Big Bang and Exo win the day at MAMA

K-pop boy groups Exo and Big Bang (pictured) swept the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Big Bang received four awards for Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Music Video and Worldwide Favorite Artist.

“It’s been almost 10 years since we debuted in the music scene, and we’ve been receiving awards, some of which were too big for us,” T.O.P said during an acceptance speech. “I’d like to thank our parents and fans who are rooting for us all the time.”

Exo earned four awards: Album of the Year, Best Male Group, Best Asian Style and Global Fans’ Choice.

“I think the value of awards are made by us,” Suho, a member of Exo, said. “We will keep working hard to make these awards real and valuable.”

The annual music festival organized by CJ E&M gave out 43 awards, and artists belonging to SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment earned nine and five awards, respectively.

Girls’ Generation, Shinee, Red Velvet, iKon, Twice and Park Jin-young all received honors. The British pop duo Pet Shop Boys received the Worldwide Inspiration award.

Meanwhile, singer Psy presented his new songs “Daddy” and “Napal Baji” for the first time at MAMA, and Park Bom, a member of girl group 2NE1, took to the stage for the first time in 18 months after a drug-related scandal.

The awards themselves had their own share of controversy, with the acceptance speech by Taeyang, a member of Big Bang, creating somewhat of a stir.

The ceremony lasted nearly five hours, and many of the stars left around the time Big Bang received Artist of the Year, which is considered the highest honor.

“I wanted to have fun [with other singers] until the end, but there are not that many singers now,” Taeyang said.

Some music fans have criticized him for publicly shaming their favorite stars.

By Sung So-young