Pre-debut Era
Kyulkyung is from China and came to South Korea to become an idol. She wasn’t actually interested in K-pop at first, but she was discovered by Pledis Entertainment street scouts in Shanghai, in 2009. The agency convinced Kyulkyung to audition by giving her an album from After School. She flew to South Korea when she was only 11 years old. She had a relatively lengthy trainee period, about five years. Despite her long training period she’s a really talented artist and can also play piano and a Chinese instrument called a pipa. Now how about we take a look at her pre-debut photos? Netizen were shocked when they found out that Kyulkyung was alleged to have had plastic surgery to get double eyelids, especially because her face is really unique and gives off such a strong aura, making people think that’s how her face looks naturally. Even more shocking, after her plastic surgery, her face is not very different. Check out her before-eyelids surgery photos here! What do you think? We think that she was beautiful even before her debut. She’s had a beautiful, small face since she was born!
Rising Star as a Produce 101 Contestant
Kyulkyung was known as Zhou Jieqiong in this idol group-making survival show. She participated in the show with other six trainees from her agency, Pledis Entertainment. People loved her because of her face, especially her side profile. No wonder people called her goddess. Even other trainees often talked about her visual. In one Produce 101 episode, there was a vote to pick the top 11 contestants, based on their visual. Kyulkyung got the most votes. Even other beautiful trainees chose her as the most beautiful in this show. Now let’s check out her transformation from the first time she appeared in this show to the last episode!
Pledis Trainee Performance
On the first episode, all the contestants had to give a performance on stage and the mentors graded them based on their overall talents. Kyulkyung and the other six trainees from her agency performed Bang by After School, a group who is their senior from the same agency. One of the members of that group, Kahi, was even a mentor on the show. During their performance, the group of trainees from Pledis showed that they were strong, sharp dancers. At the time, Kyulkyung was still a high school student but already had a beautiful, womanly figure. She wore a tight, long sleeved white shirt and a short, red skort, paired with high black boots. The outfit suited her body type perfectly. She had long, black hair and wore light make up. Kyulkyung received an A grade and got a really high rank, placing third. She is a really beautiful singer.
Group Battle Performances
On episode 3 of Produce 101, the trainees got a mission to form a group. The group had to perform a girl-group’s debut song in front of a live audience. The audience watched the performances and voted in person. Kyulkyung was part of the group calling itself White Springm who sang ‘I Don’t Know’, Apink’s debut song.
I Don’t Know by A-PINK
Kyulkyung performed in a white dress and natural makeup, with a little bit of pinkish color on her lips, which matched the innocent concept perfectly. Her voice was really stable here, which is one of the reasons why she won the number one position on her team. Kyulkyung’s overall rank dropped to sixth, but that was still a safe spot. Check out the group performances and eye-contact version here.
Position Evaluation Performances
Once again, the trainees got a new challenge. They had to give live performances based on positions they want to ultimately debut in: vocal, dance, or rap. The contestants got to choose their preferred positions based on how they were currently ranked because there’s a member limit per group. Kyulkyung was ranked fourth in the previous episode, so she was able to choose what she wanted without worrying that the group she wanted to join had filled its quota.
Full Moon by SUNMI
Kyulkyung chose the dance group, and Full Moon as the song she wanted to cover. She was the leader and main dancer of her group, which consisted of herself and two other members, Chaeyon and Sohye. Kyulkyung choreographed the dance, and it was as sexy as the original moves. She performed wearing a really beautiful white dress that was both lacy and feathery, which gave her an added edge because she was the only who wore white. The other two members of her group both wore black dresses. To make her look even sexier, she tied her hair loosely and added a little bold makeup. Her eyeliner was thicker than before and she had red lips that made her complexion look even more beautiful. They were barefoot during their performance, giving it a sexier feel. Unsurprisingly, she stayed in a safe position after this mission, ranking in sixth place.
Concept Evaluation Performances
This was the last evaluation before the final stage. This evaluation was the concept evaluation, so the girls had to choose one of five songs that they wanted to perform in front of live audiences. The order for song choice was, once again, determined by the contestants’ rankings. What made it different was that every team was limited to 14 people, so if a contestant was the first one to choose the song they got the privilege of choosing who had to leave the group. The trainee who got kicked out was forced to choose one of remaining songs that still had open spots.
24 Hours by DJ KOO & MAXIMITE
Kyulkyung got a song that she wanted, 24 Hours, composed by DJ Koo and Maximite, who previously produced “Pick Me”. It’s an EDM song, of the type you usually hear at the club. The outfit for this performance was really simple, and the whole group all wore the same outfit. They wore white shorts with yellow belts, white crop tops, vests that looked like varsity jackets, knee socks with two yellow stripes, and white sneakers. Kyulkyung made a small ponytail to give a cheerful look. She also added a few jewelry stickers as her point makeup. The song definitely will make your body move because of its beat, and Kyulkyung managed to maintain her rank in 6th place.
