KATESEYES’ GRAMMY PERFORMANCE PROVES WHY VIRALITY ISN’T EVERYTHING

Grammy nominee girl group KATESEYE has made waves in the music industry for the past two years with their hit songs Gabriela, Gnarly and Touch taking over the internet with their eye-catching choreography and catchy lyrics. Being formed through the Netflix survival show The Debut: Dream Academy underneath HYBE and Geffen records brought forth a global group and new face to the girl group scene. While KATSEYE has proven their ability to capture an audience through choreography and stage presence, their 2026 Grammy performance revealed an issue in the group’s direction: virality and performance are being prioritized over vocal identity and musical substance. 

When it was revealed Nov. 7, 2025 that the group was a Grammy nominee, reactions online were split. Some X users believe that HYBE paid for the nomination, commenting “hybe payola” or criticizing the group’s musicality. HYBE formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, is the home to widely known K-pop groups such as Seventeen, New Jeans, LE SSERAFIM and BTS. Many K-pop fans believed that HYBE paid for the nomination to push the group further into the musical market. 

With KATSEYE being the first major girl group to perform at the Grammys since Destiny’s Child in 2001, fans of the group were excited for the group’s performance. KATSEYE has proven their strong stage performance by performing at Lollapalooza last August, breaking a record for largest audience. 

The group made their Grammy stage debut with Gnarly, a campy song where the word “Gnarly” can describe anything from great to terrible. When the song first came out it was met with heavy criticism for its strange lyrics. Shortly after, it became the group’s debut entry on the Hot 100 at number 92 and entered number 47 on the Billboard Global 200. 

As the girls performed, the stage presence was there, but the vocal stability wasn’t. Gnarly isn’t known for its meaningful lyrics or amazing instrumental, the main reason that made the song popular was the dance going viral on TikTok.With a group that has good stage presence it seemed that the group struggled to deliver a Grammy worthy stage fans were looking forward to. If you’re performing at the Grammys or any music award show, put your best foot forward and showcase why you’re a nominee with your talent, all of your talent. 

As a casual fan of the group I believe that HYBE’s trying to recreate the engagement and popularity of Gnarly. KATSEYE is starting to barely utilize their vocals in some songs anymore and this has been pointed out by fans before. This point has been brought up the most by fans for their newest song “Internet Girl,” which also faced heavy criticism. 

What makes this performance confusing for me is they were nominated because of their song “Gabriela,” which showcases both strong dancing and vocals. The song also has a Spanish verse sung by member Daniela, who’s a proud Latina woman. Having performed that song would have been a crucial moment, not only to showcase their versatility but send a message about the difficulty that Latin and Hispanic people are going through in America with ICE and family separation. 

Multiple artists spoke up about ICE during the 2026 Grammys such as Bad Bunny, who’ll be performing at the Super Bowl Halftime on Sunday. Grammy stages aren’t only establishments; they’re statements too.

It was a missed opportunity to send an important message especially with their diverse fanbase. 

The group is starting to heavily rely on dancing with intense choreography and continuing to perform and recreate the concept of Gnarly. Gnarly is a fun song but it doesn’t need to be revived with every comeback the group may have. The Grammys is the most prestigious stage any music artist can perform on and having your debut stage be a song that consists of lyrics like “gang gang,” “fried chicken,” and “hottie hottie like a bag of Takis” in front of music legends is a questionable decision. 

The overuse of remixing in the backing track during the dance break was excessive and the dance break was longer than the actual singing. 

I think the girls did decently with what they were given as new artists, but were they really ready for the Grammy stage or was the industry too eager to push a viral moment before the group fully established their artistic voice?