Mnet held its annual 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards on December 11. The Korean awards show has awards for Asian artists out of Korea and K-Pop. One of the awards is “Best New Asian Artist – Mandarin”, which was awarded to Anson Lo (盧瀚霆), a member of the Hong Kong boy group, MIRROR, for his song, “Megahit“, which currently has over 8.7 million views on Youtube.
Upon learning he got the award, Anson Lo wrote on IG: “I’ve never thought in this lifetime that I could see my name at the MAMA awards ceremony. Grateful to every person who has always supported me. Thankful for each performance and job opportunity. I hope more more people can know about Hong Kong music, know Hong Kong singers, and know MIRROR. I will continue to work hard. Thank you so much.”
Anson Lo didn’t attend the ceremony nor give a pre-recorded speech. There was no prior notice that Anson Lo would be getting an award. So it was a surprise for fans just as much as it was for Anson Lo. Some netizens also made the distinction that Anson Lo is a Cantopop singer and sings in Cantonese.
Anson Lo debuted as a member of MIRROR in 2018 through a boy band survival show competition, “Good Show – King Maker” (全民造星), on ViuTV. Since then, the group has overtaken Hong Kong by storm. Anson Lo also had a great solo year with his songs charting high and starring in the remake of the hit Japanese series, “Ossan’s Love”, which was also highly successful in Hong Kong.
Credit: hk01, Anson Lo IG
makes me sad that Koreans don’t know the difference between canto and mandarin
You’re right, it’s quite ignorant of them. While HK is technically a part of China. I’m not sure why they call it “Mandarin” instead of just “Chinese”.
I just went to check this group out on YT to see what the fuss is all about. I listened to 6 songs, which seem to be nothing special. None of them are particularly good looking. They seem to be talented individually but when they do the group dances, it looks messy. I don’t get what’s with all the fanfare.
They are all mediocre. I think Hong Kongers simply want to cling to some kind of newer local celebrities and have pride in local ‘talent’, but Mirror cannot even reach the calibre of the Korean idols they’re trying to mimic with their severe lack of vocal and dance training. Their live performances are weak and none of them have that star factor. However, since they’re the new ‘hot’ celebrities of Hong Kong, they’re everywhere and people keep buying into the hype just because they’re popular. They’re really not all that.
I thought they were mediocre too. I mean, their dancing seems much better than the boy/girl groups HK used to push out. But I completely agree, they’re nowhere near Korean groups, who train as a group for years and have much cleaner dances that are actually in sync. This guy in the picture actually looks kind of plastic. I don’t know if it’s just me, but his face looks very unnatural.