Twice
In the opening round contestants had to prove they were a star and viewers immediately discovered their favourites, from Dahyun, who reproduced her famous eagle dance, to Sana, who amusingly parodied a cooking show as she made spring rolls for JYP, and 13-year-old Natty, who showcased her skills with a dance she had choreographed herself.
The subsequent photoshoot round brought the chic Jeongyeon, who roller-painted her white t-shirt, and Mina, who wowed the judges by posing as Snow White’s Evil Queen, to people’s attention. Others felt JYP’s ire for failing to charm in front of the camera, but it was Chaeyeon, the older of the Chae sisters, who became the first to be eliminated.
The third round brought the cruellest moments yet: one-against-one battles in which a minor challenged a major for their place. Put on the spot, it was the older trainees’ experience that came to the fore. Nayeon impressed with her charisma and stable vocals in a cover of Ariana Grande’s ‘Santa Tell Me’. Momo put her dance skills on display moving to Ariana’s ‘Problem’ and Dahyun showed she had more than just a novelty eagle dance with an energetic performance of Pentatonix’s ‘La La Latch’. Jihyo, back in the majors after a stirring vocal performance in round one, rose to the occasion. The photographer had made pointed remarks about her weight, so Jihyo chose to sing Meghan Trainor‘s body-positive anthem ‘All About That Bass’.
Eunsuh was the next unfortunate trainee to suffer elimination. She clearly had talent, but inexperience and nerves had prevented her showing enough of it. As the halfway mark of the series approached, the majors now consisted of Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Mina, Somi, Chaeryeong and Natty. However, the Taiwanese Tzuyu was winning viewers over with her beauty and a fabulous performance of the Pussycat Dolls’ ‘Sway’ saw her rise to second place in the online vote.
There was no let-up. Next each group was split into two competing teams. The behind-the-scenes footage was illuminating as the teams worked out their choreography, especially when Minyoung and Dahyun went AWOL from practice and temporarily created a serious rift with practice fanatics Tzuyu and Sana. Incredibly, their team’s performance of ‘Problem’ by Ariana was good enough to beat Pharrell’s ‘Happy’, the choice of Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Mina and Chaeryeong.
In the other head-to-head, Jiyho’s leadership skills came to the fore as she helmed a team with two non-Korean speakers. Kitted out in red suits and bow-ties, they impressed with ‘Uptown Funk’ against Momo, Jiwon and Chaeyoung, who covered ‘The Way You Love Me’ by Keri Hilson, using a table as a prop for some raunchy choreography. The audience plumped for Jihyo’s girls, but interestingly in both cases JYP, who reserved particular praise for Jiwon, personally favoured the other team.
The two losing teams now had to compete to see who would be eliminated. To the surprise of many, poor Momo was the victim. She had bewitched many with her dance skills and JYP seemed reluctant to eliminate her, but he said he did so on the basis of her unstable vocals. The others were clearly upset and shocked, and the Japanese girls were almost inconsolable. Had JYP shot himself in the foot by excluding this ‘dance machine’ from his future girl group?
Next up was something a little more fun. A camping trip meant the girls could all relax – but not too much, because JYP was still watching. After fun games of charades and duelling with plastic hammers while riding giant floaties in the pool, the boss revealed that this, too, was a type of challenge. He explained he was not only looking for great singers and dancers, but also people who did right by others and were true to themselves. To this end, the girls voted for their favourite three fellow contestants. The results were revealing. Virtually all agreed that Jiyho perfectly matched the qualities that JYP highlighted, while Jeongyeon, Minyoung and Nayeon were praised for their helpfulness.
The penultimate challenge again pitted two groups from each team against each other. This time they faced the added task of promoting their performance to attract an audience. Among the highlights were the visit to Nayeon’s former high school where she, Jeongyeon and especially Tzuyu (after they gave her some femme fatale tips) completely wowed the schoolboys. The audience were not disappointed as the trio delivered a brilliant cover of Miss A’s ‘Hush’. When the round was completed, JYP reserved great praise for Chaeyoung’s rap in Wonder Girls’ ‘Nobody’, for Jihyo’s perfect voice (but not her weight) and for Mina’s improved confidence. Sadly, it was Jiwon who walked, JYP clearly believing she had some work to do before debuting.
