It's only been a little over a year since Hib introduced its first global girl group, Catside, to the world, and now they're already teasing yet another girl group that's got the entire K-pop community talking. The announcement has split fans right down the middle, with some excited for what Hib could bring next, while others are already calling for boycots before the group has even revealed their full lineup, which makes you wonder what exactly Hib's game plan is here. Once again, Hib is partnering up with Geffen Records to form another global group, which just like Cats Eye will feature members from all over the world. This time, however, they're doing it with a twist that some people aren't very fond of. The project called Prelude: The Final Piece, works in a way that's pretty unique for the K-pop industry. Instead of putting all the members through a survival show or debuting them as a complete unit, they've already decided on three fixed members and are making fans wait while they search for that mysterious fourth and final member through yet another competition program. The three confirmed members are all familiar faces for anyone who followed Dream Academy back in 2023. And honestly, most fans feel like this is a redemption arc for the girls who didn't make it into Cats Eye. Samara Sakara from Brazil, Lexi Leven from Sweden, and Emily Kellivos from the USA have all been confirmed through a stylized concept film that Hiben Geffen dropped on their official channels, instantly sending fans into a frenzy. For Sam and Emily, this is literally a second chance after being eliminated in the final rounds of Dream Academy. For Lexi, however, it's a whole different story as she actually walked away from the competition completely voluntarily. During her exit monologue in the Netflix documentary Pop Star Academy Cat's Eye, she told the cameras that the whole pitting girls against each other other atmosphere wasn't for her and that the competition lifestyle in general was too demanding. What makes this group stand out from any other is the hunt for the mysterious fourth member. Reports revealed that Hiben Geffen teamed up with Japanese platform Abimma to create World Scout: The Final Piece, a whole new global audition show that's currently accepting applications from women and non-binary individuals between 15 and 24 years old until September 22nd, 2025. It's said that the finalists will train in Japan before eventually moving to Los Angeles for the final phase ahead of the group's US debut. From a business perspective, it makes total sense why Hib would want another global girl group, as they can capitalize on the three girls who already went through months of intense training during Dream Academy and have that global exposure. The first member that Geffen Records revealed on social media was Emily, and it's safe to say fans went absolutely crazy to find out she was given a second chance at debuting. The moment her face appeared in the concept film, the comment section exploded with theories and excitement with fans immediately connecting the dots about why she'd been so prominently featured throughout the Netflix documentary. The overwhelming response was actually pretty heartwarming with Nisonens celebrating that someone they'd been rooting for was finally getting her moment after coming so close the first time around. Comments flooded in about how she'd been a standout during Dream Academy with fans gushing about how well she came across in the documentary, how talented and gorgeous she is, and how glad they were that she will debut after all. It seemed like Hiben Geffen had been playing the long game with Emily all along, keeping her in the audience's minds through strategic documentary appearances and that reunion special, almost like they were testing the waters to see if fans would accept her in a future project. While Emily's announcement had fans celebrating, Samara's inclusion immediately triggered a wave of backlash from people who remembered exactly why she'd become one of the most controversial contestants during Dream Academy. Samara had been cancelled months earlier after fans discovered she'd been liking pro-Israel content and posts with anti-Chinese, anti-Muslim, and anti-Indian ideology on social media. And we all know the internet never forgets. The controversy originally blew up during Dream Academy when fans started spreading screenshots of questionable posts she'd liked. And it wasn't just a few questionable posts that could be justified. According to fans who'd done deep dives on platforms such as Reddit, Tik Tok, and X, the video she'd engaged with showed support for seriously concerning ideologies with people on Reddit even documenting everything and declaring they'd no longer vote for her. The backlash was so intense that even catsized Lara allegedly unpinned her video with Samara while Samara herself was frantically deleting comments on Instagram trying to do some damage control. Even though Hib never made an official statement addressing the controversy during the show, speculation about whether it impacted her final ranking never quieted down. And now with her second chance at debut, all that drama has come roaring back to life. The internet tried to make sense of Samara's controversial social media activity by digging into her personal life, and what they found somehow made things even messier. Online, fans claimed she was part of a Christian church in Brazil that's known for its extremist views. And the evidence was hard to miss when people noticed she followed one of their pages on Instagram with them following her back. To many, this suggested she wasn't just a casual attendee, but actually involved within the establishment. The church itself raised massive red flags when netisonens discovered that Chaier Bolsinaro, Brazil's former president, who's known for his extreme ideology, attends the same church network, though probably at a different location since it's a huge organization with multiple branches across Brazil. The rabbit hole went even deeper when fans started researching what this church preaches. And it turns out they're allegedly explicitly Islamophobic and cyophobic, which to them suddenly made Samara's liked posts make sense. Regardless of whether the rumors about her church are true, her actions still hurt tons of people. And when she was announced for this new lineup, netzens were anything but happy. Online, users declared they wanted nothing to do with this new project if Samara was included. As the cherry on top, a huge section of the fandom is now threatening to boycott the group entirely if Samara stays in the lineup. with fans arguing that