From K-pop gossip to the star-studded afterparty in West Hollywood, here’s what Billboard learned and overheard during the first-ever MAMA Awards ceremony in the States.
KATSEYE pose backstage at the 2024 MAMA Awards in Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Nov. 21, 2024.
Rahul Bhatt
For the first time in its 25-year history, the MAMA Awards held its inaugural ceremony in the United States for the first day (Nov. 21) of its 2024 ceremony in Los Angeles. Broadcasting live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the largest K-pop awards kicked off their three days of festivities with chart-topping groups, legendary musicians, and a tightly packed schedule of excitement that fans could watch across social media and stream exclusively on Samsung TV Plus.
The historic day kicked off with a media event in a morning press conference where reporters heard from and talked to performers J.Y. Park and RIIZE, as well as the head of CJ ENM convention business Park Chan Uk.
That afternoon, the stars made their way onto the red carpet. Before the official ceremony began, Billboard spoke to all the artists in attendance like J.Y. Park and RIIZE, as well as TWS, Young Posse, ILLIT, KATSEYE, and host Park Bo Gum (watch all here). Once the show began, all the artists performed on stage — with Park and KATSEYE bringing on special guests — while J.Y., RIIZE, TWS, and ILLIT all won awards throughout the night. Keeping with the Hollywood theme, a slew of surprise presenters were also on hand including Oscar and Billboard Music Award winners.
While fans have been glued to the international stream to not miss a minute of the broadcast, Billboard was also on the scene throughout MAMA’s momentous day to catch all things you might not have seen on TV.
From whispers inside the venue about a new boy band to watch to the private moments with artists like ILLIT and J.Y. Park, plus an exclusive backstage shot of KATSEYE above, here are moments from the KCON LA 2024 weekend that you didn’t see.
-
JYP Lays Out VCHA’s Future
Image Credit: JYP Entertainment On a media day the morning before the inaugural MAMA Awards US, reporters heard comments and asked questions of J.Y. Park, RIIZE, and the head of CJ ENM convention business Park Chan Uk.
A major theme around the press conference was K-pop continuing to spread internationally, which Park, the founder and largest shareholder of JYP Entertainment, said was being done through carefully created localized acts. The producer shared plans for JYP girl group VCHA, created on a reality program A2K [America to Korea], and released a series of singles from late 2023 until March of this year.
“We are preparing for full activities next year for VCHA,” Park said. “Our plan is to differentiate this group from our existing K-pop artists with special and unique contents. The prep period is taking a little longer than usual because the preparation effort is taking longer than expected.”
Park shared more about his vision in a follow-up question about VCHA.
“I wanted to make sure they’re not K-pop as far as music and visuals,” he added. “Even though they’re produced by a K-pop company, I don’t want them to be K-pop; I want them to be what they are. They’re not born and raised in Korea, they’re not influenced by Korean culture, they are talented kids who are born and raised here [in the United States]. We are trying to make sure the next upcoming album is themselves. Unlike our K-pop and Korean artists, I think the creative teams will be a combination with American producers, musicians, choreographers, and making sure it’s them. It’s going to be very different. The new music, the album, the new video will be very different from JYP.”
-
Shifting the Stars’ Seats
While seating arrangements at award shows tend to be a fun, hot topic, the K-pop acts attending the MAMA Awards US tended to be in a constant state of flux off-camera. Throughout the night, fans saw artist attendees like RIIZE, TWS, Young Posse, ILLIT, KATSEYE and moving seats depending on who was leaving to perform or returning to their seats. While American shows tend to favor seat fillers instead of moving celebrity seats, the large amount of shifting and moving between the stars still saw the televised production look flawlessly produced to viewers.
-
Lance Bass Embraces the MAMA Experience
As someone who knows a thing or two about music award shows, *NSYNC member Lance Bass presented the award for Favorite Global Performer Male to his boy band peers in RIIZE and made the most of his time at MAMA’s inaugural stateside show. While his dressing room was on the same floor as guest presenters like Dustin Hoffman, the star shared some respectful bows with RIIZE after the band’s winning speech and linked up with the night’s host, actor Park Bo-Gum, to take photos together.
-
RIIZE-ing Tensions
While fans still grapple with last month’s news that original group member Seunghan would not be returning to RIIZE after his many months of hiatus (with an announcement last week from the label SM Entertainment that the singer would instead debut as a soloist in 2025), local fans in Los Angeles attempted to raise their voices for the 21-year-old — to varying results.
Those outside the venue were making their feelings clear (several people held a large banner that read “Idols Are Human SM Protect Seunghan”) while holding flags and signs with Seunghan’s face. However, those attending inside were finding pushback and issues from the venue over RIIZE-related merchandise.
Across social media, RIIZE fans documented what they say were materials that supported anything related to the group as seven members or related Seunghan — as well as some that did not — were being confiscated or barred from entering. Some fans even reported that anything colored orange (the group’s unofficial color) wasn’t allowed into the venue. Inside the Dolby Theatre, Billboard did see venue workers taking different materials from fans through the night.
In a touching moment from the night, RIIZE member Anton seemed to acknowledge the fan struggle while still showing them love in his portion of the group’s acceptance speech for Favorite Global Performer Male.
