Meet Katseye | The Girl Group Everyone’s About to Stan Led by a Fil-Am Vocal Powerhouse Sophia Laforteza

Written By Hanna Ysabel Yu Noche

Whether you’ve been rooting for them since Dream Academy or only discovered them after their dazzling set at Lollapalooza, there’s a good chance you’ve already fallen for the charm of Katseye.

Courtesy of katseyeworld

This powerhouse girl group, brought together by HYBE America, is made up of six members: Sophia, Lara, Megan, Yoonchae, Daniela, and Manon. Together, they’re carving their place in the global pop scene with talent, grit, and undeniable star power.

How It All Began

HYBE, one of South Korea’s top entertainment companies and home to global sensations like LE SSERAFIM, Enhypen , and BTS, set its sights on the Western market through its U.S. branch, HYBE America. Partnering with Geffen Records, their first mission was clear: create a groundbreaking girl group.

Scouting talent from around the world, HYBE gathered a pool of promising trainees who trained for nearly a year in vocals, dance, and performance. From there, 20 contestants competed in the survival show Dream Academy, where skill, charisma, and fan votes determined who stayed in the game. After months of challenges, tears, and triumphs, six stood tall, and Katseye was born.

Meet the Members

Sophia

Courtesy of katseyeworld

Sophia Elizabeth Guevara Laforteza, 22, proudly represents the Philippines. With a stage actress mother, Carla Laforteza, Sophia grew up surrounded by music and theater. Her vocals were strong from the start, but her dance skills? Not so much. Until she powered through training with determination. Now, she’s even pulling off splits onstage, like during Katseye’s MAMA performance of their song, Debut.

Sophia is the leader of Katseye, given her nurturing and disciplined nature. Other members of the group would agree that she’s the best when it comes to taking care of them.

Lara

Courtesy of katseyeworld

Lara Rajagopalan, or Lara Raj, was born in Los Angeles and is of Indian descent. Fluent in both English and Tamil, she stunned fellow trainees with her powerhouse vocals, earning the role of main vocalist. Talent really runs in the Raj family because Lara’s sister, Rhea Raj, is also a singer and soloist.

Beyond music, Lara has been part of Michelle Obama’s Global Girls Alliance, an initiative advocating for girls’ education worldwide.

Daniela

Courtesy of katseyworld

Daniela Avanzini (who recently just turned 21!) has Venezuelan, Cuban, and Italian roots and was born in Atlanta, Georgia. A ballroom prodigy since childhood (thanks to her professional dancer mother), Daniela has appeared on America’s Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, and Super Dance Kids.

Her expertise even shaped Katseye’s choreography for one of their recent singles, Gabriela, with tips from both her and her mom. She’s also dipped her toes into modeling and acting.

Yoonchae

Courtesy of katseyworld

The group’s youngest member or maknae, Jeung Yoonchae, hails from South Korea. Before Dream Academy, she trained under CJ E&M, honing her skills for the K-pop stage. She placed fourth in the show, securing her spot in Katseye. Being the maknae, the other girls can’t help but spoil Yoonchae–even throwing a party for her to celebrate her graduation!

At first, Yoonchae struggled with English, but thanks to her members’ support, she’s now much more confident in speaking the language. She’s even learned some Tagalog, so much so that she’s tackled Filipino tongue twisters like ‘nakakapagbagabag’, taught by Sophia. She even joked, “Eyekons, I’m Filipino na.”

Megan

Courtesy of katseyeworld

Megan Meiyok Skiendiel, known simply as Megan, hails from Honolulu, Hawaii. With a Swedish-American father and Singaporean-Chinese mother, she’s fluent in English and speaks basic Cantonese and French. Initially recognized for her dancing, Megan quickly impressed peers and trainers with her budding vocal skills, earning her the role of Katseye’s all-rounder. 

Recently, Megan has come out as bisexual. This happened last June, when she was doing a WeVerse live with fellow queer and Katseye member, Lara.

Manon

Courtesy of katseyeworld

Manon Bannerman was born in Zurich, Switzerland, to Swiss-Italian and Ghanaian parents. Before training, she was already making waves on social media, catching the attention of HYBE and Geffen. Though she had less training time than others, she has still managed to perform flawlessly in every mission of Dream Academy, while still serving face. No doubt she’s become Katseye’s very own visual.

Manon speaks Swiss-German, English, and German, and is learning Spanish to chat with Daniela in her native tongue.

From different corners of the globe, Katseye’s members each bring their own culture, talent, and story to the stage: proving that pop music is more powerful when it’s truly global. Catch them live as they go on tour in November.

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Written By Hanna Ysabel Yu Noche

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