Jung Min-joo, known professionally as JOO, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and musical actress. In 2006, she became a contestant on JYP Entertainment's Superstar Survival. Although she didn't win, she was accepted as a trainee at JYP Entertainment. After two years of training, Joo debuted as a soloist with her single album Young Girl in January 2008. However, she went back into training for two years, as she didn't feel ready for her debut. Joo later returned in January 2011 by releasing her EP Heartmade. Aside from her music career, Joo has participated in various musical dramas, including Youthful March, Catch Me If You Can, and Full House. She also participated in notable TV dramaDream High and the movie Marriage Blue.
Joo was one of the contestants in the 2006 survival series Superstar Survival alongside 2PM's Chansung, Taecyeon and Junho. Although Junho was ultimately crowned the winner, she was accepted to train at JYP Entertainment.
2008: ''Young Girl'' and return to trainee
On January 10, 2008, JYP Entertainment stated that they would debut a new solo singer, Joo. She made her debut stage on January 11, 2008, with her single "Young Girl" on KBS' Music Bank. Despite already making her debut, Joo ultimately decided that she was not yet ready to finish her training. She continued life as a trainee until her comeback in 2011.
2011–2014: ''Heartmade'' and musical acting
On January 3, 2011, Joo released her much-awaited comeback video, titled "Bad Guy", which featured 2PM's Chansung on her official YouTube channel. The single was part of her album titled Heartmade. Her comeback stage featured the same song on the January 7 broadcast of Music Bank. On May 12, 2011, Joo released another teaser video with a new song titled "Ice Cream" featuring Super Junior's leader, Leeteuk. The music video was released on May 16, 2011. On May 23, 2011, JYP Entertainment officially announced that JYP artists would come together for two “JYP NATION in Japan 2011” concerts in Japan in August 2011. The star-studded line-up included Park Jin-young, Lim Jeong-hee, Wonder Girls, Joo, 2AM, 2PM, Miss A, and San E. The two concerts took place on August 17 and 18 at the Saitama Super Arena. On October 10, 2011, JYP Entertainment revealed that Joo had been selected as a leading actress in a musical called Youthful March, scheduled to perform from November 12, 2011 to January 29, 2012. This marked her debut as a musical actress. As it was her first time in a musical, she said: "I'm excited to take my first step into the world of musicals. It's only the beginning, and as it is a leading role, I'll be rehearsing harder than anyone else to create an amazing show. I'll do my best to show a different image from singer Joo as musical actress Joo, so please give me your support.". On October 31, 2012, JYP Entertainment announced that Joo had been selected to take on the role of Brenda in the new musical of Catch Me If You Can scheduled to have its first performance on December 14, 2012 and final on February 9, 2013. Other prominent stars such as Girls' Generation's Sunny, CSJH The Grace's Dana and Oh Sang-eun have taken turns to take on the role previously. On March 5, 2014, it was announced that Joo was selected to join Beast's Yoseob in the musical remake of Full House, which ran from April 11, 2014 to June 8, 2014. She joined the cast of Full House, which included VIXX's Leo, A Pink's Jung Eun-ji, Kim San-ho, Seo Ha-joon, and Kwak Sun-young. Through an interview, she shared her thoughts and experiences on living as a musical actress, which is a career quite different than the one in her past. She said: "I've been enjoying performing for the musical Full House. I've been watching other musicals and taking lessons on my days off." She also revealed her hopes of wanting people who come to watch Full House to see her as Han Ji-eun, not as singer Joo or actress Jung Min-joo.
2015–present: ''Cry & Blow'', ''Late in the Morning'', ''The Unit''
In January 2015, Joo's contract with JYP Entertainment ended. In April, it was revealed that she had signed an exclusive contract with Woollim Entertainment. In October 2015, Woollim Entertainment confirmed Joo would be making a comeback after five years, releasing a ballad track. Joo released her single, Cry & Blow, on November 2. Joo release her second digital singleLate in the Morning on May 26, 2017. The ballad track was composed by Nell's Lee Junghoon. On October 2, 2017 Joo confirmed she would be appearing on reality television series and participated in a recording for the program on October 1, which aired on October 28.
