They’re pointing out that the way the Korean ceremony took place in Japan, moreover for two days, is nothing more than a scheme to use the Korean wave to earn money.
In November 2011, the Mnet Asia Music Awards (MAMA) took place in Singapore. Although MAMA was also held in a foreign country, however, it managed to be more than an awards ceremony, becoming also a music festival that covered the scope of Asia. Korean, Asian and American artists came together to perform.
Both ceremonies were Korean ceremonies held overseas, but the difference was great.
Asia’s MAMA vs The closed Golden Disk Awards
MAMA moved its stage from 2010’s Macao to Singapore in 2011. On the first year it was held overseas, it was also criticized as a Korean awards ceremony being held overseas for no reason. But the producers of MAMA made it clear that it was to be developed into a ceremony that would bring in all of Asia to celebrate. They also expressed their determination to work hard and make it better with every new year, although it’s still far from becoming a true ceremony for Asia.
The most recent ceremony brought in not only Korean singers but also Asian stars and American pop stars, making MAMA a festival for more than just Korea. The Japanese singer Koda Kumi won the Hottest Asian Artist award and delivered a splendid performance, while China’s Wei Chen won the Best Asian Artist award. The Chinese singer Jane Zhang won the Best Artist (China) award, winning support from Chinese fans.
The performances also broke through many borders and barriers. China’s talented pianist Lang Lang collaborated with B2ST, while Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am and apl.de.ap performed with 2NE1’s CL. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg also came in to congratulate MAMA with great performances.
The ceremony also attempted to bring in the voices of Singapore, where its venue was located, by establishing a Singapore’s Choice award. It still lacks much to be called a ceremony for all of Asia, but it shows that the producers at least tried their best.
The Golden Disk Awards, however, found it hard to explain why it was being held in Japan. The only small merit it had was the way it was able to show Japanese fans how K-Pop stars perform in ceremonies.
The lineup for this year’s Golden Disk Awards included B1A4, FT Island, f(x), G.Na, miss A, Dal Shabet, Rainbow, Park Jae Bum, Boyfriend, B2ST, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, Secret, Sistar, CN Blue, A Pink, MBLAQ, Infinite, Supernova, Kara, K.Will, 4Minute and Huh Gak - all K-Pop stars.
The only device that showed the ceremony was indeed trying to be a global one was the MSN Japan Award.
Aired live in 13 countries, MAMA vs Airing in Korea 10 days later, the Golden Disk Awards
The Golden Disk Awards took place for two days for perhaps the first time ever in K-Pop history. The Golden Disk Awards will also be airing, for the first time, not live, but 10 days after it took place. The ceremony that was held from January 11-12 will be aired through the general service channel jTBC during the Lunar New Year holidays from January 21-22.
The winners of the awards have already been revealed after the event was held on January 11. Super Junior won the Grand Prize on the first day for album sales, and Kara received the Best Hallyu Star Award. Because the results are already known, it won’t be as fun. It shouldn’t be called a ceremony, but a ‘hallyu show’ held in Japan in the form of a ceremony.
The delayed broadcast of the Golden Disk Awards is even more bitter considering the issue of jTBC’s lack of content. JTBC is a channel that started up on December 1, making the upcoming Lunar New Year the channel’s first, and yet its Lunar New Year special will be a 10 day-delayed Golden Disk Awards recording.
MAMA, on the other hand, was aired live in 13 countries: Korea, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia. In seven others, China, Indonesia, America, Canada, New Zealand, France and Norway, recordings were aired soon after.
The ceremony was also aired live through 13 digital platforms including Mnet’s official Youtube channel and China’s Sohu.com.
At the 2011 MAMA, Super Junior’s Lee Teuk said, “As the Korean wave becomes more popular and global, we’ve been performing more and more overseas. We learned, however, that the ticket prices are very expensive. […] The Korean wave can come to a crisis if the producers of K-Pop only think of the short-term profits. We must produce hallyu content with the thought that we want to spread K-Pop further.”
Just as implied in Lee Teuk’s quote, if everyone starts to use the K-Pop boom spreading through the world just to earn money, we’ll soon be finding ourselves holding on to the pieces of a K-Pop that’s prematurely done for.
Source:eNewsWorld