Hailed as the ‘Grammys of Asia,’ the MAMA Awards are always a highly anticipated affair for K-pop fans around the world. This weekend’s event marks the show’s return to Hong Kong for the first time in over a decade.

But given the current circumstances, netizens were unsure if the awards weekend would even take place in the popular city at all. On Wednesday, misfortune struck the Asian hotspot, and left many in mourning as a massive blaze consumed the under-construction, high-rise Wang Fuk Court residential complex in the Tai Po district.

Officials eventually declared the blaze a level five fire, the highest and deadliest there is. Consequently, MAMA Awards 2025‘s organisers were left struggling to decided whether to go through with the live show. CJ ENM has since issued an official statement, confirming the ceremony would be proceeding as planned, but with an adjusted tone to offer comfort to those devastated by the scarring tragedy.

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While some scripts have reportedly been revised so as not to outrage audiences in the wake of the Hong Kong fire, this year’s MAMAs were centred around the concept of “heung.” CJ ENM had described it as “the distinctly Korean spirit of fun and excitement that has captivated global audiences.”

Here’s everything we know about the MAMA Awards 2025 set to take place at the Kai Tak Stadium!

Who’s hosting?

Main hosts at the MAMA Awards will be K-drama icons Park Bo Gum and Kim Hye Soo on November 28 and 29, respectively. Cho Sae Ho and Shin Hyun Ji, on the other hand, will maintain their constant and joint presence as red carpet MCs on both days.

When and where to watch MAMA Awards 2025?

With the MAMA Awards 2025 set to proceed as per the original plan, the two-day event will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 28 and 29, 2025. Local Chinese-language media outlets and K-media reported today that the red carpet event may have been cancelled in light of Hong Kong reeling from the fire tragedy.

UPDATE: MAMA confirmed late November 27 that the red carpet event had indeed been cancelled. The main live broadcast will proceed as planned.

Red Carpet on Nov 28-29 was previously scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm HKT, 5:30 KST or 2 pm IST.

On the other hand, the main show is expected to commence two hours after the pre-announced red carpet timings. As a result, the awards night filled with star-studded performances will kick off at 6:30 pm HKT, 7:30 pm KST or 4 pm IST.

MAMA Awards streaming details: Fans worldwide may tune in to Mnet Plus and the YouTube channels Mnet K-POP, Mnet TV, M2, KCON official to catch the live coverage. However, these YouTube live streaming options may not be available in some regions.

In Korea, viewers may rely on Mnet, tvN SHOW, and streaming platforms TVING, NAVER TV and CHZZK for the broadcast. Japanese audiences will have to turn to TELASA, Mnet JAPAN or Mnet Smart+ to watch the show.

On the contrary, HBO Max and tvN Asia will telecast the event in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Myanmar. MAMA Awards will also go on-air via tvN Asia in the Maldives.

Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macao, Mongolia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste will solely have to rely on HBO Max.

Samsung TV Plus K-POP by CJ ENM should be the go-to option for fans in the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Republica of Moldova, Uzbekistan and Georgia can turn to the platform IVI.

2025 MAMA Awards lineup

K-pop rookies izna, KickFlip, Heart2Hearts and TWS were originally scheduled to appear as performing artists on the 2025 MAMA Awards red carpet. With that event now cancelled, it remains to be seen how presentations by these music acts will proceed during both chapters of the show.

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As revealed on MAMA’s official SNS accounts earlier this month, the full lineup is as follows:

Chapter 1 (Nov 28)

  • TXT’s Yeonjun
  • ALPHA DRIVE ONE
  • BABYMONSTER
  • BOYNEXTDOOR
  • BUMPSUP
  • ENHYPEN
  • Hearts2Hearts
  • i-dle
  • IVE
  • MEOVV
  • MIRROR
  • NCT WISH
  • SUPER JUNIOR
  • TREASURE
  • TWS

Chapter 2 (Nov 29)

  • TOMORROW X TOGETHER
    aespa
  • ALLDAY PROJECT
  • CORTIS
  • G-Dragon
  • IDID
  • izna
  • JO1
  • KickFlip
  • KYOKA
  • RIIZE
  • Stray Kids
  • ZEROBASEONE

