Tuesday, July 7, 2015

"Sixteen" Ends; Twice is Born



JYP’s “Sixteen” program aired its final episode today and there has been a giant shitstorm surrounding the show since the MILK voting poll ended last night. Even if you’re not invested in the show and/or the group, bystanders will get a lot of enjoyment out of what happened today.

For those of you out of the loop, “Sixteen” was a survival program for JYP’s upcoming girl group Twice. It has already been five years since JYP has debuted a girl group (miss A). Out of the 16 girls, 7 were supposed to debut in the group. This show was to see which seven members was going to debut. The seven girls were placed in the “Major” group and the other nine were placed in the “Minor” group. There were missions to see which members would trade places, and usually at the end of a mission, someone from the Minor team would be eliminated.

(This is a long post and contains spoilers if you haven’t seen the last episode or read the spoilers yet.)



At the start of the last episode, there were 12 members left, and the 7 remaining in Major were: Sana, Mina, Natty, Jihyo, Chaeyoung, Somi and Minyoung. The five Minor members were Nayeon, Jungyeon, Tzuyu, Dahyun, and Chaeryung.

After both teams performed their songs, it was finally time for JYP to select the members of Twice. Before we get to the actual lineup, this is the lineup I was expecting/hoping for before today’s episode aired: Nayeon, Jungyeon, Tzuyu, Sana, Mina, Jihyo and Chaeyoung.

The first member to be announced to return to Major from Minor was Nayeon, which should have surprised no one. She has the leadership qualities, the looks, the talent, the popularity, etc. Nayeon has always been near the top of the MILK poll, and ended up second. Nayeon replaced Natty, and it was no surprise Natty was eliminated. She’s young and her voice isn’t fully developed. She sounds like a J-idol when she sings. I think she’ll be an asset for JYP’s next girl group, but not this one.

The second member to be announced to return to Major from Minor was Jungyeon, which again shouldn’t have surprised anyone. She has all of the qualities Nayeon has, and has been in the top three in popularity for most of the show. She replaced Somi, which has caused a shitstorm on forums such as One Hallyu.

Personally, I think Somi is ready to debut, but I would prefer that she waits a couple of years. The first is her age, as the laws would prevent her from participating on music shows. However, the biggest reason I didn’t want her to debut now is because she’s half Korean. She will receive a lot of hate for not being pure blooded, and as a fellow half Korean, I know that feeling all too well. Korea prides itself on being ethnically pure (unlike Japan, which has some minority groups such as the Ainu, and China, which has a lot of minority groups.) There’s nothing wrong with that if you’re not a cucked SJW. However, if you don’t fit into the majority, you’ll get shit on. There will be fans saying “It’s okay, she’s a celebrity and she’s pretty, so she’ll have a lot of fans.” Of course she will, but she’ll also receive a lot of hate for not being a pure-blooded Korean, and that’s too much for a 14-year-old middle school girl to take. She’ll be mentally stronger in a few years, look better, and be more talented after a few more years of training.

Next, Dahyun replaced Minyoung. This shocked me for several reasons. Dahyun has lost a lot of her appeal after the earlier episodes, and was just finally regaining it. I have a major problem with her rapping. It is bad, and I mean bad meaning bad. A lot of new idols subscribe to two styles of rapping: rapping with a deep voice and rapping as fast as you can. Dahyun just spits out words as fast as she can with no consideration to the beat of the song. However, I see why Dahyun was added to the group, as her talents lie in variety and attracting fans. If she’s going to be the second rapper of the group, I hope she practices a lot.

After episode 3 I had a feeling Minyoung wasn’t going to make, but being the best singer among the contestants, I thought she always had a shot to make it in. I never thought she was a shoe-in like most Sixteen fans. I feel like Minyoung would be better in a vocal group (or maybe a duo with Jiwon), as she doesn’t seem to have the qualities of an idol.

After this, there were no more switches between the Major and Minor members. I thought it was going to end here and I was shocked Tzuyu wasn’t in. I thought she was a shoe-in because she’s the most popular contestant in Sixteen.

Then JYP made an announcement that two more members were going to be added. “Okay, Tzuyu’s in for sure now,” I thought, and I was right. Tzuyu got in for being the most popular and showing the most improvement throughout the show. There most likely would have been a shitstorm if the most popular contestant didn’t get in.

