BTS reaffirmed its seat on the throne as the K-pop kings, taking home the grand prize at the 27th Seoul Music Awards on Thursday.

It capped off an impressive run for the K-pop juggernaut, which had already taken home the grand prize at the Golden Disc Awards earlier this month, along with artist of the year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and song of the year at the Melon Music Awards in December.

“We started off small – the seven of us – because we liked music and we admired those on stage, and that led us here,” the band’s leader RM said after receiving the award, thanking BTS’ official fan club Army.

IU took the record of the year award with “Palette,” and Yoon Jong-shin’s “Like It” took song of the year. The best new artist award went to Wanna One, Chungha and Pristine, while EXO took home a Hallyu special award.

The Bonsang award – which recognises top K-pop artists of the last year – went to BTS, EXO, Twice, Red Velvet, GOT7, BtoB, Black Pink, Nu’est W, Bolbbalgan4, Seventeen, Wanna One and Super Junior.

NEW YORK – A former teen model has accused illusionist David Copperfield of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 1988 after he judged a modelling competition in Japan that she took part in.

Copperfield, 61, said in statements on Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday that he had been falsely accused of sexual misconduct in the past and was about to “weather another storm”.

Hours later, entertainment news website The Wrap published the allegations by Brittney Lewis, who said Copperfield invited her to one of his shows in California after meeting her at the September 1988 competition when he was 32 and she was 17.

It was during that trip that she was drugged and assaulted, The Wrap quoted Lewis as saying.

“He was kissing my face and then I remember him starting to go down on my body with his face,” the website quoted her as saying. “I just completely blacked out.”

The next morning, “he wanted me to know that nothing happened because I was underage,” Lewis was quoted as saying.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the allegation. Lewis could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Copperfield spokeswoman, Staci Wolfe, declined to comment on Lewis’ account.

“As you know, David made a statement about #MeToo on his social (media), but we are not going to comment about this story,” Wolfe said in an email, referring to the #MeToo online movement by victims of sexual harassment or abuse.

Multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against male actors, filmmakers and agents have roiled Hollywood since October 2017, leading to many major players being fired, forced to step down, or dropped from creative projects.

In the United States, the scandal has also engulfed men in politics, business and the workplace, inspiring the #MeToo movement.

Copperfield was accused in 2007 of sexual assault by former beauty queen Lacey Carroll, but the case was eventually dropped with no official explanation.

In his online statements praising the #MeToo movement, Copperfield asked the public to reserve judgment when someone is accused of sexual misconduct.

“Imagine what it’s like, believing in the movement, and having also been falsely accused publicly in the past,” Copperfield wrote on Instagram.

“While I weather another storm, I want the movement to continue to flourish. Always listen, and consider everything carefully, but please for everyone’s sake don’t rush to judgment.”

Copperfield, whose real name is David Kotkin, is famed for illusions including making the Statue of Liberty disappear and walking through the Great Wall of China.

NEW YORK – After several near misses and heaps of outrage, this could finally be hip-hop and R&B’s year at the Grammy Awards on Sunday (Monday, Jan 29, Singapore time) where rappers Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar dominate nominations for the top prizes on the biggest night in music.

Rap is now officially the biggest music genre in the United States after surpassing rock in 2017, but the odds are historically stacked against a hip-hop artist winning album of the year at the Grammys.

“Hip-hop and black music in general has really had its finger on the pulse of the American temperament for the last few years,” Ross Scarano, vice president of content at Billboard magazine, told Reuters.

“There is a sense that maybe this year some of the wrongs will be righted. I think people are looking to Kendrick and to Jay to do that,” Scarano said.

In the 60-year history of the most prestigious honours in music, only two hip-hop albums have ever won album of the year; Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1999 and Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004.

Lamar, 30, whose fusion of jazz, poetry and blues with social themes and love songs has made him one of the most innovative rappers of his generation, missed out in 2016 with his critically acclaimed album To Pimp a Butterfly.

This year, he is back with album of the year nominee Damn and record of the year entry Humble.

A year ago, British pop star Adele’s 25 swept aside Beyonce’s influential Lemonade, a win that stunned even Adele.

This year, Jay-Z, 44, was nominated for album of the year for 4:44, in which he examines the infidelity that was so scathingly detailed by his wife Beyonce in Lemonade.

Scarano said the fact of Jay-Z “getting down on his knees, so to speak, and baring his soul really resonate in a year where we’ve seen a lot of men taken to task for really objectionable behaviour.”

Jay-Z goes into Sunday’s ceremony in New York with a leading eight nominations followed by Lamar (7), Bruno Mars (6) and Childish Gambino, the alter ego of actor Donald Glover, with 5.

Ed Sheeran was snubbed in the album, song and record of the year categories despite his romantic pop album Divide being the biggest seller of 2017. That omission leaves only New Zealand-born singer-songwriter Lorde’s album Melodrama and the Latin global hit single Despacito to mount a serious challenge in the top races.

However, the Grammys are not just about the winners. In a three-hour live show where careers can be made or damaged, performers include Miley Cyrus, Elton John, U2, Sting, Kesha, Rihanna, Sam Smith, SZA and Broadway star Ben Platt.