BGYO

BGYO (pronounced as bee-gi-why-oh) is a five-member Filipino boy group formed by ABS-CBN Star Hunt Academy, consisting of Akira, Gelo, JL, Mikki, and Nate. Formerly known as the Star Hunt Academy Boys or SHA Boys, BGYO launched their official debut single "The Light" and its music video in an online fan conference on January 29, 2021.
On May 3, 2021, BGYO debuted at number 2 on Next Big Sound's Pandora Predictions Chart and on May 11, 2021, BGYO debuted at number 2 on Billboard's Next Big Sound Chart.
Name.
The group's name, BGYO, is an acronym for "Becoming the change, Going further, You and I showing the world what it means to be, Originally Filipino". Contrary to the belief of many, the group's name is not the shortened form of the Filipino word "bagyo", which means storm particularly a tropical cyclone.
The group's fandom name is called ACEs. It was chosen unanimously by BGYO from among entries submitted on April 9, 2021.
History.
2018–2020: "Star Hunt Academy".
In 2018, ABS-CBN launched the Star Hunt Academy program, a project, led by ABS-CBN Head of Entertainment Laurenti Dyogi, which he had been planning for many years as a way to introduce Filipino talent "in the global stage". The project screened 250 auditionees between the ages of 16 to 19 years old from all over the Philippines, from which the first set of male Star Hunt Academy trainees were selected. Although Dyogi initially hoped to debut a 7-member idol boy group, the 7 male trainees of the first set were eventually cut down to just 5 boys: Akira Morishita (Akira), Angelo Troy Rivera (Gelo), John Lloyd Toreliza (JL), Michael Claver Jr. (Mikki), and Nathaniel Porcalla (Nate).
The group was trained from 2018 to 2020 under well-known Filipino mentors, including professional vocal coach and former chair of the Department of Voice, Music Theater and Dance at the University of the Philippines College of Music Kitchy Molina, and Austrian-born dance coach Mickey Perz. They were also trained by South Korean coaches from MU Doctor Academy.
On August 3, 2019, the group as SHA trainees were initially introduced on the online pre-show of the , in which they first performed and were debuted as Star Hunt Academy trainees. They also experienced performing in front of a live audience, showcasing the fruits of their hours of rigorous trainings in their first-ever mall show in Taguig and at least two ABS-CBN events. They also appeared in a 2019 National Youth Commission event, where they were proclaimed as Youth Ambassadors, and at the 2019 Manila Southeast Asian Games thanksgiving celebration. In May 2020, Laurenti Dyogi released a performance practice video of Akira, Gelo, Mikki, and Nate dancing to Seventeen's "Let Me Hear You Say" to show their progress in training. In subsequent months, Star Hunt Academy released vlogs of the trainees on YouTube and uploaded various performance videos showcasing their progress in singing and in dancing on Twitter.
On December 4, 2020, the group signed a contract with ABS-CBN constituents Star Magic and record label Star Music. During the event, it was announced that the group will have its official debut in January 2021.
2021-present: "Debut, The Light Era, He's Into Her, Feel Good Pilipinas and Coke Studio Philippines".
Ahead of the debut date, Star Hunt Academy released a series of teasers for the group and on January 13, 2021 revealed the group's official name, BGYO, with its official logo.
MU Doctor collaborated with Rogan & Ddank to produce BGYO's debut single, 'The Light', with the English lyrics written by Korean-American composer and songwriter Distract, and with the Tagalog lyrics written by the BGYO members themselves to "reflect their own story in the song". The debut single features choreography by LAY BACK, who has worked with SuperM, Hyolyn, and Zico. On January 29, the official music video was released.
BGYO was featured in the Spring 2021 issue of L'Officiel. On March 19, BGYO participated in a collaborative virtual show along with other "Kapamilya Stars" from the different talent management arms of ABS-CBN entitled “Big 4 Hours” through the official channel of Star Magic in Kumu and simulcast via Facebook. On March 31, MYX Philippines announced BGYO as their "MYX Spotlight Artist" for the month of April.
