Le Sserafim performs on the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on Saturday. Captured from YouTube

Le Sserafim took the stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival's second weekend, delivering a performance that was a significant improvement from its initial showing, which faced some criticism due to the quality of the singing.

The Saturday show, however, still used pre-recorded versions of the group's songs in its live performance, in addition to live singing.

Viewers' comments ranged from praise such as "much better than last week. They must have practiced a lot" to criticism about their reliance on recorded tracks, with some saying it made up "90 percent" of the vocal performance.

This blend of live dancing and pre-recorded vocals, common in performances involving intense choreography, remains a divisive issue.

While some spectators noted the improved quality of the performance, others questioned the authenticity of the live performance.

Le Sserafim performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on Saturday. / Courtesy of Source Music

Not particularly excessive

A senior entertainment official from an established K-pop agency said, "It's not certain, but from the audience-shot videos, it seems recorded tracks were also used in the first performance, though the engineer broadcasting on YouTube might have prioritized live vocals to maintain a sense of authenticity."

He added that given the emphasis on choreography, it's common for K-pop groups to use all recorded singing to ensure performance quality — ranging from 30 to 70 percent, making Le Sserafim's use "not particularly excessive."

Le Sserafim performed a set of ten songs over 40 minutes, including popular tracks like "Antifragile" 2022) and "Fearless" (2022), alongside new releases that dropped on April 13.

Le Sserafim takes the stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival's second weekend. Captured from YouTube

The playlist and sequence mirrored its first performance, with only minor changes in attire and the absence of Nile Rodgers, who appeared in "Unforgiven" during the first week.

Members Kim Chae-won and Huh Yun-jin said their Coachella experience would remain a treasured memory.

Using pre-recorded tracks to supplement live vocals is widespread, going beyond K-pop to include Western pop artists and some rock bands that do not heavily focus on dance.

Another K-pop agency official said, "Performing perfect studio-quality vocals while engaging in vigorous dance routines on stage is extremely challenging. In K-pop, visual performance is as significant as singing, and using recorded singing is a common practice to elevate concert quality."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.