November 28 was the first day of the 2023 MAMA Awards. Like always, Mnet brought together some of the biggest stars to celebrate a year in K-Pop, and it is being held in the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
The logo for this year’s “MAMA Awards” | Mnet
As expected, as the event started, awards were given out and performances allowed idols to shine in a full stadium.
TVXQ! picking up an award | Mnet BTS winning “Fan Choice” | Mnet LE SSERAFIM’s Eunchae in the opening performance | Mnet
Yet, while the awards show used to be one of the staple events of the year, it seems like international fans believe the awards show has lost the spark it had in the past. In particular, ahead of the event, a big K-Pop account shared the start time for fans…
2023 MAMA Awards will be held today, 06PM KST.
— Kpop Charts (@kchartsmaster) November 27, 2023
The comments were truly unexpected, with most fans not even knowing that the event was happening.
Nobody knew mama was happening today pic.twitter.com/E9cKCw2ubl https://t.co/WlLCLQQ4Fi
— Anna| Pest Control 🪤 (@strawbrry_Baek) November 28, 2023
people just finding out mama is today just shows how far they fell off as an award show https://t.co/tCzN3rSThd
— jan (@aescentre) November 27, 2023
MAMA used to be an event… https://t.co/FwglpRjHsV pic.twitter.com/gFxlnpg48E
— C (@FxntyJoon) November 27, 2023
MAMA used to be so huge with soo much hype.
And i didn’t even know this year’s MAMA is literally todayy? https://t.co/yFU1EgWw5l
— JeanXx (@twice_mixx) November 27, 2023
Many pointed out that one of the reasons was because of how “boring” they were. In particular, one fan pointed out that with changes in formats and “fan wars,” there are fewer interactions between idols compared to the past generations.
mama (and other award shows) started to get boring when 3rd gen stopped attending which also meant real time reactions and interactions also stopped https://t.co/aBLfvQUEtk
— jemss ;ଓ (@whee_indle) November 28, 2023
Even on Korean forums, many noticed the shocking tweets that came from global fans, linking the tweets they had seen that showcase the MAMAs impact on international fans in 2023.
girl kpop truly in the gutter bc why I just found out that mama is today and literally no one is talking about it pic.twitter.com/PBiBAMK3YY
— outroseokss⁷ (ꪜ) ³ᴰ (@callmebyyourjin) November 27, 2023
While the MAMAs are still watched by millions of fans worldwide, it seems like the hype for the event has died down for many reasons. The reactions of Korean netizens seemed to mirror international fans, with many not feeling the lineups are strong enough or with the same impact as in the past.
