BY: NARA WONGMUENG

(Photo by courtesy of Rahul Bhatt )

Global popstar sensation KATSEYE, are a six-member girl group signed under HYBE and Geffen Records; formed from the reality-survival show, “The Debut: Dream Academy” in 2023. They released their first EP, “SIS: Soft is Strong” and their own documentary on Netflix, “Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE” in 2024.They released their first full album, “Beautiful Chaos”, won their first Moonman, and sold out their first real tour in 2025. Now moving onto 2026 with two GRAMMY nominees.

Dream Academy: The Training

Prior to “The Debut: Dream Academy”, HYBE and Geffen Records had released an online audition in November of 2021; it received over 120,000 submissions. They had to lower the number down to 20 contestants for the survival show. Before the show was released, the girls were put into a HYBE x Geffen intensive training programme in order to make it into the final list of 20 contestants. They were doing all of their training in Los Angeles with renowned instructors. Soon enough, it was time for them to make their first public appearance as the contestants of “The Debut: Dream Academy” in 2023.

(Featured Image: All 20 contestants of “The Debut: Dream Academy” in school uniforms, photo by courtesy of HYBE x Geffen)

The goal of “The Debut: Dream Academy” was to create “an international group based on K-pop methodology,” as stated by the chairman of HYBE, Bang Si-Hyuk. The show contained three different missions, all the girls were split into teams. Each team’s videos will be uploaded online and fans who are following the show can vote for their favorites on the social media platform, Weverse. The six contestants who have the most votes would receive immunity and continue onto the next mission; however many will have to go home. The final lineup thinned out from 20 to 10 in only 12 weeks.

On their Live Finale, they performed three original songs, “Girls Don’t Like”, “Dirty Water”, and “All the Same”. Early fan voting was open on Weverse for the first 30 minutes of the finale. Votes from fans and three executives from both HYBE and Geffen were counted, and the respective labels’ CEOs’ input were used to decide the final lineup for KATSEYE.

 In order of their rankings, these are all of KATSEYE’s members; Sophia Laforteza (Phillipines), Lara Raj (U.S.), Daniela Avanzini (U.S.), Yoonchae Jeung (South Korea), Megan Skeindiel (U.S.) , and Manon Bannerman (Switzerland), they officially formed in 2023.

(Featured image: The final lineup for the members of KATSEYE from left to right: Yoonchae Jeung, Manon Bannerman, Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Sophia Laforteza, and Megan Skeindiel. Photo by courtesy of HYBE x Geffen)

Soft is Strong: A Dip in the Water

              In the summer of 2024, KATSEYE released their debut EP, “SIS: Soft is Strong” and their documentary “Popstar Academy: KATSEYE” in August of 2024. The EP is supported by their debut singles, “Debut” released in June of 2024 and “Touch” released in July of 2024. During the initial release of “Touch”, they had their first ever performance at KCON, the world’s biggest convention for all things K-culture; they opened day one with their two debut singles.

 Later in August, they were featured on “Good Morning America” promoting their EP and documentary with a performance. Not long after, the Santa Monica Pier lit up their iconic ferris wheel with the KATSEYE logo. 

(Featured Images: Image on the left depicts all member of KATSEYE posing for a photo at KCON 2024, photo by courtesy of CJ ENM)

(Featured Images: Image on the right depicts the Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel lit up with the KATSEYE logo, photo by courtesy of Pacpark)

In September of 2024, the girls went on a promotion tour in Asia. They stopped by three different countries, South Korea, The Philippines, and Japan. They were met with strong reception from all 3 countries; they were a huge hit. 

Their first stop was in Korea where they appeared on music shows like “Mnet” and “Music Bank”, they also appeared on variety shows like “Afterschool” and had multiple fan meets. Their next stop was the Philippines, they were so loved by all of the Filipino fans. Many fans even stood in the rain while they were on the Filipino radio show Wish 107.5 once again, singing songs from their EP. KATSEYE even made an appearance on the Filipino TV show, It’s Showtime!. They had a performance and interview at the mall, Market! Market! and over 9,000 fans showed up to the mall just for them. It really touched their hearts. Their final stop was in Japan, where they would perform at Tower Records in Shibuya, CDTV LIVE! LIVE!, and finally touchdown in the HYBE Japan building. 

(Featured Images: Image on the left depicts KATSEYE at their Market! Market! performance in Manila, Philippines, photo by courtesy of UMG Philippines)

(Featured Images: Image in the middle depicts KATSEYE at a fan meet in Seoul, South Korea, photo by courtesy of Deoksoondesu)

(Featured Images: Image to the right depicts KASTEYE at Tower Records with former Dream Academy Trainee Hinari, photo by courtesy of the official KATSEYE Instagram account)

As the Asia tour ended, Lara Raj shared that, “ Social media honestly started to affect [her] badly.” and that “[she had] been getting a lot of hate… especially after the documentary came out.” but because of the Asia trip, it really helped the girls see the people that support them and remember that what they are doing is their dream.

Keeping in touch with K-pop, they attended the Mnet Asian Music Awards, also known as the MAMA Awards on November 21, 2024 in the Dolby Theatre. They performed a mashup between their debut singles, “Debut” and “Touch” with the LA Rams Cheerleaders. Although they were not nominated for any awards, their performance definitely stood out to many fans of K-pop.

