2026 MAMA Awards Bring ENHYPEN and Dune, BIGBANG and Dooly Together in Osaka

Osaka prepares for two nights of music and 13 days of fan events

The 2026 MAMA Awards will pair ENHYPEN with the film "Dune: Part Three" and BIGBANG with "Dooly the Little Dinosaur" when the ceremony takes place on November 20 and 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka. Beyond the arena, its first MAMA Fan Festa will run from November 9 to 21 across Osaka and online through Mnet Plus.

Organizer CJ ENM is bringing contemporary artist Lee Bae, veteran duo Panic and Google's artificial intelligence system Gemini into a show built around the theme "A Music Interstellar." The plan connects current idols with older Korean music, animation, contemporary art and a Hollywood film scheduled for release in December.

Actor Park Bo-gum will host both nights and become the awards' first ambassador, taking on a storytelling role that connects the ceremony's two chapters. The awards themselves will also be reorganized: November 20 will focus on artists, while November 21 will focus on songs, performances and other musical works.

CJ ENM says the event will feature its largest artist lineup for a ceremony held at a single venue. That differs from 2024, when MAMA staged events in both Los Angeles and Osaka. This year's expansion is concentrated in one city, with activities stretching well beyond the two nights inside the dome.

For fans, the most immediate change is the schedule. The Osaka festival begins 11 days before the first awards night, creating a longer period for music experiences, stamp collecting and gatherings around the city.

ENHYPEN brings its vampire story into Dune

ENHYPEN's collaboration with "Dune: Part Three" builds on the group's established use of vampire stories in its music, videos and visual identity. Those connected stories, often called a group's universe, give fans characters and themes to follow across different releases.

MAMA plans to connect that fictional world with the science fiction setting of "Dune" through a cinematic stage, a performance that combines music with the storytelling and visual elements associated with film. The timing places the collaboration shortly before the movie's planned December opening.

Yoon Shin-hye, head of CJ ENM's Mnet business division and a longtime chief producer of MAMA, described the preparation for the pairing:

"We're working very hard on preparation to fully showcase what kind of performance may unfold when Enhypen's unique universe meets that of the universe of 'Dune,'" said Yoon.

MAMA has previously used films as the basis for performances. ZEROBASEONE reinterpreted "Romeo and Juliet" in 2024, and the ceremony featured a collaboration involving Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" last year. This year's film partnership brings an upcoming cinema release into that format.

BIGBANG and Panic connect different generations

BIGBANG's collaboration places a group celebrating its 20th debut anniversary alongside Dooly, the Korean cartoon character created in 1983. Dooly began in a comic serialized from 1983 to 1993 and became a familiar figure through animation.

Yoon said the pairing was intended to connect audiences across age groups:

We hope you'll look forward to seeing how BIGBANG and Dooly come together. It will be a moment that brings generations together.

Panic will provide another connection to earlier Korean popular music. Singer and songwriter Lee Juck and rapper Kim Jin-pyo debuted as the duo in 1995, the same year Mnet launched. Their April 2026 concert, their first standalone concert in about 20 years, sold out.

The duo will perform with CORTIS members Martin and Seonghyeon, WOODZ, ZEROBASEONE's Kim Tae-rae, ALLDAY PROJECT's Woochan and Hearts2Hearts' Yuha. The grouping puts musicians who began working in the 1990s alongside artists from much newer acts, making collaboration across generations part of the performance itself.

Lee Bae and Gemini bring two approaches to making art

Lee Bae, known for his work with charcoal, will take part in a collaboration connecting Korean contemporary art with music. Organizers are linking the material and his artistic themes of disappearance, creation and cycles of time to the ceremony's wider concept.

Yoon said the collaboration is intended to direct some of the global attention surrounding K-pop toward Korean art. She described its message in these terms:

It visually expresses the message that art and music take on new meaning within the cycle of time," she said. "I hope K-pop fans around the world will newly discover the value of Korean art through this show.

Google's Gemini will also support stage production, beginning with the opening and continuing through performances. Gemini is a generative artificial intelligence system, a type of software that can create material in response to instructions.

CJ ENM is placing that technology alongside a stated interest in human craftsmanship. Yoon explained that the growing pace of digital development had prompted the team to consider the value of work made through human effort, time and care. Lee Bae's participation gives that idea a place in the show, while Gemini represents its use of newer production tools.

The songs for the special collaborations, Dooly's method of appearing onstage and the precise material Gemini will help create have not been disclosed. Those details will determine how the announced partnerships become performances rather than simply names on a program.

What changes in the awards across the two nights?

November 20, called Chapter 1, will center on artist categories. Its awards include Fans' Choice Top 10, newcomer awards and categories for male and female solo performers and groups.

November 21, Chapter 2, will turn toward musical works and performances. A new Best Song Top 10 category will join vocal and dance performance awards, genre categories, and recognition for music videos and albums.

