Saturday night looked like the BTS Show at the Melon Music Awards as the group celebrated seven awards. In the most important category, the group won Artist of the Year, beating EXO, Wanna One, iKON and TWICE. The group also won the Album of the Year award for Love Yourself: Tear. Despite the celebration, it wasn’t a night off for the group as they performed three of their top 2018 songs at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
BTS Win Artist of the Year and Song of the Year, Along With Other Awards
The Five Other Awards That BTS Won
Alongside the two previously mentioned awards, BTS won Best Rap/Hip Hop for “Fake Love.” The seven awards included four smaller categories, with the group winning Netizen Popularity Award, Kakao Hot Star Award and the Global Artist Award. The group was among the top 10 artists that were announced throughout the show. Joining them on the list were Apink, BLACKPINK, Bolbbalgan4, BTOB, EXO, iKON, MAMAMOO, TWICE and Wanna One.
The Start of The Show
The evening began with a performance from MOMOLAND, who performed their hit song “Bboom Bboom,” which came out in January. While now being an older song, it definitely was one of the biggest songs of the year, having viral success. Award-wise, the evening started hot with the soon-to-disband group, Wanna One, unveiling the winners for Best New Female and Male Artists. (G)I-DLE won for the female category with The Boyz winning the male counterpart of the award. Stray Kids were very close competition to The Boyz, with the female award being hard to predict. (G)I-DLE sprung onto the scene with “LATATA,” giving the group three music show wins.
Performances Included
Other acts that performed on the show were GFriend, Hong Jin young, (G)I-DLE, The Boyz, Apink, Roy Kim, iKON, BLACKPINK, BTOB, Bolbbalgan4, MAMAMOO & Wanna One. There was a special performance early in the show from a one-off group called Dance War. The group performed as a part of their online series for 1theK, which features dance routines done by idols who cover their identity. The group danced to “Unlimited,” “DNA” and “DDU-DU DDU-DU.” Coincidentally, it was Blackpink’s summer hit that also won the Best Dance Award from a Female artist. The male version of the award went to Wanna One and their song “Boomerang.”
Artists That Won Awards
iKON walked away with the Best Song award for “Love Scenario.” Their competitors were BTS, MAMAMOO, TWICE and BLACKPINK. IU’s October song “BBIBBI” won Best R&B/Soul Award. In its first year being an award on the show, Record of the Year was awarded to Wanna One for 0+1=1 (I Promise You). While not receiving any major awards, Momoland received a 1theK Performance Award. This win, along with two nominations, was a good improvement for the group after not being nominated for anything in the group’s first full year in 2017.
The Road To Mnet Asian Music Awards
Award show season is now in full effect with the rest of December and late January having a big focus on the shows. Next week, the Mnet Asian Music Awards starts its three-day event that spans three different counties. Many groups have already walked home with medallions and trophies now that the MMAs and AAAs have concluded. Although so far more than anyone else, BTS has seen success. The group’s outstanding success in the domestic and international market set the group apart from anyone else in 2018. What they will achieve at the next few award shows will soon be seen.
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