For the last member, I expected Minyoung to be picked to add another vocalist to the group. However, Momo, who had been eliminated in an earlier mission, was selected by JYP. JYP said that it hurt him the most and it was the most disappointing when he had to eliminate her, but told her that she was someone who definitely had to be in the group and that his A&R team selected Momo to be in the group. I was shocked because I expected Minyoung to have that spot secured after it was announced that there would be two more members.

Now, onto the members of Twice.

Lim Nayeon



Nayeon is an all-around member of the group, who is a visual and a lead vocalist. She’ll probably be the leader. I didn’t like Nayeon much at first, but over time she won me over. 

Final performance fancam.

Yoo Jungyeon



Jungyeon, like Nayeon, is a visual and most likely lead vocalist of the group. I’ve liked her from the start because of her chic vibe.

Final performance fancam.

Park Jihyo



Jihyo will end up being the main vocalist. She’s been in JYP’s dungeon since elementary school, so I’m glad she’s finally debuting. She’ll most likely be the leader if Nayeon isn’t the leader. While Jihyo isn’t one of my favorite members, I have always liked her because she plays to her strengths without resorting to vocal wanking.

Final performance fancam.

Son Chaeyoung



I like Chaeyoung as an idol, but given that she’s a rapper, I am naturally biased against her. As long as she doesn’t ruin songs, I’ll be fine with her.

Final performance fancam.

Kim Dahyun



Dahyun will be one of the stan attractors and most likely the second rapper. I’m praying to the K-pop gods that she doesn’t rap or that she improves a shit ton before debut. If neither of those conditions are met, then I hope she has two-line raps like Yura does in Girl’s Day’s “Ring My Bell”.

Final performance fancam.

Myoui Mina



Mina is one of the Japanese goddesses in the group. She gives off the chic, sexy vibe and will be one of the lead dancers. She’s been one of my favorites since the beginning.

Final performance fancam.

Minatozaki Sana



Sana is one of the Japanese goddesses in the group. She’s the weird-as-fuck member that people will either love or hate, and I am behind Sana’s crazy ass.

Final performance fancam.

Hirai Momo



Momo is the last of the Japanese goddesses in the group. She’s the main dancer and the “Dat Ass” of the group. I was mad when she was eliminated and I am glad she is back.

Final performance fancam.

Chou Tzuyu



Tzuyu is the Taiwanese jailbait goddess in Twice. She’s been my favorite from the start.

Final performance fancam.



While I am looking forward to this group, there have been a shit load of whiners everywhere, complaining about their favorite member not getting in or that the show was unneeded. Tell someone like Tzuyu that this show was unneeded. She was an afterthought who had no chance to debut in the group without the show.

The point of shows like this is to draw attention to an upcoming group, and Sixteen worked because it got great ratings for Mnet. I probably wouldn’t care much about Twice without having watched the show. If Twice debuted with this lineup without the show, the only members I would be interested in would be the J-Trinity and Tzuyu. Having watched the show, I’m already a fan of all nine members and know them. I don’t have to spend months trying to figure out who is who like I normally would with most groups.

While people are complaining about the show, most of the complaints are about who is in the group. I won’t link the NB articles, but over there people are being talentfags and crying foul that POPULAR members are debuting in Twice. It’s a fucking idol group, not an opera group. Sure, it sucks that Minyoung and Jiwon didn’t debut, but the two lack in the qualities that you want in an idol. For idols, the most important quality to have is presence. Any “real” talents such as singing and dancing take a backseat. There are dozens upon dozens of idols who can sing and dance well, so it’s the intangible qualities that distinguish one idol from the next.

Talent isn’t something that is static, as it can be improved. The best in their respective circles don’t rest on their laurels. They work harder than anyone else to become the best. Idols, like anyone else, continually work to become better. That’s all that’s required because only the delusional expect idols to sing like opera singers. They’re singing pop songs that other composers create. If idols sing the songs they’re given how the composers want them to and continue to improve through training, they’ll be fine. Don’t fall into the illogical bullcrap Korean netizens spew.

In the end, Twice is going to be pretty fucking awesome and I can’t wait for them to debut.