MAMA special stages

  • MEGA STAGE (‘Mega Hit Medley’ concept)

SUPER JUNIOR

  • MEGA STAGE (‘Epic-scale CEREMONY’ concept)

Stray Kids

  • CINEMATIC STAGE (‘Chase the Bloom’ concept)

ZEROBASEONE

  • CINEMATIC STAGE (‘Hollywood Remix’ concept)

BOYNEXTDOOR

  • WONDER STAGE – MAMA x KPop Demon Hunters (‘Gonna be Golden’ concept)

BABYMONSTER members Pharita, Ahyeon and Rora

  • WONDER STAGE – MAMA x KPop Demon Hunters (‘I’ll be Your Idol’ concept)

BOYNEXTDOOR’s Leehan, RIIZE’s Wonbin, TWS’ Shinyu, ZEROBASEONE members Park Gunwook and Han Yujin

  • THEME STAGE (‘ K-흥’ concept)

Park Bo Gum

BUMSUP

BOYNEXTDOOR’s Jaehyun and Woonhak

CORTIS’ Seonghyeon and Martin

TREASURE’s Cho Hyunsuk, Yoshi and Haruto

  • EXCLUSIVE THEME STAGE (‘Hear My Roar’ concept)

Kim Hye Soo and Stay Kids’ Felix

KYOKA and ZEROBASEONE’s Sung Hanbin

ALLDAY PROJECT

MAMA Awards presenter lineup

In light of the adjusted tone of this year’s ceremony, it remains to be seen whether Hong Kong stars Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-fat will be gracing the stage. On November 27, local media outlets suggested they might be sit out the awards nights, standing in solidarity with the victims of Wednesday’s Hong Kong tragedy.

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Other artists expected to take the stage as this year’s presenters are:

  • Ahn Eun Jin
  • Ahn Hyo Seop
  • Arden Cho
  • Cha Joo Young
  • Cho Han Gyeol
  • Cho Sae Ho
  • Choi Dae Hoon
  • Go Youn Jung
  • Lee Hyeri
  • Jang Do Yeon
  • Jeon Yeo Been
  • Jo Yuri
  • Ju Ji Hoon
  • Lee Do Hyun
  • Lee Joon Hyuk
  • Lee Jun Young
  • Lee Kwang Soo
  • Lee Soo Hyuk
  • Noh Sang Hyun
  • Park Hyung Sik
  • Roh Yoon Seo
  • Shin Hyun Ji
  • Shin Seung Hun
  • Shin Ye Eun
  • Yim Si Wan

2025 MAMA Awards nominees

Best New Artist

  • AHOF
  • ALLDAY PROJECT
  • Baby DONT Cry
  • CLOSE YOUR EYES
  • CORTIS
  • Heart2Hearts
  • IDID
  • izna
  • KickFlip
  • KiiiKiii

Best Female Artist Solo

  • MARK
  • BAEKHYUN
  • Jin
  • G-DRAGON
  • j-hope

Best Female Artist Solo

  • i-dle’s YUQI
  • BLACKPINK’s JENNIE
  • BLACKPINK’s JISOO
  • TAEYEON
  • BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ

Best Male Group

  • SEVENTEEN
  • TOMORROW X TOGETHER
  • BOYNEXTDOOR
  • ENHYPEN
  • RIIZE
  • Stray Kids
  • ZEROBASEONE

Best Female Group

  • aespa
  • BABYMONSTER
  • i-dle
  • IVE
  • LE SSERAFIM
  • TWICE

Best Dance Performance Male Solo

  • MARK – “1999”
  • KEY – “HUNTER”
  • G-DRAGON – “TOO BAD (feat. Anderson .Paak)”
  • j-hope – “MONA LISA”
  • KAI – “Wait On Me”

Best Dance Performance Female Solo

  • DAYOUNG – “body”
  • MINNIE – “HER”
  • JENNIE – “like JENNIE”
  • JISOO – “earthquake”
  • KARINA (aespa) – “UP”

Best Dance Performance Male Group

  • SEVENTEEN – “THUNDER”
  • BOYNEXTDOOR – “IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU”
  • NCT DREAM – “When I’m With You”
  • NCT WISH – “poppop”
  • PLAVE – “Dash”
  • RIIZE – “Fly Up”
  • TWS – “Countdown!”

