A Fake AKB48 [“Waratte Iitomo!” Parody]

A Fake AKB48 [“Waratte Iitomo!” Parody]

End of the year TV is always funny and full of surprises and this year was no different as a serious crime was committed this week as the nation was entertained by a fake AKB48. OK now that I got that out of my system, here is the real story.

On “Waratte Iitomo!” Sasaki Nozomi, Yanagihara Kanako, and announcers: Hirai Rio, Saito Maiko, and Kato Ayako. Turned into AKB48 to perform the uniform version of “Heavy Rotation”.

Also on the same broadcast AKB48`s Akimoto Sayaka, joined Becky and the comedy teams Audrey and Oriental Radio, to transform into the KPOP group Kara to perform “Mister”.

If you are in the mood for a good laugh, have a look at this masterpiece of comedy.

As for our “Heavy Rotation” discussion we were having earlier, after seeing this performance, you may never feel the same way again, lol.

AKB48 + Live Orchestra

AKB48 + Live Orchestra

As part of the 52nd Japan Music Awards AKB48 performed “Beginner supported by a live Orchestra. You can see the video here.

Big Win For S/mileage

Big Win For S/mileage

S/mileage won the “Best New Artist” award at the 52nd Japan Record Awards.
In a year, that has seen a number of difficulties and surprises for H!P ,S/mileage has been one of their bright spots . At some point ,Morning Musume ,Berryz Koubou and C-ute will end .S/mileage could very well be this agency’s future flagship group.

Here is S/mileage from the 52nd Japan Record Awards .
For our female readers , be prepared for many tears from S/mileage . It was something to see them go from stunned Idols to performers in seconds. Their upset voices are cute in the performance .

Who Are AKB48 Fans?

Who Are AKB48 Fans?


Every time AKB48 does something history making or makes a "fan service" video, the first cries you hear from anti fans are the following. ".AKB48 fans are a bunch of men old enough to be their fathers, they sale because they put out swimsuit videos for those creepy wotas." Both by the way, are untrue as is the age and make up of wotas. That however is a separate article.

If you are wondering by the way, wotas are both male and female .Are a wide range of ages and are not creepy; they are in fact very nice, very intelligent and fun to be around.
There are wotas who are industry leaders as CEO`s, members of other famous bands. Even former Prime Ministers have been known to be wotas.

AKB48`s success is not fueled by wotas anymore and has not been for sometime now. It is fueled by the most broad based fan bases of any female idol group, in the industry today.

AKB48 has managed to take the wide range fan base and reinforce it with the largest female, pre-teen, and teenage fan base of any female idol group.

This is video from the Nagoya handshake event that took place last week. Things that you will quickly notice are
A. There is a large number of female fans
B. A number of pre-teens, teens and parents
C. A number of young adults

These five videos, without any commentary from me or other media outlets, tell a very clear story as to why AKB48 are viewed by the nation as the cool group. There is no question that wotas and otakus will forever play a vital role in entertainment, yet you need be open to as many different fan bases as possible

The following by the way is the early stages of the handshake event

Passpo☆ PV`s + Extras

With a slow news day right now with the major idols, I thought that our fans of Independent idols would enjoy these videos.

A few weeks ago I introduced everyone to a really up and coming group of idols called Passpo☆ .Passpo☆ are absolutely charming bunch of young ladies, who put on an energetic stage show.

Their videos are like lesser-known groups. Nothing flashy, shot on a budget, and lack the energy from their live videos, yet they work for them and come out as good videos.

You do not need to spend large amounts of money on over produced videos, if you believe in your song, you can make anything work.

Passpo☆ takes what they have and makes it work and are enjoyable.

There is something about Passpo☆ that pulls you in if you will let them and for a little while, they bring out that inner wota that you keep locked away, lol.

In addition, you find yourself happy that you checked them out. With any luck, this group will take flight to bigger and better things.

GPP



Let It Go!!



