I just finished watching the final episode of SIXTEEN only a few minutes ago and I feel like I have to write about it to process all the things I’m feeling about the show and the final line-up of TWICE. This was the first time I ever watched a survival show without knowing the results (compared to when I watched WIN: Who Is Next and Mix & Match) and I found it both really interesting but also extremely stressful. I’ve been a nervous wreck this last week, struggling to find a subbed version of the final episode. But I made it, and I managed to avoid any spoilers so I came at it completely fresh. Of course, this post is in no way spoiler-free so read no further if you haven’t seen it yet.
To start of with I’d like to say that survival shows are evil and awful and I hate that it’s become such a trend in the kpop industry. But, and this is a big but to me, isn’t this more or less exactly what they’d go through anyway? The trainee life is hard, brutal even, this just reveals the truth to us fans. And I’d have to say, JYP is a lot nicer about it than YG is. The suffocating fear you could see in the eyes of the boys of Team A and Team B etc was not there in this show. And even when JYP critiqued them, it was clear that he was making an effort not to hurt them too bad. And even though I was not completely pleased with the results, I still understand why he chose who he chose. His comments made sense, and I believe that he will allow the eliminated girls to stay on as trainees if they so want. I definitely expect some of them to debut in a few years.
Now I’d like to go through all sixteen girls, and explain if I liked them and in that case why. And whether or not I wanted them in TWICE. Let’s go by age, because you got to go by something.
#1 – Nayeon
I knew from the very start that Nayeon would be debuting, and she will. At almost twenty, she’s almost a little old to debut and she already had a bit of fame to her name. But I never cared much for her. She was a little too self-confident in the start, so I think going down to minor was really good for her, she really humbled up. She’s a pretty girl but I don’t see what all the fuss is about her being so damn stunning. Her singing and dancing was always alright, but nothing that truly stood out. She’ll be a stable mid-level member of TWICE even though she was not a part of my ideal line-up.
#2 – Jungyeon
I liked Jungyeon more or less from the very start. She’s a good singer, and she never ever seems nervous, even when she definitely was. She has a clear-cut “chic” image, which none of the other girls had. I always saw her as a given TWICE member, and didn’t ever approve of her going down to minor. I’m very glad to see her debut.
#3 – Momo
Momo is the only effortlessly sexy one out of all the girls and she is clearly the best dancer. She quickly became one of my absolute favorite members and I was almost settled on her being my bias. And then she was eliminated and I was distraught. It was between her, the best dancer; Jiwon, one of the absolute best singers; and Chaeyoung, the only good rapper. Neither me nor JYP was okay with him having to make that decision and it was horrible. Momo had to go, and I was left with trying to choose a bias from the three girls that I had seen as being tied for second place in the race for being my bias.
But then came the final episode and Momo was there to watch the final show together with the other three eliminated girls. And when JYP announces the ninth and final member of TWICE (what happened to seven?) it’s not one of the girls on stage, it’s Momo. Apparently both he and all the JYP trainers felt like TWICE desperately needed her. And I’m ecstatic. I’m so happy and pretty damn sure that this will be my bias and that we will be very happy together. (Not gonna properly announce it until they debut tho) I understand why it was such a controversial decision, because she was eliminated, but this was never a survival show where the voters decided; it was always up to JYP. And he and I wanted Momo.
#4 – Sana
(Had to use this picture because what the hell)
I really like Sana. I liked her from the very first episode where instead of dancing or singing like most of the others, she made some kind of rice paper thingy for JYP in the most adorably aegyo way possible. Sana is one of the most beautiful members and she has a maturity that I didn’t expect from her. I’m definitely pleased that she’s debuting; she was one of my favorites.
#5 – Jihyo
Jihyo is great. She might only be fifth-oldest but in my mind she’s the best and clearest candidate for the position of leader. She’s one of the best singers, and she has natural beauty that shines through her eyes in a lovely way. Calling her fat is outrageous and I think her slightly-larger-than-a-stick-thin-kpop-star physique is beautiful. She sang trot in the first challenge, and earned my love. It’s no wonder that she was one of the members that were most consistently major. So so happy that she’s debuting.
