TWICE remains one of the top K-pop groups, ever. But, who exactly are the girls behind one of the most popular bands in the world? J-14 did a deep dive into each member of TWICE, starting with its youngest member, Tzuyu (pronounced “tzoo-yoo”). Keep reading to learn everything about the “maknae” of TWICE.
Who Are Twice?
ICYMI, TWICE consists of members Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. The group was formed through a survival show called Sixteen, under JYP Entertainment.
With more than 4 billion streams on Spotify and three Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, the group is not small by any means. In 2021, they surpassed Little Mix to become the girl group with the most music videos with more than 100 million views on YouTube.
Nayeon told Cosmopolitan that they never could have expected the level of fame that TWICE has risen to.
“We didn’t imagine this. Not just us, but the K-pop market has really expanded over the years,” she explained. “So, I think that’s another reason why we have so many global fans now. Because we had our debut in Korea, I think our initial hope was to let ourselves be known to as many people as possible in Korea. We didn’t really expect the global fans.”
Who Is Tzuyu?
Tzuyu is the only Taiwanese member of TWICE, born in the East District of Tainan, Taiwan on June 14, 1999 (a Gemini!).
The youngest member of TWICE, also known as the “maknae” in Korean, was first discovered by talent scouts at the MUSE Performing Arts Workshop in 2012, and moved to South Korea in November of that year to begin training.
For context: in South Korea, all K-pop idols must go through a training process at their music labels for months or years at a time. During the process, those “trainees” must go through rigorous performance lessons. After training for a few years, Tzuyu participated in the TV survival program, Sixteen, where 16 trainees competed to be apart of the next JYP girl group. Unlike the other 8 winners of Sixteen, Tzuyu was selected based on audience voting.
Also, if you’re still having trouble pronouncing her name, that’s OK — so did Kelly Clarkson when the members of TWICE were interviewed on her show in March 2023! There are multiple ways to pronounce Tzuyu, which the translator from The Kelly Clarkson Show tried to explain to the host.
“Jjeu-Wee? Oh, OK — wait, wait, what?” Kelly asked the translator when learning the band member’s name. “Tzoo-yoo is good,” TWICE’s translator said, but Kelly insisted: “No, no. It’s Tzoo-yoo? How would you say it?”
“In Korean, it’s Jjeu-Wee,” their translator explained. Kelly then turned to Tzuyu herself and asked, “How do you want me to say it?” to which Tzuyu responded, “Jjeu-Wee.”
TWICE fans (a.k.a. ONCEs) often affectionately call the youngest member “chewy,” a play on the Korean pronunciation.
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