The theme of this year’s MAMA Awards was “New-topia,” which sounds a bit chilling in a weird way. But, things were definitely new here. This was unlike any MAMA yet, lacking a live audience. But even though everything was accomplished on soundstages, I think the producers did a great job making this still feel like an event. I usually hate when they pump crowd noise over performances, but I honestly feel like it added an air of excitement.
MNET clearly took some of the tricks they learned on Road to Kingdom and applied them here. The camerawork and editing created some real standout stages. Yes, it sucks not to have an audience present, but K-pop was kind of made for this kind of heavily-polished stagecraft.
With that said, one of my favorite aspects of MAMA in the past has been how they invite idol groups as both performers and spectators, watching and reacting to their peers. Obviously that couldn’t happen this year, but I did miss it. And as with all spectacles in the days of Covid, the whole show felt surreal with all the masks and distancing precautions.
Random Thoughts and Observations
- Kudos to the weirdly-dressed stagehands. I don’t know what was going on with those outfits, but I kind of loved them – especially paired with all the spritzing they were doing with their disinfecting devices.
- I really dislike the “Worldwide Choice” awards. They seem especially pointless, beyond giving MNET a chance to trot out the most popular K-pop acts of the year and make sure that everyone gets a prize (however nebulous it may be). But I guess most MAMA awards are meaningless anyway – just a bunch of made-up categories to prop up the acts that MNET has a stake in.
I’ll get off my soapbox, now… - Why can’t most K-pop title tracks be as dramatic as their award ceremony intro instrumentals? Why is this symphonic bombast reserved only for big stages like MAMA? Put it in the actual songs, producers!
- Throughout the whole show, I couldn’t help but look at everyone’s mask and wonder what choices were made. Who chose basic white or black? Who chose a more surgical-looking style and who went for the glamour? I’m not sure this amounts to anything beyond my own entertainment, but it happened nonetheless.
- Regarding ENHYPEN, I only have one thought: they’re already utilizing Sunghoon’s skills as an ice-skater! Yes!!!
- Regarding Oh My Girl: this strings-assisted arrangement of Nonstop really should have been the original version of the song, right? Sadly, the Bad Girl, Good Girl collaboration with (G)I-DLE was a bit of a mess…
- Regarding JO1: The lighting was very pretty. But, the stage as a whole felt oddly low-budget compared to others. I thought this was odd given that they’re an MNET group. Shine A Light is a really nice song, though.
- Big YAY for Higedan taking the Best Asian Artist – Japan award. I love this band! I only wish they could have performed.
- Regarding GOT7: This has nothing to do with the guys themselves, but this whole stage felt like of like a budget version of some of the more impactful MAMA performances tonight. GOT7 did a great job, but they clearly weren’t given the kind of spectacle some of the other artists were..
- Regarding Mamamoo: I’m sorry, but no matter what you do, a conga line never looks cool. Come to think of it, what’s up with RBW and conga lines this year? Didn’t ONEWE have one in their music video too?
- Is it just me, or did tons of this year’s performances depict the idol groups as tribes of warriors? What’s with that? Literal fan wars come to life?
10. Seventeen
Gosh, Left & Right sounds so promising until it hits that first chorus. It fakes me out every single time. Anyway, it looked like the boys were having fun here. This was definitely not as ambitious as their best performances, but the staging during the transition was pretty slick. The vampy intro to Home;Run was also cool, and I liked how they really leaned into the song’s swing elements.
9. Treasure
I really like the staging of this performance, but the arrangement of the songs was kind of weird. It felt like there was so much starting and stopping that the momentum kind of got lost. Still, I think this was a nice debut MAMA stage for these rookies.
8. TXT
The disco covers medley that kicked this off was one of the most unabashedly fun moments of the whole evening, especially when they moved into a classic Park Jinyoung song! Yeonjun is a total star, and one hell of a dancer. The staging for Blue Hour was beautiful, but I wish they would have changed up the song a little. However, I love seeing this performed. It’s like sunshine in a bottle, and this time was no different.
