# 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards

The 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards ceremony, organized by CJ E&M through its music channel Mnet, took place live on December 6 at the CJ ENM Contents World in Paju, South Korea with the theme, "New-Topia". The ceremony was the 22nd in the show's history but was held with no on-site audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Background

On September 11, CJ ENM responded to reports and confirmed that the year's MAMA will still take place despite the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, but no additional details were announced.
On September 21, it was reported that it will take place on December 6 with no location confirmed. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to hold the event in Hong Kong. It was the first time in 11 years that MAMA only took place in South Korea.
On November 24, it was reported that Song Joong-ki was set to host the ceremony.

## Criteria
### K-Pop Categories

All songs that are eligible to be nominated are songs released from October 24, 2019, to October 28, 2020.
| Division | Online Voting | MAMA Professional Panel (Local + Foreign) | Music Sales | Record Sales | Social Media Voting | Global M/V View Counts |
| Artist of the Year Categories by Artist* | 30% | 30% | 20% | 20% | — | — |
| Song of the Year Categories by Genre** | 20% | 40% | 30% | 10% | — | — |
| Album of the Year | — | 40% | — | 60% | — | — |
| Best Music Video | — | 70% | — | — | — | 30% |
| Worldwide Icon of the Year Global Top 10 Fans' Choice*** | 60% | — | — | — | 20% | 20% |
| *Best New (M)ale/(F)emale Artist, Best M/F Artist, Best M/F Group **Best Dance Performance (Solo/M/F Group), Best Vocal Performance (M/F/Group), Best HipHop & Urban Music, Best Band Performance, Best Collaboration, Best OST ***Social Media (Twitter) Voting |||||||

### Asia Music Categories

Artists from Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam who've worked on songs released from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020.

### Professional Categories

Music experts from South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, India, Indonesia and Vietnam who participated in music related contents released from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020.

## Performers

(Note: All performance were pre-recorded in order to maintain social distancing due to COVID-19 pandemic.)
List of performers at 2020 MAMA :
| Name(s) | Song(s) | Notes/Stage Theme |
| Taemin | Intro + "Criminal" + "Heaven" + "Idea" | "The Dawn of a NEW-TOPIA" |
| Jessi | "Nunu Nana" | "I Am What I Am" |
| Hwasa | Intro + "María" | "I Am What I Am" |
| Jessi X Hwasa | "Gang" (MAMA Ver.) (Orig. Rain) | "I Am What I Am" |
| Park Sung-hoon of Enhypen | "Into the I-Land" (Piano Ver.) | "On The Borderline" |
| Enhypen | "Intro: Walk the Line" + "Given-Taken" | "On The Borderline" |
| Cravity | "Break All The Rules" + "Dramarama" (Orig. Monsta X) + "Shoot Out" (Orig. Monsta X) | "Heaven And Hell" |
| Monsta X | "Beastmode" + "Love Killa" | "Heaven And Hell" |
| Oh My Girl | "Nonstop" | "Total Eclipse" |
| (G)I-dle | "Dumdi Dumdi" | "Total Eclipse" |
| Oh My Girl (Mimi, Jiho, Arin) + (G)I-dle (Soojin, Soyeon & Yuqi) | "Bad Girl Good Girl" (Orig. Miss A) | "Total Eclipse" |
| Juyeon of The Boyz | "Open the Gate of Hell" | "Qui Fert Pondus Coronae Velit" |
| The Boyz | "The Beginning of the End (Reveal & Checkmate)" | "Qui Fert Pondus Coronae Velit" |
| Ateez | "Dona Eis Requiem (Inception & Answer)" | "Qui Fert Pondus Coronae Velit" |
| Stray Kids | "Victory Song" (MAMA ver.) | "Qui Fert Pondus Coronae Velit" |
| Juyeon of The Boyz + Hyunjin of Stray Kids + San of Ateez | "Triangular Fight" | "Qui Fert Pondus Coronae Velit" |
| JO1 | "Infinity" + "Shine A Light" | "Infinite Light" |
| Treasure | "Boy" + "I Love You" + "MMM" | "Find Your TREASURE" |
| Tomorrow X Together | "Short Hair" (Orig. Cho Yong-pil) + "She Was Pretty" (Orig. Park Jin-young) + "Dynamite" (Orig. BTS) + "Blue Hour" (Dance Break ver.) | "Welcome To The DISCO" |
| Iz*One | "La Vie En Rose" + "Violeta" + "Fiesta" + "Secret Story of the Swan" + "Panorama" | "One-REELER" |
| Got7 | "Not by the Moon" + "Last Piece" | "The Last Piece Of NEW-TOPIA" |
| Mamamoo | "Aya" + "Dingga" (Agrabah ver.) | "Promised Land" |
| Seventeen | "Left & Right" + "Home;Run" | "Door to YOUTHOPIA" |
| NCT U | "From Home" (Rearranged Ver.) | "Resonance Of NCT" |
| WayV | "Turn Back Time" | "Resonance Of NCT" |
| NCT Dream | "Ridin'" | "Resonance Of NCT" |
| NCT 127 | "Kick It" | "Resonance Of NCT" |
| NCT | "Resonance" | "Resonance Of NCT" |
| Twice | "More & More" + "I Can't Stop Me" + "Cry for Me" | "Paradise, Lost" |
| Winter of Aespa | "ID; Peace B" | "BoA 20th Anniversary Special" |
| (G)I-dle | "Listen to My Heart" | "BoA 20th Anniversary Special" |
| YooA of Oh My Girl | "Tree" | "BoA 20th Anniversary Special" |
| Kwon Eun-bi, Lee Chae-yeon, Choi Ye-na, Kim Chae-won of Iz*One | "Atlantis Princess" | "BoA 20th Anniversary Special" |
| BoA | "No. 1" + "Only One" (feat. Taemin) + "Better" | "You're Still My No. 1" |
| BTS | "On" + "Dynamite" + "Life Goes On" | "On & On" |

