South Korean actor Song Joong-ki has been confirmed as the host of next week’s 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong.
The Descendants of the Sun star will host the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) ceremony, which takes place at AsiaWorld-Expo on Friday, 14 December, for the third time.
The announcement comes after organisers revealed that actor Park Bo-gum will host the 2018 MAMA Fans' Choice in Japan and actor Jung Hae-in will host the 2018 MAMA Premiere in South Korea.
Park, who rose to fame with Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, performed the same role at the 2017 MAMA in Japan.
Jung, who rose to fame with Something in the Rain, will be part of the event for the first time.
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MAMA Week, the largest-scale MAMA event, will kick off at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Monday, 10 December before heading to Saitama Super Arena in Japan two days later.
“Celebrating the 10th anniversary, the concept of 2018 MAMA is the reinterpretation of the legend of Icarus, a story of bravery and unwavering passion that serves as an inspiration to all those hoping to fulfil their dreams,” said Mnet division head Kim Ki-woong.
“Our goal is to create a platform so that K-pop and Asian music can infiltrate the global mainstream music industry.”
K-pop bands BTS, GOT7, Momoland and Seventeen as well as South Korean solo artists Tiger JK and Yoon Mi-rae will feature at the event in Hong Kong.
BTS will also feature in Japan alongside Twice, Monsta X, Wanna One and IZ*One.
Wanna One, Stray Kids, The Boyz and (G)I-DLE will attend the event in South Korea.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding with major music charts across Asia like Japan's Oricon, China's Tencent Music and Vietnam's Zing MP3 with a the goal of making MAMA Asia's greatest music festival,” said Kim Hyun-soo, head of the convention business department at South Korean entertainment and retail company CJ ENM.
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Celebrities such as Kim Sa-rang, Seo Hyun-jin, Jung Ryeo-won, Han Ye-seul, Yang Se-jong, Cha Seung-won and Hwang Jung-min will also appear at the various awards shows as presenters.
American singer Janet Jackson will also feature in some capacity alongside a number of Asian stars including China’s Dean Ting, HIRAGANA KEYAKIZAKA46 from Japan and Marion Jola from Indonesia.
Jackson recently collaborated with Daddy Yankee for the hit track Made for Now, which peaked at number one on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, although it is unclear which show or shows she will attend.
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This article was originally written by Kwak Yeon-soo for The Korea Times .
