Yes, you read that title right. We are going back to 2024 for two nights with MBC’s (delayed) Gayo Daejejeon. This end-of-year festival was filmed on New Year’s Eve, but its broadcast was postponed after the tragic Jeju Air Crash. At the time, I assumed the festival would air a week — maybe two — after its recording date, but producers decided to shelve it until this week’s Lunar New Year. I guess this makes sense given how the festival has always been centered around New Year’s celebrations. And really, this feels like the official kick off to K-pop’s 2025. The industry has largely forfeited the month of January and I expect the idol comeback floodgates to open from this point on. Even so, as someone who has watched (and written about!) this festival for a decade now, it feels very weird watching it at the end of January.

Usually, MBC’s festival is aired in two parts on a single night. This time, they’ve decided to split the broadcast between two days so I’ll be following suit and offering a separate countdown for each night. This will allow me to spotlight more acts and see which night I found to be the strongest.

As a huge TWS fan, I was excited to see Dohoon taking a rookie host slot alongside veterans Yuna and Minho. That’s a big deal, and I also think it’s a good idea to pair seasoned hosts with a novice. The contrast provides opportunity for some interesting dynamics. I know I’m biased, but he did an excellent job. Very natural!

To match this rookie energy, the theme of this year’s festival is “Wannabe”… as in, “I wanna be a star.” And right from the opening with its montage of clips featuring current idols when they were young children with dreams of stardom, I’m buying what MBC is selling here.

Since tomorrow will be featuring most of the year’s bigger/more established acts, night one is devoted mainly to rookies and trot singers. I’m okay with the former since many of my favorite groups of the moment are in their first or second year of promotions, but I can’t say I was  as enthused with the trot singers. However, I appreciate the tradition and the fact that they’ve always been a big part of MBC’s festival.

Thoughts on notable stages that didn’t make my ranking:

Yuna (ITZY) x Karina (aespa) x Sullyoon (NMIXX) – Pocket Locket

I’m not familiar with this song but it felt like a missed opportunity for this power trio to choose something a bit more dynamic.

fromis_9 – Supersonic

I wanted to put this on my list since it was their final performance as a full group and the members were clearly emotional at the end, but I wish Pledis had let them do something special rather than a relatively straightforward music show stage.

8. Mark x Lee Youngji – Fraktsiya

This would probably be higher if I enjoyed the song more. It gets on the list because of their energy and the staging, which was some of the most dynamic of the night.

7. NewJeans – Right Now + How Sweet + Hurt

I really like the jazz version of Right Now. Their music actually works really well in that setting. The dance break into How Sweet was also a real treat. Chairography will always win the day. From here, the performance was more standard, but I still thought this was a solid medley.

6. TWS – Plot Twist

I think there’s a been a remix/rearrangement in every single one of TWS’s year-end and award show performances (of which there have been many!). That’s seriously impressive on their team’s part. Plot Twist seems to be the hardest of their singles to remix. I personally want to hear a heavy EDM or rock mix that totally reinvents the song. This performance definitely wasn’t that, but it was quite cute. Bringing in the kids was a fun addition.

5. Lee Eunji x Lee Youngji x Mimi (Oh My Girl) x An Yujin (IVE) – Fire + I Am The Best

This was an interesting team-up! Two idol singers, a rapper/singer and a comedian. It’s kind of amazing it worked as well as it did. They had excellent material to work with, though. I’m enjoying the 2NE1 love at this year’s festivals. And of course, I can’t move on from this comment without mentioning Eunji’s drop into the splits during Fire!

4. CRAVITY – Now Or Never

I haven’t been giving CRAVITY much love on these year-end festival round-ups, but they’ve done a nice job re-imagining Now Or Never in many different ways. This “piano concerto” version was the best yet. The song itself isn’t my favorite, but I love the drama.

3. NMIXX – See That?

By now, you all know that I’m a sucker for a rock remix. I don’t find See That super engaging as a song, but it improved vastly by adding a live band. This was also a great opportunity to showcase the group’s strong vocals. The dance break was fun, too.

2. Dohoon & Shinyu (TWS), Taesan (BOYNEXTDOOR), Hao (ZEROBASEONE) – Time Of Our Lives

These are some of my favorite people working in K-pop right now singing a monster hit that has reinvigorated DAY6’s career and legacy. What more could you ask for? It was the perfect opening for the show and the guys sang with such gusto. An instant mood lifter.

1. BOYNEXTDOOR x ZEROBASEONE – Mr. Mr. + Playing With Fire + No.1

Three great girl group/female soloist tracks performed by two of the best fifth gen boy groups. It’s disappointing that Riwoo was missing from BOYNEXTDOOR’s performance. His vocals would have fit Playing With Fire so well. Still, this is the kind of special medley I covet on these year-end festivals. The No.1 team-up finale was a big highlight. It’s an incredible song to start with and it’s so fun to watch it performed by a group – or in this case, two groups!