Highlights:
Singaporean creative entrepreneur and casting professional Michelle Chong is now turning her attention to India, where she is leading HYBE India's search for its next global girl group. Having helped develop Fifth Harmony and KATSEYE, Chong brings experience from two major girl-group projects to a market with an enormous pool of aspiring performers.
But why India, and what makes this project different from another attempt to create a global pop group?
The answer lies in India's cultural diversity, its young talent pool and the possibility of taking Indian music and identity to audiences beyond the country. For HYBE, the project is also an opportunity to apply its established artist-development system to a market that has not yet produced a globally established girl group through this model.
Why is Michelle Chong interested in India's girl-group potential?
In her interview with Hindustan Times, Chong described the opportunity to discover Indian performers who could develop into a global group as one of the most exciting aspects of the project.
She believes India's musical influences, regional identities and cultural perspectives offer something distinctive to international pop. Rather than selecting performers who sound or look alike, the idea is to bring together young women whose different backgrounds can contribute to a shared identity.
“I think Indian talent brings an extraordinary range of musical influences, cultural perspectives and ways of expressing emotion. India has a rich artistic heritage, and there’s a generation of young performers engaging with global pop while interpreting it through their own experiences. That intersection is particularly exciting.”
This diversity could become the group's biggest selling point. India has multiple languages, regional music traditions and performance styles. A group that brings some of these influences into contemporary pop could offer an identity that is different from the usual international girl-group formula.
Chong also stressed that the intention is not to make performers abandon their cultural backgrounds to appeal to international audiences.
“I don’t believe global appeal means trying to be everything to everyone. Often, it’s the artists who are most comfortable with their own identities who connect most meaningfully with people across cultures. Audiences respond to authenticity, whether that comes through a performer’s personality, perspective, music or the way they express themselves.”
That approach could help the group stand out in a crowded global music industry. Instead of presenting Indian identity as a marketing theme alone, HYBE will need to make it an organic part of the group's sound, visuals, performances and storytelling.
What does KATSEYE have to do with this project?
The comparison with KATSEYE is unavoidable because the group emerged from Dream Academy, a global talent competition developed by HYBE and Geffen Records. Chong was involved in the casting process that helped bring the group together.
KATSEYE debuted in 2024 and became an example of HYBE's strategy of combining its artist-development methods with a group designed for an international audience.
Its commercial progress shows how high the bar has become. In August 2026, KATSEYE's third EP, WILD, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earning 170,000 equivalent album units in the United States during its first tracking week. The group also placed four songs on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.
These achievements did not happen simply because the members were talented. The group benefited from a structured audition process, intensive development, international promotion and a clear identity that could connect with audiences across different markets.
Chong believes one of the most important lessons from the KATSEYE experience is to look beyond a candidate's performance during an audition.
“One of the biggest lessons is the importance of looking beyond a single performance. An audition gives you a snapshot of someone, but it can’t tell you everything about their personality, adaptability, work ethic or potential to grow as an artist.”
That philosophy is particularly relevant to India, where aspiring performers may arrive with very different levels of formal training and industry experience.
Can India's new girl group compete with KATSEYE?
The short answer is yes, but it will not happen overnight.
HYBE India has already received considerable interest in its audition campaign. The first round reportedly attracted applicants from all 28 Indian states and six union territories, as well as more than 1,650 cities across 116 countries. The search was subsequently expanded through a Final Call campaign, with additional audition locations.
The scale of the response suggests that there is no shortage of aspiring performers interested in becoming part of an international music project. However, attracting applicants is only the first step. The real challenge will be selecting a group with strong chemistry, distinctive personalities and the ability to perform consistently at an international level.
HYBE's training and development system could give the Indian project an important advantage. The company's approach includes structured training, performance development and mentorship, with the aim of helping performers grow into well-rounded artists. Chong also explained that the training journey will be tailored to the needs of individual candidates and the group's creative direction.
There is another important factor: the group will need to build an audience outside India. A strong domestic fan base could provide a foundation, but competing with KATSEYE will require international distribution, memorable music, effective social media engagement and a consistent release strategy.
What could make the Indian group different?
The biggest opportunity is to create a sound that does not simply imitate K-pop or Western pop.
India's musical traditions offer a wide range of possibilities, from regional folk influences and classical sounds to contemporary electronic music, hip-hop and independent pop. Bringing these elements together could give the group a recognisable identity, provided the music feels natural rather than manufactured.
Chong also believes that the members' individual personalities should remain visible within the group.
“What makes the idea of an Indian girl group so compelling is the possibility of bringing together young women from different cultural, linguistic and regional backgrounds to create something distinctive as a collective.”
That could become the project's defining strength: a group whose members represent different experiences but share a common musical vision.
The bigger challenge is turning potential into global success
For now, HYBE India's girl group remains a project in development. The final lineup, music, name and debut plans have not yet been publicly established. It is therefore too early to predict whether it will reach KATSEYE's level of commercial success.
However, the combination of HYBE's international infrastructure, Chong's casting experience and India's diverse talent pool gives the project a credible starting point.
The real test will come after the auditions. Can the company turn a large pool of applicants into artists with a distinctive identity, strong performances and music that audiences want to return to?
KATSEYE has already shown what HYBE's global approach can achieve. India's next girl group will need to prove that it can build on that experience without becoming a copy of it.
