The 2023 MAMA awards ceremony took place two extremely successful nights in Japan. One of the artists who received the most attention despite not appearing at the awards ceremony is Jisoo (BLACKPINK).
With her solo debut song Flower, Jisoo brought her the first 3 MAMA awards in her career including: Best Female Artist, Best Music Video and Best Dance Performance Female Solo (Best female solo artist’s dance performance).
However, winning the Best Dance Performance Female Solo award caused Jisoo to encounter some controversy. Accordingly, right from the moment of releasing her solo debut MV Flower, BLACKPINK’s eldest sister received mixed opinions about her dancing ability in the MV. Many opinions at that time said that Jisoo danced stiffly like a “robot or a piece of wood” and was completely “engulfed” by the dancers in the MV or on the performance stage.
Other comments also compared with other members of BLACKPINK when commenting that Rosé has the voice, Lisa stands out with her dancing, Jennie knows how to attract the audience but Jisoo always dances like “answering the lesson” and there is only one person. The main strength is “fairy beauty”. Therefore, when winning the Best Dance Performance Female Solo award for the best dance performance, Jisoo was considered less worthy than the remaining nominees.
Previously, after winning 3 awards at MAMA 2023, Jisoo thanked her fans on her personal Instagram story: “Today is really a happy day for me because I got to see snow and hear a lot of news.” fun. BLINKS, thank you for always making me happy. I think this year is a perfect year for me. This is my first solo album – ME. Thank you for waiting and loving Flower.”
Netizens show controversial opinions regarding the performance of BLACKPINK member Jisoo at the 2023 Coachella.
On April 15th (local time), BLACKPINK made history by becoming the first Kpop act to headline at one of the world’s largest music festivals, Coachella. After BLACKPINK’s performance, US media outlets continuously praise their stages as magnificent and explosive, worthy of a global female music group.
Overall, it can be said that BLACKPINK made an impressive start to “conquer” Coachella. But, naturally, not all audiences are convinced. In particular, several netizens have been nitpicking the appearance of Jisoo, comparing her to other members, and making rather scathing comments.
Coming to Coachella 2023, BLACKPINK prepared a setlist of 18 songs and added many cool dance moves. In the first act of their performance, the girl group appeared dazzlingly in the dim light with black and pink clothes and delivered stages of “Pink Venom”, “Kill This Love”, “How You Like That”, “Pretty Savage”, “Kick It”, and “Whistle” back-to-back. However, it was here that Jisoo received mixed feedback.
For starters, Jisoo’s outfit was said to not have accentuated her body well, with too many ruffle details and poor form. In addition, several netizens compared Jisoo to other members, claiming that her movements were not as fast and stable. While Jisoo hit all her moves correctly and matched the songs, these netizens simply find the female idol not enough, saying that she was only “adequate”, not “outstanding”.
Then, as Jisoo delivered a solo stage for her new song, “Flower”, Chinese netizens left rather scathing comments. According to them, Jisoo was dressed in elaborate makeup, hairstyle, and outfit, but her beauty was the only thing that shines. Her dance was stiff and facial expressions not impressive, they said, adding that the choreography of “Flower” was the simplest among the four solo performances.
However, netizens from other nations seem to view the performance differently, expressing that they were blown away by the stage presence of Jisoo. In fact, the “Flower” stage at Coachella has quickly gone viral on numerous SNS platforms.
Below are some comments from netizens:
- Stiff body movement, normal expressions, there’s nothing mind-blowing about this, especially when compared to other BLACKPINK members
- Isn’t “Flower” the easiest choreography of them all? How come Jisoo appears the stiffest?
- “Flower” is elegant and light, unlike other choreographies, so there should be no comparison
- Honestly, I think Jisoo is a good performer, but she is not at a “wow level”
- She did enough to rile up the crowd, I don’t get the complaints
On the other hand, Jisoo’s live singing voice was also brought to debate. While the female idol was stable, she was unable to execute challenging vocal parts, and this was revealed through her solo, say several netizens. As a result, while performing “Flower”, Jisoo had difficulty controlling her voice and at some parts, could become unstable.
However, considering that BLACKPINK’s set lasts for a whooping 2 hour
s, with constant dancing and formation changes, a little instability is expected, countered other netizens. In addition, Jisoo boasts a unique husky voice, making it hard for her to reach high tones, so she did her part well enough, they also said.
Nevertheless, at the end of the song, Jisoo did have to change the execution of the high note compared to the original arrangement. This brought a lot of mixed opinions, but the general public pays more attention to Jisoo’s overall energy, which they find little issue about.
Finally, Jisoo’s biggest struggle lies in her limited English skills. Due to this, the female idol was unable to interact well with the Coachella audience, especially when compared to other members.
At the end of their sets, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa, all went viral for their charming interactions that energized the atmosphere, at the same time elevating the crowd’s high with English ad-libs. However, Jisoo was unable to do that, and could only rely mostly on her smiles and eye contact.
Of course, English is not a necessity to BLACKPINK, seeing that they are, in essence, a Kpop girl group. In addition, apart from Jisoo, all members of BLACKPINK have been exposed to the language since a young age, leaving Jisoo with a disadvantage.
Nevertheless, on an international stage such as Coachella, many find English skills to be essential to connect with the audience. However, in the end, it is most crucial that a performer can perform, and the power of music can do the rest of the work.
