"I'm gonna be a star, star! I'm gonna be, I-I'm gonna be! I'm gonna be a star, star!"
Sixteen was a 2015 Korean reality series. The goal of the show was to create a next-generation girl group to debut under the K-Pop label JYP Entertainment. Through the course of the show's 10 episodes, the pool of sixteen trainees was whittled down by means of evaluation from judges, label chairman Park Jin-Young (a.k.a JYP), and voting by the general public and/or studio audience. In the final episode – which unlike previous episodes was broadcast live – seven girls were chosen as winners. Additionally, JYP decided to add two more girls: one chosen by the audience and one of his personal choosing. Fifteen weeks later, the group would debut as TWICE.
Sixteen Competitors
- NAYEON ([L]Im Na-yeon) [Date Of Birth: 1995-09-22]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Vocals, dancer, visual
- JEONGYEON (Yoo Jeong-yeon) [D.O.B: 1996-11-01]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Vocals, dancer
- MOMO (Momo Hirai) [D.O.B: 1996-11-09]
- Nationality: Japanese
- Specialties: Dancer
- SANA (Sana Minatozaki) [D.O.B: 1996-12-29]
- Nationality: Japanese
- Specialties: Vocals
- JIHYO (Park Ji-hyo) [D.O.B: 1997-02-01]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Vocals, dancer
- MINA (Mina Sharon Myoui) [D.O.B: 1997-03-24]
- Nationality: Japanese-American*
- Specialties: Vocals, dancer
- MINYOUNG (Song Min-young) [D.O.B: 1998-02-27]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Vocals
- JIWON (Park Ji-won) [D.O.B: 1998-03-20]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Vocals
- DAHYUN (Kim Da-hyun) [D.O.B: 1998-05-28]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Rapper, dancer
- CHAEYOUNG (Son Chae-young) [D.O.B: 1999-04-23]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Rapper
- TZUYU (Chou Tzŭ-yú) [D.O.B: 1999-06-14]
- Nationality: Taiwanese
- Specialties: Dancer
- CHAEYEON (Lee Chae-yeon) [D.O.B: 2000-01-11]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Dancer
- EUNSUH (Kim Eun-suh) [D.O.B: 2000-11-14]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Dancer
- SOMI (Jeon So-mi, or Ennik Douma) [D.O.B: 2001-03-09]
- Nationality: Korean-Canadian
- Specialties: Vocals
- CHAERYEONG (Lee Chae-ryeong) [D.O.B: 2001-06-05]
- Nationality: Korean
- Specialties: Dancer
- NATTY (Ahnatchaya Suputhipong) [D.O.B: 2002-05-30]
- Nationality: Thai
- Specialties: Vocals, dancer
Spoilers lie ahead! They are tagged for the most part, but use caution.
Tropes Related to Sixteen:
- Action Girl: Somi did training in Taekwondo as a means of coping with bullying when she was younger.
- All or Nothing: During the final mission Sana mentioned that if she didn't debut as part of Twice, she would probably give up singing altogether.
- Antiquated Linguistics: Being from Taiwan, Tzuyu is not a native Korean speaker. She often speaks in a rigid, formal tone since that is what she has learned and doesn't know much slang or Korean proverbs.
- Anyone Can Be Eliminated: Momo's elimination. Although her showing had not been the strongest up to that point, she was starting to show improvement, especially in that episode. Then her name gets called. Even JYP had to express regret at the fickle nature of the fan voting system.
- Arc Words: "You! Come out!"
- Ascended Extra: Many of the girls made cameo appearances in other JYP artists' videos before being on Sixteen. Nayeon in particular showed up in at least three of GOT7's MV's.
- Ascended Meme: Dahyun was famous before Sixteen for a viral video of her doing the "Eagle Dance". She incorporated it into her first mission performance, and it appears several more times throughout the series' run.
- Audience Participation: Viewers could use a web service to vote for the members they thought should be in the Major group, and these rankings also factored into determining eliminations.
- Back for the Finale: All of the eliminated members returned for the last show and selection of members for Twice.
- Breather Episode: The latter half of Episode 6 and most of Episode 7 see the girls go on a camping trip. Lighthearted games and much physical comedy ensue.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Natty, the youngest contestant at 12/13, could come off as this sometimes.
- Brutal Honesty: As the contestants were still trainees, JYP and the other guest judges pulled no punches in their criticism quite frequently.
- But Not Too Foreign: Somi, being half-Korean/half-Dutch (i.e. White) from Canada.
- Mina, born in the USA to Japanese parents, but raised in Japan. Unlike Somi and Minyoung, Mina isn't fluent in English. She renounced her citizenship in early 2018 (Japan bans dual-citizenship for adults).
