PRELUDE? Not “Gnarly”!: Why KATSEYE’s sister group is going to fail, by Katie Whitehead

KATSEYE is everywhere right now.

And for good reason. Singles from their latest EP Beautiful Chaos, "Gnarly" and "Gabriela," skyrocketed in popularity on TikTok over the summer. Their chart-topping song "Touch" entered the Billboard Global 200 at number 46 in 2024. They've collaborated with numerous brands such as Monster High, Lush, and Glossier just in the span of 5 months! Perhaps their most influential collaboration was with GAP, where they sported the brand's denim through an entrancing dance number. The ad has accumulated over a million views on YouTube AND sparked the featured "Milkshake" dance's TikTok virality. It's safe to say that no one else is doing it like KATSEYE - these girls are HUNGRY

But what makes KATSEYE so beloved and popular? The answer is simple: people yearn for girl groups.

KATSEYE officially debuted in June of 2024 as a joint collaboration between Korean record company HYBE, which has debuted popular K-pop group BTS, and American record company Geffen Records, which has signed artists such as Guns and Roses, Olivia Rodrigo, and Weezer. Known as HYBEXGEFFEN records, HYBEXGEFFEN created KATSEYE in an attempt to globalize the K-pop industry to penetrate American markets in particular. To accomplish this, the record labels sought a globally and culturally diverse group of women to serve as members of the first ever “global girl group”. At the time of KATSEYE’s debut, there hasn’t been a girl group in the music scene since the mess that was Fifth Harmony.

In 2023, HYBE teased an audition show called “The Debut: Dream Academy”, in which 20 girls from across the globe would compete against each other for a spot in KATSEYE. This show was wildly successful, with the music videos earning millions of views and a documentary emerging based on the show on Netflix called “Popstar Academy”.

However, in June of 2025, HYBEXGEFFEN announced that the “Dream Academy” show format is coming back to scout for the next set of members for a group called PRELUDE, the next global girl group that will serve as a sister group to KATSEYE. If this were 2023, the internet would be jumping out of their seats, flooding Twitter with numerous tweets and hashtags freaking out at the potential of a new girl group. But that didn’t happen this time. And this is because the announcement of PRELUDE was so lackluster and boring that it failed to grab people’s attention. In a time period where KATSEYE is so culturally relevant, I fail to see how PRELUDE is ever going to get to their level.

In fact, I’d go so far to say that this group will completely flop and will never reach the same success as KATSEYE.

This is primarily because HYBE has a reputation of announcing new groups and then disbanding them when they don’t gain enough traction. One of the groups managed by HYBE, Trainee A, was disbanded before they even debuted due to a member being accused of misogyny. This format is extremely problematic when it comes to debuting a brand new group so close to the debut of their current group. KATSEYE debuted in 2024, which leaves only a one year period between their debut and PRELUDE's announcement. People have just now gotten used to KATSEYE, as they are finally starting to enter the global charts. People aren’t going to want to move from KATSEYE to a completely new group.

Speaking of the group, one of the reasons that PRELUDE's announcement felt so lackluster and dull was the members that they had picked to be in the group, with ¾ of the group members being people who were already in Dream Academy that lost. The first member that HYBEXGEFFEN announced was Emily, a fan favorite “Dream Academy” trainee. In the documentary, she was well known for her top notch dancing skills, as she ranked number 1 in dance consistently throughout the training process. From the moment I read the comments, I could tell that fans were extremely happy to see Emily in a group. Some fans went as far to say that Emily deserved a spot with all she has been through, with Emily earning her way to the final 10 and getting sent home even though she wrote in her private notebook manifesting that she is selected into the group.

But then, the hype for PRELUDE had diminished the minute they announced the second member, Samara, another former “Dream Academy” trainee. This caused the internet to explode into an uproar because Samara has quite a problematic history. During her time on “Dream Academy”, fans noticed that Samara had been liking Islamophobic and anti-Indian posts on her TikTok, which immediately caused fans to be disgusted to the point where she was voted off the show because of it. Many fans had wanted Ezrela, an Indian “Dream Academy” trainee who placed 7th overall, to earn a spot in the group since she had been previously outshined by fellow Indian KATSEYE member Lara Raj. For fans to go from Ezrela, a person that was so beloved in the Dream Academy project, to Samara, a person who had been liking TikToks mocking Ezrela and Lara’s culture, it was something extremely upsetting due to the fact that a global girl group is supposed to celebrate diversity. Having a member who actively mocks diverse races ruins the entire point of the group.

For a group to have a problematic member before even debuting is gonna make people not want to listen and engage with this group. No one wants to show support for a problematic individual, and this decision from HYBE to debut Samara is ultimately going to hurt the group before the group even debuts. If Trainee A can get disbanded for this type of scandal, I wouldn’t be shocked if PRELUDE is forced to disband as well.

Don’t get me started on the debut format, either, because the entire format of “Dream Academy” in the case of PRELUDE is extremely flawed and virtually impossible to properly execute. For starters, the Netflix documentary “Popstar Academy” reveals that the “Dream Academy” format was so rigorous and emotionally draining that it traumatized all of the girls who participated in it. HYBEXGEFFEN didn’t tell the girls that the show was going to be a survival show, leading to intense practices, girls turning against each other and even going so far to eliminate the girls via an AI computer screen. KATSEYE member Sophia even says that she “can’t watch the show” anymore because of how much of a toll it took on her.

Despite the immense amount of trauma that formed from “Dream Academy”, the format was still effective for the purpose of eliminating girls. That is because KATSEYE had 6 spots open, allowing there to be a 30% chance that one of the girls makes it into the group. Although competition was fierce, the 30% still served as a possible chance for the girls to make it into the group one way or another. However, this new group selection process titled “World Scout: The Final Piece” has girls competing for only one spot. Assuming they pick 20 girls, that would cause there to be a 5% chance that one of the girls makes the group. This doesn’t make sense for the format of “Dream Academy”. Having a survival show style format for only one spot isn’t entertainment, it’s just cruelty. The grueling nature and brutal practice in the “Dream Academy” process will ultimately be boiled down to nothing because the chances of getting into the group are slim to none. Additionally, it also discourages making connections with other girls due to the fact that the environment is going to be even more competitive with only one spot offered. After learning about “Dream Academy” via the “Popstar Academy” documentary, fans won’t be rushing to support something that is so traumatizing to girls for there to only be one winner.

KATSEYE has it all. The awards, the views, the talent, the success. PRELUDE is never gonna be able to match it right now.

Maybe they could have been successful in the future, but there is no future because of HYBE’s desire to set them up for failure.