Girls' Generation's Past Live Singing 'Controversy' Resurfaces: 'The standards were so different...'

Korean netizens brought back Girls' Generation's live singing "controversy," with many discussing how different the standards are for fourth and fifth-generation K-pop groups.

Recently, several K-pop groups have gone under fire for their live vocals. Most recently, LE SSERAFIM garnered backlash for their unstable vocals during their "EASY" encore stage. Several other idols have drawn flak for the same situation, such as TWICE, IVE, and BTS Jimin.

Recently, K-netz has unearthed the time Girls' Generation was slammed for their live vocals, showing the difference in standards between the current generation and second-gen K-pop groups.

K-Netz Bring Back Girls' Generation's Live Singing 'Controversy'

On March 20, 2024, a post, titled "Didn't SNSD (Girls' Generation) get sworn at in the past for being bad at singing live?", was uploaded to a popular South Korean online community forum.

The original poster (OP) noted how, during their debut back in 2007, the girl group received thousands of hate comments telling them to practice their singing more and how they should just call themselves dancers rather than singers.

However, after looking back at videos of their live vocals, all the members were "legendary" and wondered why they garnered harsh criticism.

How Have The Standards For Live Vocals in K-pop Changed?

Several Korean netizens rushed to the comments' section to discuss how different the standards were back then.

In the past, there were many antis among teenagers who were jealous of female idols and found faults in trivial things, such as small cracks while singing. Idols had to sing their songs perfectly to not get hate.

Others also noted that, at the time, idols were not respected as musicians. People believed that idols were not considered singers, so idols would constantly garner backlash over how they sang. It was also a time when ballads were all the rage, so people's vocals had to be in tip-top shape.

Girls' Generation especially had to meet this standard to not get hate, as they were the biggest girl group at the time.

Many pointed out that the members who garnered criticism for their vocals back then could be lead vocals in K-pop now, showing how nowadays, the standards for live vocals have gone down.

It was noted that groups nowadays rely heavily on backing tracks, when groups like Girls' Generation would perform with minimal MR or without any form of backing tracks.

Some comments read:

• "The members who garnered criticism then could become lead vocals now."
• "The public was more strict in the past. Back then, teenagers were so jealous of girl group members that they would roast them for the smallest things, and they had so many haters. The bandwagon hate was also more severe."
• "At the time, you had to sing perfectly live to not get hate. Especially during the time of Wonder Girls, KARA, and Girls' Generation, around 2007–2008, ballads were the popular genre, so the idol industry was shifting. People grew so hateful towards idols."
• "Compared to now, the standards for live singing back then were so much higher. And Girls' Generation was the top girl group, so they got even more hate."
• "Back in the day, there was a strong prejudice against idols. People kept saying they couldn't sing, so they got criticized for everything."
• "The standards are so different now. They were more hated on back then."
• "It wasn't only Girls' Generation. All idols were considered bad at singing, and everyone was getting hated on."

What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comments below!

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Written by Alexa Lopez