Tanaka Etsuko is a Japanese child model, singer, dancer and trainee under PHX Entertainment. She is in the pre-debut team PHX Rookies.
Background[]
Early life[]
Etsuko was born from a working-class family on May 17, 2005. She started modeling at the age of 13 for various Japanese magazines for teen girls. Her dreams to pursue an idol career led her to audition for many entertainment companies both in Korea and Japan.
Starship Entertainment (2020)[]
As a fan of both Wonyoung and IZ*ONE, she decided to audition for Starship Entertainment in 2020, where she passed the auditions and became a trainee. After the company debuted their girl group IVE, her trainee contract with Starship was terminated.
Survival shows, training in Korea (2021-present)[]
In October 2021 she was announced as a PHX Entertainment trainee, and subsequently as a contestant on the survival show Afterschool Girls. Then, in the January of 2022, she went on to compete on the survival show Star Maker 101.
On April 16, the Star Maker 101 finale premiered. Etsuko placed at #20 on the show, therefore not making it to the debut lineup, unlike the other PHX Entertainment trainee Liu Min Wei.
On August 8, PHX Japan, PHX Entertainment's Japanese subsidiary, announced that she would've moved to South Korea to train there, thus leaving the company without trainees. Even though, on the company's website she will still be listed as a trainee under PHX Japan.
On August 11, she was announced as a contestant on the survival show IN THE SKY, along with labelmate Oh Umji. The program has been canceled due to internal conflicts with Crescendia Entertainment on November 28.
Trivia[]
- Etsuko is a former Starship Entertainment trainee, and she has trained there for 1 year (2020)
- Her mother is a shop assistant, while her father is an engineer
- She has one cat and his name is Felix
- Her favorite K-Pop groups are the Produce groups, so I.O.I, Wanna One and IZ*ONE
- Her inspiration is Wonyoung of IVE
- She has never been to South Korea before being accepted in Afterschool Girls
- She broke her left leg once
- Etsuko's friends say that she can read very fast