## Presenters

The list of presenters was announced on December 1, 2020.
* Song Joong-ki – host, presented CJ ENM 2020 Visionary & Song of the Year
* Byeon Woo-seok & Hwang In-youp – Best New Male & Female Artist
* Bae Jung-nam & Lee Sun-bin – Best Dance Performance – Male and Solo & Discovery of the Year
* Lee Do-hyun & Go Bo-gyeol – Best Band Performance & Favorite Dance Performance – Female Solo
* Joo Woo-jae & Lee Yu-bi – Best of Next & Best Vocal Performance – Group
* James Corden – Album of the Year
* Gong Myung & Choi Soo-young – Worldwide Fans' Choice
* Yoo Yeon-seok & Jung Kyung-ho – Worldwide Fans' Choice
* Im Soo-jung & Lee Da-hee – Worldwide Fans' Choice
* Yang Kyung-won & Park Ha-sun – Best Stage, Favorite Dance Performance – Group & Notable Achievement Artist
* Kim Ji-suk & Im Soo-hyang – Best Music Video & Favorite Asian Artist
* Lee Sang-yeob & Park Gyu-young – Favorite Female & Male Group
* Park Seo-joon – Worldwide Icon of the Year
* Yoon Park & Kang Han-na – Favorite Dance Performance – Male Solo & Favorite Global Performance
* Jung Moon-sung & Jeon Mi-do – Best Male Artist
* Gong Myung – BoA's 20th anniversary special & Inspired Achievement Award
* Jeon Hye-jin – Most Popular Artist
* Lee Jung-jae – Artist of the Year

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold. Online voting opened on the official MAMA website and Twitter an hour after the announcement of nominees on October 29, 2020. Voting ended on December 5, 2020.