#6 – Mina
Mina was my least favorite out of the Japan line (which is her, Sana and Momo, by the way) but I always liked her nonetheless. I like that she’s a ballet dancer and while she was not one of the stand-out singers, I always liked her voice nonetheless. When I was settling on my final line-up I did not include her, but it was a tough decision. So I’m happy that she’s still around, and I’ll deny that I didn’t want her. Because I did, I promise! Just not the most!
#7 – Minyoung
I liked Minyoung from the very start, based on her voice alone, but her nerves often got the better of her when it came to actually singing on stage, which is a big minus for a kpop star. I was surprised and a bit upset that she wasn’t chosen for TWICE, because she was a part of my personal perfect line-up, but I do understand why JYP didn’t pick her. It might very well be so that she’s more suited for being a singer-songwriter than a member of a girl group, and I really hope that JYP will help her get there, as he said he would.
#8 – Jiwon
I always thought Jiwon and Minyoung were quite similar, since they are both amazing singers who often crumbled under pressure and didn’t perform to the best of their abilities. Jiwon is super cute and as I said, a great singer, but I wasn’t very surprised when she was eliminated. Her nerves really got the best of her and she didn’t have a stand-out persona. Between her and Minyoung, I’m definitely team Minyoung.
#9 – Dahyun
Dahyun won everyone’s hearts and minds in the beginning with her fabulous eagle-dance and that includes me. She stood out and didn’t take herself too seriously and she was one of the first ones whose name I learned. But I fell more and more out of love with her as the show went on and in the end she was not included in my personal line-up, which honestly surprised me. She was supposed to be a rapper and while I did find her second-best I never thought she was good. At a few points I even found her slightly arrogant, which I did not care for. So yes, I didn’t feel like TWICE needed her, but I knew that her popularity meant that she was almost a given. And now that I know that yes, she will debut, I’m perfectly fine with that. But please in the name of everything good, don’t let her eagle dance become some variety show staple because I’m already getting sick of it.
#10 – Chaeyoung
I wanted Chaeyoung in TWICE based on her talent alone, and she ended up in TWICE on talent alone. She’s a pretty girl and a good performer with a cool vibe, but I never fell for her on a personal level. But every group needs a rapper, and Chaeyoung is a pretty good one. She’ll definitely carry the team in that department and I’ll enjoy watching her.
#11 – Tzuyu
Tzuyu is gorgeous, definitely one of the most beautiful ones. Also there isn’t many Taiwanese kpop stars, like none, so that alone made her a stand-out. I wanted her in TWICE for her looks, since neither her singing nor her dancing is that amazing, and I’m pretty sure that that was what put her in TWICE. Tzuyu was the member that was completely chosen by the viewers, and I’m pretty sure they were all just dazzled.
#12 – Chaeyeon
Chaeyeon was the very first eliminated member and I therefore never really got into her. I was actually quite glad, since that meant I wouldn’t confuse her with her sister anymore. They look a lot alike. I found her perfectly fine, but she never interested me beyond that.
#13 – Eunsuh
Eunsuh was the second eliminated member, and at that point I still wasn’t completely clear on who all the girls were. Eunsuh was never particularly memorable to me, and I wasn’t at all surprised that JYP let her go. Cute girl though.
#14 – Somi
Somi was the youngest member that I personally wanted in TWICE and I’m a little sad that she won’t be debuting with them. She is a bit too young though, so if she takes JYP’s advice and goes back to the practice room, I’m sure she can be absolutely amazing by the time JYP wants another girl group. She just lit up the stage and owned it in a way I didn’t expect from a fourteen-year-old.
#15 – Chaeryeong
Chaeryeong is Chaeyeon’s younger sister and to me they seemed almost identical in the beginning. Chaeryeong did grow on me, but I never wanted her to nor thought that she would debut in TWICE. She’s too young and too rough around the edges. I also don’t think she has the look of a kpop star. I know, that’s a super mean thing to even think about a little girl, but in this industry it’s the harsh reality.
