On Nov. 29, 2022, the Kyocera Doma in Osaka, Japan, hosted the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) show. The MAMA is, and always has been, the most anticipated award show in the K-Pop scene.

If you’re not familiar with K-Pop, or generally don’t follow any South Korean artists, MAMA is an award show similar to the Grammys. MAMA is pretty cutthroat, as fans will fight all year for their favorite groups to win awards, and social media is a terrifying, bloody battlefield when a group wins or loses

The South Korean television channel, Mnet, has had their fair share of controversies over the years including, unfair voting, rigging wins and even poor treatment of the working staff. It goes without saying that an award show the size of MAMA would have more than a few problems, and like any major event, the ones behind the screen want money.

Music fans of any genre will probably agree that most award shows are rigged. The shows shower the popular groups that will boost the viewership with trophies and screen time, while ignoring lesser known groups.

The best part of any music award show are the performances, and there were some crazy stages this year at the MAMA. “Stray Kids,” “ITZY,” “Le Sserafim” and many more big-name groups and soloists performed at the MAMA 2022.

I’m a huge “Stray Kids” fan, so my highlights were, of course, their “MANIAC” and “Venom” performances. In addition to their group performance, members Bang Chan, HAN and Changbin had a separate collaboration stage with soloists Tiger JK and Jung Jaeil. Fans were wondering how “Stray Kids” would possibly top their previous MAMA stages, but after seeing Hyunjin literally float down from the sky and the stunning on-stage visuals, I think it’s safe to say that they outdid themselves this year.

Leader and main rapper of “(G)-IDLE,” Jeon Soyeon, performed a solo rap in which he roasted the MAMA. Other than Soyeon’s diss, the group’s uncensored “TOMBOY” performance floored the attending fans and K-Pop idols. “(G)-IDLE” sang a total of five songs, and each stage was better and more extravagant than the last. “(G)-IDLE” has had a mentally tough year and a half due to a former member, Soojin, getting kicked out of the group. However, they still managed to put out two very good albums and brought everything that had to their stages at the MAMA. It’s a shame that they left with no awards.

The most anticipated performance at the MAMA was the collaboration between various fourth-generation girl groups, which consist of any K-Pop group that debuted after 2017. The year a group debuts is what decided its K-Pop Generation. Fourth-generation girl groups “Kep1er,” “IVE,” “NMIXX,” “NewJeans” and “Le Sserafim” performed their solo songs and then came together to cover “Cheer Up” by “TWICE.” K-Pop idols are often told not to interact with others artists to avoid any controversies, so it’s rare to see major collaborations like this one.

Another group that performed at the MAMA was the famous “BTS.” For people who have lived under a rock and don’t know “BTS,” they are a seven-member boy group and the biggest K-Pop act in the world. I don’t enjoy “BTS” much. I find that their music overall has deteriorated, but I digress. J-hope, a rapper and dancer in the group, released his second solo album, “Jack In The Box,” on July 15, 2022, and it’s easily one of my favorite 2022 releases. The aesthetics of J-hope’s solo music is super appealing to me, so I was glad to see that the MAMA picked him to perform solo at the MAMA rather than a full-out “BTS” group stage. Of course, the MAMA caters to “BTS,” so, in my eyes, a group performance would have just been a formality.

I was fine with the MAMA winners this year, but there was one award that really irked me. “LOVE DIVE” by “IVE” won the Best Female Dance Performance award. As a dancer, I notice the choreography before anything else. A song can be phenomenal, but if the dancing sucks, I’ll zero in on it and won’t be able to think of anything else. I don’t say this often because I really couldn’t care less about who wins or loses, but that award was 100% undeserved. I have nothing against “IVE,” I think they make ok music, and the members undoubtedly have great talent, but their dance skills are so painfully generic.

“Le Sserafim’s” “FEARLESS” was nominated for the Best Performance Award, and they should have left the stage with it. I suppose I would have accepted the newly debuted group, “NewJeans,” winning since their stages were phenomenal, but there was nothing more iconic this year than the “FEARLESS” choreography. “FEARLESS” was my most listened to song this year, having played it a total of 647 times according to Spotify, so maybe that’s just my bias towards the song talking. “LOVE DIVE” also won the Song of the Year Award, which is an award based on album sales. There’s no ignoring the massive numbers “LOVE DIVE” hit, but from a dance standpoint, the song is boring.

K-band “Xdinary Heroes” took home two awards at the MAMA, becoming the first act to win Best New Artists and Best Band Performance on the same night. The band is relatively new, having debuted in late 2021, so they didn’t perform at the MAMA. With two big awards under their belt, I’m hoping to see them have their own stage next year.

To be completely honest, the MAMA felt very dead this year. I’m not sure if that was due to the energy of the performers or the expected award winners, but there was something eerily off. MAMA 2022 was just what I was expecting, which is a little disappointing, but I guess that’s better than a boring show. There are so many talented groups now, so hopefully, the 2023 MAMA will be much better.