E4: Who is KATSEYE? The Global Girl Group Redefining Pop

Discover the phenomenon that is KATSEYE, the groundbreaking global girl group taking the music world by storm! In this episode of BibimPOP with Sean, we dive into who KATSEYE is, their unique journey from the intense Dream Academy competition, and their incredible lineup of talented members. Joining Sean is his husband and fellow EYECON, Matt, for a fun discussion about their favorite KATSEYE songs, performances, and the Netflix documentary that gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at the group's formation. Plus, a deep dive into each member’s background and star power. Whether you're already an EYECON or curious about KATSEYE’s rise, this episode has everything you need to fall in love with the group! Don’t forget to subscribe, follow, like, and share!

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Episode 4
• 1:28 Who is KATSEYE?
• 3:57 What We Love About KATSEYE
• 21:51 KATSEYE Members One-by-One
• 31:21 Subscribe, Follow, Like, & Share

Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode four of BibimPOP with Sean. Where pop culture ate. I am literally sitting here recording this episode. I'm in my gym clothes. I was going to go to the gym before recording this episode, but I got so excited that I couldn't wait any longer. So I immediately came upstairs to the studio, plugged everything in, and started recording the podcast.

I actually just got home a few minutes ago from that weekend vacation with my cousins and my husband and my sister that I was talking about, and we had so much fun. I knew we would and we did. We delivered. The murder mystery was fantastic. I'm clearly not good at solving murder mysteries. I'm good at watching them. I, I did so bad in this one that I actually accused the one person it could literally never be.

So anyway, maybe next year I'll have more like. So glad to have had the experience. Good to be back! I am so excited for episode four of BibimPOP with Sean. We're diving into a discussion about the brand new global girl group KATSEYE.

Right. Okay, so first things first, who is KATSEYE? Well, the first thing you need to know is that I love KATSEYE. You're not going to want to miss out on KATSEYE. Once you discover KATSEYE, you'll never want to go back to life before KATSEYE. KATSEYE is often referred to as a K-pop group, but they are actually branding as a global girl group.

They are under both Hybe and Geffen Records, which is so rare for two mega record label industries to come together in support of one group. Hybe is a record label for some of the biggest K-pop groups and artists, including BTS, tomorrow, Buy Together and Hype in La Seraphim and 17. Geffen is the label who represents Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Ellie Goulding, Elton John, Eminem, Gwen Stefani, Imagine Dragons, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo, Renee Rap, Selena Gomez, U2 and so many more.

Nearly everyone. Honestly, as you can tell, KATSEYE is referred to as a global group because the members have a collectively very diverse cultural background, which is so cool to see. They were formed through a massive audition and survival show competition called Dream Academy. I believe the girls who were a part of this competition actually trained, practiced, learned, rehearsed and competed for a spot in this group for nearly two years.

Yes, a two year process of dancing, singing and perfecting. I just feel bad for the girls who went through this intense experience for two years, maybe even two years plus and not make it. And you can watch The journey of the girls on Netflix. And this process is so typical for K-pop artists and groups. That's one of the reasons I have so much respect for K-pop, because these artists have literally given their all, like, their entire life, to be in the position that they are.

The final line up for KATSEYE consists of members Sofia, Lara, Daniella, Megan, Yoonchae and Manon. Their EP, Sis or Soft Is Strong was released in August of this year, and if you're liking this content, don't forget to subscribe, follow, like and share BibimPOP with Sean.

And joining me for BibimPOP with Sean today is another EYECON, which is what KATSEYE fans are called. My husband Matt. Welcome, Matt. Wow, thank you so much. This is exciting to be here. I know that I'm not as much of a pop culture aficionado as you are, but hopefully I can keep up. I love KATSEYE, I'm so excited to talk about it.

I think it's so funny that we're having this conversation, because I feel like we naturally just talk about KATSEYE. I and watch KATSEYE I videos on YouTube and listen to KATSEYE in the car all the time. Okay, so we watched the Netflix documentary on the formation of KATSEYE. I what did you think about the documentary? Wow. The documentary.

