Last night, an invasion of the Korean kind happened in Hong Kong for the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA). We’re talking..hot, singing, and dancing idols from Korea, alongside some Asian celebrities and international performers.
Some of the notable stars who attended the gala event were such as Jackie Chan, Adam Lambert, and Choi Ji Woo (of “Winter Sonata” fame), just to name a few. Sure, these stars have got close to nothing to do with K-Pop, but their presence lit up the awards arena and made MAMA 2012 even more star-studded than it already was.
The big winner was of course, the man who united the world with just one silly, slapstick-ish music video (read: “Oppa Gangnam Style”). Psy swooped up a total of four awards – “Best Dance Performance Solo”, “International Favourite Artiste”, “Best Music Video”, and the prestigious one for “Song of the Year”. All of which was befitting to his out-of-this-world success of that super duper mega hit of his.
Big Bang, on the other hand, took home three awards – “Best Male Group”, “Best Guardian Angel Award” aka “Guardian Angel Worldwide Performer”, and the grand “Artiste of the Year” award.
Big Bang’s leader, G-Dragon aka Kwon Ji-yong, claimed the “Best Male Solo” award for his own.
Epik High, the group that had only just returned to the K-Pop scene from a three-year hiatus in October 2012 bagged MAMA 2012’s “Best Rap/Hiphop” award. This just means that YG Entertainment‘s artistes (Psy, Big Bang, G-Dragon, and Epik High) were clearly the biggest winners of the night!
Other notable winners are such as Super Junior (three awards including “Album of the Year”), KARA, and SHINee. Here is the full list of MAMA 2012 winners:
Artist of the Year: Big Bang
Song of the Year: Psy for Gangnam Style
Album of the Year: Super Junior for Sexy Free and Single
Best New Female Artist – Ailee
Best New Male Group- Busker Busker
Best Male Solo- G-Dragon (Big Bang)
Best Female Solo- IU
Best Male Group – Big Bang
Best Female Group – Sistar
Best Dance Performance Solo – Psy
Best Collaboration Performance – HyunA & Hyun Seung
Best Dance Performance Male Group – SHINee
Best Dance Performance Female Group – f(x)
Best Vocal Performance Solo – K.Will
Best Vocal Performance Group – Davichi
Best Band- Busker Busker
Best Rap/Hiphop- Epik High
Best Style in Music- Son Ga-in
Best Guardian Angel Award- Big Bang
Best Male Group Line Award- Super Junior
Best Global Female Group- KARA
Best Global Male Group- Super Junior
Best Music Video: Psy (Gangnam Style)
International Favorite Artist – Psy
Best OST – Seo In Guk and Eunji
Mnet PD’s Choice – BAP
Best Asian Artist Philippines – Sarah Geronimo
Best Asian Artist Singapore – Taufik Batisah
Best Asian Artist Indonesia – Agnes
Best Asian Artist China- Li Yuchun
Best Asian Artist Japan – AKB48
Best Asian Artist Vietnam – My Tam
Best New Asian Group- EXO
Best New Asian Artist China- TimeZ
Best New Asian Artist Thailand: Natthew
For lack of better word, this year’s MAMA was, “Fantastic, baby!”. Now, let’s see which one of these acts will be making their way over to Kuala Lumpur in January 2013 for the 27th Golden Disk Awards!
