All the Winners and Highlight Performances from the MelOn Music Awards 2023
NewJeans, BTS, NCT Dream and Aespa were among the top award winners for the MMA 2023 awards on December 12.
With the 2023 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) show last week, the K-awards season has officially begun. The next stop? The MelOn Music Awards (MMA) 2023, that just took place over the weekend on December 12. The 15th edition of the awards show was chock full of star power, with many of our favourite stars gracing the awards stage with special performances. Below, the full list of winners and the top performances from MMA 2023, in case you missed it!
NewJeans’ appearance at the 15th MMA was definitely one of the awards show’s top moments, especially their 10-minute-long performance of their hit songs. The rookie girl group, best known for their nostalgia-fuelled discography and 2000s style, performed a special arrangement of six of their best songs, including ‘Super Shy’, ‘New Jeans’ and ‘ETA’. OG second-generation boyband SHINee also took to the stage with a special medley of ‘Sherlock’, ‘View’, ‘Dream Girl’ and ‘Everybody’.
For the MMA 2023 awards, Aespa staged a performance of their newly released title track ‘Drama’, while RIIZE wow-ed everyone in the audience with Wonbin’s opening segment with an electric guitar before the group performed ‘Get a Guitar’. A featured artist on both tracks, rapper Lee Young-ji also killed the stage with her stage presence during her performance of BSS’ ‘Fighting’ and the TikTok viral ‘Smoke’. ‘Smoke’ was also performed by Dynamic Duo on Day 1 of the 2023 MAMA Awards.
Just like at the 2023 MAMA Awards, NewJeans took home two Daesangs (Grand Prizes), namely Artist of the Year and Best Song of the Year after their meteoric rise to global stardom. The remaining Daesangs, Album of the Year and Record of the Year went to IVE for their first studio album I’ve IVE and NCT Dream, respectively.
The individual awards for Best Solo Artist (Male and Female) went to BTS’ Jungkook and Lee Young-ji respectively. The Stage of the Year accolade went to SHINee, while RIIZE and ZEROBASEONE shared the New Artist of the Year award. Recognised for their skills as the recipients of the Best Performance awards were Seventeen and Aespa, in the Male and Female categories respectively. Outside of the K-pop sphere, the Best Pop Artist award was given to Charlie Puth, and the J-pop Favourite Artist award went to singer-songwriter imase.
Check out the full list of winners from the MelOn Music Awards 2023 below:
Daesangs:
Artist of the Year: NewJeans
Album of the Year: IVE - ‘I’ve IVE’
Record of the Year: NCT DREAM
Best Song of the Year: NewJeans - ‘Ditto’
Other Awards:
New Artist of the Year: RIIZE, ZEROBASEONE
Top 10 Artists: aespa, BTS, (G)I-DLE, IVE, Jungkook (BTS), LE SSERAFIM, Lim Young Woong, NCT DREAM, NewJeans, SEVENTEEN
Millions Top 10: aespa, BSS (SEVENTEEN), (G)I-DLE, IVE, Jungkook (BTS), LE SSERAFIM, Lim Young Woong, NCT DREAM, NewJeans, SEVENTEEN
Best Group (Male): NCT DREAM
Best Group (Female): NewJeans
Best Solo Artist (Male): Jungkook (BTS)
Best Solo Artist (Female): Lee Young Ji
Best Performance (Male): SEVENTEEN
Best Performance (Female): aespa
Stage of the Year: SHINee
Music Video of the Year: STAYC - ‘Bubble’
Hot Trend Award: Jungkook (BTS)
KakaoBank Favourite Artist: BTS
Global Artist: aespa
Global Rising Artist: BOYNEXTDOOR
1theK Global Icon: KISS OF LIFE
Best OST: Lim Jae Hyun - ‘Heaven (2023)’ (from It Was Spring)
Best Songwriter: Ryan Jhun
Best Producer: Han Sung Soo
Best Music Style: Silica Gel
Best Pop Artist: Charlie Puth
J-Pop Favourite Artist: imase
