The 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards took place on Sunday November 28th, 2010. The show was aired live from Macau and started at 7PM, ending three and a half hours later at 10:30PM (Korean Standard Time). The show was filled with special performances by artists from Korea and other Asian countries.
Here’s a recap of the show!
(Note: I caught the show late, so I have no notes from the majority of the first part of the show. Sorry!!)
Best New Artist – Miss A
Best Male Dance Performance – 2PM for I’ll Be Back
Asia Disc Award – i me (China)
Best Digital Single – Park Bom from 2NE1 for You & I
Best Asian Pop Artist – Perfume (Japan)
Best Female Group – 2NE1
The first performance that I caught was 2PM. They were all wearing dark outfits with silver accessories and had heavy eye make-up on. At first, the members all performed bits and pieces of various songs separately. Woo Young sang “Without You”, Jun Su sang “Tired of Waiting for You” (기다리다가 지친다), Taec Yeon sang “Only You”, and Nick Khun sang “Heartbeat”. (I didn’t catch Chan Sung and Jun Ho’s performances). All of the songs were remixed into dark, sad versions. At the end, all of the members came together to sing their newest song, “I’ll Be Back”. Of course, as the “beasts” of K-Pop, the boys ripped off their black wifebeaters at the end of the performance.
Next, Miss A’s Min and Suzy introduced the best creative video for the Mnet relay project. The winner was Maeva Minouflet from France who did a video cover of Miss A’s “Breathe”.
Chinese girl group i me followed with a performance of their song “Aiyiya” wearing fluffy, pink and white outfits. Japanese girl group Perfume took the stage next with performances of their songs “Nee” and “Chocolate Disco”.
i me (China) on the red carpet
Perfume (Japan) receiving award for Best Asian Pop Artist
Actress Jo Yeo Jung presented the award for Best Male Solo Artist.
Candidates: Psy, Se7en, Rain, Tae Yang, and Wheesung.
Winner: Tae Yang
Comments (not word for word, just general gist): “This is a very important award to me. I’m happy to meet so many fans here. Thank you, God. Yang Hyun Suk, thank you. Teddy, Kush, Choice 37, my Big Bang members – thank you. Also, DJ DOC asked me to mention them or else they’ll tell everyone my secrets. So, thank you Haneul. Thank you to all the fans who are always listening to my music and watching my performances. This is for you! Thank you!”
Next, singer/songwriter Yoon Jong Shin and actress Suh Hyo Rim presented the award for Best Rap Performance.
Candidates: DJ DOC - “I Am Who I Am” (나 이런 사람이야); Epik High – “Run”, Outsider – “Outsider” (주변인); UV – “Sorry I Can’t Be Cool” (쿨하지 못해 미안해); Supreme Team – “Ring Ring Ring” (땡땡땡)
Winner: DJ DOC
Comments (not word for word, just general gist):
Jung Jae Yong: “Hello! (in Chinese) This award should have gone to UV – sorry for getting it!
Lee Haneul: “Yes, this was for UV.”
Kim Chang Ryul: “But we’re happy to receive this prize.”
Lee Haneul: “I don’t think a lot of people here know who we are, so we’ll introduce ourselves with a song.”
DJ DOC then performed two of their hit songs, “Run to You” and “I Am Who I Am”. The performances were upbeat and full of energy. Actress and former Miss Korea Honey Lee joined the stage playing the gayageum, a traditional Korean instrument.
The next award presented was the award for Best Solo Vocal Performance. The award was presented by actor Song Joong Gi.
Candidates: K.Will – “I Miss You, I Miss You, and I Miss You” (그립고 그립고 그립다); Gummy – “Because You’re a Man” (남자라서), Suh In Young – “Written ‘Love’ But Read ‘Pain’” (사랑이라고 쓰고 아픔이라고 부른다); Jung In – “I Hate You” (미워요); Wheesung – “I Even Thought of Marriage” (결혼까지 생각했어)
Winner: Gummy
Comments (not word for word, just general gist): Thank you, thank you so much. First of all, I’m happy to receive this prize because I think it’s an award telling me that I have a good voice. I want to thank the YG family, producers, and all of the fans who love my music. I’ll work hard to do better in the future.
