The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Fifty Fifty to return with new members in June

By Hong Yoo

Published : Feb. 8, 2024 - 12:35

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Keena of Fifty Fifty (Attrakt) Keena of Fifty Fifty (Attrakt)

K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty is set to start anew with new members joining Keena in June.

“We’ve started reorganizing Fifty Fifty around Keena. The lineup will be confirmed in April and the group will release a new single in June,” announced Attrakt, the agency representing Fifty Fifty, in a press release Thursday.

Fifty Fifty debuted as a quartet with Keena, Aran, Sio and Saena in November 2022.

But Aran, Sio and Saena left the group as Attrakt terminated its exclusive contracts with respective members in October last year, following a legal fight over contract disputes.

To recruit new members, Attrakt held its first open audition in Singapore on Feb. 3.

Around 120 females at least 14 years old living in Southeast Asia took part in the audition, according to the agency, which will continue the auditions in Korea and Japan.

Amongst the judges of the auditions is David Yong, the CEO of Evergreen Group Holdings, a Singapore company that is investing around 10 billion won ($7.5 million) in Attrakt. Yong himself debuted as a K-pop singer in Korea, with the single "In My Pocket," in 2022.

The final audition will be held in Thailand on March 2.

Meanwhile, a year after its release, Fifty Fifty’s single “Cupid” re-entered three Billboard charts dated Feb. 10: the World Digital Song Sales at No. 9, the World Album chart at No. 15 and the Global 200 Excl US at No. 197.

The hit single was at No. 44 on Billboard’s annual Hot 100 songs chart released in November last year, marking the first time for any K-pop girl group’s song to make the Billboard’s year-end main singles chart.