I feel like it was a very honest, behind the scenes portrayal of what these girls journey was to getting onto or getting into this group really enjoyed being able to see that. Yeah, it was just so interesting to kind of see behind the scenes, kind of how much work they went through, how difficult it was, how emotionally trialing, psychologically difficult it was.

Yeah, there was a lot going on in the show, but definitely really enjoyed it. There really was a lot going on in the show and talk a little bit about what some of those psychological trials were. What did that look like in the Netflix documentary? Yes. Well, if you haven't seen the show yet for yourself, this is maybe a bit of a spoiler, but it's really interesting because when the girls first joined in into, they call it the Pop Star Academy, I believe they're told that it's just going to be a training academy, and that they're going to be training to potentially join this future global girl group.

It's then revealed to them, I think, after they've trained for like months or even years, that they're actually going to be put into a competition show against each other, where they have to compete like head to head, they have to push out like their social media, trying to get followers to vote for them. So yeah, it definitely it felt a little bit like a bait and switch where these girls didn't know maybe what they were getting into.

So seeing them being thrown into that competitive environment, I feel like you could really see the toll it was taking on these girls. Well, yeah, I mean, I mean, I feel like they were gaslit, like literally like they had no idea they were going into this survival show where then they would have to be performing in front of fans and then be judged.

And then people have fan voting and they have to push out content on social media to see, like, who can be the most popular and get the most fan votes. They thought it was just, oh, I'm going to train for this opportunity and I'm going to work really, really hard. And if I work really hard, I'm going to get on the show and that's it.

They had no idea it would be like American Idol style, like survival competition, but like, not even American Idol, just American Idol times 1 million. Because what they put these girls through is unreal. The dancing, I mean, in stilettos. I'm just like, thinking of all the things they did and they did so much. Yeah, I was gonna say, especially because they had been training for long enough without it being a competition show, that I feel like they had really formed good friendships with each other.

So they were so close with each other. So then to have it pivot and be like, oh, you actually need to take all these girls down and beat them, all right. Yeah. I, I can't even imagine being in that position. It makes it makes me think what you just said reminded me of Lexi's experience on the show.

Talk a little bit about that. We love Lexi. We're both definitely a huge Lexi fans. If somewhere in the universe she hears this, we love you. Like we love you. Lexi. Yeah. Lexi. She was from Sweden. And she. The whole time that she was there, she was definitely one of the highest performing girls. They would have these monthly evaluations and she was always being rated really well.

She was doing really well. If they brought her into a recording studio and they loved how she was sounding, right, like she was doing so well in the show. But then when it transitioned into the competition series, she just really struggled with seeing all these other girls, and especially because they did it in a way that was very, I was going to say, inhumane and literally like there was no humans involved.

It was like they would sit them in front of a TV screen that would then, like this AI generated voice would tell them, oh, this person has been eliminated. Your dreams have all been crossed. That's true. I forgot that they had to sit in front of a screen. Yes, and have like a computer. Tell them it wasn't like talking with someone.

It was like, oh, this little machine is going to tell you all your dreams are dead, right? That's actually horrible. Yeah. So she she kept making it through round after round, but they were showing that she was really struggling like mentally with the impact that it was having on her. So she ended up, this was towards the end of the show, but she ended up deciding kind of on her own to leave the show, kind of of her own free will.

Just decided that this wasn't for her. And honestly, I had so much respect for her. I feel like that must have been such a difficult decision to make given, like, what a huge opportunity and collaboration that this was between the different music labels that were involved. So I know that must have been a brutal decision to have to make for sure.

I mean, yeah, I absolutely have respect for Lexi and her decision. She came to the point where she was like, this opportunity no longer aligns with my core values. And so because I know it's just going to get more intense going forward and I don't see it getting better. I'm just going to remove myself from the opportunity. And I just have a high level of respect for her for doing that.

Yeah, especially because so many of these girls, I don't remember how old Lexi specifically was at the time, but a lot of these girls were like, so young, right? Like, I think they had like 15 to 24 ish. Like somewhere in there was the age range of the girls competing. I think there are some like 14 year olds.

Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. You're still like a child, right? And I'm trying to imagine, I don't know if I could have made that mature of a decision. Is like an 18 year old. I again, I don't know how old Lexi specifically was, but yeah, just made me even respect her even more. Yeah. And actually, that just makes me think of how I really appreciated the Netflix documentary, because it felt real in the sense that the documentary didn't even make the label execs look that great all the time.