GNARLY Summer

After a year-long hiatus, KATSEYE returned to their fans, with a new comeback trailer for their single “Gnarly” releasing on April 30th, 2025. Fans were buzzing with excitement about the song release. Once “Gnarly” came out onto streaming platforms, fans were at first skeptical of the song, criticizing it for not allowing the girls to showcase their vocal skills. The song was a complete 180 of what their previous release sounded like, from softer synths to “quaking 808s” and rave synths; KATSEYE was entering a whole new era. Despite the polarizing news, 

“Gnarly” rose up to #5 on NME’s list of “Best 50 Songs of 2025” and the New York Times “Best Songs of 2025” at #2. Thanks to “Gnarly”, KATSEYE rose in popularity, and more people started getting into the K-pop scene.

(Featured Image: screencap from the “Gnarly” music video)

 KATSEYE had multiple collaborations and performances during this new era. Breaking the stereotype that K-pop idols can display many different sides to themselves that isn’t just “picture-perfect”. Daniela Avanzini, has been heavily praised for her extreme facial expressions while performing “Gnarly”. The group as a whole has been praised for “fighting back the backtrack” and singing live every time they appear on stage. Despite being rookies in their field of work, they were absolutely crushing it. They performed at Wango Tango along with many big artists, including K-pop groups like NMIXX and Hearts2Hearts. KATSEYE teamed up with Urban Outfitters to promote the “UO Haul” glass trucks that displayed dorm room decor. They held a pop-up event and performance in New York City. 

They later released a second single, “Gabriela”, a more contemporary take on Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. They released a music video embodying the nostalgia of old Spanish telenovelas featuring a cameo of actress, Jessica Alba. The music video was most certainly chaotic, but also beautiful. They later released their second EP, “Beautiful Chaos” and their third EP, “Gameboy” on June 27, 2025, the EP contained 5 different tracks including, “Gnarly”, “Gabriela”, and “Gameboy”. In July, they announced that they were going on their tour to promote their new EP. 

In August, KATSEYE was on the setlist for the Chicago-based music festival, Lollapalooza. They have made their mark, setting a new record of the largest early daytime crowd at Lollapalooza, over 85,000 people attended. They made their way over to Japan to perform at Summer Sonic in Tokyo and Osaka. Their performance dates were delayed due to illness of two of the members, Manon and Megan. The group performed in Tokyo with 5 members, and in Osaka, all 6 were able to perform together on the Summer Sonic stage. That same month, the clothing brand, GAP, aired an advertising campaign featuring KATSEYE dancing to the song “Milkshake” by Kelis. It took the internet by storm, comparing this ad campaign to American Eagle’s infamous ad with Sydney Sweeny. People applauded KATSEYE for their cultural diversity and allowing young girls to look up to people who don’t fit in the typical “cookie-cutter ordinary” beauty standards.

(Images Featured: Image on the left depicts KATSEYE at Lollapalooza, photo courtesy of Taylor Regulski)

    (Image Featured: Image on the right depicts an advertisement from GAP featuring KATSEYE, photo courtesy of Ally Hagel)

In the following month, they performed two of their songs at the MTV VMA’s Pre-show, “Gabriela” and “Gnarly”. They were awarded their first “Moonman” for “MTV Push Performance of the Year” for their song “Touch”, and were nominated for “Best Group”. They had a “Spotlight” session at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles performing songs from their second EP. Flowing into October, the group was set off to France and England, mainly doing more promotional activities such as exclusive fan events in London and Paris. They appeared at the NRJ Music Awards and were nominated for “Best International New Artist” and performed on the stage. 

As October comes to an end, the girls are not done yet. Though they may have done so much in only a couple months, they’ve come back with something bigger. In early November they began preparing themselves to go on their first ever tour, their “Beautiful Chaos” Tour in mid-November.

BEAUTIFUL CHAOS TOUR

KATSEYE have since announced that they will be going on their first ever tour all the way back in early July of 2025. There were 12 locations they were going to perform at. Due to the pre-sale tickets selling out, they added additional show dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City bringing the total number of show days to 16. The show contained all songs from their two EPs, “SiS” and “Beautiful Chaos” ; they also performed many songs that they collaborated on, such as “Fright Song” from Monster High and “Timelapse” from the OST of the K-drama, “Good Boy”. They included original songs from their time at “Dream Academy” in a three-song medley. To top it all off, they debuted their brand new single, “Internet Girl” while on tour.

(Featured Images: Image on the upper left corner depicts KATSEYE’s opening sequence to heir tour. Photo by courtesy of Kristin Lockhart)

(Featured Images: Image on the lower left corner depicts KATSEYE singing their song “My Way” as their show ends, photo by courtesy of Rahul Bhatt)

(Featured Images: Image on the right depicts KATSEYE member, Lara Raj singing at their tour, photo courtesy of Rahul Bhatt)

The general review of the show was generally positive, many local newspapers such as the Minnesota Daily praised the group for their energy and delivering “expertly choreographed and executed dances with clear, live vocals”. They were also praised for their professionalism when there were a handful of issues in San Francisco and helping fans who fainted and were dehydrated at their Atlanta show. Despite all of the mishaps, the show was an overall success.

On January 2, 2026, their new single “Internet Girl” was released. Many fans were excited about its release since its live performance debut. However, now, there are many polarizing opinions on this song. Saying that the album version was not up to their expectations as to what the song would sound like in comparison to the live tour version of it. In other words, the song became KATSEYE’s highest debuting song, surpassing “Gnarly” on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And as award seasons arrive, KATSEYE has been nominated for 2 GRAMMY awards for “Best New Artist” and “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” for their song “Gabriela”.

KATSEYE as a girl group has accomplished so many things in only 2 years. They’ve become the “it” girls of Gen Z. They’ve changed how the world sees K-pop and became the girl group we needed in hard times like these. From online auditions for “Dream Academy” to being nominated for two GRAMMY awards, they truly are the internet girls.