SM Rookie Group Gets Caught Lip-Syncing, Sparks Heated Debate

Recently, an online community post about an SM rookie girl group’s performance garnered much attention.

The OP expressed huge disappointment in the group’s “Lemon Tang” stage at the 2026 Busan One Asia Festival.

“I’m an SM fan who watches all of Hearts2Hearts’ stages and content, and I know they are good at live performances, but I don’t understand why they lip-synced wth handheld mics in Busan today.

Because I’ve watched their stages so much, I felt that the performances seemed too polished to be a real live stage. For a second, I thought they were singing live, but at the 1:51 mark, Stella forgot to hold up her mic, yet her voice still came through, and she seemed awkward after that.

We know they are good at live performances, but the stage looks prettier when they can use both arms. They shouldn’t have made them hold the mics on stage. I don’t think they should have made them perform on stage with mics and lip-sync. It’s unfortunate.”

However, netizens were divided in their response to the matter.

• “They’ve already proved they can sing live at university festivals, so it doesn’t really matter if they lip-sync or not.”
• “It’s better than that other girl group that lip-synced while sitting down and using a hand mic at a concert.”
• “How are they different from a dance team if they use lip-sync?”
• “Watch them on Sung Si Kyung’s show…they did real live then.”
• “There are tons of idols who lip-sync with hand mics. Nothing changes just because they use hand-held mics.”