Two-time Grammy nominee This is the Swiss girl who could now write music history
Manon is making Swiss music history: for the first time, a Swiss artist has been nominated in one of the four main Grammy categories. Katseye received two nominations - for "Best New Artist" and "Best Pop Duo/Group".
Image: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
Katseye at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes 2025: Megan Skiendiel, Manon Bannerman, Daniela Avanzini, Lara Rajagopalan, Sophia Laforteza (from left to right).
Image: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
And at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2025 in New York: Megan Skiendiel, Manon Bannerman, Daniela Avanzini, Yoonchae Jeong, Sophia Laforteza and Lara Raj (from left to right).
Image: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
Manon is making Swiss music history: for the first time, a Swiss artist has been nominated in one of the four main Grammy categories. Katseye received two nominations - for "Best New Artist" and "Best Pop Duo/Group".
Image: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
Katseye at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes 2025: Megan Skiendiel, Manon Bannerman, Daniela Avanzini, Lara Rajagopalan, Sophia Laforteza (from left to right).
Image: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
And at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2025 in New York: Megan Skiendiel, Manon Bannerman, Daniela Avanzini, Yoonchae Jeong, Sophia Laforteza and Lara Raj (from left to right).
Image: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
Manon Bannerman is a member of the six-piece girl group "Katseye". The K-pop group has been nominated for two Grammys - making Manon the first female musician from Switzerland to achieve this. What are her chances of winning?
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- Lucerne singer Meret Manon Bannerman and her K-pop group Katseye are the first Swiss woman to be nominated in two main categories of the Grammy Awards.
- The band Katseye was cast internationally, quickly made famous by a Netflix documentary, and is now one of the most successful new pop groups with over 37 million Spotify listeners.
- Manon, who grew up in Sursee LU and Zurich, has been pursuing the goal of becoming as successful as her role model Beyoncé since her youth - and the Grammy performance brings this dream closer.
The Grammy Awards on the night of February 1 to 2, 2026 will be a historic event for Switzerland: Lucerne-born singer Meret Manon Bannerman from the K-pop band Katseye has been nominated in several main categories.
A success that no Swiss musician has ever achieved before in the four most important categories. Although several Swiss artists have won or been nominated for the coveted trophy since the Grammy Awards were introduced in 1959, no Swiss acts have ever been represented in the four main categories "Song of the Year", "Record of the Year", "Album of the Year" or "Best New Artist".
Manon Bannermann is now entering the race twice with Katseye - as "Best New Artist" and "Best Pop Duo/Group". And: Katseye will be performing live at the Grammys. Manon is also the first Swiss woman to perform at the Grammys.
You've never heard of Manon and Katseye? No problem - here's everything you need to know about the Swiss Grammy hopefuls.
Katseye were cast internationally
Katseye was founded in 2023 as part of the casting show "The Debut: Dream Academy". The international survival show was produced by the South Korean entertainment group HYBE - known for the global success of K-pop acts such as BTS - together with the US record label Geffen Records. The aim was to form a globally oriented girl group. 20 participants from different countries competed against each other in singing, dancing and performance challenges. The show ran from September 1 to November 17, 2023 and was mainly broadcast online via YouTube and Weverse, supplemented by publications on the Japanese platform ABEMA.
The intensive casting and training process was documented in the Netflix documentary series "Pop Star Academy: Katseye", which shows the selection of the participants, their months of singing, dancing and performance training and the path to the final group composition. The series was released in August 2024.
It caused controversy in part because viewers criticized the portrayal of individual members and the high pressure to perform. Nevertheless, the documentary contributed significantly to the group's international fame.
Despite its young existence, Katseye has already released two EPs and a total of 14 songs and now has around 37 million monthly Spotify listeners. The six-member group consists of Daniela (USA), Lara (USA), Megan (USA), Sophia (Philippines), Yoonchae (South Korea) and Manon (Switzerland). Musically, Katseye plays international pop music with clear influences from K-pop, R&B and contemporary dance-pop.
The members live and work together in Los Angeles, where they also train and produce their music. A performance at the Grammy Awards could finally catapult Katseye into the international pop star league.
How did Manon make it into the girl group?
Manon Bannerman grew up in Sursee near Lucerne and in Zurich. Her mother has Swiss-Italian roots and her father is from Ghana. She dreamed of the big stage from an early age: as Bannerman describes in interviews and in the Netflix documentary series, her declared goal is to become as famous as Beyoncé - a comparison that her father also made early on. As a teenager, she began writing songs, playing the ukulele and piano and building up her own fan community via Instagram and TikTok.
At the Atelierschule Zürich, which focuses on the creative arts, Manon Bannerman deepened her passion for music and performance. A key moment came during a spontaneous performance on stage at a concert by German singer Cro: she suddenly found herself in the spotlight in front of thousands of people - an experience that encouraged her to take the next step. Shortly afterwards, Bannerman applied for the international casting show "The Debut: Dream Academy", which ultimately laid the foundation for her career as a member of the girl group Katseye.
This is what Katseye's biggest hit sounds like
In the song "Gabriela", Katseye addresses jealousy, rivalry and the fear of losing a loved one to someone else. The mysterious figure of "Gabriela" symbolizes insecurity and inner conflict in a relationship.
The track became the group's biggest hit: "Gabriela" made it into the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, the most important US single charts of the industry magazine Billboard, reached top positions in the Billboard Global Charts and achieved millions of streams worldwide. The song thus marks Katseye's commercial breakthrough.
The other nominees
Rapper Kendrick Lamar leads the field with nine nominations and is up against Lady Gaga ("Mayhem") for the most important "Album of the Year" award with his album "GNX". Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter are also nominated.
K-Pop is conspicuously well represented at the 2026 Grammys: two songs made it into the "Song of the Year" category, including "Golden" from the Netflix hit KPop Demon Hunters and "APT." by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Katseye is up against Olivia Dean, The Marías, Addison Rae, Lola Young and Leon Thomas ("Best New Artist") as well as pop heavyweights such as SZA & Kendrick Lamar, ROSÉ & Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo ("Best Pop Duo/Group Performance"). But as mentioned, the nominations alone are already a milestone for the young group - and for Switzerland.
