{"id":52647,"date":"2025-10-03T04:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/52647\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T04:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:06:11","slug":"what-is-k-pop-really-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/52647\/","title":{"rendered":"What is K-pop really about?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Girl <\/p>\n

Girl group aespa performs \u2033Rich Man\u2033 on ABC’s \u201cGood Morning America\u201d (1975-) in September. [SCREEN CAPTURE]<\/p>\n

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Every few months, a familiar controversy hits K-pop. An idol act takes the stage abroad, delivers a somewhat stripped-down or seemingly lip-synched performance and the internet erupts \u2014 they can\u2019t sing, they can\u2019t perform without the spectacle.
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This time, it\u2019s girl group aespa. But behind the repeated criticism lies a deeper question: in an industry built as much on fan engagement, visuals and storytelling as on music itself, what exactly should K-pop idols be judged on?
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SM Entertainment\u2019s aespa has become the latest K-pop act to face scrutiny over an \u201cunderwhelming\u201d showing after performing \u201cRich Man\u201d on ABC\u2019s flagship morning program \u201cGood Morning America\u201d (1975-) on Sept. 12 without any backup dancers or the dynamic camera work typical of Korea\u2019s music show programs. Visible mistakes and occasionally uncoordinated choreography fueled a wave of criticism online.
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\"Girl <\/p>\n

Girl group aespa delivers its acceptance speech at the 39th Golden Disc Awards, which took place on Jan. 4 and 5 at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]<\/p>\n

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Most of the negative reactions under the performance video on YouTube, predominantly written in Korean, center on the group\u2019s choreography, which many viewers described as awkward and disorganized under the program\u2019s straightforward, unembellished filming style.
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\u201cIdols are indeed products crafted by numerous experts,\u201d wrote one user, earning some 6,700 likes as of Thursday, indicating that without the visual polish provided by elaborate stage production, idols appear noticeably less charismatic.
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\u201cI feel solemn after watching this\u2026 Why did they do this?\u201d wrote another user with 8,000 likes.
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The quartet is hardly the first to be caught in the crosshairs. Illit, Le Sserafim, Blackpink\u2019s Lisa and even BTS have all, at different points, been criticized for live stages that failed to meet expectations.
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It\u2019s a familiar controversy that resurfaces every few months, with similar criticism resurfacing as well \u2014 pointing out that K-pop idols struggle to hold their own without elaborate staging such as intricate camera work, booming backtracks, a bunch of backup dancers and spectacular stage effects that often define their high-octane performances.
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\"Members <\/p>\n

Members of girl group Le Sserafim pose for photos during a showcase held on March 14 at the Yes24 Live Hall music venue in eastern Seoul for the group’s fifth EP “Hot.” [DANIELA GONZALEZ PEREZ]<\/p>\n

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But it also raises an uncomfortable question at the heart of the industry of what K-pop is really about.
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For some, the genre\u2019s foundation lies in music and performance, or the pure ability to command a stage. For many others, it\u2019s a larger package where concept, production, fashion, choreography and active fan engagement weigh as heavily as performance ability.
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If stage presence is truly meant to be the alpha and omega of K-pop idols, why does it feel like the expectations keep rising everywhere and not just for the music itself?
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The most explosive recent example came with Le Sserafim\u2019s Coachella in April last year, when the group drew massive backlash for uneven live vocals \u2014 something that was occasionally brought up by critics while pointing to aespa\u2019s latest performance.
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While Le Sserafim’s controversy focused on vocal issues, and aespa’s centered on overall stage execution, the underlying critique remains similar at its core\u00a0\u2014\u00a0they were seen as falling short of expectations for delivering a polished, well-rounded performance, a standard often assumed to be basic for anyone who considers themselves a singer.
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Following the widely criticized performance of Le Sserafim, music critic Choi I-sak, who described the controversy as \u201cthe biggest singing skill scandal in Korea\u2019s history,\u201d noted that the performance overall was compelling, as the quintet delivered an intense set list coupled with powerful choreography that inevitably strained the vocals.
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\"Girl <\/p>\n

Girl group Le Sserafim made its Coachella debut in 2024 [COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL YOUTUBE]<\/p>\n

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\u201cI believe K-pop needs to be more honest about how demanding too much from singers has led to the long-established system of \u2018division of vocal labor,'” Choi wrote on her social media account at the time.
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BTS\u2019s RM noted in a 2023 interview with El Pais that the K-pop system can be dehumanizing in some aspects, as trainees are pushed from a young age to perfect choreography, vocals and visuals all at once, while also noting that it is this very system that makes the genre distinctive.
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Industry insiders acknowledge that the bar has only risen higher amid the rapid expansion of K-pop\u2019s audiences and fan base over the past decade.
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\u201cThe standard of audiences watching K-pop idols\u2019 performances has gotten higher, so what idols deliver needed to follow as well,\u201d said a source from a K-pop agency who wished to remain anonymous as she was not authorized to speak on behalf of the company.
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While conceding that meeting those expectations is part of an artist\u2019s job now, the source added, \u201cAt the end of the day, they are all humans \u2014 I do think the overall sentiment shared among fans has gotten extreme, as there\u2019s little tolerance or understanding for human limitations.\u201d
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\"Girl <\/p>\n

Girl group aespa [SM ENTERTAINMENT]<\/p>\n

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Girl group aespa performs \u2033Rich Man\u2033 on ABC’s \u201cGood Morning America\u201d (1975-) in September. [SCREEN CAPTURE] \u00a0 Every…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-52647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}