On Thursday night, JYP’s K-pop audition show A2K introduced the world to VCHA, created from the A2K final lineup.
A year ago, America 2 Korea kicked off auditions in the U.S., inviting teenage girls from across North America to embark on a journey that would take them from Los Angeles to Seoul for the chance to debut in the next big global girl group. The joint venture from JYP Entertainment and Republic Records is the first of its kind: an American group trained under K-pop's exacting system of discovering and developing talent.
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It's just after one o'clock in the afternoon when the girls of VCHA join Teen Vogue for their first official interview as a group a few days before the two-part finale hits YouTube. Nestled in the iconic red-lined dance practice room inside JYP Entertainment's Seoul headquarters, where they've spent the past five months training in secrecy, members Lexi (17, from Milwaukee), Camila (18, Montreal), Savanna (17, Fort Lauderdale), Kendall (17, Fort Worth), KG (16, Los Angeles), and Kaylee (13, Philadelphia) couldn't be more excited to finally talk about their experience. "I can't wait until we get the opportunity to be like, 'Hi. guys!' Or maybe go on [a livestream] and meet our fans," Savanna says. "I'm so looking forward to that."
The first livestream is a momentous occasion, a canon event in any group's story. Aren't they a tiny bit nervous? KG laughs. "Knowing our personalities, we're going to be hyped for it," she explains. According to their MBTIs, they're all introverts, but when they're together, they can get "a little crazy and really talkative," says Savanna.
Sitting side by side in matching custom jerseys embossed with their favorite numbers on the front and their names on the back, their energy is palpable. They're effervescent, like a fizzy drink ready to burst from its bottle, and their camaraderie is evident in the way they playfully tease one another. They joke that they've been listening to a lot of "slow, sad music" these days amidst their hectic training schedules. "Not because we're sad!" KG quickly explains, adding, "Something about it is calming and relaxing."
Camila, sporting the number 8 on her jersey for good luck ("It's my grandma's favorite number," she smiles), still can't believe how far they've come in just a year. "I can't even imagine how much we're going to grow in the next few years," she says. Leader Lexi, a soothing anchor amid the whirlwind of excitement, can't wait for people to listen to the music they've been working on. VCHA is dropping its first three-track bundle, SeVit (NEW LIGHT), in conjunction with the finale. There's "Y.O.Universe," a sparkling electro-pop reminder to be yourself; "Go Getter," a pop-punk anthem; and "Know Me Like That," a fun, rock-infused clap-back to anyone who doubts them.
Below, Teen Vogue spoke with VCHA over Zoom about their A2K experiences, bonding as a group, and the artists who inspire them.
Teen Vogue: It's been a few months since the show wrapped in Seoul, but what was the first thing you guys did together as an official group? How did you celebrate?
Savanna: Honestly, we didn't have that much time [to celebrate] after the members were announced. We went straight into training. But we have been spending a lot of time together, and we're also next-door neighbors at the hotel. We've been bonding. We eat meals together and go on walks.
KG: We've just spent a lot of time getting close to each other and learning more about each other now that we're an official group.
TV: So you just go over and knock on someone's hotel door, and you're like, "Let's go for a walk. Let's grab food."
Savanna: Quite literally! We did actually have a little celebration that some of the staff put together for us. They had one of the rooms at JYP all decorated, and it said, "Congrats on your debut!" I feel like that's when it hit me that we were finally done with the whole A2K process and that we could finally start looking forward to what we could do as a group.
TV: What were your initial reactions to your group name, VCHA?
Lexi: We were really shocked at first. It was unexpected because we were so used to A2K that it just wasn't something that we thought was going to be our name. But it's really cool, and the meaning matches us really well.
TV: Can you tell me what the meaning behind it is?
Kaylee: VCHA comes from the Korean word “비춰,” which means "to shine the light." And the textbook meaning is basically that we're supposed to inspire. We all have role models or people we want to be like, so we want to inspire and lead the way for people who also see us as role models.
TV: Kaylee, I know you're the youngest but you give off the aura of someone much older. Do you guys feel that way?
Savanna: Oh, no. She's our baby.
Lexi: She is!
Kaylee: I think I can when I want to be.
Camila: She's really cute. Like, really cute.
TV: You guys all have very different backgrounds in music and performance. Who were some of your earliest musical influences and artists you looked up to?
Camila: For me, growing up, it was Shakira. I loved her singing, her dancing, her presence… I thought she was so good at everything. She really inspired me to get into music and start dancing and singing. Shakira was my role model, and she still is. I love her so much.
KG: Taylor Swift is one artist who has inspired me growing up and even still now. I find it cool how she puts her emotions into her music. And she's not just a singer, but she also is a songwriter, and plays the guitar. I also play the guitar, so I find myself relating to her in that way.
Kaylee: For me, it's TWICE because "TT" is one of the first songs I remember listening to. I probably did listen to a bunch of other K-pop songs before that, but that is the first one I remember. I always looked up to them in terms of dancing or vocals or anything.
Savanna: I kind of jumped around. But one artist I remember my dad playing a lot was Michael Jackson. I really admire his work ethic, even though he was really hard on himself. I really liked how he was such a perfectionist. I can relate to that.
