BLACKPINK dubbed ‘Group of the Year’ at MTV Awards

연합뉴스 / 2023-09-13 15:02:32

▲ K-pop girl group BLACKPINK is seen in this photo provided by YG Entertainment. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

BLACKPINK dubbed ‘Group of the Year’ at MTV Awards

SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Yonhap) -- K-pop girl group BLACKPINK won “Group of the Year” at the 2023 MTV Video Awards (VMA), a prestigious U.S. music awards, on Wednesday.

The Group of the Year award was introduced as a category in 2019, reflecting the criticism that K-pop groups were excluded from the main categories of the awards. Until last year, the group BTS had consecutively won the award for four years. This year, BLACKPINK followed suit, becoming the group of the year.

BLACKPINK also snatched the “Choreography” award at this year’s VMA.

BTS's Jungkook won this year’s “Song of the Summer” with his solo track “Seven,” outperforming tough competitors like Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and Dua Lipa.

Jungkook's victory marks a significant achievement, following his nomination last year with the collaborative song “Left and Right” with Charlie Puth, making him the first Korean solo artist to win in this category. Jungkook had previously won in this category in 2021 with BTS's group song “Butter.”

Neither Jungkook nor Blackpink attended the awards ceremony held at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, this year's “K-pop” award went to K-pop boy group Stray Kids. The group won the award with their title track from the third album, “S-Class,” after competing artists like aespa, Seventeen, BLACKPINK, and Tomorrow X Together (TXT).

At the awards, Stray Kids said, "Since the beginning of our career, we have been making our own music, which makes this award even more meaningful to us." The members also said, "We have a lot more to show, so please look forward to Stray Kids' future."

Stray Kids showcased the “S-Class” stage, which brought them the Best K-pop award, for the first time on the U.S. television.

TXT received the “Push Performance of the Year” award, which was presented during the red carpet event before the main ceremony. The award is selected by MTV among the artists featured in their “MTV Push” campaign, which highlights and interviews an artist every month.

TXT, attending the MTV VMA awards for the first time this year, expressed their gratitude, saying, "We wanted to showcase our music to many people through 'MTV Push,' and this award means that we succeeded… It's a night that will be remembered forever."

Both TXT and Stray Kids performed on the stage at the awards ceremony.

TXT made their debut on the MTV VMA stage just four years after their debut, making them one of the fastest K-pop groups to achieve this. They performed their new song “Back for More” alongside Brazilian pop star Anitta.

U.S. super star Taylor Swift also won multiple awards at this year's VMA, including "Artist" and "Show of the Summer." Her song "Anti-Hero" earned her "Video," "Song," "Visual Effect," "Pop Video," "Cinematography," and "Direction." Her album "Midnights" fetched her the "Album" award.

jwc@yna.co.kr

▲ K-pop boy group Stray Kids members post at MTV VMA 2023 held at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Sept. 12, 2023, in U.S. time. The octet won this year's "K-pop" award with "S-Class," the title track of its third album. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (AP=Yonhap)