True Taste Korea

I AM

  • IVE’s Lollapalooza Set Hit a Sound Problem — Why Did Fans Praise Yujin Instead?

    A technical problem at a major festival can become an idol group’s worst nightmare.

    For IVE at Lollapalooza Paris in 2025, it happened almost immediately.

    The group had barely begun its performance when an audio transmission problem disrupted the opening of the show.

    IVE eventually had to perform the intro, “REBEL HEART” and “I AM” again.

    That could have become the story of the night.

    Instead, something unexpected happened.

    When the official performance was uploaded, many international fans were talking about something else:

    An Yujin.

    The Problem Happened Right at the Beginning

    IVE’s official upload did not hide what happened.

    The description acknowledged an audio transmission issue at the beginning of the performance, and the published setlist shows just how unusual the opening became.

    IVE performed:

    Intro + “REBEL HEART”

    Interlude + “I AM”

    And then, after the issue:

    Intro + “REBEL HEART” again

    “I AM” again

    Only after that did the show move forward into songs including “Baddie,” “TKO” and “LOVE DIVE.”

    For a festival performance, this was hardly an ideal beginning.

    But what happened between the problem and the restart became more interesting than the technical failure itself.

    “Can You Guys Hear Us?”

    There is a revealing moment in the performance.

    Yujin addresses the crowd:

    “Can you guys hear us?”

    The group then explains that there has been an issue before preparing to restart the opening.

    Instead of turning the interruption into an awkward silence, they make light of it.

    The audience is essentially asked to pretend they are seeing the opening for the first time.

    It is a small moment.

    But on a large festival stage, small moments can expose how experienced a performer really is.

    There is no music video edit.

    No second take.

    No way to remove the problem while it is happening.

    You either control the moment, or the moment controls you.

    Fans Immediately Noticed Yujin

    Look through the English-language comments under IVE’s official upload and Yujin’s name appears again and again.

    Fans praised the way she handled the situation and continued performing.

    One viewer noticed that her hand appeared to be shaking while she still remained composed.

    Others focused on her live vocals, stage presence and ability to keep the performance moving.

    Another simply described her handling of the situation as amazing.

    This is significant because the conversation is very different from the type of international reactions IVE received during the “LOVE DIVE,” “Kitsch” and “I AM” eras.

    Those reactions frequently centered on the songs, visuals, members and spectacular music videos.

    At Lollapalooza, viewers were watching what happened when the spectacle stopped working.

    And Yujin became part of the story.

    One Fan in the Crowd Explained Why the Mistake Mattered

    Perhaps the most interesting reaction came from someone who said they had actually been at the festival.

    The fan thanked IVE for leaving the sound problem in the official upload rather than editing it away.

    Why?

    Because from the audience’s perspective, the problem had transformed into a memorable interaction between IVE and the crowd.

    What could have ruined the beginning of the show instead became part of the experience.

    The fan described it as their first IVE concert and a memory they expected to keep for a lifetime.

    That changes the meaning of the incident.

    Technical perfection would obviously have been preferable.

    But once something went wrong, IVE had another choice to make:

    How would they respond?

    This Wasn’t Only About Yujin

    Yujin naturally attracted attention because she took a visible role in handling the interruption.

    But reducing the performance to one member would miss something important.

    Comments also praised IVE’s live vocals and the group’s ability to continue despite the difficult opening.

    Fans noticed how long they performed and how stable the members remained.

    The live band also became part of the positive response.

    That matters because a festival audience is different from a normal K-pop music-show audience.

    Not everyone is necessarily there specifically to see one group.

    There are fewer protections when something goes wrong.

    And there is nowhere for a polished music video to hide a weak moment.

    IVE had to perform through it.

    It Shows How the International Conversation Around IVE Has Changed

    This is where Lollapalooza becomes particularly interesting when compared with IVE’s earlier international reaction videos.

    Go back to the “I AM” era and international reactors were fascinated by the airplane scene, Wonyoung’s visuals, the editing, the huge chorus and the vocals.

    Those reactions were real and important.

    But this festival created another type of reaction.

    People weren’t asking:

    “How did they film that?”

    They were watching:

    “What will they do now?”

    That is a major difference.

    One tests the power of a K-pop production.

    The other tests the performers themselves.

    Yujin’s Role Makes More Sense in That Context

    Yujin has always occupied an important position inside IVE as the group’s leader.

    But leadership is difficult to demonstrate through a title alone.

    Moments like this make it visible.

    There was no need for a dramatic speech.

    The important thing was keeping communication with the audience alive, maintaining the mood and helping the performance move forward.

    That may explain why so many viewers focused on her afterward.

    They weren’t simply watching Yujin perform choreography.

    They were watching her deal with a problem in real time.

    The Sound Problem May Have Revealed More Than a Perfect Show Would Have

    There is an irony here.

    If the performance had gone perfectly, international fans might simply have talked about another strong IVE festival stage.

    Instead, something went wrong.

    And because something went wrong, viewers got to see something that is difficult to manufacture:

    how the group behaves when the plan collapses.

    IVE restarted.

    They continued singing.

    The crowd stayed with them.

    And Yujin helped turn an uncomfortable interruption into part of the show.

    For a group whose international image was once dominated by immaculate visuals and highly polished music videos, that may be more valuable than it first appears.