- Call-Back: In an effort to impress JYP, many performances used past hits of senior JYP artists, including JYP himself.
- Cliffhanger: Most episodes ended with the member's fates still in the balance.
- The Cameo: Many senior JYP artists and other Korean entertainment personalities appeared during the show's run.
- Confession Cam: Used liberally by the girls and also JYP for insight into the events unfolding on the show.
- The Cutie: Sana. She's clumsy and almost always cheerful. Her first performance was even cutely making food for JYP.
- Designated Girl Fight: In the variety show episode, the girls are pitted in a team chicken wrestling match, and then one-on-one water fighting in a pool.
- Dramatic Pause: Used unsurprisingly often.
- The Dreaded: Going up against the more-talented Major members was a very daunting experience for the Minor members.
- Establishing Character Moment: The "Are You a Star?" mission and the first two episodes provided at least one of these for each of the contestants.
- Everybody Cries: a common sight, the most notable one is Momo's elimination.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Their first challenge was "Are You a Star?" Dahyun earned high praises from JYP because she was one of the few to demonstrate what made her famous (Bbasae and the Eagle Dance), not just show off something that she was talented at.
- Executive Meddling: Although fan voting played a part in the results of the show, they were not shy in letting viewers know that JYP's word was the final authority, as Twice would ultimately be a girl group at his company.
- Family Business: Jeongyeon's eldest sister is actress Gong Seung-yeon, who had trained at SM Entertainment for awhile before deciding she didn't want to be a singer.
- Foregone Conclusion: For people viewing the show after Twice had already debuted, the final lineup will not come as a surprise. How they got to that point, however, is a completely different story…
- Gratuitous English: Many of the songs performed by the girls are in English. Technically averted with Somi who was born and raised in Canada, thus English is her mother-tongue. Minyoung is also English-fluent, but may have only been proficient at the time.
- Heroic BSoD: A common side-effect of elimination. Everyone onstage had one when Momo was eliminated.
- Hope Spot: After losing the group team battle, Minor Team B faced a member elimination. JYP praised Momo for her improvement, making it seem like she would not be eliminated. Minutes later, she was unceremoniously eliminated. In JYP's defense, it was by vote of the audience and he was clearly not happy about it.
- Idol Singer: They were all competing to debut as one of these. All but two eventually debuted, either in a group or as soloists.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Expect this any time there's an elimination from one or more of the girls.
- The Load: The weaker members in the group missions could greatly hurt the results of the rest of the group
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Whenever something unexpected happens or is announced, or a member is eliminated, with plenty of Jaw Drop and Stunned Silence close-ups of the girls.
- And Your Reward Is...
- Squee: To be expected from the girls during celebrity cameo appearances, especially if they're an older boy group member.
- Stage Name: Several
- Jihyo: Park Ji-soo
- She would later legally change her given name to Jihyo, perhaps in part because there were already well-known Jisoos of both sexes in the industry.
- Jeongyeon: Yoo Kyung-wan
- She had had her name legally changed when she was in elementary school due to being bullied for her original name sounding "too masculine".
- Somi: Ennik Douma (Her Canadian name)
- Minyoung: Charlene (English name from her time in the U.S.A.)
- Natty: Ahnatchaya Suputhipong
- Jihyo: Park Ji-soo
- One-Steve Limit: Almost averted with Chaeyoung, Chaeyeon, and Chaeryeong. Made even more complicated since the latter two are sisters.
- Power Trio: The three Japanese contestants. All but Sana were initially Major members. Although they didn't necessarily stay in Major the whole time, all three would eventually end up as members of Twice.
- The Stoic: Jeongyeon (Relative to the other girls, at least). Although she does get emotional from time to time, she's referred to as the "chic" member of Sixteen for good reason.
- Take That!: One episode after being called fat by a(n ugly) photographer, Jihyo performed "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor, a song by a plus-sized performer and featuring lyrics vaguely praising larger body types.
- Team Dad: JYP
- Team Mom: Jihyo, as pointed out by many people on the show. This is because she had trained the longest.
- Teen Genius: Natty was only thirteen during most of her time on the show. In spite of this, she frequently impressed JYP by developing her own choreography and showing new and improved talents frequently. She even defeated Momo twice at dancing in one-on-one battles.
- Teen Idol: All of them were 19 or younger during the recording of the show.
- Averted at first by Natty, as she was 12 when the series began (she turned 13 partway through).
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Although Jeongyeon sported a short bob and wore less-feminine clothes than the rest of them, she still is very feminine in behavior and interests. As noted above, her name was legally changed to sound less boyish.
