Did you know that the new award from Ilgan Sports, Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024, has caused strange controversy in its debut ceremony? Don’t miss out on every bit of the latest issues happening at the awarding events of KGMA 2024, and let us know what you think about the controversy below.
All the Strange Controversy at Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024
The new end-of-the-year Kpop music awards by Ilgan Sports has successfully captured everyone’s attention. Previously, the Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 blew everyone’s mind by immediately selling out its tickets even without the presence of HYBE’s mainstream artists.
Not only that, as the show is hosted by Ilgan Sports, who first reported all the exclusive details on HYBE’s documents leak, the ceremony became a stage where HYBE’s disputed artist, NewJeans, delivered another impressive performance and provocative speech.
And yet, that’s not all that caught the public’s attention to KGMA’s ceremony. In fact, with the conclusion of its 2nd-day event, Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 has become the center of controversy again with alleged scamming and a false win.
Did Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 Really Scam the Fans?
The first controversy happening at Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 was the alleged scamming accusations from Kpop fans. And yet, was it really scamming or simply a misunderstanding?
Previously, KGMA announced that it would score artists based on 20% expert evaluation, 45% performance, and 35% fan votes. Since fan votes count a lot, many fans got heavily involved, even spending money to help their favorite artists rank higher.
This led to BTS j-hope, backed by overwhelming support from ARMY, claiming first place with 81.1% of the votes for Best Hip Hop category. In the second and third places were PLAVE, with 9.8%, and BE’O, with 4.2%.
RT + REPLY@ilgansports despite J-hope being at #1 in Best Hip- Hop category and V being #1 in Best Artist 10 along with Jimin, Jungkook & RM in the Top 10, they weren't awarded but instead other artist who didn't fit the criteria won. Why? We need an explanation #KGMAUnfair pic.twitter.com/pZ3leb4hWC
— Carolyne?⁷⁼¹ (@mhereonlyforbts) November 16, 2024
J-HOPE was at the top no. 1 with 81% votes in this category and yet you mfers rigged ass show @ilgansports are giving the award to someone who barely had 1%, fuck right off, hope your entire show flops so hard! ?#KGMA_불공정 #KGMAUnfair#KGMAISASCAM https://t.co/avram2hDdy pic.twitter.com/8mUbgvt9fs
— ? ⁷ Erika ᯓ✦⁵ ? (@Erikaaa294) November 16, 2024
However, even with this landslide victory, the Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 did not pick j-hope as the winner, resulting in an alleged scamming controversy.
The same case happened to the Best Band category, as PLAVE, leading with an overwhelming 89%, and DAY6, in second with 9.5%, ended up with nothing.
Instead, Lee Young Ji won Best Hip Hop with only 0.6% of the vote. Meanwhile, the newly formed all-female band QWER was declared the Best Band winner, even though they only ranked third with 0.57% of the fan votes.
On the other hand, it’s important to remember that fan votes only make up 35% of the overall score. This means it’s entirely possible that, despite losing the fan vote, both Lee Young Ji and QWER performed well enough in the remaining 65% to secure higher overall scores.
EXO D.O. Winning Best R&B: A False Win Controversy
Finally, another controversy occurred at the Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 as the false win—or basically false category—for one of the legendary Kpop vocalists, EXO D.O.
At the Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024, the phenomenal vocalist of EXO, Doh Kyung Soo successfully secured two titles. The first title was “Best Artist 10,” which was completely undeniable, seeing how D.O. has been one of the most remarkable vocalists in Kpop music history.
Yet, the controversy emerged when the Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 awarded Doh Kyung Soo with the “Best R&B (Male)” award, even from D.O.’s own fans.
The public believes that D.O. has always been famous for his rich and velvety voice in the emotional, soulful genres of ballads. Therefore, seeing how the Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) 2024 chose him for the R&B genre resulted in a false win/genre controversy.
In contrast, it seems that the controversy actually stems from the award’s sudden category change.
Initially, the award was for “Best Ballad,” a category that perfectly aligns with D.O.’s strengths and discography. However, during the voting period, the organizers rebranded it as “Best R&B,” causing many to question whether his win truly reflected the genre or was a result of fan-driven votes.
Still, despite the backlash, fans couldn’t help but joke that this unexpected recognition might inspire D.O. to release a full-fledged R&B album—one that would undoubtedly showcase his undeniable talent in yet another genre.
Don’t you think so too? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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