Twice

The fan cafés of successful groups might amass over 200,000 members, but a group just establishing themselves, as Twice was in late 2015, might have around 25,000. However, this is still enough to mobilise support for a group and, with the award season approaching, Once had arrived just in time. As a fandom they could encourage fans to vote for Twice and for those attending the ceremonies to be loud in their support for the girls.

Award shows are a high point in the K-pop calendar, with companies, acts and fans alike determined to make an impression. Winning an award is an important recognition of achievement and a place in the K-pop firmament is determined as much by awards won as chart hits, record sales or arena tours. There are many awards available, ranging from the single of the year to the best overall and global acts. Bonsangs are prizes awarded to up to a dozen acts who have excelled in certain categories, but the most cherished awards are the daesangs, which are special prizes reserved for the very top groups or artists.

For such a new group as Twice, the only prize they had any real chance of winning was a newcomer award. Generally speaking, until 18 months or even two years have passed since their debut, groups are termed ‘rookie acts’. However, even within this, group competition can be fierce. Twice had only debuted a month or so before the award season began and were competing against groups such as CLC, who already had two top ten EPs, Lovelyz, who had released three charting singles, and GFriend, who had debuted back in January and were seriously popular. Even if they didn’t take home a trophy, though, attending and being seen with established K-pop idols was a prize in itself, and if they performed at the ceremony it would give a real boost to their status in the industry.

In early November, Twice lost out to GFriend at the Melon Music Awards (MMAs), but – amazingly – at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMAs), which took place in Hong Kong in early December, they were nominated for the Artist of the Year award. Realistically, they had no chance of winning, with K-pop giants EXO, Big Bang and Girls’ Generation all in contention. However, the Rookie of the Year award, decided by votes on the MAMAs website, was firmly in their sights – as long as Once rallied to the cause.

It was Twice’s first awards show and they were determined to enjoy it, hanging out with their JYP Entertainment friends Got7, who were performing. JYP himself also took to the stage for a medley of songs, including a dance he performed with a female dancer to ‘Who’s Your Mama?’. Standing up and dancing, the Twice girls did their best to support the boss, but when the dance got a little too suggestive some of them just couldn’t watch, hiding their face behind their hands in embarrassment.

Fortunately, they had recovered by the time they took to the stage to receive the Best New Artist – Female award, their first ever trophy. The girls were dressed smartly, mainly in black jackets and skirts, but what grabbed the attention were some dramatic hair colour changes: Tzuyu’s long straight hair was now a crimson-red, Chaeyoung’s shorter hair was a dark blue and Sana’s locks were a beautiful dark pink.

While Nayeon jumped forward to collect their award, as Twice’s leader it was Jiyho’s responsibility to give the group’s acceptance speech. She might have told the audience that she was nervous, but she spoke like she had been picking up awards for years. She thanked Park Jin-young, who was now sitting in the audience with a smile a mile wide, gave the first official call-out to Once and modestly insisted that Twice still had much to improve upon, promising that they would work hard to become better people and performers.

As they reached two months since debut and approached their first Christmas together as a group, Twice announced a special gift for Once. On 21 December they uploaded three cover videos of JYP classics. One was a dance video set to 2PM’s ‘ADTOY’ (‘All Day I Think of You’). Featuring Momo, Chaeyoung, Jeongyeon, Sana and Tzuyu, dressed identically in long white shirts and short black shorts, it takes place in a floodlit night-time garden. With a choreography based around five chairs, the five members perform a highly synchronised dance that alternates between cute and seductive.

Meanwhile, in the second video the other four members – Dahyun, Jiyho, Mina and Nayeon – were indoors in a room decorated for Christmas. Dahyun was at the piano, Jiyho stood next to her like a soloist and the others perched on the sofa as they performed a cover of Wonder Girls’ 2011 hit ‘Be My Baby’. While Dahyun surprised many with her piano-playing ability, Jiyho’s confident and stable lead vocal was just as Once had learned to expect, and Nayeon’s soft tones and Mina’s sweet, almost angelic, voice complemented beautifully.