Sakura Colors


Member Intros in Subs


Hallelujah Live Stage



Related Post

http://pureidolheart.blogspot.com/2010/12/passpo-taking-flight-to-new-levels.html

Manaminorisa : 5th Single PV

Manaminorisa : 5th Single PV

It took a while, for me to get around to this post. For that I am sorry to everyone who wanted to see Manaminorisa 5th single Polaris related PV`s. You are in luck this time as I have more then just one PV for you to enjoy.

I still feel that with them now becoming more active in Tokyo, that it`s only a matter of time before they have their breakout single. Even if that does not happen, they are very active in their hometown, with their own TV show and other events.

Polaris



Sentimental Riot [Double A-Side Single #2]

Hello!Pro EGG; Kikkawa Yuu Has?

Kikkawa Yuu Has?

Hello!Pro EGG Kikkawa Yuu  has received the same press release that Sengoku Minami received the other day.

Up-Front  has announced just as Sengoku  a few days ago has completed her EGG training and just like Sengoku , Yuu will not be graduating.

For now Yuu`s next assignment is to be the opening act the upcoming winter concert tour for Hello!Project.

Fueling even more speculation is something that Tsunku said on the audition special broadcast yesterday.

At the end of the audition special Tsunku said the following about the five young finalists.

“This might become a good new group of people”

 This can be interpreted in a number of ways  .From his expressions the wheels in his head are turning , any or all five finalists could be in Morning Musume ,  or a new unit  by themselves .What makes this audition different then others ,the EGGS are eligible to become members of Morning Musume .

It`s just interesting that at the same time  the auditions for Morning Musume ,that allowed EGGS to audition is underway , EGGS are suddenly being announced as completing their training with no clear  explanation on what they will be doing next long term.

Just as I said with the Sengoku announcement  , this news may have nothing to do with Morning Musume at all as as both are over the age limit to audition and everything to do with Morning Musume at the same time .

2011 looks like it will be a year of changes for Hello!Project for not only Morning Musume , but for the EGGS as well.

AKB48: Sashihara Rino Gets Her Own TV Show.

AKB48: Sashihara Rino Gets Her Own TV Show.

Members of AKB48 are getting their own individual variety shows. Sashihara Rino`s variety show will be called “Sashiko no Kuseni“. “Sashiko no Kuseni” will air on TBS starting on January 11 at 1:25 am.

Serving as the MC is comedian Tsuchida Teruyuki. Sasshi`s first guest in this comedy/variety challenge mission type show will be AKB48`s Maeda Atsuko.

Will Sasshi rise up to the challenges that she will face each week? If anything it will be a full 30 minutes of Sasshi style as only she can bring it.

Footnote-> This is not another MC-Co host type role that AKB48 members have, this is a show centered on Sasshi .It`s for Sasshi, this is a major push up the ranks for Sasshi to become the host of her own television show.

Morning Musume: 9th Generation

UPDATE : Now with TV Broadcast

Here are the names and ages of the final 5

Ikuta Erina [13]
Suzuki Kanon [12] 
Sayashi Riho [12]
Mogi Minami [11]
Otsuka Aina [12]



Personal Observations While Watching the broadcast
their vocals is  strong in fact. Riho, Kanon are very confident in their singing, Minami struggles but just needs some confidence.Riho is the  most ready to join of the five.

Best way to describe the five is imagine S/Mileage in Morning Musume.

Your New Members Of Morning Musume Are?

Drum Roll

Will be announced at the winter concert.

2nd of January

Mogi

Sayu may block this girl on the Sayu is #1 Kawaii in Morning Musume rule

Guest Commentator

From Sayu`s Blog
Said she is very anxious to meet the new members (they were all cute) and was touched by how hard they were working and it reminded her of her audition.

AKB48: Joins MySpace.

AKB48: Joins MySpace.

AKB48 with it`s growing international fan base and international touring schedule, is reaching out to it`s foreign fans.