On April 9, Star Music officially confirmed that BGYO will sing the official soundtrack of iWantTFC's digital Philippine romance comedy series "He's Into Her". On the same day, BGYO performed teasers of the song "He's Into Her" live on their show in Kumu. On April 21, BGYO officially debuted on the popular Wish 107.5 Bus with the song "The Light". On April 23, BGYO's second original single "He's Into Her" officially premiered on Star Music YouTube channel as a lyric video and the official track was released worldwide via digital download. On the same day, "He's Into Her" instantly debuted on Spotify's "RADAR Philippines 2021 Roster". On May 4, the official music video was released.
Thyro Alfaro and Francis Salazar composed the collaboration single of BGYO with "Asia's Soul Supreme" KZ Tandingan entitled "Feel Good Pilipinas" with Filipino and English lyrics penned by Lawrence Arvin Sibug and Robert Labayen. The song was produced for the "ABS-CBN's 2021 Summer Station ID". On May 16, the official dance video of "Feel Good Pilipinas" was released on ASAP Natin 'To, choreographed by Mickey Perz.
On May 17, BGYO kicked off the 4th Season of Coke Studio Philippines entitled "Itodo Mo Beat Mo", where the group performed the fully choreographed rendition of Keiko Necesario’s "While We Are Young". Three days after, an original composition of BGYO and Keiko Necesario was released. The collaboration song entitled "Runnin'" as presented on the 4th episode of Coke Studio PH Season 4.
Artistry.
BGYO have cited BTS, Exo, GOT7, Wanna One, Seventeen, NCT, WayV, Stray Kids, TXT, Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Gary Valenciano, Iñigo Pascual, Erik Santos and Regine Velasquez as musical inspirations.
BGYO's debut single "The Light" (2021) is an example of Original Pilipino Music or P-Pop, infused with R&B, progressive hip hop and electronic elements.
Other ventures.
Philanthropy.
On November 16, 2019, as the Youth Ambassadors of National Youth Commission, the group took part in the 2019 FITFIL YOUTH AGAINST DRUGS (and Obesity) campaign to encourage youths to stay fit and to have a healthy lifestyle. The event was held at the SM Mall of Asia by the Bay.
On November 28, 2020, the group participated on a virtual fundraising concert entitled #TikTokTogetherPH hosted by TikTok Philippines for the benefit of Generation Hope, World Vision, Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), and Balcony Entertainment along with other artists and vloggers in the Philippines.
On December 8, 2020, BGYO along with the girl group BINI held a joint auction charity event called #BINIficiaryAucSHAn for the benefit of Typhoon Ulysses victims. The project ended up raising a total of ₱125,642, from the groups' auctioned trainee shirts, as well as several other belongings and from the fund raised via Kumu app. All the proceeds were donated to the Cagayan and Isabela relief operations through ABS-CBN Foundation – Sagip Kapamilya.
On December 20, 2020, the group performed on ABS-CBN's "Ikaw ang Liwanag at Ligaya: The ABS-CBN Christmas Special" pre-show entitled "KTnX ang Babait Ninyo: ABS-CBN Christmas Special Fundraising Show" for the segment "P-Pop RISE", a benefit show for the survivors and evacuees in areas hit by typhoons such as Rolly and Ulysses.
On March 28, 2021, the group was invited to perform on "POSITIVE VIBES FOR THE POSITIVE+", a benefit concert organized by director Cathy Garcia Molina for NICKL Entertainment.
BGYO will also perform on "Eleksyon 2022 Koalisyon's" "#RegiToVote Campaign" through "Love Kita Pinas", a virtual campaign that hopes to mobilize and encourage Filipino citizens to register and vote, to be held on May 22, 2021.
Webcast.
On March 19, 2021, BGYO became one of the "Kapamilya Artists" signed under a celebrity streaming partnership in the Philippines of the live streaming platform, Kumu and ABS-CBN, to promote Kumu campaigns.