The year-end award shows have begun with MelOn Music Awards, MAMA and AAA announcing their dates, venues and celebrities nominated and attending the award functions. Asia Artist Awards aka AAA is the latest event to release information about the 2021 edition. Last year, it was held online due to the pandemic restrictions. However, with the situation under control in South Korea, it will be an offline event. The artists nominated, presenting and performing will attend the award show in Seoul.

AAA is a fusion since it brings the film industry and the K-pop industry together. Anyone who is anyone in the South Korean entertainment industry is present at the award function. The winners have included the likes of EXO, BTS and TWICE, as well as Kim Soo-hyun of ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay’ fame and ‘Squid Game’s’ Lee Jung-jae. Some of last year winners will also be attending the 2021 edition, along with K-pop groups who are set to perform. Here’s everything we know about the 2021 Asia Artist Awards. 

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Date 

The 2021 Asia Artist Awards will be held on December 2. The red carpet will be at 3 pm KST (1 am ET) and the actual award ceremony will be at 6 pm KST (4 am ET).

Where to watch

The award show has been held in South Korea and Vietnam previously. This year it will be held at the KBS Arena in Seoul. Performances will be uploaded on StarNews’ YouTube. The full ceremony can be watched on U+ Idol app, Hulu and Kavecon. To watch on Kavecon, viewers have to buy a ticket from their website.

How to vote

Fans can vote for the U+Idol Live Popularity Award on their website and the AAA RET Popularity Award on AAA’s website.

Celebrity lineup

The MCs selected for the 2021 AAA are Super Junior’s Leeteuk and ex-IZ*ONE member Jang Won-young. It should be noted that Leeteuk has always been selected as the MC for Asia Artist Awards since its inception in 2016. The guest lineup includes actors and idols.

Foreign artists like Thai actors Bright and Win, J-pop band Sandaime J Soul Brothers, and Japanese actor Takumi Kitamura will be present through an online segment.

Stray Kids

They, in fact, have five wins which include the Rookie of the Year award in 2018 and the Best Music Video Award in 2020.

The Boyz

They too were awarded as Rookie of the Year and got the Choice Award in 2020.

Lee Jung-jae

Lee Jung-jae actually won the Actor of the Year: Film Award in 2020. Fans expect him to be nominated this year too for his phenomenal acting in ‘Squid Game’.

Astro

As an idol actor, Eunwoo was first confirmed to attend. It has been reported that he will also be joined by his members.

Moon Ga-young

Eunwoo’s co-star, Moon Ga-young of ‘True Beauty’ fame too will be present.

Lee Seung-gi

Singer and actor Lee Seung-gi will not only be present but he might also be nominated for his role in ‘Mouse’. In the past, he has won awards like the Artist of the Year Award and Best Popular Award.

Kim Joo-ryoung

She shot to fame with her appearance on ‘Squid Game’.

Heo Sung-tae

He is known for his roles in ‘Squid Game’ and ‘The Age of Shadows’.

NU’EST 

Minhyun has expanded his career as an idol actor by playing the lead in the K-drama ‘Return’. It was later reported that he and his group NU’EST will be attending AAA. The group has won awards like Artist of the Year Award, Asia Celebrity Award and Best Music Award.

Han So-hee

Considered as the ‘daughter’ of Netflix, she was in back-to-back K-dramas of the OTT platform -- ‘Nevertheless’ and ‘My Name’. She won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2020.

Yoo Ah-in

The movie star has made a name for himself by acting in critically acclaimed films like ‘Burning’ and ‘#Alive’.

Na In-woo

He is a rising actor with four K-dramas in 2021 itself. Na In-woo also stepped in as the main lead of ‘River Where the Moon Rises’ and replaced Ji-soo during his scandal.

aespa

Dubbed as ‘monster rookies’, aespa has won almost all of the rookie awards they have been nominated for. With this being their first AAA appearance, expectations are high.

