Bibi→Hwasa... Low-quality controversy that erupts at every university festival

Every college festival season from April to May, the words and performances of artists on the festival stage are causing controversy. In the course of a conversation with the audience, he suddenly made a swear word about the school, or he swept an important part of his body with his hand and brought it to his mouth, causing controversy with his excessive 19+ performance. Entertainment industry insiders say that this is the result of artists losing their self-control when they get excited in the special environment of a university festival. This means that university festivals are a major event stage and can also be a risk for artists.

On the 27th, Bibi's remarks about the college festival were controversial on social media such as YouTube. At the Namseoul University High School festival on the 25th of last month, a voice expressing discomfort was heard in a scene where he shouted, "People who hate school? People like School X?" There were many issues raised about the remark being made without regard to time and place, and the use of profanity to refer to the male genitalia in a derogatory manner.

The key problem is that it is unrelated to the context of the performance. The part where the remark appears is the time between songs where the singer has a light communication with the audience. Bibi suddenly shouted, “Who doesn’t like school?” followed by “People like school

Netizens said, “I invited a singer to tell students to have fun with tens of millions of won in tuition, but they are sitting there disparaging the school.”, “It is worthy of criticism to agitate negatively at a ‘school’ festival, which is not another festival.”, “It is not cool and looks rather lacking. “It’s a sad level,” he pointed out.

Hwasa, a member of the group Mamamoo, has also become one of the artists that comes to mind when thinking about ‘festival controversies.’ On May 12 last year, he gave a sensational performance while performing 'Don't Give Me' with rapper Loco at the Sungkyunkwan University festival. Hwasa sat with her legs spread and licked her hand. As he swept up certain body parts, he frowned at the viewers.

As Hwasa's fancam of her stage video spread online, the controversy grew even bigger. It was pointed out that it was too much, as it was not a performance for those aged 19+ or older, and there would have been a wide range of age groups. Netizens strongly criticized Hwasa, saying, "I liked Hwasa's charisma and sexiness that kept the right line, but this time, she definitely crossed the line. It's almost dirty."

While singing ‘Bubble Pop!’ at the Korea Aerospace University festival in September 2019, Hyuna turned around and suddenly raised her skirt. Even though they were called underpants, they were too short, so it became an embarrassing and sensational situation. The video of his performance quickly spread on social media, and netizens made bitter comments such as "Who is this for?", "Why are the underpants so short?", and "It looks ugly."

As the controversy arose, Hyuna said on her SNS, "There was a simple bar or alcoholic beverages right next door. It was a fun and enjoyable party. Don't worry." He continued, “It is not a space for teenagers.” However, netizens refuted Hyuna's explanation, saying, "Even if there are only adults, not everyone will enjoy such a performance."

University festivals are a special stage. The concert can only be viewed by those who have purchased tickets in advance. Every performance has a prepared context. University festivals are different. It is a performance that anyone can see without age restrictions, and it is an impromptu stage with little prior preparation. This means that an unexpected situation can occur at any time. 19+ performances and profanity can be recognized as artistic expressions whenever they are performed in context. If there is no context and you cannot distinguish between time and place, you are likely to become embroiled in controversy over poor quality. There are concerns that the meaning of the university festival will be tarnished by performances by guest singers who sang with university tuition money.

Ten Asia Reporter Lee So-jeong forusojung@tenasia.co.kr