    Because global audiences are no longer seeing only the perfectly edited version of IVE.

    They are increasingly seeing IVE live.

    And when the sound failed at Lollapalooza, Yujin gave them another reason to keep watching.

  • Why Did IVE’s “I AM” Hit So Hard With International Fans?

    IVE had already proven they could make hits before “I AM.”

    “LOVE DIVE” had the addictive hook. “After LIKE” pushed their popularity even further. “Kitsch” showed a stranger, less predictable side of the group.

    But when “I AM” arrived in April 2023, something felt different.

    Watch international reaction videos from that period and you notice something interesting: people weren’t simply saying that IVE looked beautiful or that the song was catchy.

    They kept stopping the video.

    They talked about the camera work. They replayed individual scenes. They reacted to the vocals. Some tried to interpret the lyrics and connect them to what was happening in the music video.

    So why did “I AM” hit international viewers so hard?

    IVE Was Already Big Before “I AM”

    “I AM” wasn’t the song that introduced IVE to the world.

    By then, the group had already built an impressive run with “ELEVEN,” “LOVE DIVE” and “After LIKE.”

    Then came “Kitsch.”

    Even that song produced an interesting response among international reactors. The sudden musical shifts, unusual structure and contrast between IVE’s polished image and the track’s attitude caught people off guard.

    Some reactors loved precisely that unpredictability.

    Then “I AM” arrived.

    Released on April 10, 2023 as the title track of IVE’s first full-length album I’ve IVE, the song came with something bigger than another glamorous IVE music video.

    It came with a statement.

    The Music Video Made People Stop and Look Again

    One thing repeatedly appears in old “I AM” reaction videos:

    the visuals made people pause.

    The luxurious hotel setting was one thing.

    Then came the airplane.

    Wonyoung appears to fall from a plane before the video transitions into another spectacular shot. Several reactors immediately stopped to figure out how the sequence had been edited.

    One reaction analyzed how multiple cuts appeared within barely a second.

    Another simply reacted as if the scene belonged in a movie.

    That distinction matters.

    International viewers weren’t only reacting to the members’ appearances anymore. They were examining how the video itself had been constructed.

    And the official music video’s longevity suggests that fascination didn’t disappear quickly. The video has accumulated hundreds of millions of views since its 2023 release.

    Then They Started Talking About What the Song Meant

    The airplane sequence also created something more interesting.

    Some viewers connected the imagery with the song’s message.

    “I AM” is fundamentally about moving forward on your own path and imagining the life ahead of you.

    In one reaction, the idea of facing fear and moving toward a new challenge was connected directly to Wonyoung’s dramatic airplane scene.

    Suddenly, the fall wasn’t just an expensive visual effect.

    It could be read as part of the song’s larger message: take the leap, believe in where you are going, and become the person you imagine yourself to be.

    That gave international viewers another layer to discuss.

    IVE had always been visually polished.

    But “I AM” gave viewers something to interpret.

    And Then There Were the Vocals

    Another pattern appears repeatedly in the reaction footage.

    People expected IVE to look good.

    They did not always expect the song to sound this big.

    The soaring chorus and high vocal lines produced some of the strongest reactions. By the end of one reaction compilation, viewers were describing the vocals in almost disbelief.

    That is important when looking back at IVE’s international image.

    Early conversations around the group often focused heavily on visuals — particularly Wonyoung and Yujin.

    “I AM” made it harder to keep the conversation there.

    The song demanded vocal power.

    The choreography demanded presence.

    And the music video demanded attention even when nobody was dancing.

    The Numbers Suggest It Was More Than Reaction-Video Hype

    The reaction videos are entertaining, but they shouldn’t be mistaken for proof by themselves.

    The wider performance of “I AM” gives the reactions more context.

    The song was released as part of IVE’s first studio album I’ve IVE, and Starship Entertainment still lists it as the album’s title track.

    It also traveled beyond Korea.

    “I AM” appeared on international charts, including Billboard’s global rankings, and remained on the Billboard Global 200 for multiple weeks.

    In other words, the international reaction videos were not happening in isolation.

    They were part of a much larger moment in which IVE’s music was reaching listeners outside its core Korean audience.

    What Made “I AM” Different?

    There probably isn’t one answer.

    It was the combination.

    A chorus built to feel enormous.

    A message about confidence and possibility that could travel beyond language.

    A music video filled with images that viewers wanted to replay.

    Members who already had enormous visual recognition.

    And enough musical drama to make even people unfamiliar with IVE stop and pay attention.

    That combination is why watching those old reaction videos today is surprisingly useful.

    They capture the moment when the conversation around IVE began expanding.

    Not just:

    “Who is that member?”

    But:

    “How did they shoot that?”

    “Did you hear that vocal?”

    “What does that scene mean?”

    That is a very different kind of attention.

    Looking Back From 2026

    Three years later, those reactions feel even more interesting.

    IVE has since performed on much larger international stages and built a far more visible presence outside Korea.

    Today, international fans can judge the group through live performances, festival stages, interviews and tours.

    But “I AM” represents an earlier turning point.

    It showed that IVE could create something international audiences didn’t just watch.

    They wanted to pause it, replay it, analyze it and talk about it.

    And perhaps that is the simplest explanation for why “I AM” hit so hard.

    It wasn’t only a song people liked.

    It gave them something to react to.