Kendall: I wasn't in touch with pop music when I was a kid. I grew up listening to choral and gospel music. So I can't necessarily name one artist that really stood out to me, just choral and gospel music as a whole.
Lexi: Similarly, I don't have like a specific artist [in mind] because I loved listening to a bunch of different genres, and growing up, my mom played a bunch of music. So I grew up listening to R&B, pop, K-pop… But one person I did really look up to was Misty Copeland, the ballet dancer. She was super inspiring. I loved her emotions on stage, her presence, and everything about her.
TV: What were your introductions to K-pop?
KG: When I was first making music, I really wanted to find what my taste is and what I'm interested in. So I was listening to a bunch of demo tracks. And every time I liked something, it was K-pop. I noticed that I'm really drawn to the sound of K-pop. In 2022, I went to KCON in Los Angeles and I just fell in love. I saw ITZY perform and a lot of amazing groups. I felt inspired ever since to see if there was something for me on that path.
TV: Was there a specific song that stands out to you?
KG: I remember hearing "Sneakers" for the first time. The lyrics kept getting stuck in my head. I'm someone who's very interested in all types of music, but with K-pop, I really like the sound of it [and] how there are a lot of things going on. It's so different.
Savanna: When I was younger, I had a close friend who was really into TWICE and BTS. She actually showed me "TT" as well. It was one of the first K-pop dances I learned. I was really drawn to the performance aspect of K-pop. There are so many dances to learn.
TV: Now that you've spent a few months in Seoul undergoing JYP's intensive artist development and training, what do you think it is that makes K-pop stand out?
Lexi: It's the whole culture itself. It's not just the music and the genre of music — it's the fashion, the in-sync choreography, the visuals of it. What differentiates it from Western pop is that there's so much to it. K-pop fans buy physical albums and collect photocards, and then within the Western industry, there's more significance [placed] on streaming.
Kendall: I feel like one of the biggest things in K-pop is the interaction [artists have] with fans is so much different than in Western music. I feel like in K-pop there are more personal interactions and more content put out there for fans.
TV: Kendall, did you always know you wanted to be a performer?
Kendall: I grew up performing. I would do church musicals. I was in choir in school, and I did choir outside of school, as well as competed in choir competitions. I also took dance lessons. I loved performing, but I didn't consider it a career path. I always thought that I would go into STEM because that's what my parents did. One to two years ago, when I was seriously considering what I wanted to do for college, I realized I wasn't as interested in going into STEM as I was about going into music. That's when I changed my focus toward music production.
TV: Lexi, you grew up dancing and doing ballet. Did you always know you wanted to perform?
Lexi: When I was on a dance team, I did a lot of competitions all around the U.S. and one in Korea. So I was used to performing on the weekends. But that feeling that I got every time that I performed…I didn't want it to be something that just happened over the weekend. I wanted it to be something that I could feel forever. I loved the passion that I could feel from the audience. It fueled me every time I was on stage. I really wanted to be able to continue that for the rest of my life.
TV: What is that feeling, if you could describe it?
Lexi: Do you ever have butterflies when you're nervous? It's like that but in a good way. It's like this burning passion in your chest. It sounds cheesy, but it feels amazing.
Savanna: I relate to that feeling, too. You practice so much, and you rehearse and get so tired. But when you're actually performing, your brain isn't even thinking about the fact that you're exhausted. You just get so much energy from the audience. It plays a huge part when you're performing.
TV: Camila, what about you?
Camila: Both of my parents are musicians, so I always knew I wanted to sing. When I was around five years old, I started singing with my brother. I just enjoyed it so much, and I knew that's what I wanted to do. I've always followed that path. I never stopped singing. I always tried going to competitions or taking whatever opportunity I had to showcase my talent.
TV: Kaylee, when did you discover your love of singing?
Kaylee: My mom was a music major, so I was always around music. I played a lot of different instruments and things like that. But I never thought of the music industry as a career goal. It was more of a hobby. It didn't become something that I would think of as more than a dream until a few years ago when the fourth generation [of K-pop] started. That influenced me a lot because there were artists who were more my age. They were becoming what I wanted to be.
TV: KG, for your star quality evaluation, you performed your own song on the piano. Where did your passion for making music start?
KG: I had a really strong passion for music ever since I was seven. It started with me learning how to play the guitar, and then the piano, and then singing. I've always been very musical. I started songwriting at a really young age. That's when I formed a band with my brothers. We were kind of just goofing off and having fun. We played all these different instruments and sang together.
TV: It sounds like songwriting is something you love to do. Would you want to contribute creatively to VCHA's music one day?
KG: Songwriting is definitely one of my skills. It comes naturally to me. I'm also very interested in music production as well. I've been training [in] music production in my free time.
TV: It's been about a year since this entire A2K journey started. What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Camila: I think we can all agree that we learned how capable we are of overcoming hardships because the show was very challenging. There were a lot of intense moments and at times, it got really hard, but it was really comforting to see that you can do it and that you have your members and your friends to help you throughout the whole process.
