MAMA 2015 Live Stream: How Can International Fans Watch The Biggest Awards Night For K-Pop?
Every year around this season, the Mnet Asian Music Awards (better known as MAMA) are held. It is one of the major music awarding ceremonies for the K-pop industry. Held annually by CJ E&M through its music channel Mnet, many well-known K-pop artists either participate or make appearances at their shows along with many well-known actors and celebrities not just in South Korea, but in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States. This year’s showing, MAMA 2015, will take place at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong this coming Wednesday, December 2, 2015. Given the fact that K-pop is far more popular now than ever before, many of its fans not just in East Asia would like to see if their favorite artists and groups have won. Unfortunately, Mnet or Mnet Japan (the two channels airing the awards show) are not readily available to everyone outside of East Asia.
With the aforementioned situation, many international K-pop fans have a problem. How can they watch the MAMA 2015 if it is unavailable to them? Thankfully, KCON USA is stepping up to the plate and will be live streaming MAMA 2015.
KCON USA, the organization responsible for the two biggest Hallyu Wave conventions in the United States in both Los Angeles and New York, announced they will be live streaming MAMA 2015 on KCON.TV, as reported by KpopStarz. This will surely be a worthwhile experience for international K-pop fans whom in the past could only watch such a prestigious K-pop awards show through poorly edited or cut videos on YouTube after it happened. Now, they’ll be able to watch which K-pop acts win what awards in which categories along with the rest of East Asia as it happens. It should, however, be noted that because of the difference in time zones, MAMA 2015 will air on KCON.TV at 3 a.m./12 a.m. ETPT and will last six hours.
To be honest, the time for the live stream can be an issue for many given the fact Wednesday is a weekday and people have to either go to school or work. However, if there are any reasons to actually suck it up and watch MAMA 2015, KCON USA has them. As a matter of fact, they provided multiple reasons why K-pop fans should watch in the first place. The more serious reasons are detailed below.
- K-Pop Odyssey: This is exactly what KCON USA calls it and they are correct. There are numerous appearances from K-pop artists from SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and many other labels. To understand just how many K-pop groups might be at the awards show, the Daesang Artist of the Year Award has 32 nominations. They include AOA, APink, Big Bang, iKON, miss A, Twice, BTS, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, Shinhwa, SISTAR, GFriend, and Wonder Girls just to name a few. Soloists like IU, Ailee, HyunA, and Taeyeon (the last two are a part of their respective K-pop idol groups) are included too.
- Plenty Of Surprises: Back in MAMA 2014, one of the biggest surprises was when Black B and BTS did a showdown. Just like back then, surprises are expected for the upcoming awards show too.
- BTS And CL Will Have Their Comeback: This is huge news! Bangtan Boys (better known as BTS) will be holding their comeback, a return to K-pop at MAMA 2015. They are already getting a lot of attention for their upcoming album The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Pt. 2 and may be performing songs from said album at the show. As for CL, she is recently in K-pop news for her latest song “Hello B**ches.” That song along with her other single “Doctor Pepper” will most likely be performed.
Right now, K-pop fans can still vote for their favorite K-pop acts for specific categories for MAMA 2015 on the show’s official website. It should be noted that people can vote once a day per identification until it closes on Tuesday, December 1, 2015. Once again, MAMA 2015 will be available for viewing on KCON.TV on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 3 a.m./12 a.m. ETPT.
[Image via KCON USA/MAMA 2015 Promotions]
