From TWICE to BTS Jimin, Kpop artists are hindered by “encore punishment”
To current Kpop idols, winning at weekly music shows feel more like a curse than an honor due to the encore segment.
According to reporter Park Sang Hoo of jTBC Entertainment, the “encore” segment for winners on music shows has become a “punishment”.
In particular, the reporter wrote in a recent article, “The encore stages on music shows are hindering idols. When the place to receive congratulations from fans and enjoy together is turned into a place to assess singing skills that have been honed so far, the worry and pressure about the encore stage seem to be increasing.”
For live broadcast stages on terrestrial and cable television, most performers use MR (Music Recorded), including pre-recorded vocals and chorus parts, for reasons such as difficult choreography or adjusting conditions due to a packed schedule. On the other hand, the No.1 encore stage almost completely eliminates all pre-recorded parts, thereby showing the “real” singing ability of each member.
As a result, the interest of K-Pop fandom in encore stages is increasing. In fact, most online communities not only post reviews of artists’ encore videos, but also attempt to subjectively evaluate the singing ability of each member.
A member who performs live stably on the encore stage may seize the opportunity to be recognized for their skills, but those who cannot sing become targets of criticism. Some netizens also make malicious and derogatory comments, mocking idols who perform live with unstable tones.
Park Sang Hoo then cited some encore performances that have received harsh criticism from netizens, with TWICE being the most notable example, alongside BTS Jimin and most recently, LE SSERAFIM.
“When the issue of idols’ live singing continues to be a persistent problem year after year, most K-Pop artists are stigmatized as ‘Idol Performers.’ Some even sarcastically suggest that there should be a Singing Ability Score in the No.1 Cup competition on music shows”, the reporter wrote.
Source: JTBC
