According to Korean media reports on October 22, Annie, a member of the group Allday Project, has been selected to host the year-end show “MBC Gayo Daejejeon 2025,” sparking mixed reactions.
Yoona, the former member of Girls’ Generation and actress, hosted “MBC Gayo Daejejeon,” which is broadcast annually at the end of the year, for the past ten years. Yoona stepped down from her position as host last year, and Annie will now take on the role.
Annie will host “MBC Gayo Daejejeon 2025,” which will air on December 31. Despite having no prior experience hosting music programs, fans are looking forward to seeing her performance at this year’s Gayo Daejejeon.
Meanwhile, Annie is the eldest daughter of Shinsegae President Chung Yoo Kyung and the granddaughter of Lee Myung Hee, Chairwoman of the Shinsegae Group. She gained significant attention as a new “chaebol family” idol after debuting with the five-member co-ed group Allday Project.
Allday Project has emerged as a prominent rookie group, simultaneously topping domestic music charts and music show rankings with their debut title tracks “FAMOUS” and “WICKED” released in June.
“Gayo Daejejeon 2025” will once again close out the year on the last night of December. As a festival that embodies the year in Korean pop music across genres and generations, it will be produced by Jang Woo Sung, the producer of “Show! Music Core,” in celebration of the end of 2025.
Korean netizens responded positively:
- “She’ll be with Song Mino and Hwang Minhyun, both experienced — it’s fine to have one rookie.”
- “How refreshing!”
- “I couldn’t even imagine Annie as the MC!!!”
- “Aww, Yoona not returning is sadㅠㅠ”
- “I was thinking of Mingyu or Sullyoon hahaha daebak.”
- “That’s amazing, I wouldn’t have thought of that. I don’t think it’s bad.”
- “I feel like it suits her and she’ll do well. If you’ve seen her on radio shows, she’s good at talking. She also matches well with stage dresses.”
- ““Wow, look at these people full of inferiority complexes subtly putting her down by talking about her “background”…ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ When a rookie boy group member did it last year, they only congratulated him… sigh, what’s wrong with these jealous girls seriously.”
- “Oh, I think she’ll do great!!!!! Congratulations!”
International fans, however, criticized the decision, accusing the event committee of favoritism:
- “I could accept Wonyoung replacing Yoona at some point; she has MC experience, popularity, and visuals, but Annie is a rookie. There’s no way nepotism didn’t play a role.”
- “It’s not that I dislike Annie, but this is too obvious — changing award show rules and suddenly making her a host of a huge event when she’s never hosted before. It’s like a tragedy for those who flatter the big corporations .”
- “I just know whoever becomes the new one definitely has big shoes to fill, because Yoona’s 10-year career hosting this event was just DAMN.”
- “Rookies replace veterans all the time, and that’s fine, but for someone with zero hosting experience to jump straight into a year-end show — that’s another level of nepotism.”
What do you think?