7. Twice
This was a nice, clean stage with a clear concept. I loved the positioning of the backup dancers during I Can’t Stop Me, which really used the vastness of the venue to its full advantage. And, the lighting effects for new song Cry For Me were legitimately cool. Sometimes simple is best. The song itself feels very different for Twice. On first listen, I like the chorus. I’m not sure about the rest. But dang, those lighting effects…
6. NCT
Well, look at that… SM finally arranged a ballad with the heft that they should be! It feels like it’s been years. From Home was quite nice, and finally shined spotlight on the group’s underutilized vocalists. Of course, like everything on this show, this was all lip-synced, right? It certainly looked like it.
WayV has easily been the strongest NCT unit in 2020, so I was glad to see them perform the great Turn Back Time. The use of water effects was a nice touch, even if I would have killed for a cool rearrangement instead. Dream and 127 were fine, but I wish that both would have brought something new to their respective songs.
As I suggested when writing about Resonance last week, this product is more of a performance piece than an actual song. With this in mind, a stage like MAMA is the perfect place to showcase it. I’ll admit that the ultra-dramatic, spoken-word intro of “deep” thoughts had me giggling in a not-so-great way, as did the lowering of the godlike vampire creature Taeyong, but I’ll give them props for pure theatre. I just wish I liked the actual songs a bit more. At some point, the introduction becomes more impactful than the music. I’m not sure that’s how this is supposed to work!
But all bellyaching aside, the novelty of seeing all 23 members onstage was pretty cool (even though the endlessness of this whole NCT segment kind of blunted the overall appeal…)
5. BTS
The staging of this was beautiful, and the choice to move outdoors for On really set it apart from the other performances. I wish I loved this song as much as I adore its marching band influences, but the guys definitely delivered a spectacle. The camera work here moved between being impressive and distracting. It was at its best during the intro.
Sadly, the lip-syncing was especially obvious on this one, particularly when Jungkook unleashed his vocal ad-libs. There’s nothing wrong with lip-syncing during a performance like this (everyone else did it, too), but these vocal moments lose a lot of their luster when you know it’s all canned. Thankfully, the dancing was great.
I loved the simple, inventive set for Dynamite, especially as it pulled away to reveal the whole stage. Very cool. And, its uncluttered nature really helped focus on the choreography. Life Goes On was also beautifully staged, even if the song still doesn’t do much for me.
4. Taemin
Forgive me the bad pun, but it was absolutely “criminal” to relegate the outstanding Criminal to one chorus only to expand on the so-so Idea. Still, that chorus we got was completely awesome, as was the grandiose outro and dance break later on. This was the first look we got at MAMA’s 2020 staging, and it was pretty darn cool. The AR effects were well-used, as were the many, many LED screens. But of course, Taemin himself was the most captivating element by far. I could watch him dance forever.
3. Jessi and Hwasa
Given the charisma dripping from both of these performers, there’s no way this couldn’t be good, right? I’ve come around to both Nunu Nana and Maria quite a bit, and the dramatic staging and arrangements during this performance made both songs feel more eventful than I thought they could. I thought Jessi absolutely killed it, bringing real spectacle to a track that could easily come off as throwaway. The duo’s interpretation of Rain’s Gang wasn’t as impactful as it could have been, but their energy elevated the performance.
2. BoA and Friends
Okay, this is how you appeal to an older K-pop fan like me. Having BoA’s juniors cover some of her more iconic songs was a wonderful move, and paved the way for the legend herself. I can’t even imagine what an inspiration BoA has been to all of these younger artists.
Of course, nothing can compete with the queen herself. After a dynamic introduction, she blitzed us with a history lesson of her hits. I got genuinely emotional when Taemin joined her for Only One, and I can’t quite explain that. What a boundary breaker she’s been, with the songs to back it up. Her performance of new single Better was also awesome. That leg choreography is something else!
1. The Boyz + ATEEZ + Stray Kids
The soon-to-be Kingdom collaborators came together for a tour-de-force showstopper. I’ve got nothing but praise for this stage. All three groups brought the drama – operatic, overblown fever dream drama.
