TXT is currently facing mixed reactions from netizens, due to their live vocals at the 'KMA 2026.'
On July 25, TXT attended the '2026 KM Chart Awards' (KMA), joining a star-studded lineup of iconic artists. TXT ended up taking home multiple awards, including the Daesang (Grand Prize) for 'Artist of the Year.'
They also won the 'Best Popular Song' award for their recent title track 'Stick With You' - leading to a now-controversial encore performance.
TXT did an encore performance of 'Stick With You' 🎉🥳pic.twitter.com/6MfO14cWdx
대상이란거 정말 좋은거구나(당연좋지어디문제있니) 하하더 앵콜 무대를 풀로 말아줌 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/3FbROVurGv
While many fans were excited to hear TXT's live vocals with no backtrack at the awards show, videos of their encore performance unexpectedly became a hot topic among K-netizens. One popular post described the group's live vocals as "shockingly raw", with hundreds of netizens criticizing TXT's vocal skills in the clip. Others disagreed, arguing that the group's live singing sounded good and that the venue's sound quality was lacking. Controversy quickly erupted as netizens ended up divided over TXT's live performance of 'Stick With You:'
"I thought their live vocals would be bad because of how intense the choreography is, but they were just walking around interacting with the audience and THAT'S how they sang? What?? This is shocking, lol"
"Wow... are they really considered.. singers...? But they don't even have basic vocal technique mastered"
"They seriously won a Daesang?"
"Isn't it just an audio equipment problem? They sound good in the fancam videos"
"The sound quality just seems poor"
"'Vocal kings' lol... Where? Is there even a member who's a vocalist in this group?" "Isn't TXT actually known for having good live vocals? I think the audio mixing was just a bit off" "Oh no... It doesn't really seem like a sound system issue; it actually looks like the audio director was doing them a favor by turning down their vocals and turning up the backtrack..."
"I remember them always being good at live singing... Maybe the audio setup was wrong? I mean, they were singing but their voices were getting completely drowned out"
"It seems like an audio equipment issue.. They're in their eighth year as a group, and their live vocals have never been a problem before"
"Their performance is actually better than I thought it would be, lol. Everyone was making such a huge fuss about it that I watched it just to see how badly they did, but it's really just a normal K-pop encore performance, haha"
"Huh? From people's reactions, I was wondering just how bad it would be, but it just seems like... an audio issue or something? To me, it doesn't seem like they're bad at singing live..."
"But isn't their pitch actually spot-on?"
"The sound quality does seem bad, but even with that, it's a relief every time it's Hueningkai's turn to sing, lol"
"It's really surprising that they won a Daesang"
"Isn't this actually pretty good, though?"
"It’s just a typical live performance by a modern idol group lol. It wasn't a total disaster, but it certainly wasn't good either. Fans need to be more realistic"
Meanwhile, TXT took home multiple awards at this year's KM Chart Awards, including Artist Of The Year (Daesang), Best Male Popular Group, Best Male Solo Artist (Yeonjun), Best Popular Song ('Stick With You') and Ultimate 12 (Bonsang).
