• Culture
    Culture
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    Style
    Pond's serums

    These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    Here’s where you can get unique, one-off accessories—designed by you

    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    Entertainment
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    charlie’s angels totally spies!

    Our favorite onscreen spies, from Austin Powers to ‘Totally Spies!’

    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    Life+Money
    Single woman adopts baby

    Forming a family: When a single woman adopts a baby

    painting of baby

    A mother-to-be’s survival guide

    Navigating a friend breakup that has no bad blood

    It’s no one’s fault: When a friendship naturally runs its course

    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
Reading
Will Sophia Laforteza be the first Filipina Hybe idol in “The Debut: Dream Academy” finale?
ShareTweet
In Music
1 min read

Will Sophia Laforteza be the first Filipina Hybe idol in “The Debut: Dream Academy” finale?

Ranking first on their third and last mission, Laforteza is a strong candidate for Hybe Labels’ new global girl group

By Ched Bautistaon November 6, 2023
preenph sophia laforteza hybe
Share

Will a Filipina girl group trainee become label mates with the likes of BTS and Seventeen? It’s not as far-fetched a dream as we once thought. Earlier today, Nov. 6, Hybe Labels’ collab survival show “The Debut: Dream Academy” revealed the lucky 10 girls making it to the live finale. One of them is Sophia Laforteza, the show’s only Filipino candidate.

For the third and last mission, the candidates were tasked to showcase their artistry through different musical concepts. The 13 candidates were divided into three groups to perform songs by Demi Lovato, The Pussycat Dolls, and the Spice Girls. Laforteza performed “Buttons” by The Pussycat Dolls along with Manon, Celeste, Nayoung, and Daniela. Fans were quick to point out how Laforteza was able to channel her inner Nicole Scherzinger, another artist with Filipino roots.

Prior to the ranking announcement, it was revealed that Laforteza was feeling under the weather throughout Mission 3. Despite missing practices and having to film her parts sick, she still managed to give us stunning vocals and stage presence with her teammates.

Laforteza maintained her position as the top-ranked trainee for the last mission, helping her secure a spot for the show’s live finale. Although the girls’ talent evaluations are based on their mission and the judges’ criteria, they can still be saved by their global fans. Fans can vote for their favorite candidate through Hybe’s application, Weverse. Sophia also ranks first in this term, with a whopping 45,184 fan votes giving her immunity from elimination.

Laforteza is the only Filipino candidate vying for a spot in Hybe Labels and Geffen Record’s first global girl group. The 20-year-old is well-known for her vocal prowess and is very proud of her Filipino roots. She has been a consistent ace throughout the program—earning second place during the first mission and first place during the second mission.

The “The Debut: Dream Academy” finale will air live on Hybe Labels’ YouTube channel on Nov. 18 at 12 a.m. The group’s name and its six official members will be revealed then. Here’s to hoping that Sophia Laforteza will make the cut!

Art by Ella Lambio

Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Viber

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0

Action Required!

We embed Facebook Comments plugin to allow you to leave comment at our website using your Facebook account. It may collects your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the commenting interface, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the interface (such as “liking” someone’s comment, replying to other comments), if you are logged into Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Accept    Decline

Tags
HybeSophia Laforteza

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

ShareTweetEmailShare
Ched Bautista
Amrie is a nonbinary writer who likes to talk about politics and viral animal videos. They have a dog daughter named Cassie who doesn’t go to school.

Peek This

Pond's serums

These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

Filipino actors Bridgerton

Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

pura luka vega chappell roan church

Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

Preen.ph © 2020. Hinge Inquirer Publications, Inc.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • HOME
  • ARCHIVES
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
preenph GMA Network Magandang Dilag gender reveal transphobia
Previous
Calling a public forced outing of a trans character a ‘gender reveal’ is transphobic
preen.ph bella hadid israel palestine hamas pinoy baiting
Next
Bella Hadid appeals for Palestinian war crime victims while Israel gets roasted for allegedly ‘Pinoy baiting’ 
  • Culture
    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Search
Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close
fashion fashion news music Culture News movies
See all results

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.