From Dream Academy to the VMAs

On September 7th, the global girl group KATSEYE earned their first major award for “Push Performance of the Year” at the VMAs for their song “Touch.” Since debuting in June 2024, the six-member girl group has skyrocketed in popularity, with songs including “Gnarly” and “Gabriela” landing on the Billboard Global Charts and the Billboard Hot 100. In just one year, the viral sensation has built a massive global fan base–EYEKONS, as they refer to themselves–and become a major player in the music industry. But KATSEYE’s story didn’t start at the VMAs; it started at the Dream Academy. 

In November 2021, two notable record labels, Geffen Records and HYBE Corporation, established a joint venture, Geffen x HYBE, with a mission to create a massive, global girl group. Over 120,000 auditions were submitted to participate in The Debut: Dream Academy, an intensive high-performance training program, where trainees strengthen skills to sing and dance in hopes of debuting in the band. Among the thousands of submissions, it was whittled down to just 20 aspiring contestants before the 12-week survival show. 

Survival shows are reality competition shows that are popular in the Korean music scene. It typically includes a set number of trainees who are competing for a spot in a music group created by a label. A notable example is the show SIXTEEN created by the label JYP Entertainment, which led to the formation of the renowned girl group TWICE. These shows typically receive immense criticism due to voting manipulations and harsh work schedules for contestants as young as 13. 

For some contestants, training began as early as the spring of 2022, and for others, they had as little as 3 months of training before the show. The 12-week show consisted of three missions (where trainees would showcase their singing and dancing abilities) and rounds of elimination. The plot twist, though, is that the contestants were never informed they were

participating in a survival show with global voting. The viewers were able to vote for their favorite contestants in each mission, allowing them to progress automatically to the next mission. This led to many talented girls being left vulnerable at these eliminations. Emily, a contestant from the Dream Academy, spoke in the Netflix Documentary Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE, which highlights the 18 months of the training process and the survival show, commenting that she felt “consumed by the negative energy” and was “addicted to looking at what people were saying.” This caused an unhealthy relationship with social media for the majority of the contestants, leaving many girls in constant stress about their appearances and performances. At the end of the survival show, the group was reduced to just six members: Sophia, Manon, Lara, Megan, Yoonchae, and Daniela. These girls would form the group KATSEYE.

KATSEYE debuted with their lead single, “Debut,” on June 28, 2024, followed by their first EP, SIS (Soft is Strong), released in August, which included the hit single “Touch.” This vibrant song peaked at No.32 on the U.S Pop Airplay Chart according to Billboard. A dance challenge to the song went viral on social media, particularly on TikTok, gaining significant publicity for the new girl group. With all this popularity, another song, “Gnarly,” took the internet by storm less than 10 months later. 

In May 2025, KATSEYE made a major shift into a new era, showcasing their grit, power, rawness, and even masculinity, as Lara expressed in Weverse Magazine’s Behind the Scenes Interview. With the pre-release single “Gnarly” from their second album, they attracted global audiences with their expression of random phrases like “boba tea” and “hottie like a bag of Takis.” In an interview with The Fader, Manon emphasizes that “gnarly can be a good thing or a bad thing in our minds. It’s kind of up for interpretation.” The controversy surrounding the unconventional song, due to its cringey and repetitive simple lyrics, along with its intricate and compelling choreography, contributed to the song’s peak at No. 47 on the Billboard Global 200, according to The Korea Herald, and was their first single that debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 entering at No. 92. This song took over the internet, with thousands of EYEKONS recreating the viral, eye-catching, high-energy dance challenge across social media platforms. A month later, the songs “Gabriela” and “Gameboy” came out along with KATSEYE’s second EP, Beautiful Chaos. This successful release debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. This EP showcased their vocal abilities, uptempo sound, and cultural backgrounds.

In August, KATSEYE performed at Lollapalooza on the T-Mobile Main Stage. At their festival debut, KATSEYE drew over 85,000 attendees, setting a record for the largest audience in an early daytime slot. The international appeal was notable with the number of EYEKONS at the event singing the lyrics. And just a couple of weeks later, the GAP x KATSEYE campaign, Better in Denim, launched with a hypnotizing choreography to the song “Milkshake” by Kelis. In the ad, all 6 members are featured in GAP’s new collection of denim apparel, dancing to show the mobility and inclusivity of the jeans. The timing of this ad sparked a major denim war between American Eagle x Sydney Sweeney and the GAP x KATSEYE ad.

Some critics claimed that Sweeney’s campaign alluded to the promotion of eugenics. The contrasting KATSEYE ad, with every member from a different ethnic background, dismisses white supremacy and emphasizes diversity. The caption of the video reads, “This is denim as you define it. Your individuality. Your self-expression. Your style. Powerful on your own. Even better together.” This mesmerizing choreography and controversy blew up every social media platform, with people discussing the moral issues and recreating the dance. This platformed KATSEYE into a new demographic, growing their following and fandom.

Today, KATSEYE boasts over 1 billion streams and 31 million monthly listeners, according to Spotify. The girl group is set to start their first tour, The Beautiful Chaos Tour, in November. A couple of weeks ago, Coachella, the popular music festival, announced the 2026 lineup, and KATSEYE is set to perform. In a single year, KATSEYE saw rapid growth in its global reach, with its music entering major international charts and its live performances drawing large audiences. Many are starting to question if KATSEYE will be the next BLACKPINK, or even surpass the high level of success they have achieved in their career.