There were moments where you, as the viewer, are looking at the, label execs and the producers and you're like, ooh, icky. Oh, I don't like that. Specifically around, I don't know, one of the women who works for one of the labels. I think Geffen. She was talking about how, of course, you have to manufacture drama on a show like this.

That's how you get ratings. And I'm like, that's so forced. And these poor girls, like you said when you talked about inhumane, I literally thought about that. Like, you are putting teenage girls intentionally through really difficult situations when a competition show is inherently hard enough, right? Yeah. That scene was horrible. I feel like the executive specifically was like, well, that episode had the most views or something.

So what other option did we have? Right. Like that's how the how she was coming across and yeah, I don't know what like the agreement was for making this documentary, but yeah, I really felt like it was like, no, no restraints, which I again, y really appreciate that the show because it felt really honest in its portrayal of a lot of the people involved.

Definitely. Well, I think the listeners right now are going to have to watch the Netflix documentary for themselves. I don't want to spoil too much. So, Matt, tell us what you like about KATSEYE. Yes. Well, what I love about KATSEYE eyes, so we mentioned this earlier, but they are a global girl group, right? And they have been trained by using the Korean K-pop model, very high skills and performance visuals, singing all of these things are really rigorous in the way that they go about it.

I love that they're a global girl group. I love the like the high level of rigor that they bring to their performances and also just love the girls individually. I feel like I love their personalities and that's a huge part of music now. I feel like is connecting with the artist on a personal level, so love for each of them brings like their unique perspectives, voice, talents into the group.

Yeah, they are immediately recognizable as individual artists who are able to come together and form a cohesive group. And that's what I love about KATSEYE as well. And also, like you said, the level of rigor every single performance is just absolutely to the ten slaps hard like, I'm I'm like jaw dropped after watching any performance of theirs, whether it's one of their faster songs or slower songs, even watching like their shorts on Instagram, where they're just like vibin and singing and drifting.

They are so insanely talented and they're so young and they've got so much promise moving forward into the future. I can only see just how much bigger they are going to get, kind of like you said on that global scale. All right, Matt, so we've talked about why we love KATSEYE. What is your favorite KATSEYE song?

And even though we're married and we talk about KATSEYE all the time, I don't think I actually know what your favorite KATSEYE song is. If you could only listen to one KATSEYE song ever again, what would it be and why? Right. Yeah. The reason why you probably don't know is because I play their whole EP constantly.

So you listen to all their songs, right? So how do you know? Yeah, I would definitely say my favorite song is My Way. I know that that's not one of the yeah! Singles that's on their EP. But I feel like it really brings out like their unique vocals, like the vocal strengths that they each have. And also just like, love the vibe and the esthetic of the song.

It's a very feel good coming of age vibes, right? It's like happy. Yeah, it's a very happy song. Absolutely. So yeah, I would definitely say my way personally. Will you sing some of my way for us? Yes I have no, I'm just kidding. I was like, wow. I'm like for all the fans, I tried, I tried okay, I and I would agree, I love I mean all their music is so good, but I would say if I had to choose one song I love debut, okay, I do, it's just it's their first single from their EP and their, I guess, their first single as a group ever.

And the music video is fun. I love the choreography, that high kick that they all do at the same time. Like work, slay. Yes, I love it and it is just a great jam for like working out. It's empowering, it's strong, and when K-pop artists come out, when they premiere, they call it debuting. And so I think this was a great nod to the K-pop experience that they had in the formation of the group by their first song being called debut.

Yeah, I think I heard one of the girls in an interview say that she felt like debut was kind of like a buffet, right? Like there's kind of like a little piece of anything that you want. I love that song. And if you know me, I love buffets. So that's exactly why I love this song. All right, Matt, we've watched a lot of KATSEYE performances.

What is your favorite KATSEYE performance? I'm wondering if we have the same one. I feel like probably because we have recency bias with this one, but yeah, the girls recently performed at the Mama Awards, which is kind of the big K-pop awards ceremony for music artists. And yeah, they did both debut and touch a mash up with like a Dance compilation mixed in there, and it was also done in collaboration with the LA Rams.

