MAMA Awards 2022 predictions: Early numbers see IVE leading AOTY, SOTY, and ROTY

IVE earns first rank predictions in major categories for MAMA Awards 2022 (Image via Instagram/ivestarship)
IVE earns first rank predictions in major categories for MAMA Awards 2022 (Image via Instagram/ivestarship)

A South Korean netizen posted the now-deleted MAMA Awards 2022 predictions on their Twitter account on Sunday, October 9. They listed data for three daesangs (grand prizes) including Artist of the Year (AOTY), Song of the Year (SOTY), and Rookie of the Year (ROTY) categories. As per the data, rookie girl group IVE is once again dominating across the charts.

An anonymous user also created an online blog post on theqoo, a popular South Korean forum, about the MAMA Awards 2022 predictions. The numbers did not surprise many as the After LIKE girl group had been dominating the charts since their debut in December last year.

IVE also released two comebacks within a year, both of which ranked higher than the previous album on music streaming and sales charts


IVE is supposedly leading three daesangs at MAMA Awards 2022 predictions

Mnet Asia Music Awards (MAMA) rebranded themselves as MAMA Awards starting this year. It is one of the top coveted music award shows in the South Korean music industry and one that the entire K-pop industry waits for with bated breath.

The winners of MAMA Awards 2022 are decided by calculating a range of categories such as digital scores, physical sales, music video numbers, global scores, and judges’ scores. The highest weightage, 40%, is given to the judges.

Twitter user @kowatermelon previously made predictions for MMA 2022. Most recently, they posted MAMA Awards 2022 predictions with numbers for digital, physical, music video and global scores. The numbers were arrived at after excluding any judges’ score.

Unsurprisingly, IVE ranked at the top for Female Rookie of the Year with a total predicted score of 60.00. NewJeans were given an incredibly higher rank than the second-rank holders. The ADOR Hype Boy group earned only 17.44 total scores. Others in the list were NMIXX, Kep1er, and LE SSERAFIM, in this order.

MAMA Awards 2022 prediction for Female Rookie of the Year (Image via Twitter/theqoo)
MAMA Awards 2022 prediction for Female Rookie of the Year (Image via Twitter/theqoo)

While the Rookie of the Year category remained uncontended, K-pop fans were in two minds for the next two categories, Song of the Year (SOTY) and Artist of the Year.

In SOTY, IVE once again sat on the throne with LOVE DIVE and a total score of 43.89. Coming close in the second position was (G)I-DLE’s TOMBOY, giving them 40.74 in total scores. The remaining top 5 contenders were PSY and SUGA’s That That, BLACKPINK’s Pink Venom, and BTS’ Yet to Come.

MAMA Awards 2022 predictions for Song of the Year by a K-netz (Image via KoWatermelon)
MAMA Awards 2022 predictions for Song of the Year by a K-netz (Image via KoWatermelon)

In Artist of the Year, the After LIKE girl group IVE bested BTS to earn a predictive top spot. The female idol group achieved a speculative total score of 43.65 while the Run BTS singers clocked in with a score of 39.51 in second position. BLACKPINK, SEVENTEEN, and Lim Young-woong rounded off the top 5.

MAMA Awards 2022 predictions for Artist of the Year by a K-netz (Image via KoWatermelon)
MAMA Awards 2022 predictions for Artist of the Year by a K-netz (Image via KoWatermelon)

KoWatermelon’s MAMA Award 2022 prediction numbers are speculative and can increase or decrease depending on judges’ votes as they constitute nearly half of all the other numbers.

Although IVE seems to be number one in all three categories, ARMYs noticed some discrepancies in BTS’ numbers after the posts began spreading online.

A fanwar reportedly broke out, and Twitter user @Kowatermelon deleted the MAMA Awards 2022 prediction posts. They then shared that they will only tweet about the Melon Music Awards 2022 henceforth.

Though the numbers may not be devoid of errors, one thing is certain: 2022 has turned out to be IVE's year and brought them arguably the kind of success unlike any rookie group has witnessed in K-pop history.


After recently bagging two awards at The Fact Music Awards, IVE is nominated for Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Girl Group, Best Female Rookie Award, and Genie Music Popularity Award at the Genie Music Awards 2022.

Meanwhile, Mnet announced that the MAMA Awards 2022 will take place in Japan at the Osaka Kyocera Dome on November 29 and 30.

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