IVE’s Rei and MONSTA X’s Hyungwon took center stage at the Asia Star Entertainer Awards 2026 (ASEA 2026), held on May 16 at Belluna Dome in Saitama, Japan.

Rei returned for her second consecutive year as MC, opening the night with a bold short haircut transformation. She appeared in a white dress during the first part of the show and switched to a pink dress in the second, drawing attention throughout the ceremony.

Building on her experience from ASEA 2025, Rei led the event with more confidence and ease this year. Her chemistry with co-MC Hyungwon added a lively energy to the stage, while her interviews with attending artists stood out for her quick reactions and smooth switching between Korean and Japanese.

Beyond hosting duties, Rei also marked a major milestone with IVE winning the “THE PLATINUM” main award for the second year in a row. The group’s recent success includes strong chart performance, multiple music show wins, and global reach through their ongoing world tour.

Rei shared that returning as MC and receiving the award with IVE made the moment especially meaningful, crediting fans for their continued support.

Meanwhile, Hyungwon also returned as MC for the second year, where he guided the ceremony with calm and steady hosting. He impressed with his refined visuals and smooth delivery, wearing white for the first part and black for the second.

Hyungwon also received the “Top Touring Artist” award with MONSTA X, adding another highlight to the night. He expressed gratitude to fans and shared excitement for MONSTA X’s ongoing world tour and the upcoming unit comeback.

The night placed both idols at the center of ASEA 2026, balancing hosting duties with major career milestones on the same stage.

IVE turned up the scale of their second world tour and delivered one of their biggest moments yet in Japan.

The six-member group, IVE, held their “SHOW WHAT I AM” concerts at Kyocera Dome Osaka on April 18 and 19, drawing around 79,000 fans across two sold-out nights. The shows marked their first time performing at the venue, with even limited-view seats opened due to overwhelming demand. Following their Tokyo Dome encore during their first world tour, the group once again proved their growing global presence with another successful dome run.

The concert opened on a striking note. Against a grand LED backdrop, the members appeared in silhouette before launching into “GOTCHA (Baddest Eros),” powered by a strong live band sound. The momentum continued without pause through “XOXZ,” “Baddie,” “Ice Queen,” “BLACKHOLE,” “TKO,” “Holy Moly,” and “My Satisfaction,” filling the massive venue with high energy.

A key highlight came from the solo stages, where each member brought a distinct identity to the show. Jang Wonyoung set the tone with the sleek “8,” followed by Rei’s bright “In Your Heart.” Liz delivered a powerful vocal performance with “Unreal,” while Gaeul added a dreamy touch with “Odd.” Leeseo impressed with “Super ICY,” and An Yujin closed the segment with the commanding “Force.” Together, the stages expanded the group’s color and showed six different sides within one team.

Reuniting on stage, IVE raised the energy again with “♥beats,” opening the next segment with a fresh mood. Gaeul, who took part in choreographing the track, shared that she wanted to create a strong and impactful transition for the second half, which drew loud cheers from the crowd.

The biggest moment of the night came with the first-ever performance of “Lucid Dream,” the title track from their upcoming Japanese album set for release on May 27. Yujin described the song as a space where one can face themselves honestly, rather than escape reality, and introduced the key “nemu nemu” dance, which quickly excited fans in the arena.

Anticipation for the album had already been building after news broke that “JIGSAW,” another track from the release, was selected as the theme song for a TV Tokyo drama. The limited edition album will also feature artwork by renowned horror manga artist Junji Ito, adding to the buzz around the project.
As the show moved toward its finale, IVE kept the momentum strong with “WOW,” “FLU,” and “ATTITUDE,” before delivering a powerful run of hits including the Japanese version of “LOVE DIVE,” “REBEL HEART,” “I AM,” and “BANG BANG.”

Fans were not ready to say goodbye. Responding to loud encore chants, the group returned with “Wild Bird,” followed by “Fireworks,” pushing the atmosphere even higher. They closed the night with “After LIKE,” wrapping up a 180-minute show on a bright and celebratory note.

With their successful takeover of Kyocera Dome Osaka, IVE once again showed their expanding range and commanding stage presence. Their journey continues with an upcoming show at Tokyo Dome on June 24, marking another milestone in what continues to be a growing IVE phenomenon.

In celebration to Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 10th anniversary, #LikeMAMA campaign has been launched today (23 October 2018) dedicated for all MAMA lovers to participate in dream and enthusiasm of MAMA. The first week of the campaign welcomes the global boyband, BTS who breaks worldwide records and continuously re-writing their own history.

 As the start of #LikeMAMA campaign, two video clips featured BTS's SUGA and V were published on 2018 MAMA official website. During the individual interview, SUGA and V shared their stories on how they successfully overcome their challenges and reached beyond goals at the same. SUGA and V further shared their future goals and also the new challenges they are facing. 

SUGA said, "It was scarier than happy to overcome a tough challenge with the achievements beyond the set of goals. It made me work harder with a sense of duty at Billboard Hot 100, The Grammys and more" 

V, however said, "My biggest challenge and mission is to show new, different and exciting performances at every stage for our songs."

Followed by SUGA and V, #LikeMAMA campaign will continue to share RM and Jung Kook's interviews on 24th October, lastly, Jin, J-hope and Jimin's interviews on 25th October.

MAMA will continue to review interviews of other artists who have contributed to MAMA and music industry. From the interviews, the artists will share their own definitions and feelings for “Challenge”, “Passion”, and “Dream”, which are the themes of 2018 MAMA. V recalled in the interview, “I still remember the thrills and excitement on my first stage at MAMA.” Through their exclusive interviews, fans will be able to find out special meaning and diverse stories behind MAMA.

In addition, MAMA offers an opportunity for fans to witness 2018 MAMA live. Among fans who share their own challenge, passion or dream in writing on social media platforms with hashtag #LikeMAMA until 30th November 2018, the one with the most votes will win 2018 MAMA ticket package (ticket and related expenses included). For more details of #LikeMAMA campaign, please visit 2018 MAMA official website(www.2018mama.com).

2018 MAMA will progress as “MAMA WEEK” starting off at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Korea as “2018 MAMA PREMIERE in KOREA” on Monday, 10th Decemeber. Then, it will move on to Saitama Super Arena in Japan as “2018 MAMA FANS' CHOICE in JAPAN” on 12th December. Lastly, it will be happening at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong as “2018 MAMA in HONG KONG” on 14th December. Fans can start voting for each category via the official website of “2018 MAMA”. Online voting will officially start from 6pm on Thursday, 1st November 2018 (KST) until 12 midnight on Sunday, 9th December 2018 (KST).

Organized and presented by CJ ENM, Asia’s biggest music awards MAMA has been started off in 1999 as “Mnet Music Video Awards” for more than 10 years supported by the Korean music industry. It has been developed and transformed to MAMA in 2009 and this year has come to its 10th awards ceremony. Being held in Macau in 2010 was a benchmark of MAMA’s first overseas achievement, since then it has been held in Singapore and Hong Kong. It was an astonishing attainment for the first ever MAMA to be held in three regions last year in Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong. Not only has MAMA become a significant year-end music awards ceremony, it has developed into an extravagant international music event. It has also simultaneously created an international communication/crossover network for music exchange which made MAMA gained recognition in Asia’s music industry and its communication network.