The final challenge saw majors and minors pitted against each other in full girl-group mode. Each was given a song JYP thought would challenge them and a further number which they would both perform, so a direct comparison could be made. The majors – Chaeyoung, Mina, Minyoung, Natty, Sana and Somi – were mentored by Miss A’s Fei and given ‘Must be Crazy’, a song JYP said requires a keen sense of rhythm, while the minors – Chaeryeong, Dahyun, Jeongyeon, Nayeon, Tzuyu and Jihyo (borrowed from the major team to even up the numbers) – were mentored by 2PM’s Jun.K and were tasked with the more vocally challenging ‘Truth’.
Both performances were pretty legendary and are often compared favourably with the Twice versions which would soon appear. JYP was pleased with the minor team’s performance, picking out the contributions from Jeongyeon and Tzuyu, but once again he also made a point of commending the major team’s Chaeyoung. It all came down to the final episode, broadcast on 7 July 2015, as the teams performed back-to-back versions of ‘Do It Again’.
Dancing to a brand-new song with set choreography, the girls had to work out the tone and mood for themselves. They had all met up the night before for a watermelon party and it became emotional as they reminisced over both their trainee and Sixteen experiences. With so much resting on one final performance, each team played to their strengths. Lacking the vocal power of their opponents, the majors went all out for fun, packing their performance with aegyo (cuteness) and acting. In contrast, the minors smashed it vocally with Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Jihyo pulling out all the stops. That didn’t escape JYP, who mentioned those three as he gave the minor team his vote. His final decision, however, took into consideration the combined opinions of the live audience, online voters and the JYP staff.
While the audience awaited the final result, the two teams united for the show’s theme, ‘I’m Gonna Be a Star’, before the members who had already been eliminated – Chaeyeon, Eunsuh, Jiwon and Momo – joined them on stage to perform Beyoncé’s ‘7/11’. And then came the moment that the whole series had been building up to – the members of Twice were revealed. The final line-up was to be Nayeon as the show’s best vocalist; Jeongyeon, whose talent and enigmatic personality had stood out; Jihyo, who JYP described as ‘perfect and ready to debut’; the charismatic and lovable Dahyun; Sana, with her out-there personality and debut-ready skills; and Mina, who JYP Entertainment staff identified as having the most potential. That left Chaeryeong, Minyoung, Natty, Somi and Tzuyu eliminated. Except …
In a series that was filled with shocks and surprises, the biggest was still to come. JYP had decided to add two more members, making a nine- rather than seven-member group. The first addition was Tyuzu, who had featured in the live audience’s final seven and topped the online poll. The second was a bigger shock. The JYP staff had unanimously chosen to include Momo, who had been eliminated early in the series. There were shockwaves across the internet as fans discussed the result. Was it fair? Had the audience been cheated? Had it been JYP’s intention all along to add members? Opinions differed, but most agreed on one thing. When it came to girl groups, JYP knew what he was doing and he had selected nine girls who were ready to take on the world …
Postscript: What happened to …
The Sixteen format required some trainees to be eliminated. It is testament to JYP Entertainment that every one of the contenders gave a good account of themselves and endorsed JYP’s claims of wanting good, all-round people at the company. In the event, only four were eliminated as the series progressed – and Momo, of course, was reinstated – but it was still a traumatic experience. JYP promised that those who were eliminated would be given another chance in two years’ time, but most of them now realised their dreams of debuting for the company were over.
Chaeryeong
Just 13 when Sixteen began, Chaeryeong was probably included to give her experience. However, she impressed with her dancing, singing and charisma, and made it to the end of the series. It was enough for her to stay with the company and it proved a good move for her and JYP Entertainment. In February 2019 she debuted with Itzy, JYP’s next girl group. They made quite a splash in Korea, Japan and internationally, and were named Best New Artist at all the major award shows in 2019.
Chaeyeon
The first to be eliminated, Chaeyeon had little chance to show off her talent. She left JYP after the show, but reappeared on another talent show, Produce 48, in 2018, and came 12th. As a result, she debuted in the 12-member girl group Iz*One in October 2018. The group established themselves as a successful group in Korea and Japan, with their 2020 comeback album Bloom*Iz charting well in both countries.
