10 Of The Best Performances From The 2023 MAMA Awards

It’s the most wonderful time of year! And, no, we don’t mean the festive season; we mean K-Pop end-of-year awards shows! First up, we’re celebrating the 2023 MAMA Awards.

Taking place over two days at the Tokyo Dome and split into two ‘Chapters,’ the MAMA Awards gave us some incredible performances. So many of your faves served unique renditions of this year’s comebacks, and on top of that, there were so many special stages, too!

One thing about these awards shows, though, is that they are long! Catching up on everything you might’ve missed from the 2023 MAMA Awards might seem a little daunting; there were so many other great moments from the likes of RIIZE, EL7Z UP, JEON SOMI, BOYNEXTDOOR, ENHYPEN, and more! So, to make things a little easier, we’ve rounded up ten of the best performances you need to check out first! You’re welcome…

Chapter 1

TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Fresh off the back of winning a Worldwide Fans’ Choice bonsang, TXT took to the stage to perform ‘Sugar Rush Ride’ and ‘Chasing That Feeling.’ TXT’s end-of-year performances are always jaw-dropping, and this was no exception. Beginning with unit dance breaks, their show included motorbike helmets, their own lighting, and rain. We told you they don’t hold back! We loved the rock version of ‘Chasing That Feeling,’ and we also have to highlight the one and only icon Choi Soobin‘s solo scene.

P.S. If you loved this performance, we highly recommend you watch the dance practice, too!

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Street Woman Fighter2 EXCLUSIVE STAGE

Name a dance challenge that took over TikTok the way the ‘Smoke’ challenge has this year. That’s right, you can’t. Having worked with the likes of Taemin, KAI (*cough,* the ‘Vanilla’ dance break, anyone?), and more, we’ve loved seeing Bada Lee take the spotlight since appearing in Street Woman Fighter 2. Bada choreographed the challenge, so it’s beyond cool to see her perform it with the cast of SWF2 and the original artists of ‘Smoke,’ Dynamic Duo! Talk about a moment in K-Pop history!

&TEAM

Not too bad for their first end-of-year stage, right? &TEAM were ferocious in their performance of ‘War Cry,’ and we love how this stage tapped into their lore. K’s solo intro was an incredible way to start, and things just kept getting better and better. Plus, how could we not love this performance after spotting some familiar faces in the backing dance crew?!

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Kep1er

Kep1er’s ‘Grand Prix’ is taking over our FYP right now, so it’s only fair that it took over the 2023 MAMA Awards stage, too! Fresh (or should we say ‘We Fresh?’) off the back of winning Favorite Asian Girl Group, these ladies absolutely killed it. And apparently, they won against those bad guys in their martial arts-inspired dance break. Kep1ians said “slay,” and Kep1er took that personally.

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Music goes Infinity and beyond WONDER STAGE

When we describe this performance as jaw-dropping, we’re not exaggerating. Featuring J-Rock icon YOSHIKI on piano, this stage showcased how multi-talented so many idols are. It’s fair to say that TXT’s maknaes Taehyun and Huening Kai gave us the best vocals of the MAMAs. Plus, this year’s rookies absolutely smashed their parts; BOYNEXTDOOR’s Jaehyun delivered some mellow rap, RIIZE’s Anton stunned playing the cello, and ZEROBASEONE’s Yujin’s dancing took our breath away.

It was a true highlight of the awards ceremony and would also serve as a great reminder to people who dismiss K-Pop that idols are truly multi-faceted, hard-working artists!

Chapter 2

ATEEZ

Winning Worldwide Fans’ Choice, giving us this performance, and then winning Global Male Performer was a pretty iconic 2023 MAMA Awards for ATEEZ! ‘Bouncy’ has been undeniably one of K-Pop’s most enduring singles this year, so to perform that immediately followed by a global premiere of their new title track ‘Crazy Form’ is truly iconic behavior. Imbued with their lore and all the energy we love from ATEEZ, this stage just got us even more hyped for the release of THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL.

P.S. We are scared of Choi San. That is all.

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(G)I-DLE

Ok, but (G)I-DLE are beyond iconic for basically turning the 2023 MAMA Awards into their own concert. ‘Queencard’ has been an inescapable hit all year and is still ranking highly on weekly music shows, so it’s no wonder that every person in the Tokyo Dome knew the lyrics! This sing-along is lowkey such a power move from our queens, and we loved it.

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Goddess Awakened SUPER STAGE

We told you the girlies didn’t come to play at the MAMAs! This performance was dubbed Goddess Awakened, and they certainly nailed the brief! LE SSERAFIM’s YUNJIN, Kep1er’s Xiaoting, (G)I-DLE’s MINNIE, Bada Lee, and Monika all stunned as mythical creatures. Our favorite thing about this particular performance is how different each segment is while all still feeling cohesive in the theme. Truly otherworldly stuff!

Plus, whoever decided that YUNJIN should open this performance is a genius, given her role in creating LE SSERAFIM’s myth-filled hit ‘Eve, Psyche, and the Bluebeard’s Wife.’ And speaking of…

LE SSERAFIM

Will we ever get tired of this track? Never, especially not with performances like this one. Opening with unit and solo dance breaks, this grittier rendition of one of K-Pop’s biggest b-sides sent our FEARNOT hearts into overdrive. And just when we thought it couldn’t get better, they brought out MANNEQUEEN from SWF2 out for the second dance break! LE SSERAFIM gave us top-tier dancing, some of the best vocals of the show, and incredible stage presence all at once! And we see you catching that hat, SAKURA!

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SEVENTEEN

Being a CARAT in 2023 has been a bit of a rollercoaster, but we’ve absolutely loved seeing SEVENTEEN’s career continue to soar this far into their journey. And the 2023 MAMA Awards just added to that! SVT took home bonsangs for Worldwide Fans’ Choice, Best Dance Performance – Male Group, Culture & Style Award, and Best Male Group. Plus, their first-ever MAMA daesang for Album of the Year! It was a joy to witness their reactions to this thoroughly deserved win, and the OT13 acceptance speeches were so honest and heart-warming. If that doesn’t convince you to check out their performances of ‘God of Music’ and ‘Super,’ we don’t know what will.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SEVENTEEN:
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So, what was your highlight from the 2023 MAMA Awards? Got a performance you can’t stop rewatching that we missed from this list? We wanna hear from you over on Twitter @TheHoneyPOP. And you can also take a look at our Instagram and Facebook!

Head this way for more K-Pop!

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