LE SSERAFIM Kim Chaewon’s “Coachella off-pitch video” spreads “Disappointing vs Malicious editing”
The controversy surrounding LE SSERAFIM's Kim Chaewon's performance at Coachella is intensifying among netizens
LE SSERAFIM (Kim Chaewon, Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha, Hong Eunchae) attracted attention by performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the largest music festival in the United States, on April 13th (local time).
During their performance, LE SSERAFIM presented a total of 10 songs, including “ANTIFRAGILE”, “FEARLESS”, “UNFORGIVEN”, “Perfect Night”, “Smart” and “EASY”, for about 40 minutes, garnering enthusiastic responses from the audience.
LE SSERAFIM’s debut at Coachella, just a year and a half after their debut, set a new record for the shortest time for a Korean singer, sparking discussion. The overwhelming popularity and topicality surrounding their stage were evident from the massive crowd gathered to witness their performance.
Interest in LE SSERAFIM’s Coachella performance was also high in Korea. Videos of their performance were uploaded in real-time on various online platforms and communities, sparking diverse opinions.
While praise for the scale of the Coachella stage, the band sound arrangements as well as the intense and grand performances continued, there was also a growing negative sentiment due to the spread of videos maliciously editing Kim Chaewon’s stage scenes.
In a short video of about 10 seconds, Kim Chaewon can be seen hitting a high note. The title of the video pointed out “off-pitch”, highlighting Kim Chaewon’s mistake and forming a negative public opinion.
As Kim Chaewon has been praised for her stable vocal abilities within LE SSERAFIM, opinions on this video are even more divided. Comments such as “disappointing“, “was this the best she could do?” and “seems like she was very nervous” criticize her skills.
However, there is also a significant amount of support for Kim Chaewon, dismissing the malicious editing. Comments such as “she’s singing while performing, this isn’t even off-pitch“, “judging only one part of the entire performance is malicious“, “it’s realistic and actually good” and “she doesn’t deserve the hate” express sympathy.
The diverging reactions of netizens towards Kim Chaewon’s performance at Coachella, as well as the live skills of LE SSERAFIM as a whole, suggest that debates surrounding them will continue.
