Tzuyu

Early life

Tzuyu was born in the East District of Tainan, Taiwan on 14 June 1999, to self-made entrepreneurs.[2][4][5] She started dancing from a young age and trained at a dance academy.[6]

Career

Pre-debut

Main article: Sixteen (TV series)

In 2012, Tzuyu was discovered by talent scouts at the MUSE Performing Arts Workshop in Tainan, and moved to South Korea in November of that year to start her training.[5][7] In 2016, Tzuyu passed an exam at Tainan Municipal Fusing Junior High School to certify her middle school education. She attended high school at Hanlim Multi Art School in South Korea and graduated in February 2019.[8][9][10][11][12] In 2015, Tzuyu participated in the South Korean reality television show Sixteen, hosted by JYP Entertainment and co-produced by Mnet.[1][13] As one of nine successful participants, she went on to join the newly formed girl group Twice.[1] Unlike the other winners of Sixteen, Tzuyu was selected based on audience voting.[1][2][6]

Career with Twice

Main article: Twice

In October 2015, Tzuyu officially debuted as a member of Twice with their first extended play, The Story Begins.[14] The lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh" was the first K-pop debut song to reach 100 million views on YouTube.[15] Since her debut she has also been featured in advertisements and worked as a presenter for multiple music television shows.[6]

Recognition

According to Gallup Korea's annual music survey, Tzuyu was the third most popular idol among South Koreans in 2016.[16] She ranked ninth in the 2017 survey[17] and twelfth in 2018.[18] In 2019, Tzuyu was ranked as the second most popular female K-pop idol in a survey of soldiers doing mandatory military service in South Korea.[19] Tzuyu has received positive coverage for her beauty.[1][6][20][21]

Other ventures

Endorsements

Aside from group endorsements with Twice, Tzuyu was featured in several advertisements, including those for LG U+[22] and Crocs Korea.[23] She became the cover model of L'Officiel Malaysia October 2021 issue[24] for Coach Fall/Winter 2021 collection.[25] In January 2022, Tzuyu was chosen as the new muse of South Korean clothing brand ZOOC.[26][27]

Flag incident

Tzuyu in October 2015

In November 2015, Tzuyu appeared with Twice on the Korean variety show My Little Television. She introduced herself as Taiwanese and held the flag of Republic of China (Taiwan) alongside that of South Korea.[28] Mainland Chinese internet users reacted angrily towards Tzuyu's actions due to the political rift between the two countries.[29] Soon after, Twice was barred from Chinese television[30] and Tzuyu was pulled out of her endorsement with Chinese communications company Huawei.[31] Meanwhile, her agency, JYP Entertainment, released a video showing Tzuyu reading an apology, which said in part:

There is only one China, the two sides of the strait are one, and I have always felt proud to be Chinese. I feel extremely apologetic to my company and to Internet friends on both sides of the strait for the hurt that I have caused, and I also feel very guilty.[32]

Tzuyu's apology sparked a furore among the Taiwanese public on election day.[33][34] The incident gained international attention as it was believed to have affected the 2016 Taiwanese general election.[32][35] A survey found that Tzuyu's video apology affected the decision of about 1.34 million young voters.[36]

In response to criticism, JYP Entertainment announced that it would be adopting new procedures concerning its exports and overseas activities in order to protect employees from future controversies. This included the implementation of cultural sensitivity training for its artists and staff members. In an interview with The Korea Times, a JYP representative stated that the training would include issues pertaining to political conflicts between countries.[37]

Bibliography

Photobooks

Title Release date Publisher Ref.

Yes, I am Tzuyu. 28 April 2020 JYP Entertainment [38][39]

Discography

Main article: Twice discography

Composition credits

All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise.[40]

List of songs, showing year released, artist name, and name of the album

Title Year Artist Album Notes

"21:29" 2019 Twice Feel Special As lyricist

Filmography

Television shows

Year Title Network Role Note Ref.

2015 Sixteen Mnet Contestant A survival show designed to select the members of Twice [13]