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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Korean music industry experts choose best singers, rookies of 2020

Korean music industry experts choose best singers, rookies of 2020

Published Dec 20, 2020 10:08 am
(Clockwise from top left) BTS, BLACKPINK, Seventeen, Oh My Girl, StayC, Aespa, Cravity and Treasure (Twitter, Instagram, Mnet Asian Music Awards)

Korean music industry experts have voted to name the best singers, rookies and events of 2020.

News outlet News1 held a year-end survey among 22 experts composed of entertainment agency officials and TV representatives from KBS, Santa Music, RBW, JYP, Jellyfish, Pledis, FNC, SM, Brand New Music, KQ, C-JeS, TOP Media, Cre.Ker, Woollim, WM, Blockberry, Starship, Cube, Big Hit, YG, PlayM and Mystic Story.

Best Singers of 2020

K-pop idol group BTS have been overwhelmingly selected as the top singer of 2020, getting 19 out of 22 votes. This is the third consecutive year that BTS emerged as the No. 1 pick in the same survey.

The survey cited BTS’ success of rewriting K-pop history this year including topping the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with their song “Dynamite.” The group’s new album “BE” became No. 1 on Billboard 200 while “Life Goes On” topped the Hot 100, becoming the first Korean song to grab the No. 1 spot on the chart’s 62-year history. According to the experts, BTS have become the definitive Korean artists and the group raised the status of K-pop.

Placing second as best singers of 2020 are K-po groups BLACKPINK, Seventeen and Oh My Girl, and trot singers Na Hoon-a and Lim Young-woong, which got one vote each.

The experts said BLACKPINK increased their status by reaching high ranks on Billboard and UK”s Official Charts while Seventeen were praised for always showing good performance and Oh My Girl were cited for topping music charts and getting love from the public.

Best Rookies of 2020

In the survey for the Best Rookies in the music industry in 2020, the experts picked StayC and Aespa as No. 1 in the female rookie category and Treasure and Cravity in the male rookie category.

StayC and Aespa received seven votes each to tie for first place followed by Weeekly with four votes and Secret Number with three votes.

In the male rookie of the year, Treasure and Cravity got six votes each to tie for first place. ENHYPEN placed second with four votes followed by trot singer Lim Young-woong and Drippin with two votes each, and MCND and P1Harmony with one vote each.

Top Events in Korean Music Industry in 2020

The experts voted “untact,” or non-face-to-face, concerts as the top Korean music event of 2020, receiving 15 of the 22 votes. “Untact” is from the prefix “un” and the word “contact.” The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has cancelled in-person concerts and performances. Among the artists which held online concerts this year include BTS, NCT 127, NCT Dream, SuperM and Super Junior.

Placing second with seven votes is BTS topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart and getting nominated for the 63rd Grammy Awards, which will be held on Jan. 31. The trot frenzy in Korea got two votes while Korean singers testing positive for COVID-19 received one vote.

Related Tags

bts Treasure Cravity ENHYPEN aESPA Oh My Girl P1Harmony Weeekly Secret Number StayC Seventeen BLACKPINK Drippin
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