Is possible to sing bad in encores but do extremely well in other "live" presentations?

i mean u already answered all your own questions

During actual performances, they can hear themselves through their in-ear monitors. It seems like these are not worn during the encore stage. The speakers are also usually facing the other way. It's not an ideal setting for singing.

I've always assumed that during encores the idols aren't really trying very hard because they're just having fun.

Maybe those "live" aren't actually 100% live

Well we can be honest and say most singers in kpop are not good singers. Other than that, even great singers have their off days. And for the final nail in the coffin, they dont wear their in-ears during encores

Of course it is. You don't fully mentally prepare for a serious performance during encores. They're meant to be for fun, thats why idols always prepare props, or promise fans they'll do certain things if they win.

There's also alot of random stuff going around like the rest of the members goofing around on stage. And encores happen right after you win and you're already emotionally high. There's many factor that effects encores.

I think the pressure of encore stages makes idols very nervous which makes their singing bad but when their not nervous or feel pressured then their singing is okay.

Quote from OnceMidzy4ever

mostly due to illness or drugs

Quote from OnceMidzy4ever

Mmmm. I get they dont put alot of effort like in a real performance, but this is bad singing, below average. Also, they are in front of fans, this people spend their time to go there to see them, they want to hear them singing. Why they dont do a nice presentation if they can? I dont understand how they do so well in all this live presentations, like pros, but in encores they just cant sing, and they know they will have to sing, is not like they stop in the street and people ask them to sing. I can imagine what factor can affect many idols so much that they forget to sing properly in an encore, but later this dont affect them in a live perfomance, dont seem logical to me.

I dont think its a factor of forgetting to sing properly but just that they dont.

Take for example, when I'm singing happy birthday at a birthday party, I don't try to sing like Adele. In fact, I have singer friends and they don't sing happy birthday at even 50% of what they are capable of.

Encores are essentially birthdays. You're celebrating a win. Now if idol choose to sing their heart out, then nothing is wrong with that but we shouldn't bash idols who chooses not to.

OP is on point. I believe many of them are bad singers but their fans of course never accept it.

Of course, it's human nature, I'm not saying they should always sing at their best, but personally, bad encores from kpop turn me off. Kpop had started to bore me in the last 2 months. Then I watched the Song play program again, where the 2nd generation singers gathered. They were trying to interpret and sing each other's songs. This is it, I said, as I was listening to it, I passed out. You feel the emotion and enthusiasm in real singers. Why should I settle for the mediocre and weak performances of most groups when I can listen to better and real singers. At least they should practice for their encore performance. It is not very difficult, many people sing one line or two in parts in the group.

Quote from OnceMidzy4ever

Mmmm. Really? DOnt seem like they are having a good time singing bad, i mean, look their faces.

😂 It's probably just the groups I watch then. A lot of times, they just joke around during the encores so I guess I assumed all the groups did that.

No they're just bad singers. Kpop is filled with so much artifice that fans can no longer discern reality. The only thing you can be sure of is the exorbitant price you will pay for the concert which will be very real.

There’s a mix, isn’t there? Sometimes, they’re genuinely just having an off day… they’ve done a heavily ‘supported’ performance and and are then on the spot with chaos around them, lack of decent in-ear and it just comes across baaad. But, use discretion? How often have they actually sung live and sounded good? If there are enough examples of decent vocals, it’s obviously just a bad day.

Other times, it’s obvious that these performers have barely ever had to sing live and unsupported or had to learn how to harmonise properly *in-person* (a very different skill to doing so in the studio with a recorded track). Just seems a bit cruel to drop them in it then with these encore stages , when the industry is so massively weighted towards lip sync, or very muted mics, live auto tune, or ‘live’ performances which are massively smoothed out in post. The latter is the industry standard even for the best vocalists out there… so now you’re suddenly going to decide that the one measure of a decent performer is how sharp their vocals are in one specific setting only?

All I will say is that the encores are the most accurate sounding and as raw as you could get. In "lives", there are other sound processing already included there.

If you want great live singing, just listen to Morissette and literally ignore every other pop act out there.

Getting into Kpop for live vocals is the height of insanity to me.

Quote from icyruios

One thing to take note is that for live performances, they can hear themselves better because they have their in ears to hear the song properly and tell them when their part is coming

Whereas encore is just music blasting in your face and there might be a lot of echo and makes it hard to hear

So even though it is easier to sing physically during encore because you aren't panting around, it is harder to be on pitch and key maybe

This is a fair point. So this isn't an idol example but when Adam Lambert had that controversial AMAs performance back in the day, he sounded horrible. Everyone knows he is capable of singing amazingly well live with little effort. Aside from his nerves, the acoustics of the place and not being able to hear his in-ears very well with very loud music all contributed to him being completely off-key and pitchy. It was painful to listen to.

Quote from AyanEva

I've always assumed that during encores the idols aren't really trying very hard because they're just having fun.

Sometimes they play around just to hide their bad singing

It is not possible without the technological advances of the past 50 or so years.

If it is something consistent they are just bad singers, excuses like they are having fun and not giving their best or not wearing the in ears are not valid reasons to always have bad encores. They are supposed to be professional singers, ofc they can still have fun while singing and it won't affect their skills to an extreme degree, also the main purpose of the in ears is to protect the ears and getting cues, it won't really have a big impact in the singing and even less in venues like these.

Quote from Donut0808

OP is on point. I believe many of them are bad singers but their fans of course never accept it.

Because they have low standards and are more busy with the teenage fantasies

Quote from Cold_Wave

Sometimes they play around just to hide their bad singing

One thing I've been looking at lately is to see how idols fare when they do First Take (and I guess seeing who avoids doing First Take is also telling). I love my &TEAM but vocals are not a strong suit for a few of them. 😅 They didn't do horribly but also it was...well, some of them need to continue working on that a little more. Most didn't train for very long before debuting though, so there's a lot of room to grow. Maki is a natural talent though, and would definitely nail the encore, as would K and EJ.

Quote from OnceMidzy4ever

Boy, so many put alot of responsability on this in-ears thing. Mmmm, that could be a thing in the first bad encore, but in the next ones? I find hard to believe that people who work so much every day in their skills cant solve this issue in the next encore. THey cant practice before the song in acapella? How other groups dont present this problem? How even some idols in the same group, in the same encore, dont show this problem with their voices?

Honestly some are bad singers but if you can't hear yourself sing and haven't practised singing without hearing yourself, its not going to go well for 90% of singers. Also don't forget, few idols keep attending vocal lessons post debut and the companies don't care because the more time they spend practising, the less time they are making the company money. Even if they work on their singing, they do it whilst being able to hear themselves so they can tell when they are off pitch or flat. Without that feedback or years of constant experience singing when they can barely hear themselves of course they'd struggle.

Around 1:40 of the clip below IU mentions part of her practice for golden hour was to sing with her ears blocked because she didn't know how well she'd be able to hear (note she does have a hearing disorder).

The reason some do have this problem and some don't is probably a mix between not enough training pre or post debut, the idols vocal range and how easy the song is to sing. If the song has loads of difficult sections (or just uses a difficult singing style or technique) and their parts are on the edge of their vocal range, its not surprising they struggle to sing it, especially without hearing themselves. If the song fits easily within their comfortable range without many ups and downs or is talk singing in most parts its easier to sound great in encores.