Katseye performs ‘Pinky Up’ at American Music Awards
Teahouses and raves aren’t often mentioned in the same breath, but Katseye brought the hyper-pop dance party to an exceptionally brightly colored tearoom set with the quintet’s live rendition of “Pinky Up” at the American Music Awards.
The electrifying song came shortly before the group won Best New Artist on the CBS/Paramount+ telecast.
Kateye’s performance was one of the most highly anticipated of the evening, given the dedication of the group’s fanbase, so it was no surprise that “Pinky Up,” which appeared two-thirds of the way through the three-hour broadcast, featured some of the evening’s most elaborate production values.
Before the group came out, a group of extras pretended to drink tea and tuck into pastries, with their pinky fingers raised – in keeping with the song’s innate parody of the etiquette stereotypically associated with tea drinking. And perhaps pinky fingers weren’t the only thing getting high in this milieu, as the numbers continued to explode in a riot of EDM rhythms and rose tones. The five members jumped out of a giant pink teddy bear, and even their costumes were decorated with little bear faces, as if the Grateful Dead’s mascot had suddenly infiltrated the world of girl groups.
The group’s acceptance speech for New Artist of the Year was delivered largely in English, but with accents of other languages from the members’ diverse backgrounds. “We have always been on a mission to celebrate diversity and represent our people and our culture, so thank you for giving us the platform to do this,” said Lara Raj.
Katseye had some star boosts in the lively performance, as EJAE and Rei Ami of “KPop Demon Hunters” fame introduced the performance. “Tonight already feels golden, and it’s going to get even better,” EJAE promised in her intro. (The mutual admiration between the “Demon Hunters” singers and Katseye was already well established when the two ensembles came together at Katseye’s Coachella in April for a performance of “Golden.” Rei Ami described that festival collaboration as “a beautiful meeting of girl power.”)
“Pinky Up” will appear on Katseye’s third EP, “Wild,” out August 14th. But fans have already gotten a good dose of it, first as a digital single released in early April, and then via the song’s live premiere during back-to-back Coachella weekends that same month.
Katseye entered the evening with three nominations: for new artist of the year, groundbreaking pop artist and best music video (for “Gnarly”).
It was the group’s first awards performance since the Grammys, which happened to be their last major performance as a six-piece, at least for now. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that Manon Bannerman would be taking a break from the group, and she remained absent from Monday night’s AMA performance.
