Congratulations are in order for Sophia Laforteza, who is officially debuting under HYBE Labels (in collaboration with Universal Music Group subsidiary Geffen Records) in their first international girl group, KATSEYE!
ICYDK, the 20-year-old trainee was one of the contestants in the survival show The Debut: Dream Academy, where she was picked from 120,000 aspiring trainees and eventually competed alongside 19 idol hopefuls from around the world to get a spot in the K-pop entertainment giant's first international girl group.
Sophia had an exceptional run in the show and she eventually ended up in the top 10 finalists, where she bagged the first spot with 45,184 votes. Wow!
On November 18, the finale was live-streamed on HYBE Labels' official YouTube channel, where the selection process for the final six-member lineup was shown. The debut member selection methodology was as follows: Fan Voting (50 points) + Judges' Score (50 points) = 100 points, with the judges looking for the trainees who exhibit the best dance, vocal, star quality, attitude, and team chemistry qualities.
After much deliberation, Sophia eventually ended up as the first KATSEYE member to be announced, followed by Lara (USA), Yoonchae (South Korea), Megan (USA), Daniela (USA), and Manon (Switzerland).
Congratulations, Sophia, and we can't wait for KATSEYE's official debut!
Watch the finale here:
*This story originally appeared on Cosmo.ph. Minor edits have been made by the Preview.ph editors.
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