Eunsuh
Only 14, Eunsuh struggled to progress from her initial cute image, and when she made an obvious mistake in her choreography in the one-to-one challenge, her time on Sixteen was up. She tried again on the 2017 talent show Idol School, but still failed to make the final group.
Jiwon
A strong singer, many believed Jiwon had a good chance of succeeding on Sixteen, but nerves seemed to get the better of her. She was the last to be eliminated, with JYP citing her off-beat dancing and unstable vocals as the reason for letting her go. In 2017, she, too, entered Idol School and came sixth, which led to her joining Fromis_9, who debuted in January 2018. Their early releases made the top five in Korea, and in 2018 and 2019 the group were nominated for several new artist awards.
Minyoung
Poor Minyoung. Was it just never meant to be? Her dream of debuting with 6Mix evaporated, but she was given a second chance on Sixteen. It seemed a formality that her strong vocals and experience would see her make it into Twice, but the pressure of the show seemed to affect her. Minyoung failed to establish herself as a major player with the viewers or JYP and she missed out again. After Sixteen, Minyoung gave up the idea of debuting and returned to her studies.
Natty
The youngest of all the Sixteen contestants, Natty collected many fans as the series progressed with her energy, personality and no little talent, especially as a dancer. After the show, Natty left JYP and she, too, tried her luck on Idol School in 2017. She made it to the last round, but again ultimately missed the cut. Still young and popular in Thailand, Natty has time on her side and in April 2020 signed with Swing Entertainment, with the intention of debuting as a solo artist.
Somi
Somi was unlucky not to make the final Twice line-up, having spent most of the series in the major team. JYP sensed she had star quality but suggested she needed a little more time before debuting. He was right. In 2016 she represented JYP in the first season of the talent show Produce 101 and won, becoming a member of girl group I.O.I. They debuted in May 2016 and made a strong impact, but they disbanded after little more than six months together. Somi continued to raise her profile hosting TV variety shows but held on to her musical ambitions. In 2019 she left JYP Entertainment for rival company YG to pursue a solo career.
2
Debut
No matter the discussions on the fairness of Sixteen – JYP Entertainment felt the necessity to make an official statement the day after the show’s finale to clarify what had happened. JYP had spoken. Momo and Tzuyu had been added to the seven successful trainees selected by the audience and staff and would take their places in Twice. While everyone had their favourites, and some were disappointed to see certain trainees fail to make the group, it was generally agreed that JYP had ended up with a selection that complemented each other and contained a mix of proven talent and enormous potential. Whether it was luck or judgement, JYP had landed on nine girls who, between them, ticked all the boxes.
The group was well balanced in age, with Nayeon the oldest at 20; the 96-liners (those born in 1996), Jeongyeon, Momo and Sana, were all still 19 years old; the 97-liners, Jihyo and Mina, were 18; and Dahyun was 17. That left the 16-year-olds, Chaeyoung and the group’s youngest member, Tzuyu. Known in Korea as the maknae, the youngest had special dispensation to be extra cute and not carry any responsibilities especially in a K-pop group. Although five of the group were Korean, Mina, Momo and Sana were from Japan and Tzuyu was from Taiwan – ideal for building on the hallyu or Korean Wave – the rise in interest in Korean culture in East Asia.
They were also varied in personality. Jihyo was sensible and caring, a natural leader; the group’s extrovert, Dahyun, was goofy and naturally funny; and Nayeon seemed to be eternally cheerful and, despite being the oldest, eager to mess around and have fun. Jeongyeon had her chic image to preserve, but liked to tease the others, while Sana managed to be witty and cute at the same time. The others – especially Mina – were more reserved, but fans who had watched Sixteen knew that Tzuyu had a wicked sense of humour which was bound to emerge sooner or later. These were early days and when they weren’t performing the girls, especially the younger members, were understandably shy in front of the cameras.
