AAA 2021: Award winners revealed, Thai actors Bright and Win invited to K-pop show
The 2021 Asia Artist Awards aka AAA is already underway even though the actual South Korean award show will be held on December 2. Considered to be one of the biggest award nights in South Korea, it brings the K-pop industry and the entertainment industry of the country together by nominating K-pop idol groups, actors and entertainers. While the 2020 edition was held online, with the pandemic being under control in South Korea, it will once again be held offline. The organizers are going all out for the AAA 2021. They have invited popular guests like Thai actors Bright and Win.
The Asian entertainment industry is getting quite global thanks to India’s Bollywood, Japan’s anime, South Korea’s K-pop and now Thailand’s BL genre. While LGBTQ+ content is still quite sensitive in most parts of the world, Thailand has taken BL (boy love) and popularized it. The films and dramas focus on gay love stories with productions cropping up that only focus on BLs. One of the biggest BL franchises of Thailand in 2020 happened to be ‘2gether: The Series’ and it starred actors and singers Bright Vachirawit and Win Metawin who reached new heights of global fame. And now they’re part of the lineup of AAA 2021.
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Overseas artist lineup
The AAA 2021 lineup is quite extensive. We have idols like GOT7’s Bambam, Seventeen and aespa. Popular K-drama and film actors will also be present like the ‘Squid Game’ stars, Han So-hee of ‘My Name’ fame and ‘True Beauty’ co-stars Moon Ga-young and Astro’s Eunwoo. On November 10, it was reported that the 2021 Asia Artist Awards would also be inviting overseas artists. Unfortunately, they will not be able to attend in person but will have special online fan meetings with fans at the Asia Artist Awards.
Bright and Win
The Thai BL industry happens to cast all-rounders who are actors as well as singers. Along with the dramas, the lead actors also get musical gigs like OSTs (original soundtracks) and singles. Both Bright and Win have sung the songs and OSTs of ‘2gether’. With the release of their film ‘2gether: The Movie’ last week, the two might have a stage at 2021 AAA where they will perform the film’s OST.
Sandaime J Soul Brothers
Sandaime J Soul Brothers is a popular J-pop group that was formed in 2010. While most artists had to cancel their world tours due to the pandemic, they adapted and had a series of online concerts. They also released their recent single ‘JSB In Black’ in October for their 10th anniversary.
Takumi Kitamura
Takumi Kitamura is a Japanese actor, as well as the leader of the Japanese rock band Dish. He has been in several popular dramas like the Japanese version of ‘The Good Wife’ and the lead in anime live actions like ‘Tokyo Revengers’ which was released in October.
Popularity award winners
Along with the major award categories, AAA 2021 also has the paid fan-votes-based categories — U+ Idol Live Popularity Award and AAA RET Japan Popularity Award. The voting ended on November 14 and the winners for these categories were announced on November 15.
AAA RET Japan Popularity Award:
Boy group - EXO
Girl group - TWICE
Male solo singer - Lim Youngwoong. He is also the winner of ‘Mr. Trot’ in 2020.
Female solo singer - CL
Actor - Kim Seon-ho. Netizens are surprised at how quickly he bounced back following the gaslighting scandal and forced abortion claims from his ex-girlfriend that were later revealed to be untrue.
Actress - Song Ji-hyo
U+ Idol Live Popularity Award:
Boy group - BTS
Girl group - Blackpink
Male solo singer - Lim Youngwoong
Female solo singer - IU
Actor - Kim Seon-ho
Actress - HoYeon Jeong. The international model’s newfound fame in her home country can be accredited to her TV debut in the popular Netflix drama ‘Squid Game’.