Genie Music Awards 2022 removes red carpet in light of Itaewon Tragedy

The 2022 edition of the Genie Music Awards will take place without the red carpet. On November 4, organizers of the award ceremony announced that in light of the Itaewon Tragedy, the red carpet and all on-site coverage of the event has been canceled.

This has been decided to make the event as somber as possible in order to resonate with the mourning spirit across the nation.

The organizers stated:

“The 2022 Genie Music Awards’ red carpet event and on-site coverage of the award ceremony have been canceled. As the nation is currently in mourning due to the unfortunate accident, Genie Music has decided to hold the award ceremony in as quiet and calm of an atmosphere as possible, out of the desire to mourn together [with the nation].”

The Genie Music Awards is an annual South Korean music awards ceremony organized by Genie Music jointly with its partner network, MBC Plus. The nominees and winners of the awards are determined on the basis of chart data from the Genie Music platform, in addition to evaluations from judges and online voting on South Korean websites.

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Genie Music Awards 2022 to be held on scheduled date on a small scale

The 2022 Genie Music Awards will be held as scheduled on November 8. However, the grandeur of the event will be scaled back significantly from what was first envisioned and is usually the norm.

Explaining why the show has not been canceled altogether, the organizers explained that the event was promised to several fans who have been eagerly awaiting the same.

Additionally, this is the first time in three years that the award ceremony is taking place offline. Hence, in order to keep the promise to fans and ensure a smooth return to normalcy, the event will be held as scheduled, with a reduction in opulence.

“In order to keep our promise to the many fans who have been eagerly awaiting the 2022 Genie Music Awards, which marks our first offline ceremony in three years, we will hold the award ceremony on a small scale. We ask for your understanding in regards to the fact that we inevitably had to cancel the red carpet and on-site reporting.”

The 2021 edition of the award ceremony was canceled, and this year marks the award ceremony's return to a physical setting for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019. Music from October 2021 to October 2022 will be considered for the awards.

BTS has received two nominations, one for the award for Best Boy Band and another for Best Album. BLACKPINK has followed suit and has also received a nomination for its BORN PINK album and for the Best Girls Group Award. Solo male and female artists such as PSY, Kim Ho Joong, IU, and Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, among others, have also been nominated.

The award ceremony will be held at Incheon’s Namdong Gymnasium.