August 30, 2024
SINGAPORE – She loves local food like laksa and chicken rice, and speaks to her Singaporean maternal grandmother every day even though they live on opposite sides of the world.
American teenager Megan Skiendiel makes it a point to connect with her Singapore roots, just like how her Singaporean-Chinese mother – who is known only as Sylvia – remains close to her family here even after living in Honolulu, Hawaii, for almost two decades.
Skiendiel, 18, is part of Katseye, the new global girl group formed via a high-profile partnership between South Korean music conglomerate Hybe, the label behind K-pop juggernaut BTS, and American record label Geffen Records under Universal Music Group.
The other five members of the multiracial Los Angeles-based pop act are South Korean Jeong Yoon-chae, 16; Indian-American Lara Rajagopalan, 18; Cuban-American Daniela Avanzini, 20; Filipina Sophia Laforteza, 21; and Manon Bannerman, 22, a Swiss of Italian-Ghanaian descent.
The sextet beat more than 120,000 young women from around the world who participated in online and offline auditions that started in November 2021.
Out of these aspiring auditionees, 20 were selected to be put through a rigorous, year-long K-pop trainee system involving gruelling dance and vocal lessons. They were ranked according to their abilities, with the lowest-scoring candidate eliminated from the programme.
Their progress was streamed on YouTube for 12 weeks beginning Sept 1, 2023, where viewers could select their favourite trainees. The final members of Katseye were revealed in the live finale on Nov 18 via YouTube and fan platform Weverse.
Daniela Avanzini (left) and Megan Skiendiel in Netflix’s docuseries Pop Star Academy: Katseye. PHOTO: NETFLIX/THE STRAITS TIMES
(From left) Sophia, Megan, Lara and Emily in Netflix’s docuseries Pop Star Academy: Katseye. PHOTO: NETFLIX/THE STRAITS TIMES
Their journey to becoming Katseye – which made their official debut in June – is documented in the Netflix reality series Pop Star Academy: Katseye. It premiered on Aug 21.
In a Zoom interview with The Straits Times on Aug 23, Skiendiel says she enjoys hanging out with her Singaporean family members and visiting Universal Studios Singapore.
“I love laksa and Hainanese chicken rice. They are my favourite,” she says.
“My mum took me to Singapore when I was about three months old,” says Skiendiel, adding they would make it a point to return to Singapore every year and stay with her maternal grandmother.
While she has not been back to Singapore in about three years, she still keeps in touch with her relatives daily via their family WhatsApp group chat.
“My po po (grandmother) is always sending me things she reads about Katseye. My uncles, aunties and cousins too. It’s so amazing that they are on the other side of the world yet can still follow what we do,” says Skiendiel, who is now based in Los Angeles and has an American-Swedish father.
“We have a close connection even though they are so far away.”
The Eurasian teen, who has an elder brother, credits her “tiger and dragon mum” for pushing her to chase her dreams of becoming an entertainer.
Chinese-American Megan Skiendiel from global girl group Katseye is very close to her Singapore family, especially with her maternal grandmother. PHOTO: UNIVERSAL MUSIC/THE STRAITS TIMES
“Being an Asian mum, she practises tough love on her kids, but I love her for that,” says Skiendiel, who started taking dance lessons when she was four and singing classes at six.
At that young age, she would fly to Los Angeles from Honolulu every weekend to hone her craft.
On the second episode of Pop Star Academy: Katseye, she revealed she would attend dance class on Friday, fly home on Sunday night and attend school on Monday. Sylvia then explained that children growing up in Hawaii are introduced to the arts at a very young age.
In another episode, the older woman broke down in tears as her daughter prepared for the final stage of the audition. Skiendiel is seen hugging and comforting her mother, and thanking her for being her biggest pillar of support.
Now sporting long red hair, the former brunette – whose idol is Jennie of South Korean girl group Blackpink – says: “My mum always pushes me to be the greatest version of myself, even though it’s hard sometimes. That’s how she shows her love for me, and I love her so much for that.”
Katseye have been receiving much love since they released their first single, aptly titled Debut, on June 28. It has clocked more than eight million streams on Spotify.
The rookie group’s second single, a catchy pop track called Touch which dropped on July 26, has chalked up 23 million streams on Spotify. The music video garnered over 10 million views on YouTube.
Katseye staged their first live performance at KCON in Los Angeles on July 28, a popular K-culture festival celebrating South Korean pop culture and music.
On Aug 16, their first mini-album SIS (Soft Is Strong) was released, and the group now have over 4.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
The sextet say their multiracial background helped them amass a global fan base and are thankful that Pop Star Academy: Katseye is giving them “a lot of new exposure”.
The group’s name also reflects their diversity. Katseye alludes to the gemstone cat’s-eye, which displays a spectrum of colours depending on the direction of the light.
“Our goal is to have Eyekons (their fandom name) all over the world. Since we’re such a diverse group, fans can see themselves in us,” says Bannerman.
Laforteza, Rajagopalan and Jeong hope their Asian background will connect them to fans outside the US.
Katseye leader Laforteza has already received great support from her native country Philippines as seen in the Netflix show, when the audition added a voting criteria in which fans could decide who they wanted to be part of the final line-up.
Meanwhile, the unwavering support from their families is pushing the Gen Z artistes to reach for the stars.
“My parents have always nurtured my love for singing and dancing… what’s important to them is that I’m fully committed to my dream,” says Laforteza.
Her mother is Filipina actress Carla Guevara Laforteza, 48, who had faced disapproval from her family when she wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.
Sophia Laforteza adds: “My mum was always told that she needed to be a doctor or lawyer, so she knew what it was like when I said I wanted to be like her.”
Rajagopalan says: “My parents have been the most supportive people on this journey. My sister is also an artiste.
“My mum grew up in India and faced much pressure from her family. She wasn’t able to do what she wanted to in life. So she wanted my sister and me to be able to do what we want, as long as we are disciplined and work hard to pursue our dreams.”
Katseye are aspiring to be like American girl groups The Pussycat Dolls and Destiny’s Child, as well as Blackpink and British girl group Spice Girls.
While there has not been any new prominent international girl group in the market in the past decade, Katseye face stiff competition from a slew of K-pop girl groups such as NewJeans, Illit, BabyMonster, Le Sserafim and IVE.
Laforteza says: “We are doing our best. Our goal is to make a name for ourselves, push boundaries and create our own sound as Katseye.”
Rajagopalan adds: “Our music has a nostalgic feeling. A great way to describe it is that it is fresh, but it is also reminiscent of other girl groups we’re so inspired by.”
“All of us came into this with our strengths,” says Laforteza. “We have dancers in Megan, Daniela and Yoon-chae, while the rest of us are singers. We balance one another out really well.”