#16 – Natty
Natty is adorable and very impressive for her super young age, but she’s nowhere near ready for debut. She’s not old enough, for one, and would definitely have limited the possible concepts that TWICE could do to super cute ones. Her singing was also definitely not ready, and needs a lot more work. I’m expecting to see her again though, in a few years. She’s too good to be let go.
I might not have gotten exactly who I wanted, but I understand the decisions that were made and I’m expecting TWICE to be good, almost as good as their name is awful. Momo will probably be my bias, since I’m slightly in love with her, but I won’t lock that down just yet.
Did you guys watch SIXTEEN? If you did, are you happy with the results? Why/why not?
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I only watched sixteen until Momo’s elimination, I really liked some of the girls but the show wasn’t that interesting to me (I felt like the episodes just dragged on and were edited in a way to fit a certain narrative/biased towards certain trainees).
However, I was rooting for Somi, Tzuyu, Jihyo and Natty – I usually don’t like groups that have members that are born 1999 or later because I feel they are too young to debut in the harsh kpop industry and they make me feel lazy but the girls on this show are one of the exceptions. I thought they seemed very genuine, were pretty and had interesting personalities.
For some reason there were also a lot of girls which didn’t interest me at all – in the end I only had five girls that I wanted to see debut while I didn’t care much about the others – which surprised me since I was much more invested in the girls from Baby Kara Project and the No Mercy trainees. I think the editing was also at fault here – some of the girls had bored expressions during their interview sessions (perfect example; Eunsuh) or were portrayed in a way that made them come off as plain/uninteresting/annoying (Sana was overly cute, Momo seemed overly negative/jealous of Natty, Minyoung was always portrayed as the insanely talented girl that should be pitied because she could do better). I thought Dahyun was over-hyped since episode 1 and I couldn’t really connect to any of the Japanese girls.
To be honest (and this is probably a bit mean) I also wasn’t that impressed with the visuals – I believe that JYP wanted girls with distinct, unique looks on the show rather than faces that look very similar to another but if I compare sixteen/twice to other girl groups, I’d probably think they’d be lacking.
My ideal line-up would have been:
Jihyo as leader, lead vocalist
Nayeon as visual, vocalist
Tzuyu
Somi
Natty as Main Dancer, Maknae
Jiwon as main vocalist (I don’t like her that much but I still prefer her over other contestants)
and either Jungyeon or Momo (I also don’t like either that much but the member count had to go up to 7)
(Oops, this comment got longer than I intended… I just needed to rant about the show)
Wow you definitively have a lot of opinions! I agree some about the editing, it didn’t always seem fair and some things seemed unnecessary/dragged out… In the end though, I did enjoy the show, and was fairly happy with who ended up in the final lineup.
(And no problemo! Ranting is always allowed here)
I haven’t watched 16 but I think JYP chose them all really well and I agree with all of the choices! I’m glad Momo got brought back but, it makes me sad that the only reason people liked Tzuyu was for her looks and that is still happens now even after years of this being posted…
Is it super weird to comment on a year old post? Sorry
But I just binge watched Sixteen and have a lot of feelings.
I loved Natty, she’s so young and yet already so good. But I think they put her in that show with no intention of actually letting her win and I have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, it’s exposure, and exposure is good. On the other, that’s a whole lot of extra stress and having to deal with an unavoidable loss, which is a bit cruel. I know a trainee’s life is harsh anyway, but still…
Anyway, as much as I love Natty, Momo shouldn’t have lost to her in that duel where Natty did a slow emotional dance. Momo showed so much skill and Natty’s dance was barely a dance. She’s insanely talented but this performance wasn’t really that great. I’m sure they did it for drama.
I don’t like the fact that Momo was randomly brought back in the last episode and made a winner. It’s good for the group, yes, but it’s such reality tv cheating. In general, I think this show was really bad at being reality tv. Like, 16 girls but 4 eliminations in 9 episodes? No tension whatsoever. Then they did Produce 101 and they went overboard in the other direction, eliminating too many girls too fast…
I agree with the above commenter about Dahyun being overhyped. I didn’t see her appeal at all and she was really cocky in the beginning, which really made me dislike her. She’s super average.