having her in a global group meant to represent diversity is basically a slap in the face to all the Muslim, Indian, and Chinese fans who make up a massive portion of K-pop's international audience. But of course, there's always another side of the story, and Samara's defenders came up with their own theories about why the backlash is unfair. Some fans argued that the hate she's getting is completely disproportionate and based on unverified screenshots that could have been fabricated or taken out of context, while others claimed this was all just cultural misunderstandings being blown out of proportion by people who don't understand Brazilian religious culture or how different political contexts work in different countries. What's making everything even more suspicious is Hib's complete radio silence on the whole situation with fans finding it bizarre that a company usually so calculated about their global image hasn't released any statement addressing the elephant in the room. The silence is deafening especially when you consider how quick they usually are to protect their investments. And it's got people wondering if they're hoping this will all blow over or if they genuinely don't think it's a big deal. People started noticing that Lara, who happens to be Catsai's only Indian member, is mysteriously the only one from the group to publicly show support for Prelude, liking Samara's picture on the official account. Some fans believe the timing is way too convenient to ignore, with many convinced that Hib strategically had Lara support the group publicly to try and sweep Samara's alleged anti-Indian sentiment under the rug. Basically using their only Indian idol as a shield against the accusations. Whether Lara genuinely supports her former Dream Academy trainees or was pushed into doing damage control by management is anyone's guess, but everything about their relationship remains just speculation. Although the second member reveal made things messy, things took a more positive turn when Geffin announced Lexi as the third fixed member. She was pretty well-liked during Dream Academy before she made her dramatic exit. Fans who'd been paying attention during the show weren't surprised to see her return, with many pointing out that the writing had been on the wall since the documentary aired, especially after Bangshi Huk himself said he'd always seen her in the lineup, which basically confirmed he wouldn't just let her talent walk away that easily. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy to see her return, with people bringing up how Lexi had missed rehearsals during Dream Academy for personal reasons, but never got the same harsh criticism that Catsiz Manan received for doing the exact same thing. This memory has stuck with a lot of fans, turning them a bit bitter. Netzens pointed out the difference between how the two were treated, with one person sarcastically noting that no one was attacking Lexi for missing rehearsals out of necessity, and the only real difference between her and Manol was that one of them is white. They reminded people that Lexi got welcomed back with open arms, while Manol had to endure weeks of hate for similar behavior. This has reignited conversations about the blatant double standards and how contestants were judged. And now that energy is being directed at this new group before they've even found their fourth member. Before it was announced that the fourth member would be picked through yet another survival show, some netisonens were convinced that Maris and Israel would also return. The speculation went into overdrive when fans started playing detective on Instagram, noticing that while other past contestants like Maris had followed the Prelude account, both Lexi and Israel mysteriously hadn't, which sent theorists spiraling about whether Israela was being kept under wraps as a surprise member. People were so sure the group would have five members that they started treating it like fact with fans pointing out every little detail as evidence of a bigger lineup. The conspiracy theories got even wilder when fans noticed that both Ezra and Maris had changed their Instagram bios to artist at the exact same time as the three confirmed members, which felt way too coordinated to be a coincidence. But of course, all those theories came crashing down when Hiben Geffin officially announced that the fourth member would genuinely be chosen through World Scout: The Final Piece, making it clear they really are only debuting four members in total. Overall, the public has mixed feelings about this new girl group. The criticism has been brutal with fans calling out how Prelude is essentially just recycling Dream Academy rejects instead of creating something fresh, leading many to question what the point of the original survival show even was if they were just going to debut the eliminated contestants anyway. What's really getting under fan skin is the timing and Hib's priorities here with people pointing out how Hib seems more focused on debuting these eliminated contestants rather than protecting Cat's Eye from all the hate and scrutiny that came from the documentary and messy survival show format. Instead of properly managing their first global girl group and dealing with the aftermath of Dream Academy, they're already moving on to the next project, essentially profiting off the same controversial show that caused so much drama in the first place. Even fans who aren't completely against the new group are worried about the dynamics, especially when it comes to that mysterious fourth member who'll be joining through World Scout. They argue that the whole setup basically screams that all the girls from Dream Academy that Hib liked but couldn't put into Cat's Eye are now in a group plus one random member who wasn't part of the original show, which is bound to create some serious tension between the girls. The Dream Academy girls share this intense bonding experience of training together, being eliminated from the same show, and getting their redemption arc together, while the fourth member is basically the outsider who got picked from a completely different competition. Therefore, it's not strange to think that there are definitely going to be moments where that disconnect shows, and some fans are already feeling bad for whoever ends up in that position. Whether Prelude can overcome this chaotic pre-debut period and actually build a fan base remains to be seen. But with boycott threats, controversies, and fans already exhausted from the drama before a fourth member is even found, Hib and Geffen have somehow managed to create one of the messiest launches in recent memory.