Seventeen

The group has had a comeback with ‘Attacca’ which is an instant success with over a million sales in just one week. They also have seven wins at AAA. However, only 11 members will be attending the 2021 version since The8 and Jun are currently in China.

Lim Young-woong 

Having won ‘Mr. Trot’, a talent show in 2020, Lim Young-woong is a popular trot singer. He won all of the awards he was nominated in at the 2020 AAA including a Daesang (Grand Prize) for the Trot of the Year category.

GOT7’s Bambam

GOT7 won their first Daesang (Grand Prize) at the 2019 AAA and have won the Performance of the Year Award back to back in 2019 and 2020. Bambam has also previously hosted the Asia Song Festival 2021.

Wonho

It should be noted that when he was with Monsta X, he and his group won three awards at AAA including the Artist of the Year Award in 2018. The 2021 AAA will be Wonho's first award show as a soloist.

Kang Daniel

The soloist ties with Zico as the only male idol with the most wins at AAA with five awards.

Kwon Eunbi

Eunbi was the leader of the popular group IZ*ONE before they disbanded. She debuted as a soloist in August.

Woodz

Soloist and former X1 member Woodz made a comeback with his third EP ‘Only Lovers Left’ in October.

AleXa

The female soloist won the Focus Award at the 2020 AAA.

Enhypen

The popular rookie group is nominated for the Male Idol Group Popularity Award and U+ Idol Live Popularity Award this year.

Pentagon

They got their first AAA award in 2020 by winning the Best Icon Award.

Golden Child

The boy group came back with their repackaged album ‘Ddara’ in October.

Brave Girls

The girls are seeing newfound fame after the chart reversal of their 2017 song 'Rollin'.

Momoland

They won several awards at AAA like the Best Icon Award and the Rising Star Award.

Cosmic Girls CHOCOME

Cosmic Girls aka WJSN won the Rising Star Award in the same year they debuted -- 2016. The CHOCOME sub-unit consists of Luda, Soobin, Dayoung and Yeorum.

Weeekly

The rookie group went viral with their popular song 'After School'.

STAYC

The rookie group have been dominating charts with their latest release 'Stereotype'.

Itzy

Everglow

Jeon Yeo-been

She's known for her role in 'Vincenzo'.

Sung-hoon

He shot to fame with the K-drama 'My Secret Romance'.

Girls' Generation's Yuri

The idol actor's recent acting project was the sageuk 'Bossam: Steal the Fate'.

 

Park Gun-il

He was part of the second-gen K-pop group Supernova and has acted in dramas like 'Lonely Enough To Love'.

Ryu Kyung-soo

He was in the popular K-dramas 'Lovestruck in the City' and 'Itaewon Class'.

UKISS' Jun

The idol actor was in the K-pop K-drama 'Imitation' and is now once again in a drama about K-pop titled 'Let Me Be Your Knight'.

Lee Do-hyun

After the success of 'Sweet Home' and 'Youth of May' he's in the upcoming drama 'Melancholia'.

NCT's Doyoung

The K-pop idol made his acting debut with 'Cafe Midnight' and his musical debut with 'Marie Antoinette'.

Park Joo-mi

After 'Gangnam Beauty', she made her comeback with the popular drama 'Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce)'.

Joo Seok-tae

He was in the K-drama 'Undercover' and had a guest appearance in 'The Devil Judge'.

Cha Ji-yeon

She played the villain in 'Taxi Driver' and was in the musical 'Red Book'.

DKB

DKB is a rookie boy group that just released their first single album 'Rollercoaster'.

T1419

The rookie boy group are nominated for the 'Male Idol Popularity Group Award' at AAA 2021.

Kingdom

Kingdom just came back with their third EP 'History of Kingdom: Ivan' that peaked at #14 on Gaon Album Chart.

Blitzers

The boy group debuted in May 2021 and had their first comeback in September with 'Seat-Belt'.