K-Pop at the VMAs 2022
The 28th August saw the return of the MTV Video Music Awards, featuring many K-Pop nominees and an electric performance by BLACKPINK. Here’s everything K-Pop-related from this years VMAs!
K-Pop girl group BLACKPINK made their mark on this years VMAs. Credit: MTV Official Twitter.
BLACKPINK in our area
The VMAs were a great night for global girl group sensation BLACKPINK; the pop quartet were nominated for Best Group and took home the win for Best Metaverse Performance (for ‘Ready For Love’, with PUBG Mobile).
Main dancer LISA also bagged her first Best K-Pop VMA win for her solo track ‘LALISA’. She took to the stage in a gorgeous black Celine outfit complete with Bulgari accessories to thank the BLACKPINK girls (seen cheering her on) and their fans (BLINKs) for all their support and love.
Seventeen right here
The other first time VMA winner from within the K-Pop world was the incredible SEVENTEEN. Boasting 13 members, the K-Pop powerhouse were the recipient of the Push Performance of the Year award for their December 2021 rendition of the title track ‘Rock with you’, from their 9th mini album Attacca (previously reviewed in a past Cherry Chu article).
Though unable to accept the award in person due to being on their BE THE SUN world tour, members Mingyu, Jeonghan, Vernon, Seungkwan, and S.Coups sent in a video to express their gratitude for being both the first K-Pop artist on MTV Push as well as the first K-Pop artist to receive the award, thanking their fans (CARATs) for their endless support.
SEVENTEEN were also nominated for Best K-Pop ( for the track ‘HOT’) and Best New Artist.
The Bangtan Boys bank yet another win
As expected, the biggest boy group on the planet walked away from the VMAs with multiple nominations and a win. Nominations for BTS came for the following categories:
Best K-Pop for ‘Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)’
Song of the Summer for Charlie Puth and Jungkook’s ‘Left and Right’
Best Visual Effects for Coldplay & BTS’ ‘My Universe’
Best Virtual Performance for the Minecraft versions of ‘Butter’ and ‘Permission to Dance’ at the YouTube ESCAPE2021 concert
Best Choreography for ‘Permission to Dance’
The win came in the form of the esteemed Best Group category, beating out everyone from fellow K-Pop superstars BLACKPINK, to rockers like Foo Fighters and Måneskin, as well as the sensational Silk Sonic.
A polarising performance
BLACKPINK rounded out their incredible night at the VMAs (and an incredible night for the K-Pop genre as a whole) with a powerful performance of their latest official comeback, released two years since their last album.
The girls took to the stage for ‘Pink Venom’ much to the delight of fans and celebrities alike. Names such as Colton Haynes and Sabrina Carpenter had expressed excitement to see BLACKPINK at the awards show, whilst Taylor Swift and Dylan O’Brien could be seen singing along and dancing in the crowd mid-performance.
Despite mixed reviews of the performance (one review said the stage was “explosive” and “allowed BLACKPINK to showcase both their finely honed dance skills, as well as each member’s individual talents”, whilst another said it “failed to establish the group as a live force to be reckoned with”), both fans and newbies were delighted. Twitter was ablaze with thousands of BLACKPINK-related tweets and Google searches skyrocketed.
K-Pop continues to grow
The Best K-Pop category alone at the VMAs indicates the incredible power of the genre, able to carve out its own space within the Western pop music industry as it grows exponentially in popularity.
The nominees for the award were: BTS and BLACKPINKS’s LISA (as indicated above), ITZY’s ‘LOCO’, Stray Kids’ ‘MANIAC’, and TWICE’s ‘The Feels’.
Each of the nominees achieved huge success with these tracks within the K-Pop industry and it’s great to see this recognition outside of South Korea, where fan numbers continue to grow. It’s clear from the VMAs that the K-Pop industry has significantly made its mark on the global music world. Nominations for, wins for, and performances by Korean artists grow more abundant with each music award show that we see on our screens. The songs and stars of K-Pop are globally huge, and we can’t wait to see where they go from here when the sky is the limit.
Which performance was your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.
Edited by Chelsea Cheetham.
