The 32nd Seoul Music Awards were held on January 19 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, KSPO Dome, in South Korea. The award ceremony was hosted by SHINee's Minho, Lovely’s Lee Mi-joo, and Kim II Joong.
The 32nd Seoul Music Awards was broadcasted through the online platforms KBS and U+Idol Live. Since it started in 1990, the ceremony has been considered one of the most prestigious music awards in South Korea and is known for awarding talented K-pop idols.
This year, at the 32nd Seoul Music Awards, NCT DREAM emerged as the winner of the Grand Prize, aka Daesang, while BTS took home the most awards of the evening, including the Main Award and two others. Besides them, many K-pop groups and solo artists, such as PSY and Lim Young-woong, snagged away two awards.
The 32nd Seoul Music Awards saw several K-pop groups like BLACKPINK, BTS, Red Velvet, Stray Kids, etc., bag the Bonsang
The music award ceremony was filled with glamor and K-pop groups this year. BTS set a new record by bagging the Main Prize (Bonsang) for the ninth consecutive year in the award ceremony. Meanwhile, Korean girl group Kep1er snagged away the award for New Wave Star at the award ceremony. The award ceremony also acknowledged the wins of many other new artists in the industry.
Here’s the full list of the winners from the 32nd Seoul Music Awards:
- Daesang (Grand Prize): NCT DREAM
- Best Album Award: BTS for Proof
- Best Song Award: IVE for Love Dive
- Bonsang (Main Prize): (G)I-DLE, aespa, BLACKPINK, BTS, GOT the beat, IVE, Kang Daniel, Kim Ho-joong, Lim Young-woong, NCT DREAM, PSY, Red Velvet, Seventeen, Stray Kids, Taeyeon, Zico
- Rookie of the Year: NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM and TNX
- Best Performance: (G)I-DLE
- Popularity Award: Lim Young-woong
- Hallyu Special Award: EXO’s Suho
- Trot Award: Young Tak
- Ballad Award: Younha
- OST Award: MeloMance
- R&B Hip Hop Award: Be’O and Big Naughty
- New Wave Star: Kep1er, LAPILLUS, and TAN
- World Best Artist: PSY
- Discovery of the Year: Lee Seung-yoon
- Band Award: Jannabi
- K-pop Special Award: KARA
- Legend Artist: BoA
- Idol+ New Star Award: TEMPEST
- Idol+ Best Star Award: BTS
K-pop group KARA was honored with the K-pop Special Award after making their full-group comeback seven years ago. Fans were elated at the achievement of the group and rejoiced the same. The group also mentioned the late singer and former member Hara at the end of their speech, which made their fans emotional.
The winners of the 32nd Seoul Music Awards were selected from songs and albums that were released between January and December 2022. The awards were decided by calculating 30% online voting, 40% panelists and 30% sales. However, the winners of the Popularity Award and Hallyu Special Award are selected from 100% online voting, both domestic and international fans.
Meanwhile, the winners for Best Performance, Band Award, Special Jury Award, and Discovery of the Year are selected by 100% panelist input. As such, the deserving K-pop singers, dancers, vocalists, and idols are honored in the same categories.
Fans rejoiced as their favorite idols snagged major wins at the 32nd Seoul Music Awards
K-pop fans of different groups celebrated the idols' win(s) at the music award ceremony through their social media. They didn’t hesitate to express how delighted they were at their favorite artists' new achievements. Celebrating NCT DREAM's latest win, one fan excitedly tweeted:
“NCT DREAM won “Daesang” (Grand Prize) Award tonight at the 32nd Seoul Music Awards! AND THIS IS THEIR FIRST DAESANG AWARD IN SMA)"
The 32nd Seoul Music Awards is organized by Seoul Sports to honor the rising and talented K-pop idols for their valuable contributions to the South Korean Entertainment industry.