AKB48 earlier today launched their official English MySpace site.

You can visit it here.
http://www.myspace.com/akb48official

S/mileage: Shortcut Radio Preview

S/mileage: Shortcut Radio Preview

On February 2, S/mileage will release their next single called “Shortcut” .It follows the same style as a number of H!P songs these days amine-ish in music ,with strong vocals.

With each release, S/mileage continues to grow a little more .If you are a fan of H!P ,then this is another song to add to your collection .

TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE: Love Like Candy Floss PV

TOKYO GIRLS’ STYLE: Love Like Candy Floss PV
The little darlings of Avex are back with another release, this time TGS is covering former AVEX group SweetS 2004 single "Love Like Candy Floss ".

This single is really a little more mature for this aged group, however the new modern feel of the song and the video shoot make up for that problem.

The PV tells a cute story and has a nice ending.

This is one single that TGS may end up both winning and loosing at the same time . SweetS still has a loyal fan base, even after no longer being a unit; and this video is meeting some resistance from SweetS fans.

Anytime you do a cover track, it`s often a win-loose situation for the artist as every little thing will be judge by the original.


Overall, it is a very nice video and single remake.




To be fair to both groups
The original done by SweetS

Itano Tomomi :Dear J Covers + Radio Release

Itano Tomomi :Dear J Covers + Radio Release

In a stunning release AKB48`s Itano Tomomi first solo release “Dear J” CD covers have been released and they are nothing short of artistic stunning. If you like to collect CD covers, it`s worth getting the single just for the covers.

The single will be released on January 26 and will come in “Type-A”, “Type-B”, and “Type-C” editions, all of which will include a DVD .The PV will also be included in each edition, with separate bonus DVD footage for each release. To complete the deal each type will have different coupling tracks.

Type-A

Coupling song: “TUNNEL”
Special movie on DVD: “Tomomi Itano Collection”

Type-B

Coupling song: “Stay by my side”
Special movie on DVD: “Tomomi Itano Interview”

Type-C

Coupling song: “Thank you”
Special movie on DVD: “Making of Tomomi Itano”

H!P EGG! Speculation!

H!P EGG Speculation! + Update

A very interesting and not much detailed press release has come out of the Up-Front/Hello!Project Offices , that  could have an effect on the future of Morning Musume and could have nothing to do with the auditions at all. So the following is speculation that is being talked about with a lot of interest this evening.


A simple worded very short message  was released a few hours ago as of  posting this  , which stated the following.

“Sengoku Minami has "completed her Hello!Pro Egg training" and that she will be preparing for her next job .  Now here is what makes this more interesting , there is not a single word of her graduating , leaving the agency  , transferring of the kind . In fact, she has a play scheduled  to do in March-April 2011.

Now as expected this has fueled all kinds of fan  talk that the Ongaku Gatas  member is joining  Morning Musume . She is one of the better singing EGGS. Also, one of the most ready ,however there is one major problem , which makes that idea pure speculation . Minami is 19 years old and above the age of audition.

How does this if at all related to the 9th generation auditions , have to do with other EGGS  , such as the very popular  Kikkawa Yuu, who also falls in the “over the age” ranks and their chance at promotion. Yuu has a legion of fans ,which have yet to forgive the agency , for not putting her in Morning Musume , after her original  audition.  Finger pointing by some would be a safe bet if Minami is added and not Yuu .


As I  said earlier ,with so little information being released ,this may have zero to do with the future of  Morning Musume .

With so little to go on  about anything related to the EGGS and the auditions  ,for now without any other  clear information to report ,  it`s just another  mystery in an already strange audition.

Added Update ,
The Shinjin Kouen concerts are ending and the  H!P Eggs will go through a different kind of training program.
This does not clear up Minami`s situation which was singled out by UFA.