Rams. I'm horrible at football teams, the LA Rams cheerleaders. So yeah, I love the esthetic with the cheer kind of high school vibe. And then also the dancing was incredible, insane, right? I have I can, I can I can't even speak right now. I literally I'm speechless. I don't think I have ever witnessed anything quite like it on a global stage.

Right. There's a moment in the dance. This is bit of a spoiler, so if you haven't seen it yet, go watch. You have to watch the day. Go watch it right now. Actually pause. Pause this podcast right now. Go watch it and then come back because it is so good okay. Go ahead. Yes. There's this there's a part in the dance where they drop down into a split unexpectedly.

In the split they kick their back leg up. I it's hard to even describe, but wow, I felt my own back was breaking just watching them doing this move. Well, and you can hear everyone in the audience only it's like cheer and gasp. Yeah, like, seriously? They're like, what just happened? That move was insane. I mean, right after I watched it, I tried to do it.

If you remember what happened when I tried to do that move. Yeah, well, Sean has a sensitive neck and back, so thankfully he didn't go all out doing this move. But, you know, you tried your best. Yeah. Good attempt. It was a slow trial of me going into the splits and then kicking my back leg up. And I thought I got, like, a Charlie horse, right?

I almost like I thought I was, I was like, this is the end for me. I'm done. I'm never going to be able to use my legs ever again. All right. So yeah, definitely watch that performance. The cheerleader vibes are great. The mix somewhat. If you if anyone out there who has any like connection to KATSEYE is listening, please release that mama Award ceremony version of debut and touch because the drum beat in the background.

I mean it is fierce. I want that song so bad. Release the cheer mix, release the cheer mix. Oh my gosh. Okay, but here's what I'm wondering in watching and watching the mama performance. And there actually came out a YouTube video of their practicing and preparing for this MAMA Award performance. And why tell me why these girls are all hurting their backside.

Yes. So stressful because going into it. Well, I guess to give context, a couple months before Megan, who is my personal favorite in the group, she had taken a little bit of a break in the group because she had some sort of a back injury. I think she had thrown her back out. Thankfully she was back for this performance.

Back, back. Oh oh, did didn't mean to say that. So yes, thankfully Megan's back was back for this performance. But yes, going into it, as we're watching this YouTube episode about preparing for all of the girls started saying like, oh, I'm having some back problems. Like Daniela was like, my back hurts. And then Lara, the day off was like, my back is hurting me.

So it was so stressful and well, and after like the first day or two, Manon couldn't perform with them because she got sick or wasn't feeling well or whatever happened there. And I just feel like these poor girls like, what is what are they putting them through? Are you okay? Are you okay? KATSEYE, if you're listening, are you okay?

We hope so. We hope so. We hope so. We love you. And anyway, I hope that Hybe and Geffen are treating KATSEYE members well and not pushing them too hard because they're human, right? And, you know, I just don't want any back injuries. Please. And honestly, I think they are right. I mean, Megan, like I said, took that break like Manon didn't perform because she wasn't sick.

I think I actually respect that in a lot of ways because I feel like it this prioritizing like their own health. So hopefully they are doing well. That's true. That's true. If you need a break, take the break. Oh right. So Matt, let's talk to our listeners about our experience learning the touch chorus choreography. So we love KATSEYE.

And they do the if you haven't seen the touch music video, you have to watch it because they have the cutest I'm like doing it right now as I'm talking into the microphone, they have the cutest choreography for the chorus and Matt and I, one day we're like, we are going to learn this right? And so we did tell our listeners about that experience.

Wow. Well, one little fun fact about Sean and myself. Honestly, we're both a bit of a perfectionist, right? When we both kind of set a goal to achieve something, we kind of go all in on trying to do it. So basically what this entails was one night we made this decision, okay, we're going to learn the dance. So we kind of pushed our furniture out of the way in our living room, made a little impromptu dance studio within our little town home.

And yeah, awesome. I feel like for like three hours, we just had it playing the little chorus on repeat and we would just like, do it again and again and again and again, like no breaks in between. And by the end of it, we were both like dripping sweat. We were like dying by the end. But I feel like it worked out.

