Here’s How Each Member Of ITZY Was Discovered And Signed To JYP Entertainment

ITZY is a girl group from JYP Entertainment that is known for their hard-hitting style and choreography, and also share great chemistry as a group!

Here’s how each member of ITZY was discovered and signed to JYP Entertainment, making history as a top girl group!

1. Yeji

Yeji is the group’s leader, main dancer, lead vocalist, and rapper!

Yeji auditioned for JYP Entertainment in 2016, successfully passing the auditions with her performance of TWICE‘s “Like OOH-AAH”. After becoming a trainee, she appeared on several survival shows, such as SBS‘s The Fan and the boy group survival show Stray Kids.

She built a considerable fanbase with her appearances on these shows, and many looked forward to her debut under JYPE. After almost 3 years of training, Yeji made her debut as the leader of ITZY in 2019, and is killing it as an idol!

2. Lia

Lia is the group’s gorgeous main vocalist!

Lia became a trainee at JYPE in 2017, training for around 2 years, and also trained vocally at Dream Vocal Academy. Prior to being a JYP trainee, she also auditioned for SM Entertainment and almost made it, but ultimately never ended up signing with the agency.

She also lived in Canada for a few years, and went to an international school, giving her the fluency required to be ITZY’s main English speaker!

After two years of training, Lia subsequently made her debut as the main vocalist of the group in 2019!

3. Ryujin

Ryujin is the charismatic main rapper and lead dancer of ITZY!

Ryujin has one of the most fascinating casting stories, as it was by pure chance that the casting managers of JYPE managed to snatch up a talent like her! She was at a GOT7 fanmeeting, and her striking visuals just managed to catch the eyes of one of the managers present there, who convinced her to audition for the agency!

Ryujin then trained for 4 years, and appeared many times in front of the public before debuting! She was featured opposite BTS‘s J-Hope and Jimin on BTS’s Highlight Reel:

And was also a contestant on JTBC‘s MixNine, even taking first place in the girl’s team!

Ryujin also made an appearance on the survival show Stray Kids, alongside the rest of the ITZY members (with the exception of Lia). Ryujin then ultimately made her long-awaited debut with ITZY in 2019!

4. Chaeryeong

Chaeryeong is the group’s main dancer, vocalist, and rapper!

Chaeryeong has a long history as a trainee under JYP Entertainment! In 2013, she and her sister IZ*ONE‘s Chaeyeon appeared on the show K-Pop Star 3, and wowed everybody with their incredible dancing skills!

They eventually signed on with JYP Entertainment as trainees, and 2 years later in 2015, again competed together in the survival show that made TWICE, SIXTEEN.

Chaeryeong failed to make it to the final lineup of TWICE, but remained under JYP Entertainment while her sister Chaeyeon left the agency and signed under WM Entertainment as a trainee. Chaeryeong would continue to train, and later made an appearance on the show Stray Kids with the other members (except Lia).

After 6 long years of training, Chaeryeong finally made her debut with ITZY in 2019!

5. Yuna

Yuna is the group’s lead dancer, rapper, visual and adorable maknae!

Yuna was initially street-casted for her gorgeous visuals in 2016! She accompanied her sister to a festival where BTOB was performing, and a JYP Entertainment casting agent immediately offered her a card and an opportunity to join JYPE as a trainee!

She successfully passed her audition, and prior to debuting, made various appearances before the public! She starred opposite Jungkook in BTS’s Highlight Reel in 2017:

And also appeared on the Stray Kids survival show that same year!

After around 3 years of training, Yuna eventually debuted with the rest of the members as ITZY’s visual maknae in 2019!

Check out ITZY’s latest comeback with “SNEAKERS” here!