Best Dance Performance Female Group

  • ILLIT – “Cherish (My Love)”
  • aespa – “Whiplash”
  • BABYMONSTER – “DRIP”
  • BLACKPINK – “JUMP”
  • IVE – “REBEL HEART”
  • LE SSERAFIM – “HOT”

Best Vocal Performance Solo

  • NCT’s DOYOUNG – “Memory”
  • Roy Kim – “If You Ask Me What Love Is”
  • LEE MU JIN – “Coming Of Age Story”
  • TAEYEON – “Letter To Myself”
  • BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ – “toxic till the end”

Best Vocal Performance Group

  • DAVICHI – “Stitching”
  • HIGHLIGHT – “Endless Ending”
  • MEOVV – “DROP TOP”
  • TREASURE – “YELLOW”
  • ZEROBASEONE – “Doctor! Doctor!”

Best Band Performance

  • N.Flying – “Everlasting”
  • CNBLUE – “A Sleepless Night”
  • DAY6 – “Maybe Tomorrow”
  • QWER- “Dear”
  • Xdinary Heroes – “Beautiful Life”

Best Rap & Hip Hop Performance

  • HAON – “Skrr (Feat. GISELLE of aespa)”
  • Dynamicduo & GUMMY – “Take Care”
  • BIG Naughty – “MUSIC (Feat. LEE CHANHYUK)”
  • pH-1 – “Life Is A Movie (Feat. Jung Zi So)”
  • TABLO & RM – “Stop The Rain (TABLO X RM)”

Best Collaboration

  • MARK – “Fraktsiya (Feat. Lee Young Ji)”
  • JENNIE & Doechii – “ExtraL (Feat. Doechii)”
  • G-DRAGON – “TOO BAD (feat. Anderson .Paak)”
  • ROSÉ, Bruno Mars – “APT.”
  • V & Park Hyo Shin – “Winter Ahead (With Park Hyo Shin)”

Best OST

  • Park Hyo Shin – “HERO (From the Film ‘Firefighters’)” (Firefighters OST)
  • TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “When the Day Comes” (Resident Playbook OST)
  • BOYNEXTDOOR – “Never Loved This Way Before” (Odd Girl Out OST)
  • HUNTR/X – “Golden” (Netflix – KPop Demon Hunters OST)
  • Saja Boys – “Soda Pop” (Netflix – KPop Demon Hunters OST)

Best Music Video

  • LEE CHANHYUK – “Vivid LaLa Love”
  • JENNIE – “ZEN”
  • aespa – “Dirty Work”
  • ALLDAY PROJECT – “FAMOUS”
  • BLACKPINK – “JUMP”

Best Choreography

  • JENNIE – “like JENNIE”
  • aespa – “Whiplash”
  • ALLDAY PROJECT – “WICKED”
  • CORTIS – “GO!”
  • G-DRAGON – “TOO BAD (feat. Anderson .Paak)”

2025 MAMA Awards Artist of the Year

(All artist category nominees are automatically nominated)

  • aespa
  • AHOF
  • ALLDAY PROJECT
  • Baby DONT Cry
  • BABYMONSTER
  • Baekhyun
  • BOYNEXTDOOR
  • CLOSE YOUR EYES
  • CORTIS
  • ENHYPEN
  • G-Dragon
  • Hearts2Hearts
  • i-dle
  • IDID
  • IVE
  • izna
  • j-hope
  • Jennie
  • Jin
  • Jisoo
  • KickFlip
  • KiiiKiii
  • LE SSERAFIM
  • Mark
  • RIIZE
  • Rosé
  • SEVENTEEN
  • Stray Kids
  • Taeyeon
  • TWICE
  • TXT
  • Yuqi
  • ZEROBASEONE

2025 MAMA Awards Song of the Year

(All song genre category nominees are automatically nominated)