Momo

Hirai Momo (Japanese: 平井もも) (born November 19, 1996) better known as Momo (Korean: 모모; Japanese: モモ) is a Japanese singer, rapper, dancer, and lyricist under JYP Entertainment. She is one of the main dancers of the South Korean girl group TWICE.

2015: SIXTEEN, TWICE, controversy
On May 5, 2015, she became a contestant on JYP's newest survival show, SIXTEEN. Unfortunately, on episode 6, she was eliminated for her relatively weak vocals, compared to the other trainees. However, based on a unanimous decision, JYP, along with the trainers and the A&R team, bought her back and included her in the final line-up. They officially debuted on October 20, 2015 with their first mini album, The Story Begins.

Controversy arose as fans became skeptical of the motivations behind this decision. Later, a representative from JYPE stated that "Momo is exceptional in dance and performance. We believed that she will be a great addition to really complete TWICE."

The following day after the final episode, JYPE released a short statement about the addition of Tzuyu and Momo into the final lineup of the group: "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 a final member was the votes made by the audience and viewers. However, leading up to the final episode, we thought that the seven members selected officially may leave something to be desired. So, in addition to the seven, we decided that one member would be added solely from viewer's opinions (Tzuyu) and one from solely Park Jin Young's opinion (Momo)."

2016: Hit the Stage
On June 24, a representative of Mnet released a statement confirming Momo's appearances on Mnet's newest survival show, Hit the Stage, as a contestant.

Relationship
On January 1, 2020, local news source Market News reported that Momo and Super Junior's Heechul were dating. Later that day, the reports were confirmed by both agencies.

On July 8, 2021, JYP Entertainment and Label SJ confirmed that the two had broken up due to busy schedules.

Writing credits

 * All credits adapted from KOMCA, unless stated.

Reality shows

 * SIXTEEN (Mnet, 2015) - contestant
 * Hit the Stage (Mnet, 2016) - contestant
 * NIZI Project (Hulu, 2020) - judge

Music video appearances

 * GOT7 - "Girls Girls Girls" (2014)
 * Junho - "Feel" (2014)
 * miss A - "Only You" (2015)
 * Wooyoung - "R.O.S.E" (2015)
 * J.Y. Park - "Fire" (feat. Conan O'Brien, Steven Yeun, & Jimin Park) (2016)
 * Heechul x Min Kyung Hoon - "Sweet Dream" (2016)
 * yukaDD - "Superhero" (2021)