Members of Twice have managed to draw people’s attention on their own and just with the music video, and one such member is Momo. She is one out of the three members from the J-Line in Twice, the other Japanese members are Sana and Mina. Momo has been known for her amazing dancing skills out of TWICE members; she often showcases her talent either live on stage or on variety shows. Today Channel-Korea is going to provide you with a complete rundown of everything about our dancing machine Momo, so don’t miss out on it and stay tuned scrolling down this article.
Momo’s Full Profile and Fun Facts
Birth Name: Hirai Momo (平井 もも) Stage Name: Momo (모모) Date and Place of Birth: November 9th, 1996, in Kyōtanabe, Kyoto, Japan Position: Main Dancer, Vocalist, Rapper Official Height: 167 cm (5’6″)/Approx. Real Height: 164 cm (5’4″) Weight: 48 kg (106 lbs) Zodiac Sign: Scorpio Blood Type: A
Fun facts About Momo:
Momo’s name in Japanese means “Peach.” Her representing color is Pink. She likes doll/stuffed toys. She has an older sister named Hana (2 years older than Momo). Momo’s Ideal Type: Someone who eats well (but not overweight), and someone who loves Jokbal (Pig’s feet dish). Momo was scouted by JYP Entertainment after they saw a dance video of her and her older sister. She passed the audition on April 13th, 2012. But her sister didn’t make through it. In the survival show SIXTEEN, Momo was eliminated in episode 6 but then J.Y Park as one of the judges decided to take Momo back and add her as a member of Twice because of her amazing dancing skills. Momo started to dance when she was 3 years old, the reason is that she wanted to follow her older sister. Momo has the most confidence in dancing to urban style. She also likes to dance to hip-hop. She chose number 64 as her favorite. The reason is that the number is on Momo’s father shirt when he plays football. Momo is a big food lover. She really likes Jokbal (a Korean dish consisting of pig’s trotters that are cooked with soy sauce and spices). Momo’s family owns 3 dogs who are named Petco, Pudding, and Lucky (all of the dogs are female). Both Momo and GOT7’s BamBam mothers are big fans of Rain. She appeared in GOT7’s “Stop Stop It” MV, Junho’s “Feel” (Japanese Ver.) MV, Miss A’s “Only You” MV, Wooyoung’s “Rose” (Japanese Ver.) MV, Heechul ft. Min Kyung Hoon’s “Sweet Dream” MV. At the dorm, Momo and Jeongyeon share a room. TWICE’s Momo has an English name which is Mira.
Pre-debut: Appearance in SIXTEEN, Elimination, and Getting a Chance from JYP
Back in 2015, JYP Entertainment wanted to create a new girl group which is why they made a survival show called Sixteen. Sixteen contestants, including Momo, competed against each other in term of singing, dancing, rapping, and variety skills to be able to enter the final line-up of “TWICE,” the group to be formed. This show premiered on May 5th, 2015, with a total of 10 episodes on Mnet. During her appearance in Sixteen, Momo had caught the attention of Park Jin Young as a judge and public eye with her amazing dancing skills on the stage. Here is the sneak peek of her dancing performance in each episode:
Not only that, but as a result of her performances in Sixteen, Momo became known for her iconic line, popular even to this day, that is “Pink Lamborghini.” In the sixth episode of Sixteen, Momo actually got eliminated from the program after performing Park Jin Young’s song “Swing Baby” with her Minor B fellow team members, Chae Young and Ji Won. The reason why Momo got eliminated was that Park Jin Young (JYP) felt that her flaws in being able to dance but not sing were more obvious than Chae Young’s and Ji Won’s during the performance. Here is the clip where Momo got eliminated from the show and a reminder, please prepare a tissue in case you’re going to shed some tears:
Later, in the 10th episode, during their final showcase, JYP made a twist by making an announcement that Twice would have 9 members. After he picked Tzuyu to join the group, he shocked the other contestants and the audience by announcing that Momo, who was already eliminated in the fourth mission, will also be included in the final line-up of Twice. She was chosen by the A&R Team’s and also the trainer’s decision.