### Main awards

| Artist of the Year (Daesang) | Song of the Year (Daesang) |
| BTS Blackpink IU Exo Twice | BTS – "Dynamite" Blackpink – "How You Like That" Red Velvet – "Psycho" IU – "Blueming" Zico – "Any Song" |
| Album of the Year (Daesang) | Worldwide Icon of the Year (Daesang) |
| BTS – Map of the Soul: 7 Blackpink – The Album Seventeen – Heng:garæ IU – Love Poem Baekhyun – Delight | BTS NCT Treasure TXT Got7 Ateez Seventeen Mamamoo Twice Blackpink |
| Best Male Group | Best Female Group |
| BTS Exo Got7 NCT Monsta X Seventeen | Blackpink Twice Red Velvet Mamamoo Iz*One Oh My Girl |
| Best Male Artist | Best Female Artist |
| Baekhyun Kang Daniel Park Jin-young Zico Taemin | IU Sunmi Chungha Taeyeon Hwasa |
| Best Dance Performance – Male Group | Best Dance Performance – Female Group |
| BTS – "Dynamite" Ateez – "Inception" Exo – "Obsession" NCT 127 – "Kick It" TXT – "Can't You See Me?" Seventeen – "Left & Right" | Blackpink – "How You Like That" Itzy – "Wannabe" Twice – "More & More" Red Velvet – "Psycho" Iz*One – "Secret Story of the Swan" Oh My Girl – "Nonstop" |
| Best Dance Performance – Solo | Best Vocal Performance – Solo |
| Hwasa – "Maria" Kang Daniel – "Who U Are?" Sunmi – "Pporappippam" Jessi – "Nunu Nana" Taemin – "Criminal" | IU – "Blueming" Baek Ye-rin – "Square" Baekhyun – "Candy" Jung Seung-hwan – "My Christmas Wish" Taeyeon – "Spark" |
| Best Vocal Performance – Group | Best Collaboration |
| Mamamoo – "Hip" Winner – "Hold" Noel – "Late Night" NU'EST – "I'm In Trouble" Davichi – "Dear" | IU X Suga – "Eight" Park Jin-young X Sunmi – "When We Disco" Bolbbalgan4 X Baekhyun – "Leo" Sung Si Kyung X IU – "First Winter" Zico X Rain – "Summer Hate" |
| Best New Male Artist | Best New Female Artist |
| Treasure Cravity MCND TOO WEi | Weeekly Secret Number Woo!ah! Natty Cignature |
| Best Band Performance | Best OST |
| Day6 – "Zombie" M.C the Max – "Bloom" N.Flying – "Oh Really!" Lee Nal Chi – "Tiger Is Coming" Hyukoh – "Help" | Gaho – "Start Over" (Itaewon Class) Baek Ye-rin – "Here I Am Again" (Crash Landing on You) Sandeul – "Slightly Tipsy" (She Is My Type) Joy – "Introduce Me A Good Person" (Hospital Playlist) Jo Jung-suk – "Aloha" (Hospital Playlist) |
| Best HipHop & Urban Music | Best Music Video |
| Zico – "Any Song" Giriboy – "Eul" (Feat. BIG Naughty (Seo Dong-hyun)) Yumdda – "Amanda" (Feat. Simon Dominic) Lee Hi – "Holo" Changmo – "Meteor" | BTS – "Dynamite" |

### Favorite Awards

| Category | Winner |
| Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 | NCT Treasure TXT Got7 Ateez Seventeen Mamamoo Twice BTS Blackpink |
| Favorite Dance Performance – Female Solo | Jessi – "Nunu Nana" |
| Favorite Dance Performance – Male Solo | Taemin – "Criminal" |
| Favorite Dance Performance – Group | TXT – "Can't You See Me?" |
| Favorite Asian Artist | WayV |
| Favorite Female Group | Iz*One |
| Favorite Male Group | NCT |
| Global Favorite Performer | Seventeen |

### Special Awards

| Category | Category | Winner |
| Best Asian Artist | Japan | Official Hige Dandism |
| Best Asian Artist | Mandarin | G.E.M. |
| Best Asian Artist | Thailand | Ink Waruntorn |
| Best Asian Artist | Indonesia | Rizky Febian |
| Best Asian Artist | Vietnam | Binz |
| Best New Asian Artist | Japan | Fujii Kaze |
| Best New Asian Artist | Mandarin | Chih Siou |
| Best New Asian Artist | Thailand | Milli |
| Best New Asian Artist | Indonesia | Tiara Andini |
| Best New Asian Artist | Vietnam | Amee |
| Best New Asian Artist | Best New Asian Artist | JO1 |
| Discovery of the Year | Discovery of the Year | Ateez |
| Best of Next | Best of Next | Cravity |
| Best Stage | Best Stage | Monsta X |
| Notable Achievement Artist | Notable Achievement Artist | Seventeen |
| Inspired Achievement | Inspired Achievement | BoA |
| Most Popular Artist | Most Popular Artist | Twice |
| 2020 Visionary (CJ E&M) | 2020 Visionary (CJ E&M) | Kim Eun-hee Kim Tae-ho Park Ji-eun BTS Bong Joon-ho Blackpink Rain Song Kang-ho Shin Won-ho Yoo Jae-suk |

### Professional Categories

| Category | Winner | Work |
| Best Executive Producer of the Year | Bang Si-hyuk | BTS |
| Best Producer of the Year | Pdogg | BTS - "ON" |
| Best Composer of the Year | Yovie Widianto | Tiara Andini - "Maafkan Aku #TerlanjurMencinta" |
| Best Engineer of the Year | Gu jong Pil & Kwon Nam Woo | Zico - "Any song" |
| Best Video Director of the Year | LUMPENS | BTS - "Dynamite" |
| Best Choreographer of the Year | Quang Dang | Binz - "Love Note" |
| Best Art Director of the Year | MU:E | BTS - "Dynamite" |

### Multiple Awards

The following artist(s) received three or more awards:
| Awards | Artist(s) |
| 9 | BTS |
| 4 | Blackpink |
| 3 | IU |
| 3 | Seventeen |
| 3 | NCT / WayV |