KG: We also learned how to work in a team together. Not just to be there for yourself but to be there for each other.
TV: I really loved the emphasis on teamwork on the show. It wasn't just about being the best singer or the best dancer. You had to be a team player. Was it also challenging singing and rapping in Korean?
Camila: It was fun!
Lexi: Yeah, it was really fun.
Kendall: It was another learning experience.
KG: It was fun to be on a team with Kaylee, who is fluent in Korean. I had to try and sing in Korean. She definitely laughed at me sometimes for my pronunciation, but she taught us well.
Kaylee: I had a little bit of trouble reading the lyrics in the beginning because I'm not very advanced in reading or writing. But the teachers helped me with that.
TV: "Love Me Like This" team, you guys crushed your performance. KG, I know you had struggled with your dancing up until that point and you stayed up all night practicing the choreography. What was that experience like?
KG: It was definitely not easy, I can tell you that. Being someone who wants to improve quickly to earn a spot, it's definitely stressful, but I was able to enjoy it at the same time because I had teammates who helped me learn. I learned from watching them. There was just this determination inside of me. I'm very hardworking, so I wasn't gonna give up easily.
TV: Savanna, you're an amazing performer. Do your expressions come naturally to you? Do you work on them?
Savanna: I try to not think of 100 things when I'm performing. Because if I think about the things that I have to work on, or that I worked on, I have no space just to enjoy it and let the emotions come out naturally. I try to be confident. It's easier said than done, of course, but it helps me be more free on stage.
TV: Kaylee, we saw that you can sometimes be a little hard on yourself, so how do you maintain a positive mindset?
Kaylee: I actually have no idea. [Everyone laughs.] After going through the trainee experience, I just tried to remind myself of the positive things. And I'm still trying to do that because everyone has ups and downs. But I try to focus on the ups as much as I can. With all these positive people around me, that also helps me. Because no matter how I'm feeling, they always make me laugh — even when I don't want to laugh.
TV: Who's the funniest?
VCHA: Lexi!
Savanna: I feel like Kaylee is really funny, too, because she's so straightforward. It's really funny to me. I like seeing her just be herself.
Kaylee: I always make sure to apologize after because I sometimes say things that…Like, I don't mean it in a bad way, but the person might take it in a wrong way.
TV: As the youngest member, you get a pass. Camila, I'm a big fan of your "Back Door" performance.
Camila: It's my favorite performance that I did. I enjoyed showing a different side of me. And it was a very challenging dance! I was happy that I was able to prove that I was able to do that. I love the song. I love the dance, the rap… I didn't know it was my style but it was, and I just love how it turned out. And I'm glad that people like it.
TV: Lexi, you came to the show as a dancer and in the beginning, you were self-conscious about your singing. Are you more confident now, and where did that confidence come from?
Lexi: I'm definitely feeling a lot more confident about my singing. First, the trainers helped, obviously, but I also had a lot of good singers here to help me as well. They helped to boost my confidence. And as my skills increased throughout the show, that also helped boost my confidence. But they helped me so much. I'm being so honest [turns toward the members], you guys helped me a lot with my singing. And they could be honest with me.
TV: Kendall, JYP himself said in one of your evaluations that you are able to deliver emotions that can't be taught. Where does that come from?
Kendall: I don't exactly know. I guess it's something that isn't taught because I personally didn't know that it was such a great talent. I'm realizing that I'm not good at expressing things in my daily life. I'm actually not very expressive. But music and dance would always be where I would put my emotions. So when I feel like I really connect with a song, I can really get into it. I just feel everything through that song.
TV: What are some hobbies and interests you have outside of music and performance?
Camila: I love writing. I've been writing since I was very young, and I love writing stories and journaling about how I feel. And I also like writing songs and lyrics. Writing helps me relax and focus.
KG: I enjoy sports. I grew up with three brothers, and being the only girl, I have an inner tomboy inside of me. I like playing football, and basketball. I really enjoy sports and skateboarding.
Kaylee: I like writing and reading. I like writing things that will put me into the story that I'm reading. I also love food. So I love eating, and I also love baking and eating when I bake.
Savanna: I like gaming in my free time. I can speak for Kendall as well because we game together. We tend to spend most of our free time doing that.
TV: What game are you playing together?
Kendall: Valorant! We usually go to a PC cafe where they have better PCs for gaming.
Savanna: So that's been really fun. I honestly really like being on my phone, too. I spend a lot of time on it. I watch movies and shows on my phone.
Kendall: I like gaming and art. Specifically, I enjoy sketching and doing little animations. Animation was another field that I wanted to go into.
Lexi: I love to draw, too. I'm not that good at it, but I love drawing and painting. And I also like doing aesthetic bullet journaling.
TV: What would you say about this experience if you could sum it up?
Savanna: Five months ago, I could never have imagined this moment, us sitting down. I never thought I would get here with all of them. We learned so much, and we all just grew so much. I'm happy to say that after all this training and hard work, I guess we can be considered somewhat professional now. At the same time, it was a lot of fun. I would maybe do it again.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of 비춰.
