Geffen Records and Hybe, the K-pop entertainment company behind BTS and NewJeans, have announced the final six members of the new girl group Katseye.
The Katseye finalists, who were unveiled at a live event in L.A. on Friday night, include Daniela Avanzini, Lara Rajagopalan and Megan Skiendiel from the U.S.; Yoonchae Jeong from South Korea; Sophia Laforteza from the Philippines; and Manon Bannerman from Switzerland. The final lineup was determined by a combination of early votes and real-time votes during the finale, as well as the evaluators’ scores.
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After narrowing the field to 20 candidates selected from 120,000 submissions, Geffen Records and Hybe kicked off the process on Sept. 1. The members of Katseye, created based on the K-pop training and development system, participated in the audition program called “The Debut: Dream Academy,” which aired on YouTube and Japanese streaming channel Abema.
“This has been a long journey and an unprecedented collaboration between Hybe and Geffen. We are very proud of the results and of all the contestants who joined us in this project,” Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of Hybe, said in a statement. “We wish Katseye much success as we are sure they will inspire fans across the globe.”
Katseye will release its debut album in 2024. The three original and exclusive songs that debuted at the live finale—“Dirty Water,” “Girls Don’t Like” and “All the Same”—are available on YouTube.
An untitled Netflix documentary series, directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Nadia Hallgren (“Becoming”), will follow the years-long process of creating this international girl group. The docuseries is set to premiere in Summer 2024, and is produced by Hybe, Interscope Films, and Boardwalk Pictures.
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