The Boyz reaffirmed their RTK victory, bringing the inventive choreography and stagecraft to Reveal and Checkmate. The rearrangement was absolutely fantastic (every remix of Reveal sounds better than the original), and the guys gave a flawless performance.
ATEEZ brought the operatic drama that Answer deserves, and the song was especially well-suited to it. Although they’re already very popular, this felt like something of an unveiling for the group.
Stray Kids chose a surprising song, given that it was released in early 2019 and wasn’t a title track. But, they just killed it. This was like an anime/comic book come to life, with incredible staging and costumes. They brought a larger-than-life energy to this stage, beyond anything I think I’ve seen them do before.
And then, of course, representatives from each team combined for a dance spotlight/duel. If Kingdom is going to be anything like this, I am so completely sold. It was the best advertisement MNET could give. I guess I’m going to end up recapping that show, too. As if I’ve got the time…
I, for one, loved the Kingdom ad as well. Easily my #1 performance, following by the BoA tribute too! The junior artists the came up were so good!
Your comment with the GOT7 performance is sad but true. Seems like JYPE doesn’t want to put it the budget for them anymore, which is 100% a shame since GOT7 are actually good performers.
What’s weird though is that the lack of budget extended to JO1 and IZ*ONE (lowkey) performances – both MNET groups. Compare that Cry for Me reveal with the Panorama reveal. The difference in staging is apparent, making the Cry for Me reveal a showstopper and Panorama performance a so-so reveal staging-wise.
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I really liked this year’s MAMA. There were some great performances. I also loved IZ*ONE’s performances.
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“Every remix of Reveal sounds better than the original” indeed. I’m a fan of The Boyz, and it seems many people within the fandom /adore/ that song but while it’s obviously not a bad song, it doesn’t stand out as much as The Stealer does and isn’t nearly as original in its composition. However, being rather bland made for a land of opportunities when it comes to remixes, and they’ve definitely found their weapon of choice when it comes to giving spectacular performances. To think the full potential of Reveal hid in remixes..
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seventeen at #10 when they had by far the best performance? this site really has lost all credibility this year lol. left & right remains one of the best 2020 summer songs btw
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Bold of you to assume I was ever seeking credibility! haha
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I think you should feel a bit flattered, Nick that some people actually look at you like some kpop “authority” and are lowkey hoping for your approval of their faves, lol. Then bash you if you don’t, the irony.
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Not sure what about a website named “The BIAS List” demands credibility…
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Nah TXT had by far the best performance. Their the main ones who stood out.
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Nah TXT had by far the best performance. Their the main ones who stood out. They were phenomenal!
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izone ATE
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panorama perf is my top 5 for sure
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That ateez + stray kids+ the boyz segment really was a 15+ minute kingdom ad and I loved every second of it! If this is the kind of theatrics and staging Mnet wants to bring to the Kingdom next year then I’ll be an avid watcher.
I really enjoyed BTS’s performance too but I couldn’t help comparing it to thier MMA stage the night before. The staging for MAMA may have been more extravagant,but the MMA performances as a whole(Particularly Black Swan and Dynamite) were more exciting to watch in my opinion.
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Watching BoA perform Better is such a joy. After all this years nobody can top this woman.
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if i had to rank my top 5 i’d probably have…
1.) Kingdom advertisement
2.) Nct’s mini concert
3.) boa and friends
4.) enhypen’s we just debuted six days ago and are on mama stage
5.) Taemin who should’ve got an added 5 minutes to his stage
other thoughts:
– dynamite is finally starting to drain me, when txt started doing it i was so confused and then had to sit through the full song again 2 hours later
– got7 are amazing but i genuinely went blind by the end of their stage from those strobe lights
– sanitization lady deserved every award there
– what is with the “favorite” awards? I was so confused when nct won favorite male group and then bts won best male group… what’s the difference mnet?
– ateez winning “discovery of the year” was awesome, those boys deserve the world
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I reckon “best” is for those with the numbers. “Favorite” is for the acts fans would’ve liked to win the “best” award but who technically don’t have the numbers in their favor.
