What Happened at the 2023 Melon Music Awards?

December 08,2023 December 08,2023

December 8, 2023December 28, 2023

Image Source : spieltimes.com

The 2023 Melon Music Awards brought in so many shocks and surprises along with some predictable wins of the event. So let’s look at the night of December 2nd.

On December 2nd, the Melon Music Awards (MMA) 2023 took place at the INSPIRE Arena in Incheon and brought in so many good moments, shocks, and surprises for Korean music lovers. This is an annual music award ceremony that is organized by Korea’s top music platform Melon. Let’s check out the winners list along with the most memorable moments from the awards night.

Top performances from the night

NewJeans – Medley

This performance was probably the most memorable appearance of the night, especially the group’s 10-minute-long performance of their hit song. The rookie K-Pop girl group NewJeans displayed their signature 2000s style and nostalgic dance choreo when they performed their six most popular songs.

it’s the way that no matter how many prizes they win, they remain shy and in disbelief… it doesn’t matter what the prize is either ☹🤍
NEWJEANS AT MMA#NewJeansMMA2023 #MMA2023 pic.twitter.com/regKAAVIv7
— 사 (@haerin1st) December 2, 2023

The group also became a global phenomenon since its debut, breaking records in not only the country but also overseas. Their performance included popular global hits such as ‘Super Shy’, ‘New Jeans’ and ‘ETA’.

RIIZE – Get A Guitar

The artist wow-ed everyone in the audience, both those who were watching it live at the venue and people who were watching it back at home. The band’s member Wonbin absolutely killed it in the opening segment with the electric guitar show that set the perfect stage for the group’s performance.

zb1 , riize , boynextdoor reaction to aespa #MMA2023 #aespa pic.twitter.com/tFEXbpMpmd
— 01slove (@beomwin01) December 4, 2023

The band performed live their popular ‘Get a Guitar’ with multiple dance breaks that somehow made the song even better!

SHINee – Medley

The OG second-generation boyband SHINee literally shined at the 2023 Melon Music Awards when they came on stage to perform what fans called a sparkling moment of the night.

SHINee performing the very same song that got them a Daesang in MMA 2013 on the very same award show a whole decade later. If this isn’t iconic, idk what is. #MMA2023 #SHINEE_MMA2023 pic.twitter.com/dD7ZQsr2Vz
— Shak | Semi ia (@5hineeingstars) December 2, 2023

They performed a medley of four of their most popular and critically acclaimed songs – ‘Sherlock’, ‘View’, ‘Dream Girl’ and ‘Everybody’.

aespa – Drama

aespa is known for bold and over-dramatic appearances so their latest single has the perfect title ‘Drama’.

aespa performing ‘Drama’ MMA ver. on 2023 MelOn Music Awards!
AESPA BRINGS DRAMA TO MMA#aespaAtMMA2023 #MMA2023 @aespa_official pic.twitter.com/8kTDAyDuKR
— Jazz 🤍 (@mjkmwntr) December 2, 2023

This is what the girl group also performed at the stage in the evening and the over-the-top remix of the single made the final moments extremely epic!

NCT Dream – Broken Melodies

NCT Dream’s ‘Broken Melodies’ is arguably the best-suited song to perform at an arena and the group provided that with their performance on the fateful night.

NCT DREAM’s reaction during RIIZE’s performance at the #MMA2023 pic.twitter.com/iXntBfK0Uf
— ㅌ ㅣ ㄴ (@jisungdearest) December 2, 2023

The song was a part of their multi-song set, however, this particular song stood out because of the energy and excellence displayed during the performance.

Memorable moments and controversies from the night

Jimin making history

BTS’ Jimin makes history at the 2023 Melon Music Awards as he wins the King of K-pop award. The 28-year-old artist is the first ever and only soloist to bag this award. The Top 10 artist at the Melon Music Award is based on audience voting which had its results out ahead of the night, yet this big achievement deserves a mention. The fans became absolutely crazy on social media as one wrote, “Jimin became the first Korean soloist in history to win the King of Kpop award at the Melon Music Award You can’t find a more successful person than Jimin. He is the perfect idol in all aspects. He relied on himself and became the first idol in everything l’m always proud of him.”

K-pop rookie NewJeans got their biggest wins

This K-pop girl group has won 5 big awards at the night which included two of the biggest awards this year: Artist of the Year and Best Song of the Year. they won these two major awards for their hit single ‘Ditto’. The group said in their acceptance speech, “Bunnies, thank you so much. We’re so honored and grateful to receive so many great awards at this one ceremony. We don’t know what to say, but we feel like we need to repay you by growing and showing you even better sides of ourselves in the future.” In addition to these two, they also won three other categories; Best Group (Female) and were included in Top 10 Artists and Millions Top 10 Albums.

Controversial NCT Dream win

The boyband NCT Dream clinched the ‘Record of the Year’ at night which sparked a lot of controversies online. Unlike three other of the four Daesang (Grand Prize) awards which were determined by a blend of judge evaluations, sales, and votes, the ‘Record of the Year’ award was the sole category that was decided by the judge evaluation. So when it was announced on the website, it already sparked controversy and skepticism among fans.

Following the win of NCT Dream, users started questioning the legitimacy of the win, showing discontentment among fans online. Some of the comments pointed their fingers toward SM Entertainment, the group’s entertainment company saying “Of course, it’s SM Entertainment. As always, at every award ceremony” insinuating that it was “A made-up Daesang for the group, LOL”. Similarly, some pointed fingers at the group where one comment said “It’s ALWAYS NCT and some nonsense Daesang. I wonder if the members feel embarrassed for having accepted it”.

Jungkook became the most-awarded soloist of the night

This year’s Melon Music Awards was a big night for BTS. Besides Jimin, JungKook also bagged prestigious awards which made him the most awarded soloist of the 2023 MMA. The ‘Golden’ singer took away four awards including Best Male Solo, Millions Top 10, Hot Trend Award, and the Top 10 (Bonsang) for albums amassing over one million streams within 24 hours of release. As usual, fans could not contain their excitement on social media. One fan wrote, “Jungkook has won 4/5 of his nominations at the 2023 MMA awards, the most for any soloist this year.” Meanwhile, a third fan commented, “I’m so proud of you.”

The complete list of winners at the 2023 MMA

Daesangs:

Artist of the Year: NewJeans
Album of the Year: IVE – ‘I’ve IVE’
Record of the Year: NCT DREAM
Best Song of the Year: NewJeans – ‘Ditto’

Other Awards:

New Artist of the Year: RIIZE, ZEROBASEONE
Top 10 Artists: aespa, BTS, (G)I-DLE, IVE, Jungkook (BTS), LE SSERAFIM, Lim Young Woong, NCT DREAM, NewJeans, SEVENTEEN
Millions Top 10: aespa, BSS (SEVENTEEN), (G)I-DLE, IVE, Jungkook (BTS), LE SSERAFIM, Lim Young Woong, NCT DREAM, NewJeans, SEVENTEEN