Alright, the big three awards are left, starting today with boy group of the year, then tomorrow girl group of the year, and ending with our song of the year. Then we wrap up with my personal list of my favorite songs of 2020 to ring in the new year. Stay tuned to the hub page to see when those come up (our uploads have been fairly late in the day, and our website is ahead of me in time zone which I only just fixed, so it says some articles were posted a day late, but they’ve been on time). Anyway, onto the show!
9. Super Junior (Scores: 9,9,3 | Average: 7)
The oldest group on our list, these vets have been around longer than a few of the younger guns combined. Super Junior has actually put out a ton of content this year, which is pretty great to see given how long they’ve been around. The biggest moment for them was the debut of their long awaited vocal subunit, KRY. A number of the members have also become popular in other fields, with variety being a home for a number of them, like Heechul and Leeteuk.
8. Golden Child (Scores: 7,5,9 | Average: 7)
Speaking of active, Golden Child has had three full comebacks, proving that they are completely unhindered by Covid, and they’ve done some pretty cool music along the way. The highlight is definitely right at the start of their year, Without You is a stellar song, with a really interesting approach to musicality, including a fantastically subtle use of a music rest. The rest of their music didn’t quite keep pace with their start, which lands them just beating Super Junior in the tie for 8th.
7. Stray Kids (Scores: 8,6,5 | Average: 6.3)
Stray Kids is a group that gets some of the loudest hype in Western audiences, and just like last year’s Miroh, they have had another song that people have really lifted up with God’s Menu. While I’m no 5-Star Michelin, I am technically a casual music critic, and I’m not sure where I stand with God’s Menu, besides loving the DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-DU, the rest of the song really passed me by, with Back Door’s chorus and beat actually grabbing me way more. I also feel that Stray Kids is oversaturated, just too many comebacks, it’s basically the reverse Blackpink.
6. Got7 (Scores: 6,4,7 | Average: 5.7)
I feel like this year Got7 really moved into feeling like truly classy and professional veterans, leaving behind that old feeling of chaotic energy for a new cleaner look, and it works for them. Not By The Moon was a fantastic start to their year, and Breath was a great song, and even Last Piece is solid, although the worst of the three for me personally. Their variety presence has been really different than it used to be, but in a nice and fresh way, JB going full zen mode during Weekly Idol is one of my favorite variety moments of the year.
5. Oneus (Scores: 5,3,8 | Average: 5.3)
Oneus has had a quiet year for me, but has been championed by Chelsea all year long, and after sitting down and listening through their songs, and watching their videos, they deserve a lot of credit. Oneus has definitely found where they thrive, in a more artsy thoughtful, concept heavy style. A Song Easily Written is probably my favorite release of theirs this year, but Come Back Home is also really good, and a pretty great music video. I will also speak towards my love of b-side Dizzy, which I have done early in the Manelies, it’s tons of silly fun.
4. N.Flying (Scores: 4,2,6 | Average: 4.0)
Speaking of silly fun, here’s N.Flying, a bundle of talent wrapped in a tornado of pretty dorky excitement. Ignoring 2 Idiots being a top tier idol Youtube channel, N.Flying has put out an impressive amount of normal music mixed with covers, and in fact, are by far the best cover group of the year overall, and I believe that opinion extends through all of the panel, the quality and quantity is just that high.
3. Seventeen (Scores: 3,8,1 | Average: 4.0)
Seventeen hit a nice stride this year, taking their music back a bit from their too cool for school era and getting goofy again like in their early comebacks, and it’s been a ton of fun. Left and Right is the best example of letting loose and having fun while still doing a very interesting and engaging music video. It’s actually really well shot and planned out, with clever shots that feel like nonsense coming together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. Home;run was also a huge hit for Celina, being one of her favorite songs of the whole year, and her favorite Seventeen song as our Carat representative.
2. NCT (Scores: 1,7,4 | Average: 4.0)
NCT is quite the cheat of a group to have, given that they have more members than a small company’s trainee pool, and more subunits than most companies have groups. That said, they had a great year, with a massive pool of music that really leaned into their classic swag style. Kick It started the year out with one of the grooviest dances, between that and Itzy’s Wannabe, the iconic dance quota for the first half of the year was instantly met. My personal favorite was Birthday Song though, musically fun and interesting to listen to, with the iconic “I can do this all day” and again because it’s a super good music video, a beyond weird trip, but a really well made one.
1. Ateez (Scores: 2,1,2 | Average: 1.7)
Ateez is popular among the panel, we actually were going to all go together to see them live before their tour got cancelled due to Covid, which left all of us bummed out, we still are bummed out. They’ve had a fantastic amount of content and great songs, I could list all of those songs, but that feels like it would get a little bit too long. We also really liked their use of Youtube this year, having each member take a type of video that they wanted to make, and just doing it, resulting in food reviews, ASMR, music covers, and a bunch of things inbetween. Also, Ateez, are THE GROUP to keep your eye on going forward, with booming sales putting them in contention of being a top 5 selling boy group just two years into their career, which means there is a ton of room to grow. Congratulations Ateez for winning out 2020 Manely for Boy Group of the Year, this is definitely well deserved.