I personally don’t consider being awarded “favorite” a bad or degrading thing, since it’s an indication of hard-earned popularity. Barring the female categories, BTS won all the major awards and it would’ve been a stale award show if all we got were 4-7 BTS thank you speeches.
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In my particular opinion, an Eastern royalty style akin to what Oneus did on LIT would have been quite a lot more magnificent, and even more with the amount of backup dancers they had, but I guess you can’t go wrong with a westernized fantasy if what you intend to portray is the aggressiveness of taking a kingdom. Hmm 🤔
And here I was thinking Kingdom was dead because all possible contestants were rather too big to want to face off in an elimination format, but it seems I was wrong. Perhaps this does mean there won’t be eliminations. Yay!
With groups like this, you should just let them show their best till the end. Imagine losing Ateez or SKZ mid-competition like it happened with Golcha (nobody could have seen that coming 😮) Simply outrageous.
So much for Nick wanting brighter stages though. Even if TXT get there they’ll be doing their makeup and dressing like the members of KISS soon enough… Which reminds me… which other groups qualify to be there? SF9? Victon? Astro?
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JO1’s production dip as almost entirely chalked up to the fact they were the only group who could not enter Korea to have consistency with the look and staging of the rest of the acts, it’s a shame. Looks like they made use of a smaller set with fewer and smaller cameras. Had it been a regular year where they could enter Korea, they could’ve been on more even footing.
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Are you considering doing a review for Cry for Me? The song is a “gift for fans” so not technically a comeback. I share your short sentiments about the song, and I would like to add that it kinda sounds like Twice is doing a cover of another pop song remixed for an awards show. It sounded great and I loved their performance, but there was something about it that made it not feel like a Twice release. Maybe because it wasn’t released in the usual comeback style, but I would love to know what other people are thinking.
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Maybe he’s going to review it once it’s released, JYP already announced that its going to come soon so… Judging from his review of Twice’s MAMA stage, I don’t think he liked the song, he liked the chorus tho.
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I haven’t finished watching all the stages yet, but anything Seventeen’s Vocal Team does is hard to top for me. I loved their rearrangement of Home;Run. And NCT’s vocalists finally got the ballad they deserved. This version is SO much better than the one on the album, in terms of both music and performance. SM, more of this please.
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This year has been the year I realised that I don’t care anymore about live stages. Where are the live vocals ? I don’t think that anyone other than Jessi and a few rappers sang live on the whole show. However stages were overall really good, maybe even better than the ones we had last year. And no BTS shots in the middle of the performance that makes the crowd go crazy showing you that nobody cares about the performers is always a big plus !
My favorite performance was probably the Jessi X Hwasa collaboration. Simple but effective. I also enjoy seeing a more natural performance from Jessi in the middle of hours of angsty stares to the cam.
The BoA stage was indeed very good and a great way to celebrate her long career.
The Kingdom collaboration would take the #3 spot for me, I’m not a big fan of the Victory Road remix but Stray Kids are good enough to keep the performance interesting. ATEEZ stage was great and The Boyz did the ultimate version of their Road to Kingdom stage so good job from everybody.
I agree on the comment about Non Stop, this was way better than the original version.
About the CRAVITY/Monsta X stage, I have no idea if it was a collaboration or CRAVITY covering their seniors… it goes with my initial idea that I see CRAVITY as MX juniors.
Other stages were good overall so I think I can say it was a good show
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Well the performances on MAMA was well not as good as the previous years. But it was all fun. I’m glad I could see certain long time no see artists here. I loved the BTS performance but the other great performance was from TXT, a breath of fresh air. Well I have an award show coming up! Can y’all vote? https://s.surveyplanet.com/_bhwO0mgM
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I thought no one would ever talk about how they lipsynched in MAMA when twas too obvious. Sigh. Its a music award wc happens only once a year. Can we get a real voice for once? Really. Got no problem w it. It’s okay but they should sing even for like 50% of the time. There’s only a number of awards for dancing but idols put more effort on their choreo than on their vocals and rap pfft.
