Von 120.000 Bewerberinnen, konnten sich nur sechs junge Frauen in der HYBE x Geffen Dream Academy behaupten. Jetzt hat die globale Girlgroup-Sensation Katseye uns alle ihren Bann gezogen und versorgt uns mit hartnäckigen Ohrwürmern und viralen TikTok-Tänzen.
Endlich! Unsere neue BLONDE Printausgabe erscheint am 01.10. am Kiosk! Neben unseren sechs Coverstars, die wir bereits auf Instagram vorgestellt haben, erwarten euch viele spannende Geschichten zu den Themen Growth, Veränderung und Neuanfängen. Neben persönlichen Essays, Fotoreportagen und den hottest Trends der Modeindustrie, haben wir natürlich auch inspirierende Gespräche geführt, unter anderem mit der globalen Girlgroup-Sensation Katseye. Diese sechs jungen Frauen erobern die Musikwelt gerade im Sturm und haben mit uns über ihre Erfahrung als K-Pop-Trainees, ihr unglaublich erfolgreiches Debüt und Sisterhood gesprochen. Das gesamte Interview könnt ihr ab morgen in der neuen BLONDE #50 lesen. Hier gibt es schon mal einen Preview des originalen Interviews auf Englisch.
Katseye im Interview mit BLONDE
Six young women appear on the screen in front of me. They are greeting me cheerfully from a typically grey conference room somewhere in LA. Three of them are sitting, the other three are standing behind them, almost as rehearsed as their viral TikTok dances. How surreal. Just the day before, I had watched the Netflix documentary ‚Pop Star Academy: Katseye‘ and felt with them as they danced, sang, cried and laughed. Eight episodes retrace the journey of 120,000 applicants, twenty trainees, ten finalists and eventually the six members of Katseye: Daniela, Lara, Manon, Megan, Sophia and Yoonchae.
In contrast to much celebrated K-pop girl groups like Blackpink or Blackswan, Katseye is a global group that only performs in English. They also stand out for their culturally diverse members with roots in the Philippines, Korea, Switzerland, Ghana, Hawaii, China, India, South America, and the USA. The group was cast by Hybe, the Korean label behind BTS, and the American label Geffen Records, who created the programme ‚The Debut: Dream Academy‘. After the announcement of the so-called trainees via social media last year, there was instant buzz, as fans were able to vote for their favourite contestants. Now, a few months after Katseye’s debut, their fanbase is growing day by day.
No doubt, the academy has prepared them for their new lives. But there is also much debate about fairness and the effects on young women and girls participating in a two-year training and competition regime. According to the six who remained, all the tears, sweat and blood have been worth it.
You all had to grow quickly and profoundly during your time in the Dream Academy. What does it mean to you to evolve in such a fast-paced environment?
Manon: I think it’s something you never stop doing in life, hopefully. We have all grown, not only as artists, but as people. We dedicated so much of our time to this programme, got older and learned so much. It has been an amazing experience.
People get to learn so much about you in the documentary. How was it for you to relive that journey?
Daniela: It’s very exciting for people to finally see how Katseye became Katseye. It was such an intense and crazy journey. Looking back at how much we grew was really emotional. I literally cried every single episode. And we all looked so young, Megan especially. [laughs]
Manon: Watching it was hard at times because it was so raw and real. But that’s what makes the documentary so beautiful. It really shows how much effort we had to put into becoming Katseye. Looking back, I just find it extremely inspiring.
Lara: I agree. You can clearly see the difference from the beginning of the documentary to the end and even to now. So much has changed. It’s almost four years of footage compressed into eight hours. While there were so many key moments, so much was missing from what really happened. Seeing our journey put us right back in that place of raw emotions and stress.
@katseyeworld touch at Music Bank 💿 #KATSEYE #KATSEYE_Touch #KATSEYEinseoul ♬ Touch – KATSEYE
How do you remember the finale of the Dream Academy?
Yoonchae: I remember not being able to feel anything. When I heard my name, everything was blank. I was on cloud nine. Only after our team was complete, it felt real. I started to cry, and I remember us all hugging.
Sophia: I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
What was the first thing you did after the show?
Manon: The first thing Dani said to me was, ‘We’re going to be famous’. And I was like, ‘Oh my god, yes, we are going to be famous’. That’s when it hit me.
Sophia: The day after, we just slept. I put the not disturb mode on and all the alarms off.
Lara: It felt like I could finally breathe again.
Your debut EP “SIS – Soft is Strong” is a great play on words. What does sisterhood mean to you and how do you experience it within your group?
Lara: As a group of six, we have such different personalities. But we complement each other really well. It took time and a lot of communication to build that balance and teamwork. I think we’ve now reached a point where our bond is really strong. We always have fun together, even when we’re facing challenges.
It’s your connection that makes you strong. What about your soft side?
Megan: Our softer side is our vulnerability. We all face challenges in life and it’s extremely comforting being able to share these with my girls, knowing we’ll always be there for each other. It’s important to embrace ourselves and our vulnerability, also through our songs.
Besides the shared passion for performing, what else do you have in common?
Megan: We’re a bunch of foodies from different parts of the world. So we get together and show each other our cultures and culinary traditions. We share our favourite dishes and introduce each other to new foods. There are two chefs here (points to Sophia and Lara) who love to cook in our kitchen. And we all love Wingstop. [everyone laughs]
Das gesamte Interview könnt ihr ab morgen in der neuen BLONDE #50 lesen. Erhältlich am Kiosk, online und als E-Paper.
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