“Touchdown” is a song performed by the K-pop girl group which made a debut under JYP Entertainment, TWICE. It is the third track from their second extended play (EP) Page Two which was released back in April 2016. This particular track is known for its addicting upbeat tune that will get the listeners to start dancing and singing along right away. Fans also really like this song for its saucy and flirty lyrics. “Touchdown” is often considered the powerhouse track of the album that has a similarly happy and energetic vibe as the mini album’s title track “Cheer Up.” Despite the fact “Touchdown” wasn’t the title track of Page Two, the song successfully gained popularity and was performed on many Korean television music shows and was chosen to be performed as the third song for TWICE’s headlining world tour “TWICELIGHTS.”
Background of “Touchdown”
After being viral on SNS for sharing “Cheer Up” teaser photos on TWICE’s official accounts, JYP Entertainment officially confirmed that the group would be having a comeback with the launching of a new extended play at the end of April 2016. The agency also stated that this comeback will show the “more lively side of TWICE.” On April 12th, TWICE announced that they would be releasing an EP titled Page Two. At the same time, they published the image of the album’s tracklist. There are seven songs in total which include “Touchdown” as the third track of the mini-album. Later, on April 24, TWICE released an album highlight medley that featured “Touchdown” audio snippets as well as snippets of other tracks listed on Page Two.
Page Two and its title track “Cheer Up” were officially released on April 25, 2016, and shortly became available on Korean and international digital online music platforms.
Story of “Touchdown”
The song was composed by Krissi Karlsson, Karl Karlsson, Nicki Karlsson, and EJ Show (Zoobeater Sound). “Touchdown” was described by Melon as having “powerful dance numbers with vibrant melodies, rhythms, and powerful sound effects.” The instrumentals were dominated by marching band drums and horns which made the song sound a lot more energetic and cheerful. Chaeyoung and Dahyun were notably the lead vocals in this song. The lyrics of “Touchdown” were written by Mafly (Joombas), a Korean writer and lyricist. She previously wrote song lyrics for other well-known K-pop girl groups such as Girls’ Generation, Girl’s Day, GFRIEND, and T-Ara. Lyrically speaking, “Touchdown” depicts the story of a girl telling a guy not to resist because he will fall in love with her. The storytelling is done by equating the girl’s effort to score the guy with a football game. It is such a cool concept of combining the theme of young love and sports which TWICE had never done before. Most of the verses try to tell the story of a girl’s effort to receive attention from the guy she likes.
“Touchdown” MV
There is no official MV for “Touchdown” since it is not the official title track of the album. Despite that, the official audio video for “Touchdown” was uploaded on YouTube through JYP Entertainment’s official channel on April 30, 2016. As of August 2021, the “Touchdown” official audio video has more than 1.1 million views.
“Touchdown” Performances
“Touchdown” was one of TWICE’s songs that was often performed on music shows and concerts even though it was not technically the title track of Page Two. “Touchdown” was performed for the first time in public on M! Countdown as a comeback stage. The stage set was minimalistic and looked somewhat futuristic. All members were present. The dress code was casual black and white with all the members wearing cropped tops with TWICE written on them. According to TWICE’s V Live, the dance moves for “Touchdown” were all choreographed by Dahyun.
A day later, the song was performed again on KBS’s Music Bank. This was a short medley performance of “Touchdown” combined with the title track “Cheer Up.” The stage set was decorated with pink lights and a jumbotron with a large animated TWICE logo. All members were dressed in black, white, and pink. Nayeon and Jihyo’s amazing vocals slayed and stood out in this performance. This “Touchdown” performance shortly became the hot trending topic on Melon and Naver.
About a month after the initial television debut, TWICE made a special live comeback performance on SBS’s live music show Inkigayo. In this case, the stage set was a lot more vibrant. It was decorated with brightly colored Tetris-style animations. All members wore jean shorts and skirts except for Mina. This is also one of the times where all members wore different tops to display their individual charms. Tzuyu stood out in this performance through her dance and singing the Japanese lines in the song. Aside from choreographing the dance moves, Chaeyoung was also praised by fans for slaying the vocals in the opening line. In May 2019, “Touchdown” was also performed as a part of TWICE’s concert setlist for their first headlining world tour “TWICELIGHTS.” This was performed at KSPO Dome in Seoul. All TWICE members looked sophisticated in mini black dresses. Despite the dark concept, TWICE still managed to look cute and energetic in this performance. The performance looked incredibly extravagant with all the lights, fireworks, and fire explosions toward the end of the song. As a side note, Nayeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung successfully mesmerized the audience through their over-the-top vocals.
“Touchdown” Achievements
The song has ranked on South Korean digital music platform weekly charts such as GAON, Melon, and Line. Since “Touchdown” was not a lead single nor a title track, the song hasn’t made it to the mainstream music charts like Billboard yet. As of now, “Touchdown” also has not yet received any award nominations.
“Touchdown” Weekly Charts
