ARMY's vocal talent gets more attention than the singer! Why is Jungkook SEVEN's encore stage so popular?
Let's hear it for all of you
My singer's encore. It's a time for both the singer and the fans to enjoy the joys of first place, so they scream even louder. They've heard and sung the song hundreds of times, so they perform it like it's their own. It's a bonus to be able to overcome the song's owner with a microphone.
It's a familiar route, but it also goes backwards. After all, world stars have different encores. BTS's Jungkook, who recently visited Korea, was the center of attention.
BTS's Jungkook released his solo song "Sevvn" on the 14th of last month. "Sevvn" is an English-language song with lyrics about wanting to be with your loved one for a whole week. "Sevvn" is a "summer song" that combines an addictive melody, warm-sounding acoustic guitar, and rhythms from the "UK garage" genre (electronic music created in the UK in the early 1990s).
Showcasing the sweet vocals of a world star, "Seven" went straight to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 upon its release, the second such achievement for Team Jimin, whose debut song went straight to No. 1 on the Hot 100. Not only that, but it also entered the UK's official Top 100 singles chart at No. 3.
After promoting "Seven" on top broadcasters and radio stations in the U.S. and the U.K., Jungkook visited his Korean fans on the 30th of last month. His surprise SBS 'Popular' music broadcast schedule had Korean ami (fans) excited. Although unexpected, the competition was fierce and those who managed to get 'tickets' enjoyed Jungkook's only Korean stage.
Jungkook's stage was pre-recorded, so we didn't know if he would make it to the main broadcast, but he did, and he performed for the fans who showed up when the pre-recorded video was shown alongside the interview.
Standing next to fellow #1 nominees and juniors NCT Dream and NewJins, Jungkook was surprised by the unexpected announcement of #1. He looked flustered, as if he hadn't expected it at all, but thanked the fans for giving him the trophy.
And then came the encore, which is now a top trending video on YouTube. It's still ranking strongly on its third day.
Jungkook's performance was a treat for the ears, with his voice sounding clearer than the pre-recorded version, but there was a huge issue beyond his singing ability.
Ever the stage presence, Jungkook handed the microphone to his fans and said, "Sing along!" as they chanted at the top of their lungs the lyrics to "Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday," which is the English repetition of the days of the week.
Maybe it was because they were shouting this part of "Seven," the easiest part of the song, too loudly, that they ended up hitting the high notes with a single note (?). In inverse proportion to Jungkook's overwhelming performance, AMI's huge encore chants took over social media and the community.
In fact, the encore stage of music broadcasts has been infamously criticized as the "graveyard of idols." Nowadays, idol music broadcasting stages play music similar to AR (All Recorded) instead of MR (Music Recorded), which removes the singer's vocal parts.
Even though it's not an official recording, it's recorded at a lower quality to make it sound like a live performance, or it's a song with a big chorus, but it's a problem to play MR during the encore.
By singing to a song with only an accompaniment, the raw vocals were exposed as they were. In today's idol music, where performance is emphasized, 'raw vocals' have become a terrifying thing for singers.
Nowadays, the stage that should be filled with happiness after winning the first place has become a 'dreaded presence', so Jungkook's encore was a breath of fresh air. Many people said they hadn't heard an encore like this in a long time, and he even took the time to dance with his dancers.
However, along with the praise, Ami's sprinkling of chants has created a more intense issue: the "encore controversy," which is a funny controversy that the subject of Jungkook's stage is Ami.
Ami's explanations were also posted all over the community, starting with a post saying that they wanted to "remove Ami" instead of "remove MR." Ami responded with a fierce defense, saying, "Ami's main vocalist, 'Aminem,' is not a rapper," and "It's because it's an English song, so it's difficult." This explanation also became a hot topic and added to the topic.
Jungkook also joined in, saying on Weavers Live that day, "The company informed me. There's a controversy about the encore, and the members..." He couldn't finish his sentence, contradicting his earlier post on Weavers that said, "Our members are good at singing!!!".
There was one part of the encore that he couldn't resist: the voice at 3:37 in the video, a voice that drowned out everything else. The ripping 'Monday Toesday' gave Jungkook pause, and Weavers said, "Who is the one person who sang the encore 3:37..." as he desperately searched for it.
The fans wittily responded, "How can you change your mind so easily after singing so well?" and "Jungkook, shhhh." Then we searched for him together. The person at 3:37. There was even a debate among fans about whether or not this could be called a 'seongdeok' (successful dduk). It was said that he was not a normal person who could create such a topic.
Eventually, YouTube, where the encore video was posted, even stuffed "3:37" into its pinned comments. Now it's time for it to go viral. Even foreign ARMYs found out about it, with one saying, "It's like we're singing Korean songs," to which we responded with consolation.
There was a new "positive atmosphere" at the encore stage, which was always criticized. Especially the fourth generation idols such as Ive, LeSeraphim, and NewJins were criticized for improving their performance skills, but their singing skills were at a serious level. When it was time for the encore, they didn't look happy, stood stiffly, and barely sang into the hand microphone.
As the criticisms continued, idols would spend their time talking to fans instead of singing during encores. While fans would shout that it's much better to interact with the singers during encores, the general audience would see it as a slap in the face, like comments that the singers were pretending to enjoy themselves to avoid singing when in reality they weren't enjoying themselves at all.
It's also been criticized that this attitude actually makes the singers feel smaller, even though they're actually more talented.
The fan encore controversy was a fun twist on the whole thing, and I wonder if there's ever been an encore that's been more enjoyable for both the fans and the singers to watch? Let's look forward to a No. 1 without any more 'controversy'.
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