The first day of the 2023 MAMA Awards took place last night (November 28), featuring performances by Jeon Somi, ENHYPEN and many more.
The first day of the 2023 MAMA Awards took place on November 28 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It featured K-pop acts such as Jeon Somi, ENHYPEN, Kep1er and more take to the stage with a line-up of special stages and collaborations and more. Jeon Somi also returned as the awards show’s Day 1 host after doing so for the 2022 ceremony.
Performances for the first night of the two-day affair included a special stage from Tomorrow X Together (TXT) titled ‘Where’s the happy ending?’, a six-minute special mash-up of dance performances, as well as the two title tracks released by the group this year: ‘Chasing That Feeling’ and ‘Sugar Rush Ride’.
Fellow HYBE boyband ENHYPEN also performed a six-minute set entitled ‘From Eternity Into Mortality’, where they showcased the two title tracks they this year: ‘Bite Me’ and ‘Sweet Venom’, the latter of which was released earlier this month.
Day 1 host Jeon Somi later performed two songs from her first EP, ‘Game Plan’. Her set kicked-off with album cut ‘The Way’, followed by her hit single ‘Fast Forward’. Girls Planet 999 project girl group Kep1er also staged a “MAMA version” of their latest Japanese single ‘Grand Prix’.
Later in the evening, TVXQ! and RIIZE – two boyband from SM Entertainment – joined forces for a special collaboration stage titled ‘Rising Sun’, which is a modernised remix of the same TVXQ! single that first released in 2005. The performance started with RIIZE, before the two members of TVXQ!, Changmin and Yunho, joined the rookie six-piece for the remainder of the performance.
The first day of the 2023 MAMA performances also included performances from Korean acts such as xikers, Dynamic Duo, &TEAM, JUSTB, Lee Young-ji as well as the cast of Street Woman Fighter 2. Japanese musicians such as JO1 and Yoshiki also performed. Check them out on the official Mnet YouTube channel here.
The first night of the 2023 MAMA Awards also saw groups such as BTS, RIIZE and ZEROBASEONE and more take more the first batch of awards. Check out the full list of winners for the 2023 MAMA Awards here.
Day 2 of the ceremony will take place tonight (November 29), also held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Tonight’s ceremony is set to be hosted by South Korean actor Park Bo-gum, with special performances from top K-pop acts such as ATEEZ, SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, (G)I-DLE and more.
