K-pop awards season always brings sharp fan scrutiny once the lists drop. Nominations for the 2026 MAMA Awards landed on October 12 and quickly sparked discussion among BTS supporters.
The group appears in several major categories. These include Best Male Group, Best Vocal Performance Group for SWIM, and Best Music Video for 2.0. Album of the Year recognition also went to ARIRANG. Yet Best Dance Performance Male Group and Best Choreography lists leave the act out.
One X post that gained traction put the point directly. User @urmisope wrote that BTS “didn’t receive a nomination for MAMA best dance performance male group despite meeting all the criterias & having the chance to win it with many points. If it’s based on stats then why?” The post tagged the official Mnet account and drew thousands of likes plus over a thousand reposts in early snapshots. Other fans echoed the same surprise, pointing to recent choreography in tracks like SWIM and 2.0.
Mnet has not issued a public explanation for the choices. Official posts simply listed the nominees across categories.
Best Dance Performance Male Group features ATEEZ’s BAD, BIGBANG’s BiiiG, BOYNEXTDOOR’s Hollywood Action, CORTIS’s REDRED, RIIZE’s Do Your Dance, Stray Kids’ This & That, TWS’s OVERDRIVE and ZEROBASEONE’s TOP 5. Best Choreography nominees are ILLIT’s IT’s Me, ATEEZ’s BAD, CORTIS’s REDRED, IVE’s BANG BANG and Yena’s Catch.
Published rules show Best Choreography is judged entirely by the jury. Other performance categories blend jury scores with streaming, download, and sales data. Eligible releases ran from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. Soompi, UPI, and additional outlets confirmed the full slate matching these details.
BTS remains one of K-pop’s defining acts. The septet built its reputation on precise group choreography and high-energy stages that helped expand the genre worldwide. Their latest cycle continues that focus even as members balance solo work and group projects.
The current nominations still give them strong shots at several daesangs and main prizes. Fan voting for Fans’ Choice categories opened the same day on Mnet Plus and runs through late October in the first round.
The ceremony itself is set for November 20 and 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka. Global streams will air on Mnet Plus. Whether the dance questions linger into the show or fade once winners are named remains open.
The conversation stays on the lists themselves and what the published criteria do and do not explain.
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![The global icons are pictured posing together behind the scenes at Estadio San Marcos. The K-pop supergroup BTS [Entity] is captured backstage during the South American leg of their highly anticipated global comeback series. Members RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook stand tightly grouped under dramatic backstage lighting, modeling an avant-garde ensemble of coordinated monochrome outfits. Their stage attire features intricate black-and-white splattered and distressed patterns, layered over textured white and cream fabrics, complemented by distinct dark sunglasses worn by several members.](https://pakistaniart.pk/media/c/x_250,y_0,w_1000,h_1000,c_crop/w_220,q_auto,f_auto/pakistaniart/image-1791562532159)