Tzuyu is simply the most gorgeous girl ever. Jungyeon is everything, it’s ridiculous that they chose pretty but bland Nayeon as the lead rapper when she is simply not good enough for that, and Jungyeon would be so much better.
It’s never too late to comment on a post! I had so many feels about Sixteen when I first watched it too…. And while I agree that bringing Momo back was a copout from a reality show standpoint, I couldn’t not be excited about it… I have a lot of feels for that chick.
Allow me to post a year after this one!
I just binged Sixteen, and despite knowing the outcome the show was still an emotional roller coaster. Seeing where Twice is today it was really cool and strange to watch the girls struggle with things they do so well now.
Sixteen definitely made me like the members more, seeing them compete for something so important is so different than watching them goof around on Twice TV. The member that changed the most in my standing has to be Nayeon. She has a very goofy personality at times, but watching the way she supported other member was really surprising.
Jungyeon and Jihyo have to be my favorite members after watching Sixteen, the way they lead every group they were in was awesome, and it was good to see that recognized when they went to the resort. It was heartbreaking to watch Jihyo be constantly criticized for her weight, but it was awesome to see her face when JYP finally complimented her after the final performance.
Dahyun felt really odd after some of her performances, and I think she felt the same way. Her reaction after being chosen was of complete shock, and the way that she reacted to being forced to call Minyoung down really struck a cord with me. As JYP said, she needed to improve in a lot of areas, but the way that she was able to interact with people and be herself made her valuable. I don’t think that the eliminations should be thought of a s trading people into the same role, rather Dahyun was needed to fill a role that the others on the major side didn’t fulfill. I’m happy that Dahyun appears to have worked hard on the areas she needed to improve, and I always enjoy the way she interacts with the group on variety shows or Twice TV.
I can’t believe that Somi was only 14, she seems way more mature. I know that she was apart of I.O.I., and I hope that she continues to find success.
After watching the show I really feel like Momo being eliminated threw everything into disarray. Episode 6 really broke the competitors. Watching girls like Jungyeon break down on stage and the member’s reaction to Momo’s elimination was awful to watch. The way that the show suddenly backed off of eliminations and went on something of a vacation felt like the staff were apologizing. They knew they had messed up badly. The way that JYP acted when he brought back Momo seemed like just barely short of an open apology to her.
Any Twice fan needs to watch Sixteen, having this context makes the things that Twice has accomplished all the more meaningful.
I’m currently watching Sixteen and just got passed that episode where Momo got eliminated. I was actually genuinely sad about it
Natty’s definitely talented and has a bright future ahead of her, but I felt annoyed? Near the start of the episode while the Majors and Minors were watching each other’s practices and commenting, she said something like “unnie, I’m definitely going to keep my place” and ahhh that kind of attitude is pretty offputting in my opinion. Maybe it’s just the nature of the show. It’s so competitive and honestly, pretty toxic for the competitors and pits them against each other.
All the girls are gorgeous and talented and I hope that all of them, not just the ones in Twice, are doing well T^T
I agree with a lot of the views of the above commenter, especially what they said about episode six.
I’ve been a fan of TWICE for a while, but only just found the sixteen episodes. I think that may have just made my views a bit more biased, but I still have a lot to say.
Episode six, and Momo: like I said, I’ve known TWICE for a while, and Momo never really appealed to me, even in the beginning. She’s an amazing dancer and talented, you can’t argue with that, she just never really popped out to me. When I watched episode six, I was frankly a bit confused. The other members were upset when other people were eliminated, but there was a whole breakdown when Momo was. I just don’t understand it. Was it because she started full on crying, but the other eliminated members held it together? Was it just unexpected? Some of the members the most upset didn’t even know her that well on a personal level. I understand that her group was upset, and her best friends Sana and Mina, but the rest of the members’ reactions I just didn’t get. It might just be because she never appealed to me in the first place, but I just found that part confusing. I don’t like that they brought her back at the end. I get the feeling JYP knew he was going to keep her, but like he said she was the most flawed in her team at that time, despite him knowing she was going to debut. He could have just not eliminated anyone. He’d done it once at that point, and I don’t think anybody in that team had deserved to go home, given their performance. That would have made me more satisfied, but that might only be because I already knew the end result. I might sound like I’m hating on Momo, but that is NOT the case. She may be my least favorite, but everybody has one. She deserves to be in TWICE, and nobody can rival her dancing skills, I just don’t like the way she got into the band.
