At Lexington High School, where the sound of vocal warmups mixes with the constant ping of Google Classroom notifications, the music department has unveiled its boldest experiment yet: a brand-new Katseye-inspired a cappella group formation program.
Modeled loosely after the formation of the global girl group Katseye, the initiative—tentatively titled Pitch Perfectly Normal Human Beings—aims to “revolutionize student harmony through teamwork, musical growth, and public voting,” according to organizers.
Unlike traditional a cappella auditions at LHS, which typically involve three relaxed practice sessions, plenty of snacks, and warm encouragement, the new program introduces what organizers call a “high-stakes musical journey.”
Participants begin with a mysterious invitation delivered via Google Classroom at 11:59 p.m. that reads: “You have potential. Report to the chorus room. Bring water.”
“I don’t even sing,” admitted sophomore Milo Tuner, one of the contestants. “But I once matched pitch with a microwave beep, and now I’m in something called ‘Vocal Boot Camp.’”
Training includes standard skills such as blend, tone, and stage presence, alongside more unconventional assessments. Contestants are judged on their ability to invent a jam outfit theme in under 30 seconds, execute advanced Acabop choreography without stepping on anyone’s foot, and convincingly pretend to know what key they are singing in.
“There’s also a ‘snack endurance’ round,” explained program director Harmony Chorde. “We observe how contestants perform vocally after consuming three brownies, two bags of pretzels, and one suspiciously melted fruit snack. Real performers adapt.”
Chorde further emphasized the importance of fancam awareness. “You’re not just performing for the people in front of you, but also the people watching you on TikTok. You’ve got to know your angles,” Chorde said.
In addition to public voting, weekly eliminations are determined by a panel of judges that includes a choir teacher, a senior who once arranged a mashup in GarageBand, and a rotating guest judge chosen from whoever happens to be lingering by the music practice rooms after school.
“One second I’m packing up my trumpet, the next second I’m sitting at a table trying to decide if a contestant can hold a note longer than the auditorium door creak,” Cornell Cornett, a senior, said.
Some students are treating the competition like a cultural event. The school was hit with a wave of shock after junior Melody Norman was eliminated in week six, when judges said that she “was not able to keep up with the others in the ‘snack endurance round.’”
Others remain skeptical of the process and the filmed auditions.
“We already had auditions,” said one anonymous member of an existing a capella group. “Now there’s a leaderboard, a theme song, and someone keeps filming reaction clips.” The member believed that the spectacle of the auditions and the hype surrounding the group took attention away from the music.
“I mean, we can’t have fans trying to ask us about the new group after every a cappella practice,” the member added.
The group’s first public performance is expected to take place at an upcoming jam, where whatever lineup survives the final round will debut. Fan accounts are theorizing that this final round will involve singing a chord progression while brainstorming potential group names.
It is too soon to say whether the program will produce the next standout ensemble or simply expand the jam lineup. What’s certain, though, is that harmony at LHS has never sounded quite this dramatic.