Girl Group KATSEYE Deliver Dance-Heavy “Pinky Up” Performance at 2026 AMAs
Girl group KATSEYE took the stage at the American Music Awards Monday, performing their latest single “Pinky Up.”
The six-member outfit — made up of members Daniela, Lara, Manon, Megan, Sophia and Yoonchae — went into the Memorial Day awards ceremony up for three awards including new artist of the year, best music video and breakthrough pop artist. KATSEYE appeared as a five-member group at the AMAs, though, as member Manon remains on hiatus.
For “Pinky Up” the group kicked things off with an onstage tea party with giant teddy bears interspersed among the tables. KATSEYE then marched to the center of the stage as they delivered a dance-heavy performance, complete with quite a few pinkies up moments. The bright pink backdrop also featured teddy bears.
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The group later won new artist of the year and celebrated the BTS, saying the K-pop superstars, “inspired us to represent our culture on a global scale.”
KATSEYE’s mainstream profile exploded last year, largely in part due to the group’s viral single, “Gnarly,” which took social media by storm after videos of the group’s energetic and eye-catching performances were shared online. Their follow-up single, “Gabriela,” which scored them a Grammy nomination in the best pop duo/group performance category, solidified their success. The songs also landed the KATSEYE their first entries on the Billboard Hot 100. “Gabriela” spent 28 weeks on the chart.
The pop outfit was formed through a joint venture between K-pop giant Hybe and American music label Geffen Records with the intent to use the K-pop model to form a global girl group. The members were selected on the competition series, Dream Academy, while the entire process leading up to that competition series and the group’s eventual debut was captured in the Netflix docuseries Pop Star Academy.
Last month, KATSEYE took another major step in their career, performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the first time. In a surprise move during their set, KATSEYE brought out the ladies of Huntrix, the fictional girl group from KPop Demon Hunters, made up of singers EJAE, Ami and Nuna. The newly formed supergroup performed Demon Hunters’ award-winning anthem “Golden” during KATSEYE’s set.
The American Music Awards were created by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Corporation, The Hollywood Reporter‘s parent company, in a subsidiary joint venture between Penske Media and Eldridge.
Hilary Lewis contributed to this report.
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