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As much as I enjoyed the TBZ x Ateez x Stray KIds stages, it went on for so long that by the time Txt and Seventeen appeared, I literally breathed fresh air 😀 So I definitely enjoyed these two groups more.
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I honestly think you need to get your hearing checked if you think BTS lip synced at all. It’s plainly obvious they are actually singing since you can hear the difference in the live performance and the studio version. Also, I think that when ranking performances your personal opinion on the songs really shouldn’t matter.
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To an extent my personal opinion doesn’t. Nunu Nana and Maria are definitely not my favorite songs, and I really dislike Gang. Yet, that placed high on my personal list. Same thing for The Boyz’ Reveal and Stray Kids’ Victory Song. But of course we all tend to prefer performances of songs we enjoy over ones we don’t care for. I think that’s just the way this works.
As for the lip-syncing, I think it’s pretty standard practice to pre-record “live” tracks to use as a backing when performing. My personal favorite artist of all-time, Janet Jackson, has practically made a career out of it! I’ve got nothing against lip-syncing during big performance pieces. But, I’m not as happy when it happens during slower material without demanding choreography.
Still, with the logistical needs of the MAMA stages, I begrudge no one for performing to a pre-recorded track. There’s so much technical behind-the-scenes stuff that needs to be accounted for.
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There is a difference in performing with a backing track and lip syncing however. I think that is where you are getting confused. I mean like I said, it’s pretty damn obvious that BTS is singing live. Not to mention they truly have gone on record to state they don’t lip sync and have called out people who have accused them of doing so.
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They are lip syncing to a pre-recorded track on the exacts mics for many of their performances. Not all (eg NPR tiny desk), but most. Actually at this point they probably have two pre-recorded mic versions for their singles, one with the head set mics, and one with the multicolored hand held mics. They could be singing along live, but the mic is not turned on to capture that sound.
You can see in a few ways in their performances. They are pretty good at lipsyncing, but only maybe 95+% good. I don’t spend a lot of time looking for mistakes, but a few examples popped out in “ON” MAMA performance linked above. Right at 4:25, and again 4:55. 4:35 to 4:40 who is singing those lines, in a flat out run or mid jump? No, not that well.
There are also several stages they do where the surrounding sound does not match what one imagines that space to sound like. The museum graduation setting from earlier in spring comes to mind – in an enormous cavernous echoey marble and glass space one hears no foot echoes or city noises. Grand Central Station as well – there is no way to get that quality of audio from a space like that.
Then there are the walk around with a hand held style that groups have been doing lately – BTS did it on the Late Late Show a few weeks ago, Treasure did it as well with the boys in different rooms, others too (idr exactly, I don’t watch them that often). Those are almost certainly canned, because it would be a crazy project for an audio engineer to take live vocal over a recorded backing in so many different non-controlled surroundings. It would take weeks to edit to get a decent sounded audio. Nope, they just used a canned vocal.
As Nick says, they aren’t the only ones doing it in the pop industry in recent years.
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A lot of their most recent performances have been pre-recorded, meaning they would be able to edit the video and sound. Some of these performances are pretty obviously pre-recorded since Suga is performing with them even though he’s currently recovering from surgery. BTS has been very vocal about their stance on lip syncing. Don’t believe me, there’s plenty of videos out there to show that shit.
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I think that mymagoogle and I are trying to approach this in an empathetic way. It’s a common industry practice and nothing to be ashamed of, whether singing along with a backing track or miming (or a combination of both, which is far more likely).
I’m not going to speculate with great detail because I don’t have the authority to do so, but it was pretty obvious that 95% of all artists’ MAMA performances utilized prerecorded vocals. Like myma said, there’s no way you get that kind of sound with the crazy technical things the groups (and their staging) was doing. At the very least, you’d hear incredible strain in their voices since they’re… you know… human.
Again, I don’t want to belabor the point. But, I just want to be sure it’s clear that I’m not coming at this like an accusation — more an acknowledgement of reality when it comes to big pop stage shows. It’s just the way things are, but that doesn’t mean that the stages still can’t be highly enjoyable (which is why BTS ranked so high on my own personal countdown!)