We got the choreography done. I felt like I was a KATSEYE. I remember right, we were in popstar Academy. Yeah, we we were in the academy. We were training because I, we were drenched in sweat. Yeah. And it was like winter here. And so we opened the windows and so like, the cold air is coming in and I am still profusely sweating doing choreography that honestly is not even that hard.

No, I'm sure this is like entry level K-pop. Like easy level. Yes. But it was so fun. We'll have to post a video sometime of us doing the choreo. We do it every day now. Yes, and we put our own spin on it. So that's true. Fun. It is fun.

Right. All right. At this point in our episode, let's go ahead and just talk about the KATSEYE members one by one. First, let's talk about Sophia. Sophia is Filipina American and she was born on December 31st. She's a Capricorn. Sophia is the leader of the group in K-pop. The groups have different positions for their artists and Sophia is the leader.

The fans from the Philippines go wild. They are so loyal to her and I love it. Her performance of Buttons by Pussycat Dolls as part of the Dream or Pop Star Academy just absolutely sealed my fandom of Sophia. She was very sick on the day of filming, and you would never be able to tell she absolutely killed it.

And she also has a background in musical theater. Matt, how how do you feel about Sophia? Yes. Well, honestly, the whole like being the leader within a K-pop group, that always kind of confuses me a little bit. I know it's definitely a more a Korean K-pop kind of structure for their group, but I feel like she does a great job with it.

Like, she's definitely, like brings such a positive, bright energy to the group and to their performances. Like Sean said, I feel like I gained the most respect I had for Sophia watching Pop Star Academy when she had to perform the button song while she was sick. I was joking with Sean when we watched it that it reminded me of old America's Next Top model episodes where the girls would have to be like performing sick and they're like, pose for the cameras, they're die great kind of that energy.

But honestly, you could not even tell that Sophia was sick at all, right? Like she can really bring 200% to her performance. Next in KATSEYE, we have Lara. She's Indian-American, and her birth date is November 3rd. She's a Scorpio and she's most recently from Los Angeles. She has such a powerful, soulful soul and full bodied voice. She's always serving.

If you're ever watching KATSEYE and you need to know who Lara is, just look for the girl who is giving the most. She literally is always serving. Face card never declines. I love her, Matt. How do you feel about Lara? Yeah, Lara, like you said, absolutely love her. I feel like what I really love about her is she is always smiling.

I want her to be my friend because she seems like she would be the most positive, optimistic friend to have. And I feel like she brings that into the way that she performs vocally. She has this brightness and control to her voice that is just incredible. I also love that she's a producer. I want her to produce the entire next album.

I think that would be so fun. That's true. I could see us being like really good friends with Lara. I love that I love that on stage you can tell she is in the zone and she like I said, it's just serving everything right. And then like if you see her in interviews, she's laughing, she's jovial. She's just so fun.

I love her, I know, all right. The next KATSEYE member is Daniella. Daniella is Latina. Her birth date is July 1st. She's a cancer like myself. She's from Atlanta, Georgia, and she has a background in ballroom. She's also been on other various dance and performance competition shows. So I bet going into this Netflix documentary experience with the competition that she was just very well prepared for that experience.

How do you feel about Daniella? I love Daniella as well. Like I said, I love all of these girls and the group. What I love about Daniella. So like Sean said, she was on So You Think You Can Dance with this show I loved back in the day. Love so you think you could dance. But what I really love about Daniella is, you know, she brought these really serious dancing skills.

That was her background, but she has like such an incredible vocal as well. Like on top of that. Like, it kind of blows my mind that she came from a dancing background because I feel like her vocals are like so strong and unique. In a way. It kind of gives me a little bit of Olivia Rodrigo vibe, almost like the tone of her voice that she uses in the songs.

The next member of KATSEYE that we're going to talk about is Megan. Megan is Chinese, Singaporean and American. Her birth date is February 10th. She's an Aquarius and she's from Hawaii. She has a background in modeling and she, like we talked about before, missed a lot of KATSEYE. Earlier performances due to an injury. How do you feel about Megan?

