Entertainment News

MAMA Awards go citywide in Osaka: Big Bang with Dooly, Enhypen with Dune

This year's MAMA Awards, one of K-pop's biggest year-end events, will be held on November 20 and 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan under the theme “A Music Interstellar”, organiser CJ ENM said on Thursday. Yonhap and The Korea Herald both covered the press conference in Seoul.

Yonhap leads with the new MAMA Fan Festa, which will run from November 9 to 21 across Osaka, including Midosuji Street and Namba Square, and online via Mnet Plus. The ceremony will also be restructured, Yonhap says, instead of splitting fan-voted and main prizes across the two days.

“This year's theme, 'A Music Interstellar,' is intended to connect K-pop's past, present and future across generations, genres and different forms of art.” — Mnet head Yoon Shin-hye, via The Korea Herald

The Korea Herald gives the details. Chapter 1 will cover artist categories; Chapter 2 will cover songs and genres, with a new Best Song Top 10 based on streaming and downloads. Actor Park Bo-gum returns as host and MAMA ambassador. The planned collaborations pair Big Bang with characters from Dooly the Little Dinosaur, Enhypen with the third Dune film, and veteran duo Panic with younger idols.

How each outlet framed it

• Yonhap — the move beyond the venue: a citywide festival for fans.
• The Korea Herald — the show itself: new categories, host and unusual pairings. An earlier report covered the 360-degree stage and the largest line-up of artists ever for a single host city.

Worth knowing: the show began in 1999 as the Mnet Video Music Awards and took its current name in 2022, The Korea Herald notes. In 2024 it was held in both Los Angeles and Osaka; this year it is in Osaka only.