In a recent development on the survival show Universe Ticket, DIA’s Eunchae, also known as Kwon Chae Won, finds herself at the center of controversy following what some netizens are labeling a “malicious edit”of her vocal performance. The incident has led to a wave of criticism directed at the show, particularly concerning the manipulation of Eunchae’s audio.
Eunchae’s initial performance drew disapproval from viewers and judges who expressed disappointment in her vocal delivery. Questions arose regarding the song choice and whether it suited her vocal style, especially considering her role as the main vocalist in DIA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9HfvSQYaac
Over a week after the original broadcast, a fan shed light on the controversy by uploading a comparison between the aired performance and a fancam version of Eunchae’s rendition. The fancam version, capturing ambient sounds and echoes, revealed a stark contrast in Eunchae’s pitch compared to the cleaner, processed broadcast version.
Netizens, expressing their frustration, accused SBS of engaging in a “malicious edit,”alleging that the network intentionally lowered the pitch of Eunchae’s voice in the broadcasted version. Comments on the controversy ranged from disbelief to calls for action, with some contemplating the possibility of legal repercussions.
Critics argued that the editing undermined Eunchae's vocal nuances, erasing the charming way she concluded her notes and creating a misleading impression of off-pitch moments. The severity of the accusations prompted netizens to question the ethics of such editing practices and even raised the prospect of reporting the incident to broadcasting regulatory authorities.
“Isn’t it too crazy to lower one’s skills through corrections?”
“Hahaha. It’s ridiculous.”
“This feels like a complaint”
“It’s not really true that the sound is lowered on purpose.”
“PD has to go to hell again haha”
“Aren’t you crazy? The level that needs to be reported to the
Korea Communications Commission”
“Someone put post-editing in the fancam hahaha. Even if you
just listen to it, the broadcast screen is the sound of the microphone and the
fancam is the sound of the scene. Even though the microphone sound is
corrected, this is the first time I’ve heard of the sound of the scene being
corrected.”
“Eh, isn’t this a lawsuit?”
“No, if this is real, what is SBS?? Why did you deliberately
lower the tone like that?”
“After this, the guy who did trot and musicals was put on a
post-production show, so I thought there must be a trash show like this lol.”
“Wow, instead of correcting the sound, they lower the key
haha.”
“The ending note is an attractive vocal, but after editing
it, it ended up like that. Baby and the main character “Gong”were made to be
out of tune.”
This incident is not the first time a survival show has faced scrutiny for editing a contestant’s voice. Similar controversies have arisen in the past, such as during My Teenage Girl, where editing practices were employed to enhance a contestant’s vocals and introduce auto-tuning, leading to debates on the authenticity of such portrayals on reality television.