The trio of covers was completed by a whole-group effort in which they sang Got7’s ‘Confession Song’ from 2014. This was cute and fun Twice in their Christmas jumpers, standing around the Christmas tree, playing with the balloons and preparing party treats. Impressively, Chaeyoung and Dahyun added a rap which they wrote themselves, but Dahyun earned the most laughs for singing the ‘Hajima’ line at the beginning. It was a line from another Got7 single, ‘Stop, Stop It’, and Dahyun had had a lead role in the music video. Once appreciated the reference.

Christmas in K-popland means TV specials, and with Twice’s appealing visuals and feelgood vibes they were much in demand. They recorded two performances for the Music Bank special that was broadcast on Christmas Day. One was a new version of ‘Like Ooh Aah’ with additional choreography elements, while the other was a cover of a 1997 hit by Baby V.O.X. called ‘YaYaYa’. Kitted out in pink and white fluffy woollen tops and A-line skirts, this was as girly as Twice had so far been seen. Tzuyu’s voice really shone in the sugary sweet song, but the concept surprised some Onces: this image wasn’t what they expected of the group.

Before the year ended, Twice were able to tick off another K-pop tradition. They participated in the SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) Christmas special Gayo Daejun, which has been a Korean TV festive favourite since 1997. Originally an awards show (the show’s title translates as ‘Battle of the Bands’), since 2007 it had been more of a celebratory festival featuring the best K-pop acts around. The 2015 edition was no exception, with massive names such as Psy, Girls’ Generation, Shinee, EXO, Apink, AOA and VIXX topping the bill, alongside JYP Entertainment heavyweights 2PM and Got7. It also featured the best up-and-coming acts, including GFriend, Red Velvet, Lovelyz, Monsta X, Seventeen, iKon and, of course, Twice.

The live extravaganza took place on 27 December 2015 and it was the newest of all the acts that kicked off the show – Twice. They had pre-recorded a video especially for the show and it was a real gem. Entitled ‘A History of K-pop with Twice’, it started in the 1930s, with Jihyo and Tzuyu in vintage dresses and long gloves demonstrating the swing dance. It then progressed decade by decade with different pairs, dressed in the fashions of the time and performing the relevant dance style of the era. It was fun and superbly produced with, arguably, Dahyun and Mina’s seventies disco dance, Chaeyoung and Sana’s nineties hip-hop, and Mina and Momo’s 2010s EDM catwalk being the pick of the dances.

When it came to their Gayo Daejun performance, Twice stuck with ‘Like Ooh Ahh’ but rang the changes. The girls were dressed in a mix of red and black tartan cheerleader-style outfits with their team name Twice or the Twice logo emblazoned across their chests. They put their all into a powerful and energetic remix of the track, but unfortunately the filming let them down; the producers had cut the bridge and dance break, while the camera operators missed the intro.

Those familiar with JYP Entertainment’s strategy knew the company always tried to get as much as it could out of every release. Before the year was out it had dropped dance videos of both the Music Bank version of ‘Like Ooh Ahh’ (‘Remix Ver.1’), which had less gimmicky choreography than the original and some impressive formation changes, and the cheerleader (complete with pom-pom intro), high-energy Gayo Daejun version (‘Remix Ver.2’). What’s more, as a result of the festive performances, the single began to rise up the Korean charts again, so JYP Entertainment decided to promote the song again on the various music shows. By the first week of 2016, ‘Like Ooh Ahh’ was at number nine on the Melon (streaming) charts – the highest position yet! It brought new opportunities, too. Jihyo and Nayeon were invited to be guest MCs on an episode of M Countdown and the same show gave them a chance to perform ‘Candy Boy’ as a second song.

One measure of how successful a debut it had been is the number of product endorsements the group had been signed up for. Before they even debuted they were promoting the school uniform brand Skoolooks (which raised some controversy, with complaints that the advertisements were too suggestive). They then promoted the cinema chain CGV, the online action game Elsword and KB Kookmin Bank’s credit card, and also became official ambassadors for Snoopy: The Peanuts Movie, dancing alongside Charlie Brown and Snoopy in a trailer and attending the premiere on Christmas Eve.

