Waiting room ruckus: MAMA denies discrimination against singers

The Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) were held on Sunday. Courtesy of Mnet

By Dong Sun-hwa

Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) denied Tuesday allegations it discriminated against singers at Sunday's online event by only providing waiting rooms for actors ― who were invited as presenters ― and not the K-pop stars winning awards.

As a result, singers waited in their vehicles and had to use portable toilets.

The event ― held without an audience because of COVID-19 ― was staged in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and streamed on YouTube.

"We never discriminated between singers and actors, but had to abide by quarantine guidelines that do not allow more than 100 people to gather together indoors," a MAMA official was quoted as saying. "So we did not have enough waiting rooms for all participants.

"The actors needed some space to prepare for rehearsal, but the singers didn't have any rehearsals because most of their performances were pre-recorded. In addition, we provided rooms for the actors since they had fewer staff members."

Some fans also took issue with the actors who were on stage without wearing masks, accusing the organizers of letting them do this while most singers covered their faces before stepping on stage.

MAMA said participants were not required to wear masks in front of cameras but the singers voluntarily did so.

MAMA, launched in 1999 as the "Mnet KM Music Festival" (MKMF), is one of the largest music awards in Korea. It changed its name to MAMA in 2009.

This year, K-pop acts including BTS, TWICE, NCT, SEVENTEEN, GOT7, MAMAMOO and BoA attended the ceremony, with actors including Lee Jung-jae, Kang Han-na and Lee Da-hee, appearing as presenters. The host was actor Song Joong-ki.

K-pop behemoth BTS clinched all four grand prizes ― Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Worldwide Icon of the Year.

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