Berryz Koubou Headed To America

Little news catch up

Berryz Koubou Headed To America

Berryz Koubou is heading to the United States. Berryz Koubou have been invited to appear at the Seattle based Sakura-Con anime festival.

Berryz is expected to follow the same plan that Morning Musume used in America, a mini live and related fan events.


The convention will be held at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle for April 22nd-24th in 2011.

The featured artist by the way will be the all female Visual Kei rock band. Exist Trace. I really like Exist Trace and if they are something that you would like to know more about, I would be glad to place them on this site, even if they are not idols.

AKB48: Draws 20,000 fans to Handshake Event! +NMB48 Song

UPDATE : News Story with Tomomi`s PV

AKB48: Draws 20,000 fans to Handshake Event! +NMB48 Song

AKB48 is still supporting their highly successful singer “Beginner” while they have another single “Chance no Junban” out to promote as well.

As part of their “Beginner”, promotions AKB48 have been doing handshake events in major sports arenas.

On December 18, AKB48 paid a visit to Osaka and the Kyocera Dome .The Kyocera Dome is a professional baseball domed stadium that is home to the Orix Buffaloes and used by the famed Hanshin Tigers for games when their stadium is being used for other events. The Kyocera Dome is listed at seating 48,000 however; it really seats 36,627 for baseball games and 48,000 major concerts.

AKB48 managed to bring in an impressive 20,000 fans for a mini live and handshake event.

The event opened with a little AKB48 baseball as Itano Tomomi threw out the opening pitch ,well it was more liked rolled out the first pitch as it fell short and rolled to home plate to a waiting Maeda Atsuko .

Itano could get another chance to make up for her pitch with the fan debut of her solo single PV “Dear J”.

A day of firsts did not end there as the newest 48`s NMB48 made a surprise appearance to perform their theme song “NMB48” which received a loud response from the crowd.

Related video
Note you will not see the girls good but the song is clear.

NMB48: NMB48
[This is already better then most groups have released all year]



As everybody has heard AKB48 sing , here is some more NMB48 action


Lineup if you want to shake hands




UPDATE : TV news Coverage and Tomomi`s PV tease.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFmsTbDRGgQ

Morning Musume: 9th Generation Audition Member Name #2

Take this for what it is; there is another girl in the auditions who is not a so-called amateur. If you remember the first girl that enters the room at the dance scene .Well her name is Ikuda Erina [13], she has in the past before this audition been involved with an agency.

She is also an AKB48 fan by her own admission a Kojima Haruna fan.

Now here is what gets interesting about this discovery by hard working wotas. A little more then two hours ago as of posting this , both her blog and twitter accounts were suddenly shut down. So this could mean that she will be one of the members added to the group and that her contract was transferred to H!P?  Or H!P may have just found out about them and shut them down to protect the auditions.

Before her blog and twitter account was shut down , they were filled with normal fan girling over AKB48 ,no3b and Kojima.

It`s a safe bet  that if Tsunku let’s her get away ,she will jump over to the AKB48 family at first chance of auditions.

Now because she is a fan girl of AKB48 there is no reason Musume fans to hate on her that is not why I posted this post. Most all school age girls support AKB48 it`s a fact of life , yet they dream of being an idol. Hello!Project is giving her that chance first  and if selected , I am sure she will be a dedicated member to the lineup.

EDIT: Put away your clubs and torches , on an archive of her blog ,she has stuff about S/Mileage as well .


Now we know at least two of the audition members names .

What do you think ? looks like she would make a good Musume to me , just look at her past photo shoots.

AKB48: 3 Million Single Sales in 2010

AKB48: 3 Million Single Sales in 2010

If there is anyone who believes that AKB48 does not have control of this industry on the female side,  it is either someone who is a dedicated anti fan or someone who refuses to face the reality. To be honest  not much separates both.

When it comes to female idol genre in 2010 one-group stands out above all others and that is AKB48.

