A 20-year-old trainee from the Philippines, Sophia Laforteza, is one of the finalists for an audition program created by South Korean Entertainment agency HYBE — home to one of the biggest Kpop group BTS — and Geffen Records.
"The Debut: Dream Academy" is an audition program where trainees from different countries will be competing with each other to debut as part of a project girlgroup.
Posted in his social media account on Tuesday, Billboard columnist Jeff Benjamin revealed that 20 hopefuls includes trainees from South Korea, Thailand, the US, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland, Belarus, Sweden, Argentina, and Slovakia.
Laforteza was among the 120,000 auditionees selected from different parts of the world.
According to a Billboard report, the trainees will undergo the K-pop training system and development to secure a spot in the upcoming project group.
As of this writing, the details about the unit’s name, concept, and number of members have not yet been disclosed.
The program will start airing on September 1, while the finale will be released on November 18 through YouTube and Japanese streaming platform Abema.
Fans can cast their votes for the candidate they look forward to seeing in the group through TikTok and Weverse.
