The competition has begun! The Debut: Dream Academy, the survival show between HYBE Labels and Universal Music Group subsidiary Geffen Records, finally kicks off with its first mission.

The 20 participants were split into four groups: two vocal teams and two dance teams that have five members each. For their first mission, the participants were supposed to showcase their singing and dancing skills. 

On Thursday, September 7, the team’s video performances for their “MISSION 1: SHOWCASE” were released on HYBE Labels’ official Youtube channel. 

 

‘The Debut: Dream Academy’ mission 1

First, the Vocal Team A featured contestants Karlee, Lexie, Iliya, Brooklyn, and Manon. The five delivered a mashup performance of Billie Eilish’s “Happier than Ever”, and Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own.” On social media, the five members were praised for filling the song with emotions using their unique tones.

 

On the other hand, Vocal Team B composed of Sophia, Samara, Nayoung, Lala, and Celeste, showed their soulful harmony with a special arrangement of Paramore’s “Still Into You”. 

 

Then, Adela, Daniela, Hinari, Megan, and Ua made up the Dance Team A. They flaunted their intense moves and swag with their cover of “Pink Venom” by the world renowned girl group BLACKPINK.

 

Meanwhile, Dance Team B is composed of Emily, Ezrella, Maki, Mei, and Yoonchae. They also exhibited their stage presence with their performance of “OMG” by the monster rookies NewJeans. 

 

Aside from the team performance videos, individual focus cam videos for all the contestants were also released.

Who’ll move forward?

Fans can cast their votes by visiting the “The Debut: Dream Academy” community in the  fandom platform Weverse. Additionally, viewers can also like the contestants’ individual focus cam videos on HYBE LABELS+ Youtube channel.

After the first mission, only 18 contestants will be continuing their journey in the show as two participants will be eliminated. The top six ranked contestants, meanwhile, will be safe to proceed to Mission 2.

The results of Mission 1 will be announced on September 15. Earlier, HYBE LABELS has announced that the girls are set to compete in a total of three missions, which will also serve as elimination rounds, before the final lineup is revealed at the show’s live finale on November 17.

 

With HYBE and Geffen’s joint venture to look for the next global girl group, the 20 contestants were selected from more than 120,000 submissions all around the world.

Moreover, these candidates come from South Korea, Japan, United States, Australia, Brazil, Philippines, Argentina, Belarus, Sweden, and Slovakia. 

Featured image: A team from ‘The Debut: Dream Academy’ poses for their first mission. Credit: Twitter/The Debut: Dream Academy