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In my opinion, even stating that a group is lip syncing, when they have come out plenty of times to show they do not in fact do so, is an insult to the hard work they put in. BTS have said that they have practiced upwards of 16 hours a day for their performances, putting in a lot of hard work for their fans at a sacrifice to their own health. As I have also stated a good portion of their most recent performances have been pre-recorded, giving time for editing in sound as well as other things that need to be tweaked. And there are a few instances where you can hear the strain on their voices. Jin’s voice in particular you can hear the strain on.
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So many pre recorded tracks in music shows are flawed and strained, do you even watch kpop
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BTS has really been my first foray into K-Pop. But I’ve watched countless videos of them, performing live and yeah, sorry I don’t agree one bit that they do a great deal of lip syncing. I grew up on Britney Spears and Nsync. They lip synced and it was obvious. But I’ve also seen the hard work BTS puts in and they don’t come off as a group to do that hard ass work just to half ass it. Call me delusional or whatever but I’ve been around music a long time, I’ve seen plenty of performances, both live and on award shows, and I stand by what I have said. Now excuse me, I’m not in a head space to continue these kinds of arguments or conversations
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Opening with a suggestion of hearing check surely is a way to tell the world you don’t have head space *in general*. I would suggest brain check for someone with the guts to yell at people with actual experience in tackling mics and arranging live sets with the gigantic 50 youtube video watching experience they have on their own
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First of all, nothing in the OP’s about me section even remotely states that he has that kind of experience. Seems to me like he’s a fan of music who does reviews based on how he sees the music like a normal human being. Second of all, if you must know, I’m in a grieving status so my emotional well being can be very up and down, which happened when I replied to you. Third of all, I’d think having experience actually listening to music live and in the flesh trumps viewing through TV or YouTube. I’m in my early 30s, lived through the bubble gum pop age of the 90s and early 00s. I’ve seen numerous groups and bands live. Trust me, it’s obvious when someone is not performing the way they should live. Finally, I didn’t come here to have arguments with people I don’t know on the Internet over things that are inconsequential to my life.
To the OP, I’d like to apologize to you for coming off the way I did. It’s just that BTS has been my saving grace in the last year after losing my mother last Christmas and then dealing with this pandemic. I’m protective of them and I really dislike when people accuse them of lip syncing when that is something they are very against as noted by several performances where they pretty much throw it in those people’s faces. I didn’t mean for this to blow up the way it did.
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No problem at all. This whole site is driven by passion, so I certainly get that. And I couldn’t be happier to hear that BTS have helped you get through a hard time. Music is so magical that way, isn’t it? I don’t know what I would have done without it this year.
I hope I was able to convey that my words were not meant as a dig, either. I think I also get my defenses up a bit with certain groups because of bad fan interactions I’ve had in the past. For my part, I always try to be respectful even if I’m being critical.
Take care of yourself 🙂
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My condolences. We all have our comfort music, for which we need to justify to no one because it is for our own selves.
The few times I go out this year, my go-to is to sing along to Crush “Beautiful”. 3 times to the grocery store, 3 times back.
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First time commenting here haha. Oof, not going to pretend that relatively low ranking of Seventeen’s performance didn’t hurt me – Left & Right was a bit so-so even though they were having fun on stage, but that rearrangement and musical theatre performance of Home;Run (especially vocal unit’s all-too-brief part) was absolutely top tier for me – but I do understand we all have our own favorites. Everyone performed well, kudos to all groups and artists for the effort they put in.
Re: your question about the masks, some fun trivia: all of Seventeen were wearing the same kind of black mask. I suspect it’s from the fact that Jun once ordered one mask packet online and ended up receiving a 1+1 deal with 100 similar masks instead… ah, thank goodness for Weverse documenting Seventeen and their constant misadventures with online shopping.
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That is fun trivia! And, welcome to the comments section. Don’t be a stranger 🙂
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I’m late to the party, again, it took me a while to watch most or at least enough. Frankly to me, without a real audience most of them looked like a music show writ large with canned audience noises.
