MAMA to be held in-person in Korea; Wanna One, Ed Sheeran will attend

Seoul [South Korea], November 17 (ANI/Global Economic): The Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), one of the largest Asian music awards, will be held in-person in Korea this year.
Mnet held a press conference at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 16th, and announced that the 13th MAMA will be held at CJ ENM Content Studio in Paju, Gyeonggi-do, on the 11th of next month. The number of audience that can attend has not yet been determined.
Last year, MAMA was held online without the audience due to COVID-19.
“Although cannot invite lots of audiences, the biggest change is that singers and audiences meet together,” said Park Chan-wook, general producer of MAMA. “It will be held safely by following the government’s quarantine rules.”
Regarding the size of the award ceremony, Kim Hyun-soo, head of CJ ENM’s music content division, explained, “We will follow the quarantine regulations under the current living with COVID-19 policy,” and that, “We are considering the safety of artists, audiences, and staff as a top priority.”
Under the current phase 1 of living with COVID-19 scheme, concert halls should require audience to sit one seat apart. Concerts attended by more than 500 people are technically prohibited, but it can be held after consultation with the related ministries.
This year’s awards will be held under the concept of ‘MAKE SOME NOISE,’ and Lee Hyo-ri will host the ceremony as the first woman host.
In the first lineup, Wanna One, which was debuted through Mnet’s audition TV program ‘Produce 101,’ and eight teams from Mnet dance competition show ‘Street Woman Fighter’ are listed. From abroad, British pop star Ed Sheeran will attend.
The participation of Korea’s representative group BTS has not yet been decided. They have not been included in the first lineup.
At this year’s award, albums and songs released from October 29 last year to October 31 this year can win the prize.
From this year, there will be some changes in award categories and method to reflect both popularity and artistic value.
This year’s award will be carried out by dividing into two categories, a category that selects artists and works by combining indicators such as music and album sales and evaluations by global professional judges and the category that is directly voted by global K-pop fans.
Among 4 major prizes, ‘Artist of the Year,’ ‘Song of the Year,’ ‘Album of the Year’ will be awarded based on the indicators and evaluation by professional judges focusing on artistic values. ‘Worldwide Icon of the Year’ will be awarded by the popularity evaluation, which refers a vote of fans.
In the case of main prizes, ‘categories by artist’ and ‘categories by genre’ will be evaluated by professional judges, and ‘Worldwide Fans’ Choice Top 10′ will be selected by vote.
In addition, the ‘professional prize,’ which was awarded to music experts in Asia, will expand by subdividing its categories. (ANI/Global Economic)