Mnet Responds To Questions Over Best New Female Artist Award At 2018 MAMA

A source from Mnet has responded to questions about the winner of the Best New Female Artist award at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA).

2018 MAMA began on December 10 with the first of its three ceremonies which are spread throughout this week. The premiere ceremony, which was held in Seoul, put the spotlight on rookie artists.

The Best New Female Artist award for 2018 was given to IZ*ONE, the 12-member Korean and Japanese girl group that was formed earlier this year through Mnet’s survival show “Produce 48.” The group debuted on October 29 with the mini album “COLOR*IZ,” featuring the title track “La Vie en Rose.”

(G)I-DLE was given the Best of Next award at the ceremony. (G)I-DLE is a six-member girl group formed by Cube Entertainment, and they made their debut on May 2 with the mini album “I Am” featuring the title track “LATATA.” They went on to release the single “HANN” in August.

The Best of Next award was first given out at 2016 MAMA, when “Produce 101” group I.O.I received the Best New Female Artist award and BLACKPINK received a Best of Next award. NCT 127 was given the Best New Male Artist award and MONSTA X received a Best of Next award that year. In 2017, PRISTIN was named Best New Female Artist and a Best of Next award went to Chungha. “Produce 101 Season 2” group Wanna One took home both the Best New Male Artist award and a Best of Next award in 2017.

Following the announcement of the awards, some people have called into question the winners of this year’s rookie awards for female artists. One issue that has been mentioned is that (G)I-DLE came in first in the Mwave online poll for Best New Female Artist ahead of the ceremony, with 51.91 percent of the votes. IZ*ONE came in second with 17.64 percent of votes.

In the vote for Best New Male Artist, Stray Kids took first place, and the group was also awarded the trophy at this year’s ceremony.

In response to questions over IZ*ONE’s win, a source from Mnet has stated to the news outlet Segye Ilbo, “It’s true that (G)I-DLE received many votes in the online poll. However, I understand that in aspects such as digital sales, they were much lower than IZ*ONE.” The source added, “There was no manipulation or interference in the award ceremony.”

Ahead of the online vote, Mnet stated that artist category awards this year are determined 20 percent by Mwave votes, 30 percent by a panel of judges (with Korean and international judges), 30 percent by digital sales, and 20 percent by physical album sales.

This year’s MAMA ceremonies will continue with 2018 MAMA Fans’ Choice in Japan on December 12, followed by 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong on December 14. You can check out a full list of the winners from the December 10 ceremony here.

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