NCT ballad brought me back to boy band circa 1992, Boyz II Men era, old school R&B.
Jessi – she has an impact in kpop because she is the only one in this space in kpop active right now. CL should also be there, hopefully soon, again. For Jessi, in the west, she would just be one of dozens doing this flavor.
BTS “On” – What is this, their Super Bowl 2022 audition reel? BTS “Dynamite” also looked like a super bowl audition night time edition, with the bright colors and fireworks going. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: they have missed the opportunity to really use a full marching band for realz. It’s better this time, the cheerleader aerials are going in the back, but once again the marching is literally shoved to the side for most of it, and only parked at the 30 yard line when there are 100 yards to work with. And then they have dancers do what the drumline should be doing – obviously dancers because they aren’t doing the crab walk.
So, for reference, for what an awesome drum corps can really do as a creative medium, this is one of my recent favorites. Crank the volume because the recording gain is low. . When they all line up, it gives me chills. (Bluecoats, rather than the Blue Devils, and a really awesome Vienna Teng song.) Record the drum corps live, and over dub with the guys vocals after.
If you want a longer primer on what marching bands can DO, here is a longer sampler video of awesomeness in movement. How awesome would BTS “Fire” be with full marching band? Totally. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsi7_6iVrek The Madison Scouts starting about 12:25 have the ON boys beating the drum idea taken to the next level with cymbals.
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But wasn’t it way too long? After a point, I was unable to even appreciate the performances because my head hurt. And of course they were giving away too many pointless made up awards.
So yeah, my fav. part of MAMA was the start with Jessi and Hwasa and the end with BTS. I blame the exhaustion for not liking much in the middle.
Will you do a review for MMA as well?
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Oh my gosh yes it was way too long! No award show should be 6+ hours. None. Nada.
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6 hours?! I only made it through a sampling of clips.
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Yep. No exaggeration. In fact, I think it’s just a smidge over six when you add all three parts together. Never let it be said that I don’t make sacrifices for this blog! Haha
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Um there’s nothing wrong with lip-synching? I’m sorry but that seems ironic considering youre making a “best-performance” list. And it’s so funny that you base your performance ranking out of how the stage was arranged. Shouldn’t you focus on the artists themselves? Lol. You may have grown to adapting to KPOP artists lip-synching all the time just to save their appearance while performing on stage, but that’s in no way “best”. Sorry. Just admit these artists (not all) are a huge bore and can’t rock a stage like how few artists did in the past. It scares me to think that so many actually accept and defend their idols for lip-synching and what-blame the stage for a lousy performance?. All these lip-synching are damn so tiring to watch. Might as well watch an MV on repeat.
I think you can all agree that youre all pulled by the visuals and not on the quality of an artists’ performance.
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There might be a chance that 2021 will embrace the more dramatic side of K-pop because It feels like all these symphonic samples with dramatic opera-like operations will be put in it. I have no Idea why but I have a feeling.
Also, I am still upset that Golden Child is not there in “Kingdom”, they have the Most Energy out of all of the fourth gen-groups and can really bring great performances to the table!
Also, During This Year, for some reason , my Bias for TXT has decreased.. whereas My Bias For Stray Kids has only Increased, even though TXT have released a much better albums.
With all these dramatic stuff, I am still upset that GFriend never released Labyrinth as the title track , Labyrinth feels like the perfect song for GFriend and I am really sad that they cannot replicate
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Or maybe They Can!
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what happen to mamamoo? u have great taste in music, but in stage perf … no. Don’t rank “stage performance” when u don’t have the credibility. Seventeen, bts on, mamamoo, lmao … what happen to them!?
u only see who’s the coolest!? lmfao. so biased.
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Regarding Mamamoo: I’m sorry, but no matter what you do, a conga line never looks cool. Come to think of it, what’s up with RBW and conga lines this year? Didn’t ONEWE have one in their music video too?
Also , this site does not aim for credibility
Also, If it’s the coolest , shouldn’t it be the best then?
Also , Ranking stages Is Subjective
and Imagine having no life by saying some they are biased in a site called “THE BIAS LIST”
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