Sports Chosun reported that female idol Annie (member of Allday Project) has been confirmed to be the MC for MBC's year-end music festival "MBC Gayo Daeons 2025", which will air on December 31.
This year, Annie accompanied 2 male MCs, Minho (SHINee) and Hwang Minhyun.
This is Annie's first solo activity since his debut, and will also be Minhyun's first official activity after his military discharge (he is expected to complete his military service on December 20.
For Minho, this is the 4th year the male singer has taken on the role of MC for MBC Gayo Daejejeon, after 2018, 2023 and 2024.
But what the public is most interested in is Annie replacing YoonA (SNSD) - who has hosted the program for MBC Gayo Daejejeon for the past 10 years.
YoonA's parting ways with MBC's year-end music festival were previously announced. However, Annie is not among the names predicted to replace her senior.
Because in terms of reputation, YoonA has many years of experience hosting programs and is also a famous star in the Korean entertainment industry. Therefore, fans expect a worthy face to follow the actress.
Meanwhile, Annie has only been active for less than half a year and has no experience as an MC for any program, even on small stages.
Therefore, being chosen as the MC for a major music festival has caused Annie to be mocked on social media with the phrase "Nepo baby" - only those born into famous and rich families often achieve quick career success thanks to relationships and privileges from their parents.
In fact, Annie's talented background has always been a hot topic since the debut of the group Allday Project.
The female idol born in 2002 is the daughter of Chung Yoo Kyung - Chairman of the department store business of Shinsegae Group, the largest luxury retail and distribution empire in Korea.
Annie's grandmother is Lee Myung Hee - Chairman of Shinsegae Group and the youngest daughter of Samsung Group founder Lee Byung Chul.
Recently, the change in criteria of the 2025 MAMA music awards, combining the male and female rookie categories into the general category "Best New Artist" has caused controversy.
Because if the old category division method is followed, Allday Project is a mixed group for men and women and will not be nominated. But according to the new criteria, Allday Project was nominated along with many other music groups such as CORTIS, Hearts2Hearts, izna, KickFlip...
The audience believes that the MAMA organizing committee is "torturing" Allday Project, creating conditions for the group to have a chance to win an award, because the member's family background is the girl group Shinsegae Group.
It is undeniable that Allday Project has caused a stir in Korea right after its launch. However, the group's international achievements are inferior to some other new recruits.
