K-pop kings BTS win four MTV Europe Music Awards at virtual ceremony

K-pop kings BTS. (Courtesy)

K-pop stars BTS picked up four prizes at the MTV Europe Music Awards on Sunday, including best song for “Dynamite” and best group, capping a year in which the Korean band underlined its status as a major global act. The group’s first English-language song, Dynamite logged nearly 34 million U.S. streams and 300,000 sales in its first week, making BTS the first Korean act to debut at No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The seven-member band also snagged MTV awards for best virtual live act and the biggest fans, although the coronavirus pandemic meant there was no audience and no ceremony to mark their achievement. Instead, the music channel created a virtual stadium full of waving and cheering fans for the event, with acts appearing in pre-recorded performances from wherever they were located and winners accepting awards to camera. British band Little Mix hosted the show, without member Jesy Nelson who was reported to be ill. They appeared on a computer generated stage within the “stadium”.