Melon Awards

 

I couldn't describe that better. I would use more poison, though. It was one of the worst aw(kw)ard ceremonies I have ever witnessed, and I was partly embarassed while watching this.

Article was found on Asiae, and as I said it few times, right now I see only few websites that are able to write honestly about Korean entertainment. They are not afraid to call the things by their name. I may not always agree, I tend to disagree, but I can't overlook some right points.

So, the article:

2010 MelOn Music Awards - About time to come honest

Artists from SM Entertainment were nowhere to be seen at the 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA). The same thing could be said of YG Entertainment at this year's Golden Disc Awards Ceremony that came after. But at the MelOn Music Awards held at the Peace Hall of Kyung Hee University on December 15, all three major agencies -- SM, YG and JYP Entertainment (JYPE) -- gathered together, proving the influence the nation's largest online music contents site has over even the 3 largest houses in the music industry.

Unfortunately, the quality of the actual ceremony which went on for three hours and was hosted by actor Song Joong-ki, hardly matched up to the fame of guests who gathered that day. MelOn accidentally revealing the list of winners even before the awards ceremony turned out to be a meager incident. miss A's name was called out twice in one category, the sound system was unstable, and the show's hosts and award presenters failed to be in tune with other which created awkward moments. Having photo artist Kim Jung-man who won the 2010 award for performance culture deliver a detailed speech on the significance of his award rather led to the exasperating moment of viewers watching him just read down his script. But the highlight of the event came from Song when he took to the stage equipped with an acoustic guitar he did not even play and sang a Christmas carol to the audience, effectively clinching what will be the most embarrassing moment for life for the actor. It was easy to see that him singing the carol song had not been planned but was merely aimed at gaining time for organizers to fix problems regarding the proceeding of the ceremony. It really was a pity to see the big stage where all the big singers gathered -- Girls' Generation, 2AM, 2NE1 and more -- sing edited version of their hit songs, barely differing from the average comeback performances we see on weekly televised music programs.

But aside from the sloppy proceeding, the selection of candidates and the results of the awards, actually made some sense compared to other music awards held earlier. The prizes for "TOP 10" which exists due to the nature of MelOn being an online music site, were handed out depending on how popular an artist's music was on its chart. And the award for best artist that went to Girls' Generation, best album that went to 2NE1 and best song that went to 2AM, were all based solely on how they performed on online music charts which well-represents MelOn style -- to focus purely on popular taste of the public -- even though the names of the awards would have sounded more accurate if "best artist" was changed to "most popular singer" and "best song" into "most popular song" and so forth. It was also a good idea to classify awards by music genres and shed light on a wide range of singers such as Hot Potato, Gummy, Supreme Team and Jang Yoon-jeong. Should organizers drop ambiguous awards such as "performance culture" or "hot trend" and set up a stricter evaluation process, the MelOn Awards may become an awards ceremony with a standard of its own. While artists' performances are what make people look at awards ceremonies, what will make it a lasting ceremony will be to have a clear standard. Will MelOn Music Award be able to continue to convince audience of its standards?

 Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@
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