What to expect from the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards

The K-pop MAMA awards ceremony is set to take place virtually this year

FILE PHOTO: Members of South Korean K-Pop band BTS react on the red carpet during 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) in Hong Kong, China, December 2, 2015. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo
Powered by automated translation

The 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) are set to take place on December 6. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this year's celebration of the biggest names in K-pop will take place online, with a ceremony filmed from South Korea.

The awards, which are now in their 22nd year, will be filmed at the CJ E&M Content World Goyang in the city of Paju. The ceremony will be hosted by The Battleship Island actor,  Song Joong-ki, he has hosted the awards three times in the past.

Which K-pop bands will perform at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards?

The ceremony, which has a New-topia theme, will be filmed without an audience, but there will be live performers. A number of big name artists are confirmed to be on the bill, including BTS, Seventeen and NCT.

The full list of performers is Ateez, BoA, Cravity, Enhypen, (G)I-Dle, Got7, Hwasa, Iz*One, Jessi, Jo1, Mamamoo, Monsta X, Oh My Girl, Stray Kids, Taemin, The Boyz, Treasure, Twice and TXT.

epa07970438 South Korean band NCT 127 pose at the MTV European Music Awards 2019 (MTV EMA 2019), held at the FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre in Seville, Andalusia, Spain, 03 November 2019.  EPA-EFE/Raul Caro Cadenas
South Korean band NCT 127 pose at the MTV European Music Awards 2019, held at the FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre in Seville, Spain, on November 3, 2019. EPA

Will there be a red carpet? 

Stars will walk the red carpet ahead of the ceremony, which fans will be able to watch in the televised version of the event; a number of big-name actors and models are confirmed to be presenting awards.

Gong Myung, Jeon Mi-do, Lee Jung-jae, Park Seo-joon, Park Kyu-young, Uhm Jung-hwa, Jung Kyung-ho and Kang Han-na will all present awards, as well as English presenter and actor, James Corden.

Where to watch the 2020 MAMAs 

The 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards will be available to stream on YouTube on the Mnet K-pop and KCON's channel. It will also be streamed on Mnet's official website, mwave.me.

Who is nominated for an award?

The four biggest awards are daesang awards, which means 'grand prize'; they are Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Worldwide Icon of the Year.

Other categories include Best Male Group, Best Female Group, Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Dance Performance - Male Group, Best Dance Performance - Female Group, Best Dance Performance - Solo, Best Vocal Performance - Solo, Best Vocal Performance - Group, Best Collaboration, Best New Male Artist, Best New Female Artist, Best OST, Best Band Performance, Best Hip Hop and Urban Music and Best Music Video.

Exo, Got7, NCT, Mobsta X, BTS and Seventeen are nominated for Best Male Group; up for best Female Group are Blackpink, Twice, Red Velvet, Mamamoo, Iz*One, Oh My Girl.