BINI

BINI is a Filipino girl group under ABS-CBN’s Star Magic that is formed through Star Hunt Academy (SHA), and is composed of eight members: Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikha, Jhoanna, and Sheena. The group’s name was taken from the Tagalog word binibini which means “young lady”, a nod to the group’s vision to “embody the idea of a modern Filipina — sweet, fierce, independent, and informed.”

For many years, believing that “the Filipino talent has a place in the global stage,” Laurenti Dyogi, ABS-CBN’s Head of Entertainment Production, thought of forming a training camp where youth aspiring to become superstars “can develop or further hone their talents.” In 2018, ABS-CBN finally launched the Star Hunt Academy program. From this pool of auditionees, in addition to recommendations by talent scouts, the first set of female Star Hunt Academy trainees were selected, which was originally composed of 11 girls. While Dyogi initially planned to debut a 9-member idol girl group, the 11 girl trainees were eventually trimmed down to 8 girls: Maraiah Queen Arceta (Aiah), Nicolette Vergara (Colet), Mary Loi Ricalde (Maloi), Gwenyth Apuli (Gwen), Stacey Aubrey Sevilleja (Stacey), Mikhaela Lim (Mikha), Sheena Mae Catacutan (Sheena), and Jhoanna Robles (Jhoanna). Two members, Sheena and Gwen, were originally housemates from Pinoy Big Brother: Otso Batch 3.

The group was trained from 2018 to 2020 under esteemed local coaches like 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, as well as South Korean coaches from MUdoctor Academy.

Fans of Bini are known as “Bloom(s)”, commonly stylized as BL ∞\infty M(S) with the infinity symbol replacing the Os taking inspiration from the group’s tagline “Walo hanggang dulo (Eight until the end)”. The name serves as a lovely reminder of Bini’s story and journey, it stands for the beginning of springtime that there’s always beauty after every cold trial. It was chosen by the Bini members among the name suggestions of the fans during a special announcement livestream on February 13, 2021.