Sixteen had given the audience a good indication of what each individual excelled at and what they might offer Twice. In a group with a large number of members it was expected that some would have specific roles, as well as performing the choreography together. Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Nayeon had the confidence and vocal stability to be the lead vocalists; Mina and Momo had displayed incredible dance skills; Chaeyoung and Dahyun were clearly the designated rappers; and Sana and Tzuyu’s dance and vocal skills had come on in leaps and bounds during the series.
The girls had no time to recover from Sixteen. They went straight from the show into rehearsals for their first releases as Twice. As is common for any K-pop group, all nine of them soon moved into a dorm in the South Korean capital, Seoul, where they would live together. At least it was a ground-floor flat and the house next door was empty, so it wasn’t such a problem that they were sometimes a noisy bunch. They sorted out who would room with who with little fuss. The youngsters, Chaeyoung, Dahyun and Tzuyu, took one room; Jihyo, Mina, Nayeon and Sana shared the large room; while best friends Jeongyeon and Momo took the final room.
Like any new roommates they soon began to discover each other’s habits – good and bad. Chaeyoung fell asleep instantly and could sleep forever. Nayeon not only talked in her sleep but also slept with her eyes wide open. Mina liked staying in bed whether she was sleeping or not, while Tzuyu was the early riser who could be relied upon to get the others up. Meanwhile, Jeongyeon and Momo, who shared a bed in their room (separated by Momo’s huge teddy bear), became known as ‘the married couple’. Surprisingly, it was the cool-looking Jeongyeon who became the ‘mother’ of the group, cleaning and tidying the flat and chivvying the others to do their share of the chores.
JYP needed to reveal his new group to the world before people moved on to the next survival show or lost interest in their favourites from Sixteen. This gave the girls little time to rehearse and record the new material, to learn and master the choreography to the songs, and to shoot the all-important music video. The girls were expected to look their best for their first appearance, so many of them were on strict diets. However, they were practising so hard that they were losing weight anyway. Momo, who surprised them all with the amount she ate, still managed to lose seven kilos in this hectic period. Everything had to be perfect before Twice made their debut – one of the most important dates in the career of any K-pop artist.
Through July and into August, the members appeared on Twice TV, a short, five-part series shown on V LIVE. The first four episodes profiled each of the girls as they talked about their journey so far, while the last episode featured them all having a meal with JYP. He said he liked to take all his acts to dinner as he worries about them, especially the girl groups. He explained that he expects JYP Entertainment artists to strive to become better people and he read out letters from each of the members of Twice, revealing how they felt about debuting. He reassured them that if they worked as hard and performed as well as they had promised in their letters, they would become the best group in the world.
He also asked them to vote for the leader of Twice. He said a leader must put themselves last for the sake of the group; represent the group in discussions with the company staff; and set an example to other members, sorting any issues that arise. After the meal the members voted for Jihyo to be their leader, with Jeongyeon receiving the second-highest number of votes.
A K-pop act only gets one chance to debut – the moment of the unveiling of the artist or group, an opportunity to make a big splash. The pop world is ready to be impressed, eager to spot the next big thing and generally looks favourably on nervous young artists stepping into the limelight for the first time. If the debutantes can create a good first impression, their careers are off to a flying start and everything is easy and exciting. If they flop, they face an uphill battle. It’s not impossible to come back after bombing on a debut, but those who have managed it are few and far between.
A successful debut launches the act into the collective pop consciousness. It communicates the concept and image of a group or singer as simply as possible to attract as many fans as possible. It probably won’t top the charts or set any streaming records, as it’s difficult to compete with existing acts, but hopefully it will make a big enough impact to be noted by Korean and international K-pop fans.
How an act debuts depends on the strategy and budget of their company. Debut day for artists with great ambition will involve a live showcase in front of an invited audience of lucky fans and a question-and-answer session with the media – the whole thing may even be livestreamed for fans across the world to watch. The act will then be expected to perform their debut single (and sometimes other songs) on one or more of the weekly Korean TV music shows. There is a show broadcast most days, with the most influential being M Countdown, Show! Music Core, Inkigayo, Music Bank, Show Champion and The Show. These are all incredibly popular and performances will often appear on YouTube for repeated viewing. There they will join the debut music video, which is another massive opportunity to impress new fans.
