On June 24, 2025, the girl group KATSEYE made their debut on the big stage, but they didn’t just start there. “Dream Academy” was a survival show in which 20 girls competed to be in the group, KATSEYE. The six girls who make up the group go by Lara Raj, Yoonchae Jeung, Manon Bannerman, Daniela Avanzini, Megan Skindiel, and Sophia Laforteza. These girls learned to connect with their audience and truly build their fanbase, the EYEKONS.
Aug. 28, 2023, was the day that “Dream Academy” went live and was introduced into a survival show where only six girls would pass through three different missions to get into the next Global Girl Group. With the goal of taking the K(Korean) out of K-pop, the contestants came from all across the world. Contestants came from Slovakia, Australia, America, and even further, with Laforteza from the Philippines being the most popular. By the time the show was announced, the girls had been in training and development, which is also referred to as T&D, for two years in Los Angeles. Under the popular company Hybe, they collaborated with David Geffen to make this group possible.
Hybe has created other popular K-pop groups, with some being Le Serrafim, ENHYPEN, and BTS, while Geffen has nurtured other celebrities like Cher, Guns N’ Roses, and even Elton John.
With a big company name and popularity from the contest, the stakes were high. In each mission, a few or more girls were eliminated from the competition, leading to only 10 remaining for the finale. Those 10 being Samara Siqueira, Marquise Auramornrat, Emily Kelavos, Ezrela Abraham, and the other six girls in KATSEYE.
The last mission was the finale, where the girls were split into two groups of five and performed songs “Girls Don’t Like” and “Dirty Water.” Tetris, the host, slowly named all six, and the world learned the girls who would start a new movement in music.
For the first year, they released their extended play “SIS (Self is Strong)” and went viral. With their iconic song “Touch,” the dance became a global phenomenon. With the group rehearsing every day, filming music videos, and performing their hearts out, it was clear these girls were an unstoppable force that wasn’t to be reckoned with.
Now, skip to 2025, the group recently released their second extended play, “Beautiful Chaos,” and this contained hit songs “Gnarly,” “Gabriella,” “Game Boy,” “MIA,” and “Mean Girls.” With the girls rising high to fame, they were on their way to perform at Wango Tango, Summer Sonic, Lollapalooza, and now Coachella. Over 80,000 audience members saw KATSEYE at Lollapalooza, and even more were watching live on Hulu. They debuted a new dance break and fans lost their ish’, with flamenco moves, and a hot new track to help as well. They now have a lightstick that all popular K-pop groups have that EYEKONS can use at concerts and vibe along to the beat of that sweet music.
Very recently, the Video Music Awards took place with the six members in attendance to perform. They were also nominated for the PUSH Award. Guess what? They won! The group has demonstrated the global success that was expected, and they aren’t stopping anytime soon. The other 14 girls from “Dream Academy” are also releasing their own music and supporting KATSEYE. Global Pop is the new phenomenon and is the future of HYBExGEFFEN.