I got quite a few feelings for Mina after watching sixteen. When I first got into TWICE and Kpop, I didn’t notice her that much. However, after watching sixteen, I felt I could relate a lot to her, and she’s my second fav now (my bias is Dayhun, I can’t believe some people said she was cocky). Mina has a really pretty voice and is so kind, I’m surprised she didn’t move up to major in episode 7. It might have been a language barrier issue, I know she didn’t know any Korean when she first moved from Japan. I got a lot of feels for her talent and personality, and enjoyed seeing her confidence grow. Love my Minari!!
I seriously love Somi. She’s gorgeous, and has a lot of potential. So sad she left JYP, even though I know she had to ;___; She was so nice and bubbly, and had a really good way of showing her personality through the photoshoot and “Are You A Star?” missions. I’m sad she isn’t in TWICE, and I’m hoping for a bright future ahead of her!
Overall for sixteen, I have one opinion that has been made very clear. Because I watched sixteen after it came out a while ago, I was able to look up what the eliminated members did afterwards. They all left JYP, except for Chaeryoung, I’m not sure about her. Anyway, I think I know why they had to, and it’s the case for all shows like sixteen. There is a lot of hype about these things, and all of the girls (and boys for boys shows) get a decent amount of fame no matter what. The people that don’t debut end up with lots of fans, and people know who they are, but they go back to being trainees. JYP says that it wants a balance in fame for its bands. The girls that entered in sixteen got so much attention that they would overshadow anybody else they were in a band with, upsetting the balance. That would make it extremely hard for them to debut, because they would have fans, but no band, especially for people like Somi and Minyoung that were really popular. they would have to be in a band with each other for it to possibly work, and that would be really hard and kinda stupid. Not debuting with a show like sixteen would have been really hard for the girls, career and confidence wise. I wish amazing lives for them all 🙂
I’m commenting 4 years later LOL…. anyway, I felt more as if Natty was really young and needed a bit more time to make herself more ready for debuting. My favorites were like this:
1- Dahyun
2- Momo
3- Jihyo
4- Somi
5- Nayeon
6- Chaeyoung
7- Minyoung(I know she had confidence issues but was anyone else shocked in that performance of Problem?)
If I got to choose 2 more than…
8- Jiwon
9- Mina
I would choose Chaeyeon, but to be honest I only believe that she should be in that group now that she took some time to practice and became a dance pro and part of Izone after being on 3 survival shows.
Everyone is looking at the “Momo getting cut” completely wrong. JYP let the viewers choose who ended up in the bottom. They specifically voted AGAINST him, every time he chose a team that he thought should win. JYP knew that he was going to put Momo in Twice from the start. What he didn’t know, was whether he was going to keep Chaeyoung or Jiwon. He wanted to see more from them, to know if either of them were a good fit for his new girl group.
Simply put.. JYP cut Momo because he already knew she was going to be in Twice, but he needed to see more from Jiwon and Chaeyoung still.
Very interesting, I haven’t thought of it that way!
I didn’t know that…
I am probably a bit biased with my favourites, since i started watching SIXTEEN because I was already a TWICE fan… and decided to watch sixteen just bc i wanted to see how twice was formed (a bad sentence).
I’m probably going to be a bit brutal here, but, I felt like eunseo and chaeyeon were really unmemorable. I was a bit glad that they were eliminated, since they never appealed to me in the first place. chaeryeong was good at dancing, but she didnt really have the “idol aura”. And jiwon and minyeong were indeed super good at singing, but they didnt really do well under pressure and that’s never good, especially if you’re planning on entering the brutal world of idols. They let their nerves get to them way too much.