Twice were flying high. It had been a dream three months. Their single was performing well and they were winning over more fans every day. What could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, in the high-profile world of K-pop the answer is almost anything. Through naivety, youthful high spirits, romance and passion, or occasionally criminal behaviour, it can be all too easy for K-pop idols to cause controversy or scandal. Tzuyu, the group’s youngest member and still only 16, was about to learn the hard way.

In November, Twice had appeared on a TV variety show called My Little Television. The members introduced themselves, with the Japanese duo holding up their national flag and Tzuyu waving a Taiwanese flag to show her nationality. It only appeared in an online section of the show and no one thought anything of it. Then, in January, a Chinese-based Taiwanese artist called Huang An pointed out on the Chinese social media platform Weibo that Tzuyu had waved the flag of independent Taiwan. This was a problem as the Chinese government does not recognise Taiwan as a separate state. Huawei, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, immediately terminated their endorsement deal with Twice and Tzuyu’s forthcoming appearance on a Chinese New Year TV show was cancelled.

Poor Tzuyu had jeopardised Twice’s future in a country where they could potentially have thousands of fans. JYP Entertainment immediately defended her, citing her young age, insisting she had no political agenda and issuing an apology to China, blaming themselves for not giving their artist proper guidance. A video was then uploaded to YouTube in which a sombre Tzuyu apologised, saying, ‘There is only one China … I am proud to consider myself thoroughly Chinese.’ She concluded, ‘I’m terribly sorry for the harm I have caused and I feel ashamed.’ For Tzuyu and Twice the matter had been dealt with, but in Taiwan many supported their young star, feeling she had been bullied into apologising by the company.

However, there was no time for Tzuyu or Twice to feel sorry for themselves as their January schedule was packed. Their place as idols was confirmed by their participation in high-profile shows – some of which didn’t even involve singing or dancing. Among them were the cookery show Top 3 Chef King and Same Bed, Different Dreams, in which Dahyun and Nayeon gave advice to reconcile teens and their parents (this episode featured a mother who was worried her son was throwing away a potential baseball career because he was obsessed with Twice!).

K-pop is nothing but original in devising entertainment formats in which stars can excel or embarrass themselves. Since 2010, the Idol Star Athletics Championships (Idol Games) has been a regular and very popular event. This is a mini-Olympics which pitches idol against idol in a bid to win medals at a selection of sporting events. In January 2015, Twice took their place among the 50 top K-pop groups, competing individually for their group and for a team. Twice were placed in a team called Beat to the End with BTS, Got7 and Bestie. The early events were not a great success for the girls. Chaeyoung was just edged out of the bronze medal in the 60-metre sprint by Binnie from Oh My Girl and Tzuyu completely missed the target in archery when her arrow got caught in her hair – the video clip of the incident went viral, though, so it was a victory of some sort!

The Twice girls, however, proved they are – literally – fighters, with a team of Jeongyeon, Momo and Nayeon entering the Ssireum event. Ssireum is a traditional form of wrestling in Korea where competitors grab each other’s belts and attempt to pull or push their opponents to the ground. You might think it’s hardly a sport for demure girl singers, but they went at it with gusto. Twice defeated Girl’s Day and then Apink to set up a battle with EXID in the final. Jeongyeon and Nayeon were both beaten and although Momo, who had failed to win a bout up until then, defeated Exid’s best wrestler, Hyelin, Twice had to settle for a silver medal.

It had been a whirlwind three months for Twice. They had debuted, seen their single become a fixture in the charts, won a rookie award, rode out controversy over the Skoolooks and Taiwan flag incidents, and established themselves as true idols with charisma as well as musical talent. The history of K-pop, however, is as littered with one-hit wonders as the Western pop charts, and the question now being asked of Twice was whether they could sustain their success with their next single …

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