But upon the news that Momo became an official member of Twice, a controversy came to the surface. The reason for this was that during the final episode, Momo, who was an eliminated contestant, was brought back as a member of the final line-up of the group. Fans became skeptical regarding the motive behind their decision. Later, a representative from JYP Entertainment stated, “Momo is exceptional in dance and performance. We believe she will be a great addition to complete TWICE.” The next day, after the 10th episode, JYP issued a short statement about the addition of Momo and Tzuyu: “We apologize for failing to clearly communicate the selection process, and we’d like to explain it in detail once again. The condition to be chosen as the final member was the votes made by the audience and viewers. However, leading up to the final episode, we thought that the seven selected members officially may leave something to be desired. So, in addition to the other seven members, we decided that one member would be added solely from the viewers’ options (Tzuyu) and one from Park Jin Young’s options, which is Momo.”
Showing Off Her Skills on Mnet’s Hit The Stage
On July 27th, 2016, Momo was confirmed to join the television program titled Hit the Stage. This show was being broadcasted on Mnet and tvN every Wednesday at 11 p.m. KST. This program is about idols who will be teamed up with a professional dance team to compete against each other. In this show, Momo appeared from episode 1 until episode 4. During the 1st episode, the theme was “Devil.” She, together with the JYP crew, prepared for their performance by making the choreography together. The dance routine was created with a “Vampire” concept in it. In Hit the Stage, Momo began her performance with a sharp glance, followed by a powerful dance moves that made the other contestants and the audience surprised. Unlike the usual energetic, cute and typical feminine dance that Momo shows on stage, she perfectly expressed what the true wrath of a vampire could be, sending a slight scare to the judges and audience. Here is the performance video for you guys:
In the next episode, Momo received another theme, which is “This Love.” For this theme, she invited another fellow Twice member, Mina, who actually became Momo’s private ballet mentor. With no experience in ballet dancing, Momo made her first attempt at contemporary ballet dancing. Surprisingly, the performance touched and inspired many in the audience, including the judges and the other contestants as well. The cute and energetic Momo that we all know, was performing a riskier dance routine that fell into the concept called “Dangerous Love.” The performance went along with the soundtrack of the popular American romance movie Fifty Shades of Grey. Here is Momo’s and Mina’s amazing performance in Hit the Stage:
Received a Negative Feedback From the Viewers, Why?
Despite her amazing performance in Hit the Stage that caught the attention of the public, Momo also got some criticism. It seems that netizens didn’t think that Momo had displayed her full potential and ability. She also failed to keep up with the team choreography at the end. Here is the video of the team’s performance:
And here are the GIFs that show Momo’s lacking dance at the full team performance: At an online post called “Momo Really Can’t Dance on ‘Hit the Stage’ Loool”, there are many comments that agree with the topic, such as:
“But what is Momo doing…?? She is a bit behind and she omits parts of the footwork altogether, why did she go on the show for?” “Because her moves were sloppy, Momo just does a half turn after messing up hahaha.” “From what I understand, Momo has danced from a young age, so why is she so bad? Is it just a mistake or was she just outshined by the people that are better than her? I really want to see the actual performance stage.”
There are other netizens’ reactions that are opposite from the previous ones, some of their comments are:
“I don’t like making comparisons between men and woman. But when Momo and Hoya danced the same movements side to side, the difference was like heaven and earth. If Momo danced next to the woman in the hat at the end (Bora of Sistar), then she might have seemed like a better dancer.” Huh? I’m a Sone and Hyoyeon was definitely good but I honestly thought that Momo danced really well too? The program didn’t even start yet so why are you all busy throwing insults at Momo?”
Momo Dance Cover Compilation
Not only is Momo dancing to her own music, but she also often shows her skills in making dance covers of songs by other idols, both male and female. Here are some of the compilation videos for you guys:
Momo covering her hoobae group dance, which is Itzy’s “Dalla Dalla”
Momo covering Taemin’s “Move”
Momo, Sana, Mina and Nayeon covering Miss A’s “Bad Girl Good Girl” at MAMA 2018
Momo, Mina, Nayeon and Chaeyeong covering Sunmi’s “Gashina”
Momo, Joy, Seungyeon, and Yuju covering Sistar’s “Touch My Body”
Momo and Nayeon covering MOMOLAND’S “Boom Boom”