The photoshoot episode was one of the episodes that affected my personal twice lineup the most. Because I feel like, being able to be comfortable and “natural” around a camera is very important, almost as important as being able to sing or dance on stage… Since, if you’re going to be a celebrity, you’re going to be in a hell of a lot of photoshoots. Bringing the quality of a group picture down or being unable to be “attractive” in a solo photoshoot is quite detrimental for an idol. And a person that has no change in expression isn’t very attractive or appealing imo.
I was also very shook when momo was eliminated. I literally cried (aka sobbed) watching that episode (lol even though i knew she was going to be brought back). And in a lot of the instances, I was confused by the audience’s choices with best performances…. Because i personally felt that a lot of the times, I agreed with JYP’s fav performance more. Though, as a korean who grew up watching a lot of korean reality tv and singing competition type shows, I knew who the audience would choose as the better performance, even if it contradicted with my own opinion (and JYP’s)…. it’s a bit upsetting, a lot of “common” people have poor taste…. that sounds really snobby but yeah haha.
My personal favourites from the show (and twice) were jungyeon and sana. hnnngg i love all of twice, but they’re the ones i like a bit better than the rest. I got into twice because of jungyeon after all hohoho (i lov her)
this… comment ended up being a bit long, sorry about that. I liked your reflection of the show, it was a good read 😀
Wow long comment! Speaking of the photo shoot episode (which was so much fun btw) that one really affected my opinion of Somi, and made me start putting her in my ideal line-up. I’m fine that she didn’t end up there, but I do think she would have suited twice.
Oh goodness I’m commenting 3 years later :))
I understood the reasoning behind picking the lineup that Twice is now, and understanding that Somi and Natty can come back and get better as they age.
I also initially thought Dahyun seemed cocky, based on that episode where it seemed like she didn’t immediately move to minor when called. But apparently it was only editing, and I’ve seen posts on how she actually went down immediately when called. So I kinda feel bad that she might look cocky when in other videos (and even from fellow idols) she seems sweet. I also felt bad that she was basically told at the last episode that she wasn’t being added for her talent but basically for her personality. I know personality and charm are important and that you can’t buy that, but maaan that’s tough to be told that your talent isn’t up to par. Though yeah, I know that’s the idol industry. -.-
But looking at Twice now, they seem to be doing well and steadily improving!
i didnt watch this and i dont usually watch kpop shows, and i think that everyone in twice is reasonably talented and gorgeous, but i lowk feel like all of these girls were prob p talented and jyp just chose the prettiest ones
So late to this discussion (Dec 2018), but still some comments.
I think the global profile of Kpop has changed so much since 2015 that if Sixteen were held again today, we very likely would have seen a lineup that included Somi, if only because Somi speaks English.
I’m not kidding. She is undeniably gorgeous and her talent was fine despite her age, but in 2015 I just don’t think JYP had an eye towards the Western market. Arguably, he still doesn’t, given his continuing resistance to including the US or Canada in tours and promotions. He has said in the past that he bases it solely on album sales, but that seems short-sighted to me. And, though I hate to even say it, the Korean market has shown again and again that it isn’t super open to mixed-race celebrities (they still struggle with other Asians who are just tan, though that is changing – thanks Tzuyu!).
75% of Blackpink speaks English and they are blowing the doors off the world market, despite Twice being equally popular in traditional Kpop markets (Asia).That’s partially because of their very western style, but their four members also speak Korean, Thai, English, Japanese and some basic Chinese. Similarly, BTS on the men’s side also prioritized having English-speaking members. Blackpink is featuring with western artists and BTS is becoming a household name even in the US.
Obviously, Twice is doing just fine as it is. The reincarnation of the complete J-line (it’s hard to imagine them without Momo now) and the inclusion of Tzuyu (look at JYPs reaction when she inadvertently jeopardized the Chinese market) were both good moves for the group and great business decisions for their profile across Asia, I just still think that if done again today we might have Somi for totally practical reasons. It’s hard to say who might have gone to make that space, but I think we may have seen the last days of the old-school Kpop groups without an English-speaking member.
