Melon Music Awards 2023: NewJeans wins two of four top honors, while IVE, NCT Dream each take one

K-pop

Published: 04 Dec. 2023, 14:31 Updated: 04 Dec. 2023, 14:56

Melon Music Awards 2023: NewJeans wins two of four top honors, while IVE, NCT Dream each take one

NewJeans performs during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

NewJeans took home five awards at the Melon Music Awards (MMA) 2023 on Saturday, including Song of the Year and Artist of the Year, just a year and four months since its debut.

The MMA 2023, which Melon, one of Korea's major music streaming platforms, hosts, took place on Saturday at the newly opened Inspire Arena in Incheon.

The awards were the first event ever to be held at the newly opened indoor multipurpose venue, hosting 12,000 people.

A Total of 30 awards were presented to K-pop artists, including NewJeans winning two of the four grand awards — Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Record of the Year — of the event, along with IVE and NCT Dream, who were also named winners of this year's top honors.

NewJeans receives Artist of the Year during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

NewJeans won two of the awards' top honors — Artist of the Year and Song of the Year — and was named Best Group (Female) and won Top 10 and Millions Top 10.

"We were more than happy to be able to share a song like 'Ditto' with you all, and I hope that a lot of you were able to feel a really healing type of energy [from listening to the song]," Hanni of NewJeans said after receiving the Song of the Year award for the group's single "Ditto."

IVE won Album of the Year with "I've IVE," released on April 10, earning its second grand honor from the ceremony two years in a row. The group won Song of the Year during the MMA 2022 held last year. IVE also won Top 10 and Millions Top 10 during the event.

Boy band NCT Dream took home Record of the Year, given to an act and its producer who made a significant musical achievement each year. The band was also named Top 10, Millions Top 10 and Best Group (Male).

IVE receives Album of the Year during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

NCT Dream receives Record of the Year during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

"Thank you to all the international fans as well," Mark of NCT Dream said after receiving the Record of the Year award. "We know you guys are supporting us from far away, and I don't know what else to say but 'thank you,' and we really do thank you. It's an honor."

New Artist of the Year went to boy bands ZeroBaseOne and Riize.

Seventeen took home three awards: Best Performance (Male), Top 10 and Millions Top 10. Its subunit BSS also won Millions Top 10.

Riize receive New Artist of the Year during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

ZeroBaseOne receives New Artist of the Year during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

aespa won Global Artist, Best Performance (Female), Top 10 and Millions Top 10.

BTS showed its power, though it paused its activities due to members serving in the military.

BTS's Jungkook won Best Solo (Male), Hot Trend, Top 10 and Millions Top 10. BTS won Favorite Artist and Top 10 as a group.

Le Sserafim, (G)I-DLE and singer Lim Young-woong won both Top 10 and Millions Top 10.

NCT Dream performs during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

Other winners include rapper Lee Young-ji for Best Solo (Female); Lim Jae-hyun for Best OST with "Heaven"; Charlie Puth for Best Pop Artist; rock band Silica Gel for Best Music Style; SHINee for Stage of the Year; girl group STAYC for Best Music Video; Girl Group Kiss Of Life for 1theK Global Icon; Japanese singer imase for J-Pop Favorite Artist and BoyNextDoor for Global Rising Artist.

Pledis Entertainment CEO Han Seong-su won Best Producer, and Ryan Jhun won Best Songwriter.

aespa performs during the Melon Music Awards 2023 held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

A number of K-pop artists took the stage for performances during the event, including NewJeans, NCT Dream, IVE, aespa and ZeroBaseOne.

IVE's An Yu-jin hosted the main ceremony event on Saturday.

The Melon Music Awards 2023 was held at Inspire Arena in Incheon on Saturday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

IZ*ONE's Honda Hitomi and Yabuki Nako hosted the red carpet event at the awards.

The ceremony also featured a star-studded lineup of presenters, including actor Lee Seo-jin, comedian Cho Se-ho and model Hong Jin-kyung.

The ceremony was broadcast live on Melon, streaming platform Wavve and Japanese streaming platform Abema.

To find out more about K-pop Artists, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]