Ella Griffin-Hughes
KATSEYE, a girl group formed under a combined American and South Korean music label! They were the result of Netflix show ‘Popstar Academy KATSEYE’. The show wanted to give girls from all over the world, with various levels of talent, a chance to compete to become a part of HYBE x GEFFEN’s new girl group! There were over 120,000 submissions, with only 20 girls being ultimately selected to participate within the survival show, the youngest being only 14.
Moreover, I want to highlight that this article doesn’t identify the depths of the first selection of girls, the way some are rejected throughout the show, and how their days of endless training sparks extortionate amounts of controversy surrounding the ethics of it all. Instead, I want to acknowledge the aims of the show and discuss the succession of the girl group since.
How do we create an ideal girl group who would impressively immerse into the music industry, and succeed within the marketing field? Well HYBE and GEFFEN prioritised 3 main factors: Singing, dancing, and star quality. Some girls excelled better in one category than another, for example, a trainee called Emily was an exceptional dancer who consistently showcased what the mentors were looking for, but her singing was mediocre. The trainees would experience monthly evaluations, where they were analysed by all teachers/mentors. This would give the girls a closer insight of what they are succeeding at and what they aren’t doing so well on. This is reinforced by being categorised into tier groups for each ability, where the girls would then endure 12 hour long consecutive days of training in their groups, reflecting their level. Despite ultimately being recognised as American based, the girls were all trained relentlessly under strict K-POP training conditions. These conditions would validate whether the girls were what HYBE and GEFFEN were looking for and for them to continuously work on improving their dancing, singing, and star quality. However, as you can imagine, the training required from them would have been substantially demanding and time consuming to perfect their skills. This training lasted for 2 years.
A major component of the survival show is that the entire world was the audience, and that the media were encompassed in the experience. It was down to the public to vote for their favourites, which seen 20 girls quickly become 6. After several stages of performances, it was time to reveal who were going to debut as KATSEYE. It was Megan, Yoonchae, Daniela, Sophia, Lara, & Manon selected to the heart of KATSEYE for evermore. They debuted officially on 28th June, 2024 and started their career with their first song called ‘Debut’, followed by ‘Touch’, both that went viral. Later, in August, they released their first mini album – ‘SIS’ (Soft is Strong) – with the songs collectively sourcing them over 259 million streams on Spotify. My personal favourite being ‘My Way’. Additionally, they have performed on major Korean music shows such as MusicCore and Music Bank. As well as performing, this month (4th December, 2024) at iHeart Jingle Ball, an event located in New York City, where loads of famous artists perform engulfed by a magical Christmas atmosphere!
To conclude, I would say it is a remarkable transition from where the KATSEYE’s girls began to where they are now, and they should be commended for their utter determination and resilience.
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