Kpop memorial concert - hologram of singer who’d died

[HeechulOppa]

I can’t link here because I saw it on TikTok and I can’t do links here anyway, but if anyone wants to watch it you can find it on YouTube by searching ‘Ulala Session memorial hologram’. It seems to suddenly be going viral.

Has anyone else seen it? I saw it for the first time a few nights ago and it’s haunting me a bit. It is so stunningly beautiful and moving that it took my breath away - but I also can’t help but think maybe it’s not something that should be done.

For context, there is a Kpop group called Ulala Sessions. About 10 years ago their lead singer passed from cancer aged 33. A few months ago they held a memorial concert for him. They sang the most gorgeous and powerful ballad about loss - the 3 remaining band members and the original singer of the song (I think - I think it was a cover). In the middle of the group is an empty podium, and halfway through the song, in a twirl of stardust, a hologram of the deceased singer appears, singing with his bandmates. It is incredibly realistic. I mean, you genuinely would think he was there.

His wife and mum were watching this and when he appears you can see the grief in their eyes, they are obviously crying. You can also see that his bandmates are very emotional too. I cried buckets watching it, and again when I showed my husband. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

I went from thinking it was a beautiful tribute to thinking maybe it was a step too far. I know holograms are being used a lot more these days but in the context of the meaning of the song and the way it was done, it really got to me. It was like watching a ghost and looking like you could reach out and touch him but knowing that you couldn’t, that his wife and mum never could again.

Just interested in seeing if other people had seen it and what they thought. I’m surprised at how much it moved me (I am a big Kpop fan but hadn’t actually heard this group before).

I haven't seen it but wasn't there one with Whitney Houston? I believe it was criticised in some quarters, ghoulish, let her rest in peace etc

I just watched, yeah it's freaky, looks so real,

Extremely creepy and very last days of capitalism to exploit the image of someone who has died like that for commercial gain.

Creepy and goulish. Any opportunity to make money.

Just watched, so realistic, anyone of them could have been a hologram. So clever but very very weird. I hope the wanted don't do the same with Tom.

Yes, ghoulish is exactly the word for it!

There was another South Korean programme recently where computer generated people were created, based on people who had died, with their looks and (approximate) personalities uploaded. The graphics weren’t as realistic as the hologram, but still pretty good. One episode featured a young girl who had died of an illness (maybe aged 6 or so) and her mother was able to ‘talk’ with her daughter again and ‘hug’ her. That was a bit more controversial, if I recall. The mother was haunted by the thought the spirit of her daughter was angry at her for ‘letting her die’ and being able to talk to her daughter one more time was apparently healing for her.

Just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be.

There’s a pretty famous Kpop boy band, Shinee, whose lead singer sadly committed suicide a few years ago. The fandom seems mostly horrified/ upset at the thought the same thing might happen with him. I think the realism of the hologram might actually provide pushback against future use.

I do wonder at the context too. The Ulala Sessions hologram was very upsetting in part because of the song chosen, being a slow, heart-rending ballad about loss. Definitely mawkish in my opinion - absolutely designed to wring as many tears out of the moment as possible. If it had been a more upbeat dance track would it feel so ‘wrong’? Intrusive? I don’t think it would have.