23 comments:

  1. Not to come across as too much of a shameless self promotion but can I take a moment to brag that I called the line up 2 months before debut based on just their teasers

    http://infinitelyinspiritsy.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/just-for-fun-jyps-sixteen-analysis-and.html?m=1

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    1. You can't brag about calling it when your lineup is wrong.

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    2. 6/7 original and all 3 wildcards was a pretty good attempt

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    3. But appologies if the wording came off obnoxious. The link was more that we had similar ideas on the predicted line up along with the age thing

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    4. A lot of people I've been talking to had at least 5 of the 7 right. The thing was everyone trying to reduce it down to 7 members.

      Coming into the final episode, I only knew for sure, 100%, that Nayeon and Jungyeon were going to make it. Every other spot was up for grabs, though certain members were 90% confirmed such as Chaeyoung and Jihyo.

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    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I'm not sure about Japan not caring about being ethnically pure. I hear a lot of half Japanese get a lot of shit for not being pure Japanese (but I hear this can go for a lot of Asian cultures. I'm not hating because America is not really all that different.)

    Anyway, I hope Twice does well with their debut, and the girls who didin't get to debut this time around get thejr chance to shine one day.

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    1. Isn't there a member of AKB48 who is half Italian?

      I'm not sure if she's still in the group as I don't follow their graduations

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    2. You misread what I wrote. I was talking about Korea priding itself on being ethnically pure.

      The main ethnicity in Japan are the Yamato people, which is probably around 98% of the population. The Han Chinese roughly make up 95% of China and around 97-98% in Taiwan. Those in the majority in those countries pride themselves of being in the majority, but those countries have actual minority groups unlike Korea.

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    3. Ohhhhh okay. Thanks for clearing that up!

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  3. Momo momo. Momo? Momo. :))
    Momo...Momo!

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  4. Thank God Momo's back. Would've been nice to have Somi in the group but I'm not to fussed about it. Besides she seemed like a bit of a whinger and might have annoyed the other members but that's most likely just editing/scripting.
    Nayoen is my favorite. True, she's far from meeting required standards but the way she ponced around during the competition with her "I literally have to put no effort in, I belong here" attitude was one of the highlights of the show. I expect hilarious controversies from that one.
    I really do wonder what was going through Jihyo's head whilst training for all those years for a what is likely to be a dead end job.
    Jungyeon is bleugh, I don't even remember Chaeyoung.
    The non-Korean members are the best.

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    1. Yeah, my top 4 are the J-trinity and Tzuyu lol.

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    2. Plus Nayeon is as cute as fuck.

      http://cfile29.uf.tistory.com/image/231F303E559D06C70920C1

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    3. she should spit on it before rubbing it like that

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  5. thanks for the overview, i used to keep up with the whole 6MIX thing but got bored waiting, thought they'd end up like the YG girl group we've been waiting three years for

    now we just need all the old women to move out of the way and we can have some Red Velvet/Lovelyz/Twice fanwars

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    Replies
    1. Add in MBK's new girl group Dia. They'll get a lot of hate just from being from the same company as T-ara.

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  6. I really wanted 7 members, mainly because JYP has a shitty management team and won't be able to promote all those members properly. But I love all the girls so who am I kidding, I'll stan this group anyway. Dahyun may be a horrible rapper but she's fucking hilarious. And Chaeyoung is only half decent as a rapper, but she'll get better if she stops using JYP's ridiculous "talk-rap" style of rapping. Nayeon/Jungyeon/Jihyo are the bomb, and the foreigner line are queens.

    Anyway, I'm glad none of the 21st century born kids made it in, even though my biases are Natty and Somi. Idol life is basically child abuse to kids their age. But if the rumors are true and Somi/Natty/Minyoung/Jiwon/Chaeryung/Chaeyeon/Eunsuh/Maybe Lilly M. debut in 2017, then I will for sure stan their group more.

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  7. All hail our new Taiwanese Goddess Tzuyu. But poor Momo will probably get all the hate in the world because of the circumstance of her inclusion to the group and the fact that she's a Japanese.

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  8. My thoughts are almost exactly the same, couldn't write this better.

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  9. Unreal banter from The girls nayeon are almost exactly the same

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  10. My favourite is also Tzuyu and the J-trio lol
    i cried when Momo was eliminated damnit

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