K-Pop

Vice-president of Starship praised IVE members, yet received mixed reactions

A recent interview of Starship Entertainment’s vice president regarding the debut of girl group IVE is drawing attention.

On January 2022, the vice president of Starship Entertainment had an interview with Korea JoongAng daily, where she revealed a lot of viewpoints regarding girl group IVE.

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Starship’s vice president discussed IVE in a recent interview 

In particular, when asked about the casting process for IVE, the vice president answered, “ During the final audition process, Starship Entertainment examines whether the people auditioning have a unique charm along with basic understanding and skills needed for the industry. IVE is a case where each member has so many different characteristics and charms and has enough qualities to come together in harmony.” 

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Her sharing is facing mixed opinions

Then, she commented about each member of IVE, saying, “We saw in member Yu Jin a potential to firmly support the group by being what we call an “all-rounder,” in that she has an overall holistic set of skills and talents. In the case of Gaeul, she has been working hard ever since she was a trainee, and Rei, who is Japanese, has great command of Korean and a lovely singing voice.”

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Starship’s vice president described Yu Jin as an “all-rounder”
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Gaeul was selected for her hard work 
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Rei has a great command of Korean and lovely singing voice, according to the vice-president 

Finally, she added, “I was attracted to Won Young’s sparkling star-quality character and her constant effort to maintain that quality. Liz’s attractive, clear tone and Leeseo’s seriousness and passion were what caught our eyes.”

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Liz was praised for her attractive and clear tone 
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Leeseo was selected for her seriousness and passion
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Won Young boasts star-quality character 

Unfortunately, these comments from the vice president are attracting a lot of mixed opinions. In particular, several netizens believe that Starship’s casting quality has “gone downhill”, and refer to IVE’s various controversies regarding lip-syncing and vocal abilities. 

Previously on January 5th, KBS News published a compilation video of the hottest recent Kpop news. Among those, the first news to be mentioned was Jang Won Young and Leeseo’s lip-sync controversy, where the two were criticized for not singing live despite only sitting on the stage. 

The broadcasting station even went as far as to add the word “Are they really singers” onto the video’s thumbnail, which features Jang Won Young and Leeseo. A lot of comments under the video also criticized the two idols and expressed their disappointment. 

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Won Young and Leeseo’s lip sync performance was reported on the news 

At the same time, the public also compared Starship’s previous artists with IVE, claiming that the company has gone from cultivating talents to only focusing on appearance. IVE’s vocal abilities were severely lacking, they said, and mentioned that Yu Jin, who the company said is an “all-rounder”, has a long way to go for such a title. Even worse, many said that Jang Won Young was nothing but a “talentless visual”. 

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Many netizens believe that IVE requires more training 

Compared to Starship’s senior female groups SISTAR and WJSN, “IVE is a disappointment”, some expressed. They also advised Starship to have IVE further hone their skills, should the group want to continue in the long-term. 

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SISTAR, a former Starship girl group, was called a “vocal powerhouse”
Hyolyn
Former SISTER member Hyolyn is an irrefutable “all-round”
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WJSN (also known as Cosmic Girls) boasts outstanding talent, and was the winner of “Queendom 2”. 

On the other hand, some netizens still defend IVE against heavy remarks, and said that the members are professionals with grounds for improvements. In addition, Starship’s strategy is “clearly working well”, they commented. 

Source: Yan, Korea Joongang Daily

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