"MAMA Awards Tonight?" — Korean Netizens Caught Off Guard By the 2023 MAMA Awards

November 28th marks the first day of the annual MAMA Awards, formerly known as the Mnet Asian Music Awards. However, on a South Korean online forum, a post titled "Reaction of overseas Kpop fans when they found out that MAMA will be held today" has been garnering much attention.

The post contained various reactions of international fans where they express shock over the fact that MAMA will be held tonight, the 28th.

this whole time i thought it was at the end of december what do you mean it’s tonight https://t.co/ZIeHs3IAkG pic.twitter.com/dWw7gBuPSO

— star (@zeroseist) November 27, 2023

girl kpop truly in the gutter bc why I just found out that mama is today and literally no one is talking about it😭 pic.twitter.com/PBiBAMK3YY

— outroseokss⁷ (ꪜ) ³ᴰ (@callmebyyourjin) November 27, 2023

Nobody knew mama was happening today 😭 pic.twitter.com/E9cKCw2ubl https://t.co/WlLCLQQ4Fi

— Anna🍖| Pest Control 🪤 (@strawbrry_Baek) November 28, 2023

people just finding out mama is today just shows how far they fell off as an award show https://t.co/tCzN3rSThd

— jan (@aescentre) November 27, 2023

MAMA used to be one of the highlights of every Kpop fan's year, and the event produced countless iconic performances and even collaborations. According to the author of the post, MAMA's lackluster this year could be because of what fans are calling a 'weak lineup,' stemming from the fact that many notable idol groups aren't attending such as IVE, NewJeans, Stray Kids, and even BTS members.



Moreover, the post became a hot topic, with Korean netizens also expressing that they were also caught off guard that MAMA will be held tonight. They commented:

• MAMA is tonight?
• I really had no idea.
• But why is it on a weekday?
• I wouldn't have known too if it wasn't for my idol coming out.
• The lineup is ambiguous.
• Doing it overseas drives me crazy.
• And since it is divided into two days, it seems like the firepower is distributed even more.
• You won't really know unless your favorite idol will come out.
• The lineup is a joke.
• I didn't know either.
• Except for teams 3-4, the they are very weak.
• There is no NewJeans or Bulletproof.
• If the overseas fans lost interest, it means it's really over.
• It's boring because there's no NewJeans or IVE.
• It's because they held it on a tuesday. It's supposed to be weekends.
• This year's lineup is so weak. Why is it like this?
• But hasn’t MAMA been like that for a while?
• It's not that K-pop is failing, it's just that the MAMA lineup sucks...
• I only found out because of this.

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