JYP was probably the first to try to break into American market with a Korean girl group, with Wonder Girls 10 years ago! The group generally performed with 5 members, most of which had some conversational proficiency to fluency in English, two singles and a full album in English. There’s a possibility that he lost a good bit of money, because American market tends to be impenetrable even to the Brits and the generally quite fluent in English Europeans, a handful exceptions notwithstanding. It probably didn’t make sense to compromise the assured performance in the Asian markets for a very long shot at some success in the States.
JY Park also had limited success in the States before Wonder Girls by collaborating with American artists as a performer/co-producer – but he didn’t have to bear the brunt of the marketing cost back then.
Then again English speaking members could help invade Europe, which is in a way really complicated but also not quite as locked down as America.
What is your opinion of Chaeryeong now debuting in itzy? I’m just doing some research on her now and came across this page!
Honestly, I’m a bit surprised. She wasn’t one of the Sixteen girls that I necessarily excepted would turn up again. However, I am happy for her and wish her all the best. She was a very promising dancer when she was on Sixteen, and if she’s continued developing that I’m sure she is quite lovely now.
I’m very late to the party, but i wanted to provide my insight. Being that I am kinda become a crazy fan for the “Foreign Foursome”, I watched Sixteen so I could learn how they came to be. Especially since when Twice first came out, I was a slight anti fan, mostly because vocally, they are one of the weakest vocal groups ever in Kpop to garner their popularity. Hearing Jihyo in Sixteen enforced that for me.
Back on topic… I started shifting from an anti to a full fledged fan when i looked more of their talent based on their performances, individuality and quite honestly and most importantly, their visuals…hence the “Foreign Foursome”. Never has there ever been such an assembly of visually insanely beautiful members in one group. I never thought there would be a group to surpass SNSD in that category, but Twice shot it out of the ballpark. Not just the four foreign members either, Nayeon always appealed to me too and Dahyun grew on me during Sixteen. I don’t think this should ever be taken for granted and JYP was smart for having all 4 of the foreign members to debut.
As evil as JYP was to do a show like this for Twice, I am 100% behind him on how it turned out and it probably was the best PR move for Twice to start with. Like many people have watched the other elimination shows that produced Iz One and IOI, this being purely a full fledged girl group under one agency means no one is more vested in the group, but JYP. People that say it was rigged, or how Somi didn’t debut, fail to realize that in the grand scheme of things, Tzuyu was a total fan choice. Talent and age-wise, she was very close to the “too-young to debut” group. Somi was in that group. Also the age, leadership, and experience gap was very visible between the older and younger participants. In some ways, my only criticism of JYP would be the fact that Natty kept winning over Momo, just based more on creativity and shock. I never thought Momo didn’t display a sort of charisma on the show, but JYP never mentioned that either.
Lastly, regarding the English speaking aspect, it just so happened that the only member that could speak english was Somi, so more than a strategic miss, there just wasn’t a suitable candidate apart of the 16 trainees. If there was an avg to above avg english speaking member between the age of 17-20, I am sure they would have been part of the group. Just the fact that Natty was added to the 16 lineup meant JYP just didnt have enough suitable trainees at the certain age range needed to debut.
Sorry long winded and late and all over the place, more like ramblings.
Thanks for the post though!
Almost hard to believe you wrote this back in 2015—so much of what you wrote came true. With it being practically 2020 now, I’d like to know how yout thoughts might have changed, starting with this about Nayeon:
For the record, I was in the same boat with you. Now though, I can’t separate her looks from her engaging personality. Plus she’s such a full-time flirt, five years of that must have affected my brain—I find her absolutely dazzling.
You nailed that one.
Jeongyeon was my initial bias but I’ve settled on Dahyun for the long haul. She’s just soooo good on variety. The two- or three times I’ve seen them break out the eagle dance were fine, but yeah that’s plenty for me thanks.
Nailed it.
