TWICE returns more youthful, lively

JYP Entertainment's girl band TWICE performs "Cheer Up" at YES24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of JYP Entertainment

By Kim Jae-heun

TWICE, the leading girl band of JYP Entertainment, presented its second mini-album "Page Two," Monday.

"We have become more healthy and lively like our team name," said Nayeon, one of the members, during a press conference at YES24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul. "We want to be the vitamins, looking more joyful and happier."

TWICE released its new album consisting of seven songs, including the lead track "Cheer Up."

"Cheer Up" is an easy dance song of the color-pop genre composed by Black Eyed Pilseung, who wrote the band's debut EP title "Like OOH-AHH." The music blends multiple genres such as hip-hop, tropical house and drum and bass.

"Cheer Up" was presented to the public at midnight prior to the press conference on the same day and immediately topped major real-time online music charts such as Melon, Genie and Naver Music.

The title's music video hit 400,000 plays in only 30 minutes after its release along with the album and recorded 2.3 million views as of Tuesday afternoon.

During the showcase, the nine-member girl band performed "Cheer Up" in cheerleader costumes.

Popular girl bands such as Girls' Generation and AOA have previously chosen the cheerleader image and TWICE said they made many efforts to differentiate themselves.

"We know Girls' Generation and AOA did the cheerleading concept so we tried to highlight our healthiness," said Jihyo, the leader of TWICE. "We chose (nine) different concepts in our music video."

The music video contains nine different scenes for each member, where Sana is Sailor Moon, Nayeon is Sidney from the "Scream" film series, Tzuyu is Princess Ann from "Roman Holiday" and Momo is an action heroine similar to those in "Resident Evil" and "Tomb Raider."

The album's second track "Important Love" also drew attention as it is a remake of ‘90s diva Park Ji-yoon's hit song of the same name.

"It was difficult to remake such a great song of Park's and we felt burdened," said Nayeon. "But producer Park Jin-young directed us and we were able to get a good result out of it. Chaeyoung also participated in rapping, which added our own color to the original track."

This was the official stage debut for Taiwanese member Tzuyu, following her role in a controversy for waving the Taiwanese flag on MBC's online show "My Little Television," last November. It triggered anger among Chinese fans who see Taiwan as part of China's own territory.

"I try to not forget my first intention and do my best. I will develop singing and dancing skills and compensate with wonderful performances," said Tzuyu.

Nayeon added that this is just the band's second EP and it is the band's duty to repay the fans with better performances every time.

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