With the 3 major Korean broadcasters SBS, KBS and MBC deciding to continue having music festivals instead of award shows at the end of the year, the only 2 award shows left for singers was the 2008 Mnet Korean Music Festival (MKMF) held last month and the 23rd Golden Disk Awards yesterday night. At the 23rd Golden Disk Awards held last night at the Seoul Olympic Hall, DBSK, Rain, Wonder Girls, etc all picked up awards. But the biggest surprise of the night was seeing one of the most popular groups currently, Big Bang ending up with nothing at all which naturally caught the attention of many. According to sources, Big Bang did not attend the awards ceremony because of other commitments and thus the organizers decided on not giving them awards. Although a statement on the Golden Disk Award website wrote that 'Singers who do not attend might not be eligible to win awards' but there was always going to be some suspicion over the fairness of the judging with Big Bang not winning anything at all when the results were announced last night. Looking at popularity, Big Bang has released albums like Stand Up, Number 1, Remember in Japan and Korea with title tracks Sunset Glow and Haru Haru amongst the most popular tracks this year; Looking at album sales, the numbers for each album is in excess of 100k with the accumulated total at 400k and above; In the digital realm, Big Bang's numerous songs have achieved a staggering number of downloads and definitely exceeding what the Daesang winner, Jewelry have done for the Digital category. If the reason behind the organizers decision to not give Big Bang anything was because of their non-appearance, then this is unacceptable to many, especially VIPs. VIPs left messages website showing their disappointment and unable to fathom the reason, "Even if Big Bang's album sales are inferior to DBSK, they should at least get the Digital Daesang. I really can't understand why Big Bang did not win anything at all", "If Big Bang had been there, they would have definitely have picked up some awards, it's a pity they didn't go yesterday." source: coolsmuirf link: Golden Disk Awards Winners