I believe she's your fave. Yes, she is my favorite. I feel like she goes hard on all aspects, right? Dancing, singing, she's got it nailed down and also, like a personality level. She seems a bit goofy. And her personality, which I really resonate with because I feel like I'm kind of a goofy person so can confirm. Yes.

Yeah. So love her personality. And yeah, I feel like she always just brings it so hard. All of her performances. The next KATSEYE member we're going to talk about is Yoonchae. She is Korean. Her birthday is December 6th, so very recently she's a Sagittarius. She's the youngest member and the only one from South Korea. She was also taking high school courses while participating in the competition.

She just recently graduated and turned 17 years old. How do you feel about Yoonchae? Yeah, it kind of blows my mind that she is only 17 years old. Like, what was I doing with my life? But I was 17 years old. Nothing. Nothing like Yoonchae.  Yeah. Yoonchae is incredible. She's really funny because during the pop star Academy show, while we're watching it, I feel like we.

Initially we slept on YouTube as kind of like when she made it into the group, I was like, wait, who was Yoonchae? Right? Kind of threw me off guard a little bit. She didn't get as much screen time, I think, in the show, but we have both fully come to love Yoonchae love. Absolutely. Like I'm like, how did I miss this girl during the show?

Because she has such a big personality. She was amazing. In the mama words. I feel like she was. What are your oh my gosh, yes. When she pushes through. Oh yes, I love her. Yeah. So we definitely both love you in chat. Yeah. You know, I would say Yoonchae is my bias. I love you and say she's my fave.

And. And honestly, it's so impressive that she has picked up English just through this experience of being in the KATSEYE group. So kudos to Yoonchae. So proud of her. She's awesome. I can't wait to see more from her. The last member and I shouldn't say last because we're not going in any sort of order here. The last member of KATSEYE that we're going to talk about is Manon and she is Swiss.

Her birthday is June 26th, so she is also a cancer like myself. And she had what the execs in the show called star quality or star power. And she came into the academy with a pretty large social following. All ready, and there was a little bit of drama with Manon and the other girls, and it seems like she really gets along with the KATSEYE members now.

Matt, how do you feel about Manon? Yeah, I definitely I see that star quality that they talked about the whole time throughout the show. All the stuff in the show with Manon, I feel like it was very surface level in a lot of ways, drumming up controversy for controversy sake, just for the show. She is so amazing with the girls.

She brings such like a unique performance and vocal within the group. Like she has like a deeper range than some of the other girls. And yeah, her voice, even in the six person group so distinctly stands out to me. So now that we've talked about each member of KATSEYE, Matt, if you could hang out with one KATSEYE member for a day, who would it be?

Hang out for a day? Yeah, I feel like I would definitely say Megan. I know she's like my bias with performing as well, but, yeah, I feel like we would just get along, have a similar sense of humor and have a good time together. So yeah, definitely. Megan. Yeah, I love Megan. I could see that. I also for me, Yoonchae again I just love her.

I just love her. I just want to like bring her around to places and let her be so excited to do all the things. Like she just gets really excited at the smallest things. And I just love seeing that reaction from her. So I definitely would want to hang out with her and bring her down some of my favorite places and just see her reaction.

Also, Lara, I would love to hang out with Lara. She seems so fun. We would have a blast. It would be a riot and a half. So maybe one day we'll see. I could see you and Lara both being the life of a party together. You know, like you two going to a party. I feel like we would be really loud.

Yes. All right, well, Matt, thank you so much for joining me today on BibimPOP with Sean to talk all things KATSEYE.  This was so fun. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. And anytime you want to talk more about KATSEYE welcome to jump back on the pod. So awesome. Thank you.

For all right, my fellow pop tarts, that's all we have for today's episode. And that's a wrap on episode four. Don't forget to subscribe, follow, like and share this podcast. Also follow me for updates on other social media platforms @bibimpopwithsean on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok and @bibimpopsean on X, formerly Twitter.

It's @bibimpopsean without the “with”. And you can also check out my podcast website at bibimpopwithsean.buzzsprout.com, and make sure to stay tuned for episode five. I don't quite know what we're going to cover. It might be a Christmas special episode, or I might be covering recent pop culture news because there's always so much to talk about.

So don't forget to tune in to BibimPOP with Sean where pop culture ate.