Song Joong Gi also presented the Best Asian Artist award.
Candidates: none
Winner: Jang Jiae (China), singer and actor
Comments (not word for word, just general gist): “Thank you for this award. I want to thank EE Media and Hunan TV. Music really has no boundaries. I hope to share my music with not just China but with those around the world. Thank you.”
Gummy, wearing all black, took the stage to perform her song “Because of You” and a duet with Jang Jiae. The duet was a Chinese ballad, sung half in Korea and half in Chinese. Gummy played the piano herself for part of the performance.
The Best Male Group award was presented by actress So Yoo Jin and actor Oh Ji Ho.
Candidates: 2AM, 2PM, Beast, MBLAQ, Super Junior
Winner: 2PM
Comments (not word for word, just general gist):
Junsu – “First, thank you for inviting us and giving us this award. We won’t disappoint you and will work harder in the future to live up to this award.”
So Yoo Jin and Oh Ji Ho continued to present the award for Best Solo Dance Performance.
Candidates: Narsha – “Bbi Ri Bba Bba”; Rain – “Love Song” (널 붙잡을 노래); Lee Hyori – “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”; Taeyang – “I’ll Be There”; Hyuna – Change
Winner: Rain
Comments (not word for word, just general gist): (Through a video) “Thank you for this award. I couldn’t be there because I’m on set for my drama. Stay healthy and be happy!”
And then it was time for 2NE1 to hit the stage. They sang three songs: Follow Me, Clap Your Hands, and Can’t Nobody. It was a huge performance with taiko drums, enormous screen images of dragons and eagles, and crazy outfits made out of what looked like pieces of glass.
Rap duo UV stepped on the stage to present the award for Best Band Performance.
Candidates: CN Blue - “Love”, FT Island – “Love Love Love”, Hot Potato (뜨거운 감자) – “Confession” (고백); Boo Hwal (Resurrection) – “Love Is” (사랑이란 건); Transfiction – “The Shouts of Reds”
Winner: Hot Potato
Comments (not word for word, just general gist): “Thank you. 2010 was a very special year for us, being able to get awards like this. Kim C couldn’t be here for personal reasons, but I’ll share this happiness with him soon. Daum Media, family, fans – thank you. There has been a lot of interest in Korea lately for various issues. But no matter what, I hope there won’t be any war. Thank you.”
Actor Kim Dong Wook presented the award for Best Female Group Dance Performance.
Candidates: 2NE1 – “Can’t Nobody”; 4minute – “Huh”; Miss A – “Bad Girl Good Girl”; Secret – “Magic”; T-Ara – “Bo Peep Bo Peep”
Winner: Miss A
Comments (not word for word, just general gist):
Min – “Hello! Thank you! First, thank you God for such a big award. Grandma, Dad, my parents, the JYP family, JYP, etc. – thank you!
Fei – shared thoughts in Chinese
Taec Yeon, Nick Khun, and Son Jung Min presented the award for Best International Artist.
Candidates: none
Winner: Far East Movement
Comments (not word for word, just general gist): “Wow, thank you guys so much. We would like to thank God first and foremost for taking care of us. Thank you Cherry Tree Records for making this dream come true. Thank you Stereotypes, International Secret Agents, MNet. Thank you guys so much. We never thought we’d be here. Thank you! (in Korean)”
After Far East Movement received their award, Super Star K 2’s winner Huh Gak took the stage to perform the song “This Is the Moment”. Although he looked a bit nervous in his black suit, he sang his heart out with a full choir standing behind him.
Tae Yang took the stage next. He performed his songs “Break Down” and “I Need a Girl”, pulling Sandara Park from the audience onto the stage with him. T.O.P and G-Dragon joined Taeyang on stage and both performed a plethora of songs including “Turn It Up”, “Go Crazy” (뻑이가요), and “Hallelujah”. The performance had sort of a storyline theme where T.O.P and G-Dragon were hunting down Taeyang and vice versa. The performance ended with all all three pointing guns at each other. Dramatic!
