The 2026 The Fact Music Awards revealed its special stage lineup on August 19, promising fresh takes on hit songs, cross-group collaborations, and several first-ever live performances ahead of the September 19 ceremony in Busan.
FAQ
When are the 2026 Fact Music Awards?
The ceremony takes place September 19, 2026, at Busan Asiad Main Stadium.
What songs will the opening stage feature?
xikers will perform BTS’s “Hooligan,” CLOSE YOUR EYES will take on NCT DREAM’s “Beat It Up,” and tripleS will perform aespa’s “LEMONADE.”
Which artists are teaming up for a duet?
TREASURE’s Jihoon and KiiiKiii’s Jiyu, both from Busan, will perform a duet built around this year’s “Shine on, Dream One” theme.
A Cover-Heavy Opening Stage
Rather than opening with a single headliner, this year’s ceremony hands the opening slot to three fifth-generation groups performing covers of established hits: xikers taking on BTS’s “Hooligan,” CLOSE YOUR EYES tackling NCT DREAM’s “Beat It Up,” and tripleS covering aespa’s “LEMONADE.” Pairing newer acts with songs from some of K-pop’s most established names is a deliberate structural choice, using the ceremony’s biggest opening spotlight to introduce younger groups through material audiences already know.
A Hometown Duet With Real Meaning
TREASURE’s Jihoon and KiiiKiii’s Jiyu share more than a stage for their duet — both artists are from Busan, the city hosting this year’s ceremony, giving their performance a hometown angle built directly into the show’s “Shine on, Dream One” theme. Staging their duet against a backdrop of Busan at night ties the performance directly to the host city in a way few award-show collaborations manage, turning a cross-group pairing into something more personal for both artists.
Firsts Across the Board
Beyond the opening stage, both xikers and ATEEZ are preparing performances of songs they’ve never performed on a music show before, giving longtime fans genuinely new content rather than a repeat of promotional-era stages. CLOSE YOUR EYES goes a step further, debuting an entirely unreleased song live for the first time — a notable risk for a group still relatively early in its career, choosing to premiere new material at one of the year’s biggest award ceremonies rather than through a standard comeback rollout.
Why the Fact Music Awards Matter
The Fact Music Awards has built its reputation less on trophy prestige and more on delivering some of the year’s most memorable live stages, often using the ceremony as a venue for surprise collaborations that wouldn’t happen anywhere else. This year’s lineup, heavy on cross-group pairings and cover performances rather than each act simply performing their own discography, continues that pattern and suggests organizers are again treating the show as a live-performance showcase first and an awards ceremony second.
What to Expect From the Full Show
With the special stage lineup revealed a full month before the September 19 ceremony, expect additional lineup announcements, including further collaboration pairings and the full list of award categories and nominees, to roll out over the coming weeks. Based on past years, ticket and broadcast details for international viewers typically follow closer to the event date.
A Packed September for K-Pop Awards
The Fact Music Awards’ September 19 date lands during an already busy stretch for K-pop award ceremonies, with multiple major shows typically clustering in the back half of the year. For artists like xikers and CLOSE YOUR EYES, landing a spot on this particular show’s opening stage represents meaningful visibility during a season when attention across the industry is especially divided.
Why Cover Performances Carry Weight at TMA
Choosing to open the show with covers rather than original material is a specific TMA tradition rather than a budget-driven shortcut — the ceremony has built a reputation over the years for pairing newer acts with songs from established groups specifically because the format lets viewers judge a rookie or rising group’s stage presence against material the audience already knows by heart. A strong cover of a beloved BTS, NCT DREAM, or aespa track tends to generate its own viral moment independent of the group’s own discography, giving acts like xikers and tripleS a shot at reaching viewers who might not otherwise watch their original comeback stages.
That structure also explains why the show leans so heavily into cross-group pairings rather than solo sets throughout the night. Collaborations and covers photograph and clip better for social media than a standard promotional stage, and TMA’s production team has increasingly built its lineup announcements around exactly those shareable moments rather than treating them as a bonus on top of a more conventional award-show format.
Looking for more K-pop news this week? Check out ShowPulp’s coverage of BOYNEXTDOOR’s new Japanese single “Boom Boom Boom.”