AKB48 released five singles in 2010, each one setting new records for female artists. These five singles currently total sales for the year of 2010 is impressive.

'Sakura no Shiori" started off the year in February .Sakura entered the chats at #1  with a first week sales of 317,828  and is still on the Oricon top 200 after 41 weeks  with total sales  of 390,957 .

May saw AKB48 release "Ponytail to Shushu" ,and like Sakura the single entered the charts at #1 with sales of 513,453 .Ponytail like Sakura is also still on the Oricon charts 29 weeks after the release with total sales of 659,959

August saw the release of "Heavy Rotation" .HR continued AKB48`s streak at #1 with a first week sales of 527,336. HR is still charting after 17 weeks with total sales of 713,275

This single saw AKB48 become the third female artist in Japanese music history to have back-to-back 500,000 first week sales. They also became the first female idol group to accomplish this. It was also #1 on the mobile sales chart.

AKB48 released "Beginner' in October.' Beginner "shipped 1,030,000 copies to stores, their highest single shipment in history.

"Beginner" entered the charts at #1 with a first week sales of 826,989."Beginner's" first day sales was the highest first day sales  since Oricon started to report daily sales .It also was the highest first weeks sales for a female artist in 12 years . It was also the third highest sales for a female artist. It also marked the first time that AKB48 had a video rejected for television and hard disk distribution due to it`s violent content.

This was somewhat controversial as there are many more, questionable content videos out in stores and the rejected version was far from those levels, leaving many to believe that this was a planned marketing campaign by the agency.

" Beginner" is still on the Oricon top 20 , 7 weeks after release with sales of  954,283 and never falling below 17th in the weekly  and never below 30th in the daily and is currently averaging  7,000 + sales a week.

AKB48`s current single "Chance no Junban" was released on December 8th and like all the singles before it this year ,entered the charts at #1 with a one week total of 596,769 .
"Chance no Junban" marks AKB`s 4th half million first week single in a row.
This single also put AKB on the sale level as Onyanko Club with six consecutive #1 singles, something that Onyanko Club done 23 years ago.   

"Chance no Junban" also became the fifth consecutive #1 single for AKB48 in the same year, something that no female artist has done in 32 years.

"Chance no Junban" like it`s singles before it will end the year in the Oricon top 50 for 2010. AKB currently holds the # 1, 2,5,8,12,48 positions .SKE48 holds the 41st and AKB48 album holds the 12th.

These five singles to date totaled 3,315,243 in sales for 2010. If you add in the 32,717 sales for the 2009 released "River" sold just in 2010 the total increases to 3,347,960

"River" by the way is also still on the Oricon charts some 57 weeks after it`s release.

If we turn our attention to the mobile side AKB48 currently has  5 singles  in the " ring tone charts"  ,4 singles in the "video preview charts" and  14 songs in the " video clip charts" .

When you add in all the sub unit releases the AKB48 franchise for 2010 total hard disk sales increases to 3,724,025 .If you add in the three AKB48 albums that were released in 2010 that have sales of 592,493, total hard disk sales for the franchise known as AKB48 comes to 4,316,518

If you add in the success stories of SKE48 and SDN48 and the birth of NMB48, 2010 was an incredible year for the 48 franchises, that saw them reach new levels of respect and fan interest across the country.

Will 2011 see AKB48 and their sister units continue their unchallenged control of the female idol industry?

Will 2011 see the rise of new idol groups not only to continue out of the independent ranks  , but to create new challengers for the 48`s ?

Will 2011 see veteran groups  regroup and find pride inside them and take the fight to AKB48 ?

2011 will be on us shortly and so many questions are starting to be asked .If 2010 is any indication ,2011 will see the female side continue to be  full of surprises and excitement. And for the 48`s this maybe only the beginning.

Aso Natsuko: More Idol Love

UPDATED

Aso Natsuko: More Idol Love

Most of the time ,I like to focus on groups and not soloists ,yet given what all that has happened in the last few hours , this site is in need of Idol “cuteness ,love and happiness” ,so I Present to you Aso Natsuko .


