All the winners of the GMA 2022: NCT DREAM bags two grand prizes, K-netz aren't convinced of the wins

NCT DREAM shone bright at the GMA 2022 (Genie Music Awards) by winning two grand prizes for their second studio album, Glitch Mode. They won the Top Artist and Top Album awards, which are equivalent to Artist of the Year and Album of the Year at other award shows.

The Genie Music Awards 2022 was held offline after three years of online scheduling due to the pandemic. The ceremony was held at Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon on November 8, and the awards ceremony saw several top idol groups in attendance, including IVE, Red Velvet’s Irene, SNSD’s TAEYEON, NCT DREAM, (G)I-DLE, and others.

However, NCT DREAM's wins have been shrouded by growing criticisms online about SM Entertainment rigging the award show.

Check out the entire list of GMA 2022 winners

The GMA 2022’s winning criteria for daesang (grand prize) was 60% digital scores and 40% judge scores. Fan voting was open from October 6 to November 3 and was restricted to people with South Korean phone numbers only.

Trot singer Lim Young-woong bagged the highest number of wins and took home the Top Music daesang for Our Blues, Our Life, Male Solo Artist, and Genie Music Popularity awards. NCT DREAM emerged as the night’s biggest winners by receiving two daesangs, Top Artist and Top Album. As expected, rookie girl group IVE bagged the Female New Artist award.

Fans speculate GMA 2022 favored NCT DREAM for daesang awards

Although NCT DREAM bagged two top daesangs at the GMA 2022, the win drowned in criticism that poured in online. South Korean online forums and Twitter were filled with K-pop fans attempting to calculate the voting and digital score system.

In particular, Korean K-pop fans took to the internet to allege that SM Entertainment might have struck a deal with the GMA 2022 organizers. As per early calculations by Twitter user @SOTYStats, with only Genie digital streaming scores (which account for 60% of the win), NCT DREAM was ranked No. 10 in Top Artist and No. 7 in Top Album categories. Lim Young-woong ranked first in both.

Another blog post on Pann Nate had tables of the two eligible songs Glitch Mode and Beatbox on the Genie music chart. The table was meant to prove that the group could hardly secure their place in the top 50 rankings.

Many pointed out that the win could have made sense if GMA 2022 took album sales into account. However, since their criteria was 60% digital score and 40% judge score, it was difficult for them to accept that NCT DREAM earned those two daesangs rightfully.

About the author

Afreen has been a K-Pop Content Specialist at Sportskeeda since 2021. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, along with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication. Afreen has over 4+ years of working in various positions including being an entertainment content writer with Pinkvilla’s K-pop division Hallyutalk and CineDope, and as a copywriter at Flying Cursor.

As per Afreen, she loves her work because she gets to write about the things she is obsessed with. Her thorough research and following the two-genuine-source rule of journalism helps her produce the most accurate content, along with helping her be up-to-date with the industry.

Afreen has had the privilege to interview The Rose's frontrunner, WOOSUNG, and LIONESSES, K-pop's first openly LGBTQ+ group. She is a big fan of SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, BTS, and The Rose for their hard work, sincerity, and the comic relief their shows provide.

When she is off her shift, Afreen explores the streets of Nottingham in the UK, cooks, and listens to new music.

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