I get why they do it.
But its a weird concept when there are so many people out there fully capable of excelling in singing and dance.
Why do certain group members get hate based on their skills?
It's because the company recruiter saw them somewhere and asked them to begin training even if they have no skills or at most just some dance experience.
Sure, kpop groups are fine. Many are talented. But when I think about how powerful groups could be if they didn't have "filler members"..you know, the ones who don't sing well
I get why they recruit people based on visual- which isn't just street scouting, it's also about letting people pass through an audition based on their visual and less based on their skills
I get why they do it. They know the public just eats up the visual members and flocks to them so they want to use the formula that they already know works.
But kpop isn't modeling. The only place where street scouting makes sense is for models.
Alteast, in America, no musician/actress is ever street scouted. I personally don't see why they should? All it does is perpetuate the idea that a celebrity should look a certain way, when it should be more about the particular skills.
It's not really the idol's fault per se when they become poor singers because they were literally grabbed off the street or they were allowed to join the company after auditioning, despite not singing well.
And then of course they garner criticism, rightly so. I mean you can't blame people for criticizing idols who don't sing well when it's one of the main 3 skills an idol should have. (singing, dancing, personality/being skilled at fan interactions)
All this does is create a vicious cycle. Visual people debut in groups despite often having supbar skills and this leads more goodlooking people out there to feel the idol world is for them despite them not knowing much about singing and/or dancing. And it goes on and on and on.
It's not that you shouldn't debut good looking people lol. It's that you shouldn't debut people who aren't above average in both singing and dancing. There should be higher standards, I feel. Why dilute talent of a group?
This is a concept I've only seen in Asia tbh. Even in India people who are good looking are just automatically told "oh wow you should try acting". That's why every beauty pageant winner ends up getting a film offer. But why?? Keep things separate. Sure sometimes someone is talented and can pull it off. Most of the time, nope, they're not. Even in the Philippines. In China. In Korea. Everywhere. But I personally don't see why the standards for skills should be lowered and the standards for looks higher.
I think if people aren't good singers or dancers but are physically charming, they should certainly be models. I can name many tbh.
Where did this idea began that if someone is good looking they should be a singer or actor?
I guess I'm just surprised because in the US not a single pretty girl or handsome guy is encouraged into being an actress or singer. Model, yeah.
Any famous singer worked their a** off at small performances in community centers and whatnot until they finally got a record deal. That's why they exude so much passion on stage, they have given their whole life to it. Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Rihanna, even all of the ex-Disney stars are all talented. Sure, they're good looking, but that's not it. I'm not saying people shouldn't be conventionally attractive. Unfortunately, that's the way this world is. Pretty privilege exists. It helped all of those people I mentioned. But it wasn't the only thing they had going for them.
I can see that same passion and fire and skills from SO many kpop idols as well.
I'm just talking about the ones who can't even reproduce a single recorded song live or sing poorer than the average person who doesn't even do it as a job. When I see idols being asked to sing a part of their song live, to promote it, it personally irks me seeing them be like "ummmm no this member will sing instead!" ... "no no why don't you sing your line?? " and everyone looking so nervous and in the end they all laugh and no one sings. Come on..it's your job!! People are paying you to do this!! It's not even funny.
I get that being an idol is about being an entertainer/performer and less about being a musician. But I still don't agree with pushing people out there who can't sing well. Talented members are just as charming and have just as good personalities.
If a visual member is also a decently good singer and dancer (Heejin, Jinsoul, Kyulkyung, Jungkook, V, Nayeon, Suzy, Krystal) then by all means debut them.
There are few occasions of someone being street scouted and ending up being an amazing singer. I can think of Jessica Jung. She went from no prior singing/ dancing experience or knowledge of kpop even, to being a main vocal. Amazing. Rose, who went from only vocal experience and never having danced- to being a great dancer.
Most of them time, no. People start off as being bad singers or below average at the beginning of their training and at the end of it they are only still below average, but they have improved. It's just not enough to me. Especially when there are so many wonderful talents out there- competition shows/ cover singers on youtube, show you that.
If you want to street/internet scout someone, take someone who is passionate already, atleast.
Thoughts?
I understand that visual members are often stan attractors. But as we have seen, groups with no filler members or designated visual members have made it big. Sure it helps for them to be there but its not necessary.
