ONE of South Korea’s most prestigious awards ceremonies, the Mnet Asian Music Awards (Mama) kicked off its first of three days last weekend at the Hoa Binh Theatre in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
According to The Korea Herald, the big winners of the night were K-Pop megastars Wanna One and Seventeen who took home the awards for Best Of Next and Worldwide Favourite Artiste.
“It is an honour to be invited to Mama alongside these great Asian artistes. Thank you for giving such a meaningful award. We will try to sparkle more and live up to your expectations,” said Yoon Ji-sung, a member of the monster rookie group Wanna One.
Other Asian artistes honoured at the ceremony included Agnez Mo as Best Asian Artiste Indonesia; Lula as Best Asian Artiste Thailand; Aisyah Aziz as Best Asian Artiste Singapore; Toc Tien as Best Asian Artiste Vietnam and Son Tung as Vietnam Breakthrough Artiste.
Vernon of boy group Seventeen commented, “Mnet’s motto is Music Makes One. I feel that’s exactly what tonight is all about. We are all so amazed by all of these talented artistes who are here tonight, and we have learned a lot from them.
“Most importantly, we couldn’t be here without our beloved Carats (Seventeen’s fan club). Thank you so much.”
More awards such as Artiste Of The Year will be given on the remaining days of the annual event. Day Two and Three will take place on Wednesday at the Yokohama Arena in Japan, and on Friday
at the Asia World-Expo, Hong Kong.
Since its inception in 1999, Mama aimed to bring together international fans and musical artistes of different cultures and languages to one stage and promote Asia’s music to the world.
This year marks the first time Mama is being held in more than one city and over three days.