Tiffany Young of girl group Girls’ Generation weighed in on the quality of junior K-pop groups’ performances on South Korean music shows. The K-pop veteran recently appeared on an episode of MBC’s talk show Radio Star and discussed the differences between her generation’s acts and current groups on the scene today. New acts seem half-hearted during rehearsals on music shows, the singer said.
“Back in the day, we would give it our all on stage, striving to catch the camera’s attention regardless of our position. However, now there’s this thing called ‘fancam’ that covers each member of a group,” she said per SBS Star.
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She explained that due to this, idols no longer have to make as much effort to stand out during performances to get more camera time, and they now appear to be “quite relaxed.”
“I was surprised to see how half-hearted these days’ K-pop groups are in rehearsals. It made me wonder, ‘Why aren’t they putting in more effort? Was it just a sound check?’,” she continued. “But apparently, they just don’t put much effort into rehearsals these days […] I don’t want to be a boomer, but, you know.”
As for her thoughts, the singer was unafraid to be open about what she believed in: “There’s a saying that goes, ‘First time, last time, every time.’ It means one should always approach things as if it’s their first and last time doing them. I think artists should approach rehearsals that way.”
Young was born in 1989 in San Francisco, California, to Korean immigrant parents. The Korean-American singer, songwriter, and performer rose to fame as a member of Girls’ Generation, considered one of the pioneering acts who helped expand K-pop’s popularity in the West during the late 2000s/early 2010s. She was part of the group from its debut in 2007 until 2017. After leaving Girls’ Generation, Young released her first U.S. solo EP, Over My Skin, in 2018. As a solo artist, she became the first U.S. citizen to have back-to-back #1 hits on the K-pop charts.
Her debut full-length studio album, Lips on Lips, was released in 2019 and reached #4 on the World Albums chart. It also debuted at number nine on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart and number thirty on the Independent Albums chart. The EP was certified Platinum in South Korea a week after its release.
During her Lips on Lips Mini Showcase Tour in March 2018, she promoted the EP across eight cities in North America and won Best Solo Breakout at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2019, becoming the first female Korean artist to win a music award from iHeartRadio. Young was appointed House Ambassador of the Italian luxury fashion house Moschino in August 2023.