## Broadcast

The ceremony of the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards was broadcast live worldwide from Mnet in South Korea to simulcast across CJ E&M channels; other international networks, and online via Mnet K-pop and KCON's YouTube account and Mnet's official website. The live red carpet broadcast was cancelled due to safety protocols against COVID-19.
| Country | Network | Network |
| Worldwide | YouTube (Mnet K-Pop & KCON), mwave.me | YouTube (Mnet K-Pop & KCON), mwave.me |
| United States | KCON USA | KCON USA |
| South Korea | Mnet, TVING, O'live, XtvN | Mnet, TVING, O'live, XtvN |
| Japan | Mnet Smart, Mnet Japan, au Smart Pass | Mnet Smart, Mnet Japan, au Smart Pass |
| Hong Kong | JOOX, ViuTV, ViuTVsix, viu.tv | tvN Asia |
| Taiwan | FET Friday video, FET Friday Music | tvN Asia |
| Philippines | GigaFest (Smart Communications) | tvN Asia |
| Singapore | MeWATCH | tvN Asia |
| Indonesia | Indosiar, JOOX, Vidio | tvN Asia |
| Malaysia | JOOX | tvN Asia |
| Thailand | JOOX | tvN Asia |
| Myanmar | JOOX | tvN Asia |
| Maldives | tvN Asia | tvN Asia |
| Sri Lanka | tvN Asia | tvN Asia |
| Vietnam | FPT TV, Foxy | FPT TV, Foxy |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | tvN Asia (through DStv) | tvN Asia (through DStv) |

## Controversies
### Discrimination between actors and idols

On December 8, Dispatch released a report which described that the actors who took part in the ceremony as award presenters had been given waiting rooms and catering backstage. It has been also reported that only two idol teams received waiting rooms, and the others waited in an outdoor parking lot. Although the performance was pre-recorded, the winning scene was live, so it is known that the singers who attended had to wait in the vehicle for as little as one hour and as long as six hours. Restrooms for these artists are said to have been portable toilets outside, and some idols rented other accommodations nearby rather than have to sit in their cars. An official representative from an idol group confessed, "Most of the singers have a bad waist. It is hard to sit in the car for a long time," They continued, "Some singers rented separate accommodations and waited there." A source from 2020 MAMA spoke with No Cut News. They stated that while it would have been good to have provided separate spaces for everyone, they had to follow regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “We are a music show and there is absolutely no reason that we would treat singers [negligently],” they stated. On December 9, Mnet again responded, "It is because there cannot be more than 100 people in one space in the second stage of distancing due to the COVID-19 quarantine rules. It was a situation where there was insufficient space in the waiting room, and it was not discriminating between singers and actors."

### Map of Indonesia

An Indonesian map was shown in the broadcast live by Mnet while publicizing the enthusiasm of K-pop around the world. Indonesia was the country that voted the most in this event excluding South Korea. However, the map displayed was false. The map showed Sumatra Island and Java Island are joined, while Bali Island and Lombok Island, which are next to Java, have disappeared. West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku were also not marked. Sulawesi and Papua were too far apart.

### Map of the Philippines

During the awards show, Mnet announced the Top 5 Regions sending the most love on MAMA 2020. However, the Philippines map shown was false. The islands of Palawan, Marinduque, Mindoro, and Romblon in Luzon were missing together with the Visayas, one of the three main land groups in the Philippines. Filipino fans also complained about only accessing the live stream through Smart Communications.

### Poor working environment

On December 11, Dispatch released a report of the severe levels of dust particles that made vision and breathing difficult during artists' performance recordings. The '2020 MAMA' took place at the CJ ENM Contents World located in Paju, a construction site expected to be completed in 2023. According to the Paju City Hall Architecture Department, the construction progress is 30-40%. There were signs posted on the perimeter of the construction zone including "Caution: snakes", "Caution: fire hazards", and "Warning: drop hazards". Performance recordings took place in one of two completed buildings on-site, Studio 6. Each performing artist took to the stage at least two times, coming on and off the stage and the set for a duration of at least 4 hours. The reporters who visited the site noted that their throats hurt from inhaling the dust. CJ E&M responded that it was comfortable because it was a 'new building'. "At the time of recording, 100% of the air conditioning system was operating" , but representatives from the K-Pop artists claimed that there were rehearsals and pre-recordings taking place until the morning of the ceremony. "They then removed the sets used for the pre-recordings and set up the live ceremony set immediately before the event."
According to a representative from the city of Paju, CJ ENM did receive approval from the city to carry out filming in Studio 5 and Studio 6, the two completed buildings at CJ ENM Contents World. However, dust particle levels at the construction site of CJ ENM Contents World have not undergone check-ups since the construction first began in 2019. The official continued, "We have not checked for fine dust separately before MAMA. There was no request at all for the related sector."