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EXO And BTS Will Be At ‘MAMA 2016’ — Both Popular K-Pop Boy Bands Will Headline The ‘2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards’

By Jan Omega
Published on: 15:59 PST, Nov 13, 2016

In the K-pop industry today, there are currently two boy bands constantly trading the top two spots as the best of the best: EXO and BTS. This year alone, the boy bands from SM Entertainment and Big Hit Entertainment, respectively, have competed for the limelight, one-upping each other.

Starting with EXO, they made multiple comebacks in which their song “Monster” reached No. 1 on the Korean music chart. “Lucky One” reached No. 5 while “Lotto” and their collaboration with “The Nation’s MC” Yoo Jae Suk titled “Dancing King” both reached No. 2. At one time, they were able to beat BTS in brand value though it was just for one month. Let’s not forget that EXO finally made their first sub-group, EXO-CBX.

BTS, who are also known as the Bangtan Boys and Bulletproof Boy Scouts, probably had a bigger year than EXO simply because EXO members are concentrating more on solo endeavors. Nevertheless, BTS had two successful K-pop comebacks this year. First was their compilation album, the third in “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life” trilogy known as The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever. Their song “Fire” was released on that compilation album and it ranked No. 1 on various music charts. However, their second K-pop comeback which featured their second studio album Wings was what made this year for the boy band. Their song “Blood, Sweat & Tears” broke a ton or records and is still very popular internationally. At one time, K-pop fans though BTS would eventually break into the American music market.

Though EXO and BTS are usually competing against each other, it looks like they’ll be performing back-to-back of each other. It has been revealed that both popular K-pop boy bands will perform at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA 2016).

Mnet made the news of both EXO and BTS performing at MAMA 2016 through their official Twitter account, as reported by Soompi. Both boy bands are considered “first announcement” acts meaning they will most-likely be co-main performing acts at the prestigious event.

The news actually comes right after Mnet released the nominees for each category they present at MAMA 2016. As of now, the category for Album of the Year is still no available, but it is expected to be listed sometime halfway through this month. To be frank, Mnet should have made the vote for it available by now because MAMA 2016 takes place in less than a month. Nevertheless, K-pop fans can still vote for the other categories at the official MAMA 2016 website.

The Mnet Asian Music Awards is usually the last major K-pop and Hallyu awards event to take place right before the end of the year. Some of the most memorable performances happen at the event. When it comes to MAMA 2015, it is safe to say that year belonged to YG Entertainment. That year, we got to see amazing performances by Psy and Big Bang.

Though Psy and Big Bang gave it their all, MAMA 2015 will always hold a special place in the hearts of Blackjacks (devoted fan club of 2NE1). After almost two years, it was the venue chosen in which CL, Dara, Bom, and Minzy would reunite as 2NE1 after going into hiatus caused by Bom’s ridiculous drug scandal. MAMA 2015 would also become a sad event for Blackjacks too because it was the last time they would see 2NE1 perform as a four-member girl group. Earlier this year, Minzy has chosen not to renew her contract with YG Entertainment. As a result, she was no longer a part of 2NE1.

The 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards will take place at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong on December 2. This will be the seventh consecutive show to be hosted outside of South Korea. For those who want to watch the awards show as it happens, it will most likely stream on the official website for Mnet just like last year. After that, it is probable a rerun of the entire show will be available to watch on DramaFever, just like how the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards is available to watch there in its entirety.

[Featured Image by SM Entertainment and Big Hit Entertainment]

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