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NCT DREAM won the daesang, aka the grand prize, for Glitch Mode and Beatbox at the 32nd Seoul Music Awards (SMAs) held on Thursday, January 19, 2023. While some believe the win was deserved, many Korean netizens think otherwise.
A post uploaded on theqoo, a popular South Korean online forum, regarding the Beatbox singers’ daesang win, has garnered over 54k views and 1.2k comments in just a day. The majority of comments under the post took a dig at the SMAs for giving NCT DREAM the daesang award. Some even commented that the awards ceremony disregarded BTS and IVE, two of the top-performing artists in 2022.
Korean netizens call out SM Entertainment for rigging the 32nd SMAs after NCT DREAM’s daesang and GOT The Beat’s Bonsang awards
The 32nd Seoul Music Awards, held on January 19, 2023, awarded NCT DREAM with two awards, Bonsang (Main Award) and daesang (Grand Prize). In 2022, the group released three albums, Glitch Mode in March, Beatbox in May, and Candy in December. All the title tracks of the albums went viral internationally, but they did not seem to work as well for the South Korean general public.
Commenting on theqoo’s post about the Beatbox singers winning the daesang, many Korean netizens mentioned that other artists, such as BTS and IVE, had better performances than the SM Entertainment group and alleged that the agency rigged the awards show.
One fan even mentioned last year’s daesang, which was awarded to NCT 127. The 31st SMAs were also marred by controversies of rigging votes to play favorites with SM Entertainment artists.
Netizens were even surprised to see GOT The Beat, a sub-unit consisting of aespa, Red Velvet, SNSD members, and BoA receiving a Bonsang. The supergroup had only released one song, Step Back, last year.
All the winners of the 32nd Seoul Music Awards
BTS was the most awarded artist at the 32nd Seoul Music Awards with three wins. Close to them were IVE, NCT DREAM, (G)I-DLE, and Lim Young-woong, who all received two awards. Take a look at the winners' list below:
- Best Performance Award: (G)I-DLE
- OST Award: MeloMance – Love, Maybe
- Trot Award: Young Tak
- Ballad Award: Younha
- Band Award: Jannabi
- R&B/Hip Hop Award: BE’O, BIG Naughty
- K-pop Special Award: KARA
- Legend Artist Award: BoA
- Hallyu Daesang: EXO’s Suho
- Rookie of the Year: TNX, NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM
- Discovery of the Year: Lee Seung-yoon
- Popularity Award (Korea): Lim Young-woong
- New Wave Star Award: Kep1er, TAN, Lapillus
- Idol Plus Best Artist Award: BTS
- Idol Plus New Star Award: TEMPEST
- Bonsang (Main Award): aespa, Kim Ho Joong, PSY, KANGDANIEL, (G)I-DLE, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, NCT DREAM, Zico, Red Velvet, SEVENTEEN, Lim Young-woong, BTS, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, IVE, GOT the beat
- World Best Artist Award: PSY
- Best Song Award: IVE
- Best Album Award: BTS
- Daesang (Grand Prize): NCT DREAM
In other news, NCT DREAM recently announced new dates for THE DREAM SHOW 2: In a Dream tour in Bangkok. They will perform at the IMPACT Arena on March 10, 11, and 12, 2023.
