Tzuyu (Korean: 쯔위; Japanese: ツウィ) is a Taiwanese singer and lyricist under JYP Entertainment. She is the maknae of the girl group TWICE.
Career[]
2015: SIXTEEN, debut with TWICE, controversy[]
On May 5, 2015, she became a contestant on JYP's newest survival show, SIXTEEN. Unfortunately, in the final episode, she didn't make it to the final line-up. However, based on a unanimous decision, JYP, along with the trainers and the A&R team, brought her back and included her in the group.[2] They officially debuted on October 20, 2015 with their first mini album The Story Begins.
Controversy arose as fans became skeptical of the motivations behind the decision of the addition of Tzuyu and previously eliminated Momo. Tzuyu was a fan favorite throughout the series and JYP included her due to her popularity and star quality.[3]
The following day after the final episode, JYPE released a short statement about the addition of the two girls into the final lineup of the group: "We apologize for failing to clearly communicate the selection process, and we'd like to explain it in detail once again. The condition to be chosen as a final member was the votes made by the audience and viewers. However, leading up to the final episode, we thought that the seven members selected officially may leave something to be desired. So, in addition to the seven, we decided that one member would be added solely from viewer's opinions (Tzuyu) and one from solely Park Jin Young's opinion (Momo)."[4]
2015–2016: Flag incident[]
On November 28, 2015, Tzuyu, along with her non-Korean fellow members from TWICE appeared on the internet variety show My Little Television. During the program, Tzuyu held up a Taiwanese flag to show her nationality. Member Mina, Sana, and Momo did the same for their country, Japan. However, Tzuyu's action was picked up by the Taiwanese singer China-based Huang An, who opposes Taiwanese independence from China (as most Chinese did), and described Tzuyu on his Weibo account as a Taiwanese independence supporter. In response to the controversy, JYP China stated on their official Weibo account that, until the misunderstanding have been resolved, TWICE's activities in China would be halted.[5]
As an apology, a video of Tzuyu was released on JYPE's channel on January 15, 2016. In the video, she is seen standing in front of a gray wall, facing the camera in a casual attire. Speaking Chinese, she begins with a short self introduction, followed by "I'm sorry", and continuously saying how proud she is about being Chinese.[6] The video had a very polemical YouTube rating, alongside the general public stirring backlash against the video.[7] Many political figures in Taiwan, including presidential candidates and the outgoing president, released statements supporting Tzuyu.
Huang An was given backlash of his own, while JYP Entertainment's website suffered a DDoS attack.[8][9] Both Huang An and JYP Entertainment were faced with subsequent legal threats over the flag incident.[10]
Discography[]
OSTs[]
Writing credits[]
- All credits adapted from KOMCA, unless stated.[11]
Artist | Song | Album | Type |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | |||
TWICE | "21:29" | Feel Special | Writing |
2020 | |||
TWICE | "21:29 (Japanese ver.)" | #TWICE3 | Writing |
2022 | |||
TWICE | "Celebrate" | Celebrate | Writing[12] |
Filmography[]
Reality shows[]
- SIXTEEN (Mnet, 2015) - contestant
Variety shows[]
- Two Yoo Project - Sugar Man (JTBC, 2015) - guest (Ep. 11)
Music video appearances[]
- GOT7 - "A" (2014)
- GOT7 - "Stop Stop It" (2014)
- miss A - "Only You" (2015)
- J.Y. Park - "Fire" (feat. Conan O'Brien, Steven Yeun, & Jimin Park) (2016)
Photobooks[]
- Yes, I Am Tzuyu... (2020)
Endorsements[]
- Gentle Monster (with Dahyun) (2021)
- Crocs (2021)
- Zooc (2022)
Trivia[]
- She has a dog named Gucci.
- She is good friends with Elkie and Shuhua.[13][14]
- She is also friends with Kuanlin.
- She attended Hanlim Multi School with Chaeyoung.[15]
- In Gallup Korea's annual music polls which interview 1,500 people between the ages 13–29, Tzuyu was voted the 3rd most popular idol in 2016, the 9th in 2017, and the 12th in 2018. In the poll's history, she is the most popular non-Korean idol.[16][17][18]
- She was nominated for "The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2020".[19]
- She ranked 1st place in 2019.[20]
- Her MBTI Personality is ISFP-A (adventurer) [21]
- She is a huge fan of the girlgroup OH MY GIRL (according to Jeongyeon, she is such a fan of the group that she constantly sings and dances to their songs).[22]
- She comes from a very wealthy family, as her parents own several successful businesses in Taiwan, such as a chain of night markets, 3 plastic surgery hospitals and a chain of coffee shops.[23][24]
Gallery[]
- Main article: Tzuyu/Gallery
References[]
Official links[]
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