After a somewhat long commercial break, actor Kim Kang Woo introduced Chemistry (Japan) who performed two songs, “A Better Tomorrow” in Korean and “Piece of a Dream” in Japanese. The ten year veteran duo filled the venue with their voices and were then presented with the Best Asian Male Group award.
Chemistry (Japan) on red carpet
Far East Movement then took over the stage to perform “Girls on the Dance Floor” and “Like a G6” featuring Tamar. The performance was full of energy and had all of the audience on their feet, bobbing their heads and raising their hands to the music.
Actor Honey Lee and Jason Cha, the head of Shilla Duty Free, then presented the Shilla Asian Wave award.
Candidates: 2PM, 4minute, CN Blue, Kara, Girls’ Generation
Winner: 2PM
Comments (not word for word, just general gist):
Chan Sung – “Thank you for giving us such a great award. We’ll do our best to spread hallyu more.”
Taec Yeon – “We’ll work hard to spread hallyu even more. Thank you.”
The Best Music Video award was presented by actor Chun Jung Myung and actress Kim Min Jung.
Candidates: 2NE1 – “Can’t Nobody”; Epik High – “Run”; UV – “I’m Sorry I Can’t Be Cool” (쿨하지 못해 미안해); Gain – “Irreversible” (돌이킬 수 없는); Tae Yang – “I’ll Be There”
Winner: 2NE1 (This was the 2nd year in a row that 2NE1 has received this award. Last year, they were presented this award for the song “Fire”)
Comments:
CL – “Thank you to our director, who worked so joyfully with us. Teddy, our stylists – thank you. We’ll work hard to show you more fun and exciting music videos in the future.”
A special performance by the Wonder Girls was next. They sang a remix of “So Hot”, “2 Different Tears”, and “Nobody”. The performance was a bit different from what we’ve usually seen from the girls. Coming down from the ceiling, hanging on pieces of cloth, the girls looked and sounded confident and more mature than ever.
The last three awards presented were the biggest awards of the night.
The first was the award for Artist of the Year presented by actor Joo Jin Mo.
Candidates: 2AM, 2NE1, 2PM, Miss A, Girls’ Generation
Winner: 2NE1
Comments (not word for word, just general gist):
CL – “Thank you so much!”
Sandara – “I was so nervous earlier that I couldn’t speak but there’s so many people I’d like to thank. Yang Hyun Suk, the YG family, my family, and the fans who always show us support.”
CL – “I’m so nervous right now. We’ll work harder and we’ll show you more fun and exciting music in the future.”
Minzy – “I want to say thank you to our fans who always support us!”
The award for Album of the Year was presented by actress Yoon Eun Hye.
Candidates: 2AM – Never Let You Go (죽어도 못 보내); 2NE1 – To Anyone; Boa – Hurricane Venus; Super Junior – Bonamana; Tae Yang – Solar
Winner: 2NE1
Comments (not word for word, just general gist):
CL – “Thank you so much. We took our time making this album this past year to fill it with as much as we can. We want to thank Yang Hyun Suk, Teddy, our stylists. There are so many people to thank! Thank you so much. We won’t rush our next album and we’ll make sure that it’s full (of our best efforts). Thank you!”
The last award for the night was the award for Song of the Year presented by actor Hwang Jung Min and actress Kim Jung Eun.
Candidates: 2AM – “Never Let You Go” (죽어도 못 보내); 2NE1 – “Can’t Nobody”; 2PM – “I’ll Be Back”; DJ DOC – “I Am Who I Am” (나 이런 사람이야); Miss A – “Bad Girl Good Girl”
Winner: Miss A
Comments (not word for word, just general gist):
Min (bawling) – “Thank you so much! Thank you, JYP, for making this song for us. Our choreographers – we love you. Without our fans, we’d be nothing. I want to thank the members, too. We’ll work hard in the future. Thank you! We love you!”
And with this, the ceremony was over. The artists took the stage to say a final goodbye. Everyone was all smiles except for Miss A, who were in tears, still emotional from their final award and also probably from the other awards they received throughout the night.
Congratulations to all of the winners!
