Red Velvet's Irene faces intense criticism for her live vocals during encore performance of 'Biggest Fan': "It's really shocking"

Red Velvet's Irene is currently going viral for her polarizing live vocals during a recent performance.

On April 10, Irene won first place on 'Music Bank' with her latest solo release 'Biggest Fan.' The win was an exciting achievement for Irene, as the first Red Velvet member to achieve a solo win on any music show. Even more impressive, Irene's win occurred in direct competition with BTS's 'SWIM' - marking an unexpected win over one of the world's top global groups.

While Irene's solo win was a thrilling milestone for both Irene and many fans, her encore performance of 'Biggest Fan' quickly gained attention for polarizing reasons. 

Irene's live vocals immediately became a controversial topic, with many criticizing her singing skills and calling her performance 'off-pitch.' Others are defending Irene, with some netizens saying the lack of back-up vocals in the live performance makes a big difference in the overall sound.

"She must be tone-deaf"

"Is this song actually SUPPOSED to sound like that...? SM is a huge company—why did they give her a song like that? Surely they must have plenty of better songs"

"After listening to the original version, wow... it turns out the backing vocals make a HUGE difference in this song. The backing vocals really step in and fully fill out those parts that feel a bit empty"

"Honestly, she doesn't have the skills to be a soloist. It's actually kind of amazing that she managed to promote solo, and even win first place, with that level of skill after being in the industry for so long"

"She did make a mistake in the middle part, but overall the song really is supposed to sound like that, haha. Still, it's difficult to say she did a 'good job' considering how many years she's been active"

"The fact that she seems so embarrassed about it makes her seem even worse—not that she isn't already performing badly, anyway"

"Her pitch is completely off. The actual song basically stays on a single note the whole time, but she can't even hit THAT single note consistently"

"It's surprising how little her skills have improved, considering how many years she's been in the industry"

"She's usually known for having decent vocals, but it feels like she just missed the pitch this time"

"The original song actually does sound like that, but because she unnecessarily laughed in the middle and looked kind of awkward, it makes the listener feel awkward, too"

"Honestly, there isn't really much difference compared to how she sounds in Red Velvet's songs..."

"It's really shocking"

What did you think of Irene's live performance?