“We really are grateful for our fans for being there for us,” the East Coast native told the audience. “A lot has happened in the one year that we’ve been performing as artists, even in the last year since last year’s MAMA; I’m sure many of us are aware with what happened, we are always grateful to our fans, our BRIIZE…there have been many events and it’s a bit cliche to say this, I know, but all the members and I can do is promise to fans that we will always work hard and try our best to show the best version of ourselves that we can. But all we can hope for is that our fans will be there to support RIIZE and our future as well. You know, there is a lot of open communication between us and our company; it’s really supportive. We’re always grateful for our fans; our biggest hope is that RIIZE and BRIIZE will be there for each other.”
-
The Kats and the Rams Bond
Image Credit: Konuk_RYU After KATSEYE slayed a high-flying rendition of their tracks “Debut” and “Touch” in a special collaboration with the Los Angeles Rams Cheerleaders squad, the two teams’ connection seemed to continue post-performance as six members from the cheer squad joined the Chartbreakers to sit with them in the audience to watch the rest of the ceremony.
-
Hoffman’s Heckler
American award shows are more rowdy than a typical K-pop ceremony, so a heckler shouting at Dustin Hoffman as the actor presented the Best New Male Artist award was not the wildest thing for the audience to hear. But it still earned surprised and concerned faces from reporters and staff members in the audience.
-
TWS’ Surprise for Students
K-pop rookie standouts TWS had one of the best performances of the night, bringing “Oh Mymy : 7s” and “Plot Twist” to life with a school-themed concept that saw the sextet utilizing desks for choreography and ending with a large marching band playing with them.
Los Angeles Times contributor Christine Terrisse shared with reporters that she learned the performers who appeared at the end were marching band members from the local Tetlaff Junior High from Cerritos who had to write essays to explain why they wanted to participate. Terrisse bumped into two of the performers, both K-pop fans, and shared the quotes with Billboard.
“I’m really excited to see all the different groups I’ve seen so far,” said Gia, 14, who plays alto saxophone. “I find it really fun being up on there, it’s such a new experience.”
“This is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I’m never gonna have again, probably,” added Anushree, who plays clarinet. “But I feel like meeting all these different people and having this experience is also gonna help me grow while like having a good time as well.”
The young instrumentalists also spoke up and agreed about a need to erase the labels when it came to music.
“One of the best things that’s going on is it like the inclusivity,” Anushree, who plays clarinet, said of the MAMAs coming to the States, adding, “But I think one of the worst things as well is that they’re focusing a lot on the inclusivity…[K-pop stars] are amazing, but like I don’t know why they should be classified as like ‘K-pop,’ they could just be pop or something. But I’ll still listen to them.”
-
Camera Spoilers?
While viewers streaming or at home may have been kept in suspense when it came to the Best New Female Artist winner at this year’s MAMAs, the camera people on the scene weren’t particularly subtle. While both ILLIT and Young Posse were both nominees for the award and in the audience waiting for the results, a cameraman was only shooting ILLIT (seated in the front row) while poor Young Posse (in the second row) seemed a bit ignoredTK.
While it was often mentioned how holding the first MAMA Awards US at the Dolby Theatre was remarkable for the venue also hosting the Oscars, the camera work was a stark difference compared to the Academy Awards experience when viewers can see every nominee’s reaction in real time.
-
Da’Vine Directs ILLIT
Image Credit: Rich Polk for Variety Following ILLIT’s emotional speech accepting the Best New Female Group award (where the members thanked supporters in Korean, Japanese, and English), the quintet began walking down to their seats in the audience instead of heading backstage to celebrate their win. Luckily, Da’Vine Joy Randolph presented the award, and the actress won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the Dolby Theatre this past March (pictured above), she called out to the “Magnetic” girls and warmly instructed them to come backstage with her.
We love seeing celebs look out for one another.
-
The Stars Stand Up for JYP
As J.Y. Park’s MAMA US finale performance with Anderson .Paak drew to a close, and several stars in attendance led the crowd to get on their feet to honor the music legend. The members of RIIZE, Young Posse, and KATSEYE stood up and encouraged the rest of the Dolby Theatre to stand up with them to show even more love to Park.
KATSEYE’s Lara and Megan looked particularly hyped as they grooved and sang along throughout the 15-minute presentation.
-
Stateside Excitement Over KickFlip
Image Credit: Courtesy of JYP Entertainment As part of his performance to celebrate his 30 years in the business, J.Y. Park’s finale performance kicked off with an introductory video where the music legend acted as if he lost his memory of the past 30 years. Two minutes into the mini film, a computerized voice tells Park, “Just before losing your memory, you were finalizing preparations for the debut of KickFlip set to launch next year,” with a photo of seven young men on the screen confirming JYP Entertainment’s plans for a new boy band in 2025.
Within the Dolby Theatre, there was additional excitement about KickFlip, with some of the JYP USA Entertainment executives attending excited for their work to be soon shared with the world and asking local press to have high expectations.
An official reveal of the group across JYP Entertainment’s social accounts, announcing what looks to be their debut on Jan. 1, 2025:
-
The Afterparty at Andy’s
Earlier in the media day, J.Y. Park mentioned he would hit Anderson .Paak’s LA bar after the MAMAs wrapped turned out to be the go-to spot after the show.
Along with .Paak and Park at the former’s West Hollywood hot spot Andy’s, Eric Nam was also spotted after he completed his duties as the MAMA Awards US red carpet MC and guest host for the night. K-pop diva Sunmi, rapper-actor Dumbfoundead, Japanese DJ-singer Sex Puppy, 88rising co-founder and EST Media Holdings chairman Jaeson Ma, plus several creatives from Anderson’s upcoming K-Pops film including writer Khaila Amazan and actress Emi Kim, were all spotted enjoying the night.
