8TURN
AB6IX
ASTRO
ATBO
ATEEZ
B1A4
Baekhyun
BamBam
B.D.U
BOYNEXTDOOR
CRAVITY
DAY6
D.O.
ENHYPEN
EPEX
EVNNE
FTISLAND
Hui
j-hope
Jimin
Jungkook
JUST B
Key
NCT 127
NCT DREAM
NCT WISH
ONEUS
P1Harmony
PLAVE
RIIZE
RM
SEVENTEEN
Stray Kids
Super Junior
Taemin
TEMPEST
THE BOYZ
THE NEW SIX
TIOT
TREASURE
TWS
TXT
V
WayV
WOODZ
Xdinary Heroes
xikers
YOUNITE
ZEROBASEONE
Zico

Fans’ Choice Female

aespa
ARTMS
BABYMONSTER
BADVILLAIN
BIBI
Billlie
Blackswan
BoA
Choi Ye Na
Chungha
CLASS:y
CRAXY
Dreamcatcher
EVERGLOW
FIFTY FIFTY
fromis_9
(G)I-DLE
H1-KEY
Hwasa
HyunA
ILLIT
ITZY
IU
IVE
Jennie
Jeon Somi
Kep1er
KISS OF LIFE
Kwon Eun Bi
LE SSERAFIM
Lee Young Ji
LIGHTSUM
MEOVV
Moonbyul
NewJeans
NMIXX
OH MY GIRL
QWER
Red Velvet
STAYC
Sunmi
Taeyeon
tripleS
TWICE
UNIS
VIVIZ
Weeekly
Wheein
WOOAH
Young Posse

Criteria for Judging

According to the MAMA Awards, the criteria are as follows:

Artist of the Year and Artist Category Awards – 20% judging evaluation, 40% streaming/downloads (25% Korea + 15% global), 40% physical album sale
Song of the Year and Genre Category Awards – 40% judging evaluation, 60% streaming/downloads (40% Korea + 20% global)
Album of the Year – 40% judging evaluation, 60% physical album sales (of albums that sold at least 1 million copies)
Best Music Video and Best Choreography – 100% judging evaluation

Fans' Choice Male/Female

Round 1: 90% Mnet Plus votes, 10% X votes
Round 2: 90% Mnet Plus votes, 10% X votes

Fans' Choice of the Year

90% Mnet Plus votes, 10% X votes
Additional 10% real-time Mnet Plus votes

TAGS: South Korea K-Pop K-drama MAMA 2024 dolby theater

About the author

Yoniel Acebuche

Yoniel Acebuche is a journalist by profession and a beauty queen by passion. She has constantly joined beauty pageants in different cities and fiestas across the Philippines ever since she was 15. Writing and pageantry are her empowering ways to connect to other people as well as to understand herself.