On December 31, 2022, IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo's cover performance of IU's Strawberry Moon at the 2022 MBC Music Festival was released and fans were disappointed to find that the two were lip-syncing the track while seated.Following the release of the performance, netizens had quite a few opinions about the situation.An individual wrote:"They are straight up dolls and nothing more"notpannchoa/notpannkpop/notnetizenbuzz@notpannchoa2[ notpannchoa ] Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo receive heavy backlash for lip syncing while sitting down during their Strawberry Moon cover stage20959[ notpannchoa ] Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo receive heavy backlash for lip syncing while sitting down during their Strawberry Moon cover stage https://t.co/y5zCO4o0DGWhile some expressed that lip-syncing is typical in K-pop due to the difficulty the accompanying choreography adds to the performance, individuals believed that IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo lip-syncing, while seated, defeated the whole point of a live performance and made it all the more unacceptable.Naturally, fans also came to defend the artists, expressing how IVE's busy schedule probably did not give the members time to prepare for the performance.Netizens fire up Twitter following the news of IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo lip-syncing at the 2022 MBC Music FestivalThe 2022 MBC Music Festival, held on December 31, 2022, was one of the most awaited events of the year. The special performances and unique stages that K-pop idols prepare for music festivals make the end-of-the-year an exciting time for fans.Ever since the announcement that IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo would be having a collab stage for the MBC Music Festival, fans were excited to see what the duo had in store for them. However, their lip-syncing let down many people and disappointed individuals who were looking forward to seeing the artists perform live. Fans also made it clear that their disappointment lies not in the act of lip-syncing itself.🐰🐰@JasonLi71147440@MBC_entertain @starshipgirlz @IVEstarship Pls starship don’t let them lip sync wonyoung gets thousands of hate due to this I don’t think she made the decision herself but her fame is suffering51@MBC_entertain @starshipgirlz @IVEstarship Pls starship don’t let them lip sync wonyoung gets thousands of hate due to this I don’t think she made the decision herself but her fame is sufferingyesbllover@fankpop22@allkpop they have 0 excuses. anyone who is pretty can already be an idol then..they just have to do lip sync, their JOB is to be idols not models.. not to mention that they could choose Liz as the lead singer, but of course.. they choose wonyoung as always1285@allkpop they have 0 excuses. anyone who is pretty can already be an idol then..they just have to do lip sync, their JOB is to be idols not models.. not to mention that they could choose Liz as the lead singer, but of course.. they choose wonyoung as always𝒶𝓋𝑒 ⁷ 🕊♡ xplr@sakurajiminot ive lip syncing when sitting down ☠️22not ive lip syncing when sitting down ☠️Many people understand that it can be quite a difficult task to sing whilst performing a clearly complex choreography, therefore, lip-syncing makes sense unless there's an alternate showcase of their dance skills in the performance. What fans found difficult to accept was that IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo didn't have any choreography to roll out and were seated for the entirety of the performance.Here, lip-syncing was unnecessary and raised concerns about their inability to showcase their live vocals. Naturally, netizens jumped on the issue, directing criticism toward the idols for not having the vocals to be confident enough to perform at a live music festival.rina 🝮@lovesickgelI get the healthy criticism about strawberry moon stage but coming only for ive when all other artists did lip sync too is unfair. plus they had events almost every day and sometimes even few performances a day so I really don't blame them for that2I get the healthy criticism about strawberry moon stage but coming only for ive when all other artists did lip sync too is unfair. plus they had events almost every day and sometimes even few performances a day so I really don't blame them for thathan@nanaslipstickthere's no way wonyoung, leeseo and starship just embarrassed themselves like this how is this real? it would be fine if there was a "립싱크" under the performance title like older groups used to do prefacing it's a lipsynced stage but this just looks bad for ive.234there's no way wonyoung, leeseo and starship just embarrassed themselves like this💀 how is this real?😭 it would be fine if there was a "립싱크" under the performance title like older groups used to do prefacing it's a lipsynced stage but this just looks bad for ive. https://t.co/v73q2OpNeXWith a mountain of arguments raised against IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo, several fans defended the two artists as well. Many blamed the incident on their agency, Starship Entertainment, and claimed they most likely made them lip-sync regardless of the idols' interest. Fans added that the girls had quite a hectic schedule with seven performances to record, award shows to sing at, travel, and more.🐙@zhon9chimy biggest wish for 2023 is for people to leave wonyoung and leeseo alone amen12835my biggest wish for 2023 is for people to leave wonyoung and leeseo alone amenyogi is seeing skz!@yongbokluvr_not a dive but i find it so ridiculous that wonyoung and leeseo are getting hated on for not even trying to properly lipsync while a boygroup gets praised for the same reason like HUHnot a dive but i find it so ridiculous that wonyoung and leeseo are getting hated on for not even trying to properly lipsync while a boygroup gets praised for the same reason like HUHwony@tzhuseoutsoldliterally so many idols lip sync. there are literally big groups out there who lip sync 98% of the time and have less live performances than IVE but everyone swears they're great at live. IVE has literally sang live so many times yet and slay but nobody acknowledges it.literally so many idols lip sync. there are literally big groups out there who lip sync 98% of the time and have less live performances than IVE but everyone swears they're great at live. IVE has literally sang live so many times yet and slay but nobody acknowledges it.The duo may not have been in the ideal state to pull off a live ballad performance and fans argue that even if they sang live under their given circumstances, IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo would be criticized regardless, for not being "good enough." The constant criticism of the fourth-gen K-pop girl group, IVE, makes fans lose patience when netizens choose to make scandals out of typical K-pop incidents only with regard to IVE.Given that there are quite a handful of live performances to showcase that IVE Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo have definitely got the talent with vocals and dance skills, fans believe that netizens need to be more considerate of the girls given their circumstances.