The great K-pop girl groups in whose footsteps Twice were hoping to follow all had explosive debuts. Major company SM’s Girls’ Generation’s 2007 debut ‘Into the New World’ was an anthemic and high-energy song that went to number five in Korea. In 2009 the term ‘monster rookies’ was invented for YG Entertainment’s 2NE1, after twin videos of their fun and catchy debut ‘Fire’ received a million views in a day. JYP’s own Miss A’s iconic 2010 debut ‘Bad Girl, Good Girl’ was a great showcase, and, just a year before Twice prepared to debut, Red Velvet (SM again) had demonstrated debuts could achieve international success when ‘Happiness’ went to number four in Billboard’s World Digital charts. The bar had been set pretty high.
These groups were all still active (although 2NE1 were on a semi-hiatus) as Twice prepared to debut and there were other new girl groups keen to steal their thunder. Wanna B debuted in July 2015, April in August and DIA were unveiled in September, while Lovelyz, CLC, Mamamoo and GFriend had all debuted successfully in the past year. It was a crowded market.
Sixteen had given Twice an advantage. It was a tremendously popular show and all the girls had each picked up a number of fans. Whereas lots of groups head into their debuts from a standing start, K-pop fans already knew who Twice were. On 7 October 2015 JYP Entertainment launched the band’s official website and announced that the group would debut with a mini-album. Over the next two weeks there were a series of teasers – photos and short videos – that helped fans become more familiar with the members.
The main image of the group featured them in a line, all with hands on hips, staring intently at the lens like they meant business. Dressed in variations of red, black and camouflage they looked fresh and edgy in an assortment of graphic-embellished and lace-fringed crop tops, short skirts and shorts, plenty of wrist straps and bangles, and black platform boots. Nayeon, the only one wearing fishnet hold-ups, took centre position, flanked by Sana and Jeongyeon. The latter still had her short hair, but had dyed it rose pink, while Momo, at the left end of the line, was now sporting striking blonde locks.
Each of the girls was individually photographed in their teaser outfit (that Sixteen challenge had paid dividends!) and fans were able to get a closer look. Sana looked stunning as she crouched with her finger on her lips and her hair tied up in two fun bunches. Tzuyu, her dark hair falling over one eye, looked intriguing as she bit her lip, while a slightly mournful Jihyo showed off her new auburn hair. The others looked slightly awkward, but they had plenty of time to get that right, and it didn’t matter anyway because the outfits and make-up were perfect.
Each of the girls also had a 20-second video teaser in which a zombie intruder interrupted them as they were doing an ordinary activity. The humorous twist was that the girls were totally unfazed by the intrusion. Among fans the favourite was Dahyun’s teaser, which had her dancing alone in her living room. As she starts her now-famous eagle dance, two zombies materialise and, of course, they can’t resist joining in. Another popular clip featured Jeongyeon, clearly being cast as the group’s edgy member. She is sitting on the sofa watching TV and eating popcorn when her zombie appears. She tries feeding him some popcorn, but when he spits it out she gives him a taste of his own medicine, screaming and scaring the living daylights out of him!
For the nine members of Twice, 20 October must have come around so quickly. It had been a whirlwind six months for them, but they had been well prepared by the company and been given advice on what to expect by members of Miss A and second-generation group Wonder Girls. The day would not only see the release of their debut mini-album and single, but also their showcase at Uniqlo Ax Hall in Seoul, where they would perform on stage in front of the fans for the first time. If that wasn’t enough to set the nerves on edge, it would also be broadcast live on V LIVE.
Park Jin-young had come up with a new genre to describe Twice’s music. He called it colour pop, a fresh sound forged from a combination of rock, R’n’B and hip-hop, with infectious if unconventional lyrics. Many waited to hear their debut single to decide if colour pop was a real thing or simply JYP Entertainment promoting its new act. The title, ‘Like Ooh Ahh’, certainly contained a promise of fun and exuberance.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Twice were not going to debut with one of JYP’s songs. He was a prolific writer and had penned songs for g.o.d, Rain, 2PM, Wonder Girls, Got7, Miss A and even for Western artists such as Will Smith. However, JYP often leaned on retro influences in his songs so, determined to create a fresh sound for his new group’s debut single, he turned to an emerging production team who had already begun to make waves.