With the 10th and final episode of SIXTEEN finally aired, the members of JYP Entertainment‘s upcoming girl group Twice has final been chosen with a twist no one saw coming.

Aired on July 7th at 11pm KST through Naver Cast and Mnet, both the Major and Minor groups were given the challenge to perform the same track “Me Again,” the first time this has happened during the course of the competition. This was done to give J.Y. Park a clear view into each trainees skills on stage.

Taking into consideration netizen votes, J.Y. Park revealed the members to be Nayeon, Jungyeon, Dahyun, Mina, Sana, Jihyo, Tzuyu, and Chaeyoung.

However, J.Y. Park further shocked everyone by adding a ninth member into the group with the previously eliminated trainee Momo.

Criticism arose when Momo was ultimately added to the final lineup on the last episode. 

On the show, producer Park Jin Young called up Tzuyu and Momo as additional members of Twice. Tzuyu earned the most audience votes prior to the episode. On Momo’s addition, Park Jin Young explained, “I chose someone who will bring what the other eight members do not have. I’ve chosen Momo, who will bring great dance skills as well as vocals.”

A representative from JYP also told the press on July 8, “Momo is exceptional in dance and performance. We believed that she will be a great addition to really complete Twice.” They further explained, “Park Jin Young decided on [including Momo] yesterday, after he thought of the best member for Twice. We only went into the show knowing the major seven members; Twice wasn’t supposed to be a seven-member group.”

A representative from Mnet explained, “The formation of the group is entirely up to JYP Entertainment. The production team of the show didn’t know who the final members were going to be until Park Jin Young’s announcement.”

Following the results and the final episode of SIXTEEN, the term “SIXTEEN” and “Momo” were seen trending in 1st and 2nd respectively on Naver real-time search chart.

According to J.Y. Park at the beginning of the show, the trainees (6) who did not make the cut for Twice will have the chance to debut again in two years.

Twice is set to debut in the second half of the year.

First row (left to right) Nayeon, Jungyeon, Dahyun, Mina
Second row (left to right) Sana, Jihyo, Tzuyu, Chaeyoung, Momo

 

Article: 'Sixteen' JYP's Twice, tables turn with a nine member group reveal... final members confirmed

Source: Mydaily via Naver

1. [+6,244, -348] I like that it's nine members but what does that make Somi if Momo gets picked;;

2. [+5,519, -280] Is this a joke? What are they doing to the kids who've survived all along?

3. [+5,047, -225] I like Momo but this is wrong.. ㅠ What about Somi and Chaeryung ㅠㅠ

4. [+4,672, -202] Not a word about Chaeryung until the end

5. [+4,071, -293] The other kids suffered so hard to make it to the finals, are they purposely trying to screw them over? They bring back an eliminated member? They should've just brought back Minyoung or Jiwon and make the excuse that they need a main vocalist... what is this?