Chaeyeon is my IZ*ONE bias. Yena is hilarious and Chaewon is just made out of air and light but Chaeyeon is everything that’s decent and gratifying about human beings and she can never be allowed to lose anything, ever.
Same on Produce 101. Nailed it.
Maybe I’ve just grown accustomed to their look from loving her sister so much, or maybe the K-pop industry is more open-minded than you are. I know, that’s a super mean thing to even think about somebody I only know from an old blog entry, but… 😉
So that explains (G)I-DLE. I love them (Yuqi-aaah!), but that name tops the cake. And that cake is made by someone who should not be allowed to name their own child.
Wow, thank you for such a thought-through comment!
Nayeon’s looks have definitely grown on me too. While I still don’t find her one of the prettiest, it doesn’t matter, since they are all so pretty. I also think that her singing, and especially her dancing, have improved a lot, so I think she’s great in the group.
I haven’t watched much variety from Twice, but I definitely get good vibes from Dahyun.
I did not watch Produce 48 (only season I didn’t watch at all) and haven’t followed Iz*one all that much at all, but I do think that Chaeyeon seems very good in that group. Great dancer, for sure.
I agree that I was too harsh on Chaeryeong. I think I just had a narrower view of what a kpop star was “supposed” to look like back then. I’d recommend reading the profile I wrote about ITZY (https://topofthekpops.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/opinionated-profile-of-itzy/) for a more recent opinion on her.
Yeah, (G)I-DLE is a horrible group name. Great group though.
I feel like what you said was a little rude towards mainly Dahyun and nayeon like you don’t need to say that twice didn’t need Dahyun and nayeon is beautiful so if you stan twice I wouldn’t say your a true once it kinda made me a little sad what you said maybe be careful because calling other Kpop idols sticks because they are skinny is rude and they have feelings which I pretty sure you k kw but be careful with your words even tho this post is old but still hope fully you have changed because it was rude…😐 I’m a real once 🌼🍓
I’m sorry you thought the post was rude; I did not mean it to be. It is five years old and was written right after Sixteen ended, before Twice had even debuted.
These were my honest thoughts about the members at the time. I wouldn’t say today that Nayeon and Dahyun shouldn’t be in twice, not at all, but at the time they weren’t yet. The members of twice were being chosen, and I don’t see anything wrong with me expressing my opinions on who my ideal line-up were.
I didn’t call anyone in specific a stick, and I wouldn’t generally do that, but I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with pointing out that the average kpop body type is “stick-thin”. That’s not a criticism, just an observation that kpop stars generally are really skinny.
When I wrote this no one was a “real once”. Not me, not you, not anyone. That wasn’t a thing yet. But I don’t appreciate your insinuation that I’m not a “true once” (whatever that means) now based on this post that I wrote before twice or onces even existed.
Damn this post feels so old🤣
Now after all these years Twice is still growing stronger and better than ever.
How do you feel now?
Did you ever think that twice could be this big and have millions of fans all around the world?
Btw I love all nine of them and cannot imagine twice without one
With that being said I wish you all happy life during this time wash your hands and wear your masks
Stan twice for a better life ✌️
Haha yeah it sure ain’t new! 🤣
I definitely feel different now, and obviously, now I can’t imagine Twice with any other members than the 9 that we have!
I know this is old and (hopefully) your opinions have changed but “Her singing and dancing was always alright” really mad me sad and now she’s the center of the group and she’s beautiful. I know this is a very old post but as Nayeon bias and Dahyun being one of my wreckers this post hurt. Though everyones entitled to an opinion I love my nine girls and wouldn’t have it any other way. Also hopefully you are nicer to Chaeryeong because she too is beautiful and is killing it in ITZY!
My opinions have absolutely changed, a lot, since this was written, almost seven years ago. I’d say especially about Chaeryeong, who I was very harsh about, and who I now think is great. Nayeon and Dahyun are great too. Thing is, when I wrote this Twice hadn’t even debuted yet, so I had none of the attachment to the girls that I have now. Obviously, now I would not change the lineup.