Aso Natsuko represents everything that the lesser known idols represent ,that is “cuteness ,love and happiness” and after watching her PV for her most recent single “More-more Lovers!!” ,you will quickly start to understand why I have used those three words to describe her .

Natsuko [20] is a Tokyo girl, who is also an actress as well as an Idol [She loves to play Monster Hunter by the way] and received her industry break by signing with “Stardust!” the agency that brought to the scene Momoiro Clover.

In her acting career Natsuko has been in the following Dramas
“Uroi Taiyou [as Hiromi], MAGISTER NEGI MAGI Mahou Sensei Negima! [as Hasegawa Chisame], Saito-san [as Gyaru], Cat Street [as Misaki], Shokojo Seira [as Yokoo Mamiko] and Hitsudan Hostess [as Hikari] “

On the music front, she has released one album “Movement of Magic” [#109 Oricon 1,338] that came with 14 songs and 9 music videos.

Since her Music debut in 2009 she has released five singles with another two scheduled for February and March release.

She also has pockets of support from anime fans in France and other parts of Europe

If your looking for an idol that is full of “cuteness, love and happiness” and you are not concerned with sales numbers and chart rankings give Aso Natsuko a chance, you just may find out that you have a soft spot for another one of this industries hidden treasures.

“More-more Lovers!!” [Single #5] [#38 3,450 sales]
Was used as the ending theme for the anime MM!.



Single #4 was “Everday sunshine line!” [#75 1,839]
Was used as the ending theme for the anime Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou.




Single #3 was “ Perfect-Area Complete!”
This was a hit release , in regards to the level that she is currently at ,coming in at #18 with sales of 13,479 and staying on the top 200 Oricon charts for 11 weeks.

Was used as the opening theme for the anime Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu.


Single #2 was “Programming for Non-Fiction “ [ #83 2,627 ]
Was used as the opening theme for the anime Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou.




Single # 1 was “ Brand New World” and was used as the first ending theme for the anime Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen on television.

[Audio]


Album Title Track PV




UPDATE
It seems that I left off her Blog site and Web Site .Sorry about that.


http://ameblo.jp/natsukoaso/
http://official.stardust.co.jp/natsukoaso/

Morning Musume: 9th Generation Video # 2

Second clip of the final five auditions.

At the very end of the episode, the five are dancing in front of the entire management group. Even in this short clip, you can see that there is some separation of talent between the five. One seems to me to have Konno Asami syndrome. If you remember her idol story, then you will understand that comment.

Riho clearly has an advantage over the others, but she is not the only one .Without knowing which EGGS! they have in mind of adding, it`s hard to say how many may join.

All five will need time to grow and our patience as they stumble along the way.

Morning Musume: 9th Generation Final 5

Final Five

From all indications, there are only five girls left and the winners will be announced December 23. This however does not include any EGGS! That still may be added.

After having such an adult Morning Musume, not sure if I am ready for Junior Musume.

Morning Musume: 9th Generation It Starts

Updated

Well It didn`t take long to move forward .Are you ready for the 9th Generation discovery? First of two episodes to get our final members of the 9th generation.





The next Aichan ? Sayashi Riho

Morning Musume: Graduation Concert Video Clip

UPDATED

First of several videos in the hours to come from the concert.

Near the end of this video LinLin falls on stage.

We also get to see, just how much H!P messed up Aichan`s chance solo chance,by not moving her to a solo artist ,when Musume was the in group. This girl can sing with such power.


This was one of their best concerts .The members had a lot of excitement and power in their work .It was almost as if they were so happy to be in a major arena again.

You can say what you want about their non wota popularity, but one thing has always been a well known fact, this franchise throughout it`s history has produced some of the best concerts in the industry.

This may have been their greatest one to date.




UPDATED






This is how the concert opened