Previous ceremonies separated fan voting categories from main prize categories across the two days. The new arrangement instead groups awards around the people making the music on the first night and their creative work on the second.

Fans' Choice has used entirely fan voting to select winners since 2018. CJ ENM added the MAMA Super Fan program in 2024, allowing fans to participate in the Fans' Choice nomination process. Park Chan-uk, head of CJ ENM's convention business division, said about 690,000 people applied to the Super Fan program this year.

Who will perform, and how will Park Bo-gum connect the show?

The announced November 20 lineup includes ENHYPEN, NCT WISH, ILLIT, BABYMONSTER, ALLDAY PROJECT, RESCENE and TREASURE. ALPHA DRIVE ONE and INI are also listed for the first night.

November 21 performers include BIGBANG, LE SSERAFIM, WOODZ, IVE, TWICE member Nayeon and CORTIS, with ZEROBASEONE and KiiiKiii also announced for that night. The wider roster includes CL of 2NE1, Hearts2Hearts, Hwasa, &TEAM and izna.

Park Bo-gum has hosted MAMA on multiple occasions since 2017. His new ambassador role gives him responsibility for carrying the central story across both nights, alongside his duties as host.

Yoon described him as a guide through the show's music universe. His involvement connects the new format with earlier milestones, including MAMA's 2022 rebranding and its first event in the United States.

Fan Festa spreads into Osaka's streets

MAMA Fan Festa will run for 13 calendar days, from November 9 through November 21, compared with the two days of the awards ceremony. Planned locations include Kyocera Dome Osaka, the HEP FIVE Ferris wheel, Midosuji Street, Dotonbori and Namba Square.

The HEP FIVE experience will let visitors listen to nominated music while riding the Ferris wheel. Other plans include activities with Dotonbori restaurants, electric bicycle and scooter experiences, stamp collecting and connections with the Midosuji illumination area.

Namba Square will host a welcome and interaction space, with video high-five sessions involving artists among the announced activities. Organizers are also preparing red carpet photo experiences and content showing rehearsals and backstage activity.

Park Chan-uk explained why the program extends beyond the venue:

"We plan to let fans experience MAMA from the moment you arrive in the host city and walk its streets, rather than only when you enter the venue," he said.

Mnet Plus will carry online festival activities as well as the awards stream, allowing fans outside Osaka to take part. Park said the festival was designed to give people opportunities to participate, share their interests and build relationships with fans they meet for the first time.

Why Japan remains central to the event

Shin Hyung-kwan, head of CJ ENM's music content business division, described Japan as the world's second largest music market and a key market in K-pop's growth. He said this year's focus was on new ways to share music globally rather than finding a new host location.

MAMA began in 1999 as Mnet's music video awards, became the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2009 and adopted the MAMA Awards name in 2022. Its current plans extend that development beyond presenting trophies: the ceremony is being used to introduce audiences to Korean art, older music and animation as well as current performers.

The Osaka schedule makes that approach concrete. A fan might encounter a nominated song on a Ferris wheel, take part in a city activity and later watch the same awards program online or at the dome. The festival gives the host city a larger role in the event than providing the concert venue alone.

Sound quality and emergency planning face scrutiny

CJ ENM also addressed longstanding complaints about MAMA's sound. Yoon said the production team had identified differences between audio heard at the venue and sound delivered through broadcasts and digital platforms.

The company is conducting tests across platforms and simulations in matching conditions to reduce those differences. For viewers, the practical concern is whether vocals, instruments and backing tracks remain balanced when a live performance reaches a television, phone or computer.

Yoon acknowledged the criticism directly:

We take that criticism to heart and are continuing to make improvements," she said. "We are working to improve the sound, and we will show that.

Safety planning follows a major fire in Hong Kong that affected last year's MAMA Awards. Park said organizers were preparing responses for different situations, including earthquake manuals organized by intensity level in Japan. A dedicated team at the venue will handle risk management and immediate responses.

The next scheduled milestones are the opening of Fan Festa on November 9, the first awards night on November 20 and the second on November 21. Those dates bring together the city's festival activities, the revised awards structure and the special stages announced for the dome.

Key Points

• The 2026 MAMA Awards will take place on November 20 and 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka, with streaming on Mnet Plus.
• ENHYPEN will collaborate with "Dune: Part Three," while BIGBANG will team up with "Dooly the Little Dinosaur."
• Panic will perform with younger musicians, and Lee Bae and Google Gemini will take part in separate creative collaborations.
• Chapter 1 will focus on artists; Chapter 2 will feature songs, performances and other musical works, including the new Best Song Top 10.
• Park Bo-gum will host both nights and serve as MAMA's first ambassador.
• The first MAMA Fan Festa will run from November 9 to 21 across Osaka and online.
• CJ ENM says it is testing sound across platforms and preparing earthquake responses and a dedicated risk management team.