Idol group members get an average of 16s of singing time

DongA Ilbo recently did a study about the duration that idol group members get during their music show performances and their results show that they each get an average of 16s.

The study which was released on the 13th, was based on research done on Music Core (July 10th), Inkigayo (July 11th) and Music Bank (June 25th) on 7 idol groups (SNSD, Super Junior, 4minute, After School, Infinite, f(x), MBLAQ), and the duration of singing time that each member got. The average length of their songs came to around 3m 30s, and if you subtract their harmonization, each member sings just 16s on average.

The shortest average was SNSD’s Oh! whose members get an average of 9.4s. Leader Taeyeon had the longest duration lasting 22s. Maknae Seohyun had the shortest, just 5s. Her lines were “Hey oppa look at me, just take a look at me.”

As for After School’s Bang!, their members Nana and Lizzy had no solo parts at all. Their lines together with the other members amounted to just 8s.

While for Infinite’s Come Back Again, the main bulk of the song fell on leader, Seong Kyu who had 29s. But Seong Jong, Seong Yeol and L only had 1s, 3s and 4s of solos respectively. Seong Jong only had “It’s all a lie” while Seong Yeol sang just “I feel like dying and my head hurts.”

Critics point out that there are more and more instance of idol groups like this where members get just a few short lines. Although they are weak vocally, they make up for it with their looks and talking ability and thus accorded their privileges as “singers.”

Music critic, Im Jin Ho expressed, “If they each only have just a few seconds, they will definitely neglect their primary duty as a singer and skim on improving their vocals. Members who don’t sing a lot will also develop a feeling of being ostracized and this will affect the overall performance of the group, shortening the group’s lifespan.”

Another critic, Kim Jak Ga said, “Example of idol groups not putting in effort on their vocals are increasing by the minute and there’s increasingly less breathing space for the ones who have real talent and vocals to survive now.”

s: http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/07/13/2010071300275.html?Dep1=news&Dep2=headline1&Dep3=h1_12

by: allkpop.com