AKB48 Grows By 33

AKB48 Grows By 33

Auditions are in the air and AKB48 held an  audition for their 13th generation members.

On September 24, 57, girls    remained in the audition of which 33  provisionally passed .The 33 new idols will now enter their kenkyuusei training system with hopes of becoming formal trainees .

The 33 winners  range between the ages of 12 and 18 and had to get pass a panel of 15 judges. AKB48 theater manager Togasaki Tomonobu spoke to the new idols after the audition offering them the following words of encouragement.

“We had a very long and difficult discussion this time as well. I hope that all of you who passed will work hard in order to become a formal research student and eventually a full-fledged team member.”

Should any of these girls advance through their AKB48 training, they stand the chance to enter one of the main units of AKB48.

Morning Musume 10th Gen Update

Morning Musume 10th Gen Update

There is little time left for the hopefuls .It`s really hard to make a judgment on just a few minutes of footage as we don`t see everything the staff sees that day .Being a backdancer for Dorothy Little Happy has advantages , but is it enough to meet the demands of Morning Musume.

This audition like the 9th gen is more about life after the big names are gone. I don`t know how many he will pick ,Tsunku is a sneaky man and that smile on his face tells me he has what he wants from this audition and it may surprise us all.

The idea of all ten joining is over as two left Tashima Meru & Miyagi Ayumi seem to have dropped out ,will that open the door for two Eggs and keep Tsunku`s crazy idea he hinted at last week of a 18 member Musume ?




On a related note, their current single is currently their best selling single since 2007. How soon can we start 11th gen auditions, time to get back to what this group is famous for, idol creating. lol

S/mileage: Didn`t Take Long

S/mileage: Didn`t Take Long

I don`t really have a lot to say about this, this is more so a photo send out to fellow bloggers. Things happen very fast in the idol genre, there is a saying that agencies don`t let the body get cold before moving on. H!P is quickly moving on and while Saki fans may not be happy here is what their staff tweets call “New S/mileage ,S/mileage #2”.

Leaving your sadness over Saki to the side ,what do you think ,cute right ?

S/mileage New Member Footage [Subbed]

S/mileage New Member Footage [Subbed]


Having a sub team is something that I hope as PIH moves forward we can put in place as I get mail asking if there are any subbed versions of shows or clips from time to time.

Anyway, all credit goes to the team that created the subs for this clip, so if you have a YouTube account, give them a word of thanks for their hard work.





In related news New S/mileage, are finishing a USTREAM show as I write this up. They played games, laughed and had the best time. So have no worries over the group and don`t be surprised if by the end of the fall tour the sub label is dropped . The new members are clicking just fine ,like they been in group for years and gen 1 S/mileage had the best time laughing and playing with them. Not sure what was funnier the new line up or their manager wearing a mask when getting on camera to hide her face.

They have really added a fresh spark to the group, which I think in time everyone will notice.

Video later if possible

S/mileage 2nd Gen Video look + Future Speculations

S/mileage 2nd Gen Video look + Future Speculations

S/mileage staff has uploaded video of the new member announcement on their YouTube channel. First thing, you will notice ,S/mileage is crying before the first member was ever announced .This was a hard sale for them , but will make them better , much like when Morning Musume first expanded.

Future Speculation


Are the girls that were not selected being saved for Morning Musume 10th gen? After all the rules said clearly, you could audition for both groups or are these subbing members and the unpicked members in the plans for a new unit?

New Unit?
Well Tsunku opened that door .When Tsunku made the new member announcement, he also muddied the waters bysaying, that if one or more sub members does not fit the missing part for S/mileage as full members, that the option was there for a new project.

Now is the new project that he hinted to a new unit? Including the unselected members.

Whatever the reasons for adding these five girls, the industry now has five new idols to get to know and more questions then answers.

The rest of this year, is going to be one if your an H!P fan worth watching as something is in the works at H!P and it could go a long way in tipping the hand about the future of this agency.

S/mileage Grows By Five

S/mileage Grows By Five

Ladies and Gentlemen, S/mileage grows by five.

Earlier today, S/mileage grew by five members with the addition of what is being called sub members. Question number one; with S/mileage now being as large as Morning Musume does this mean that the agency views this unit to have more value then Berryz Koubou and C-ute?

For this new experiment ,these new sub members are not full  card carrying members of S/mileage just yet. It seems that Tsunku  wants to take this idea for a test drive  to find that missing piece to complete S/mileage and also hold the fear of demotion over their heads of the original members to make sure they don`t take things for granted.Really it`s not demotions ,the wording makes it out to believe that S/mileage is becoming like AKB48 ,were subs can fill in at times.

In regards to the sub-member concept ,Tsunku  mentioned that the group is missing something and these five will be given first shot at finding it.Meaning Gen 3 auditions are possible.


Tsunku also  went on to say  the following :"Based on their activities, I will decide if they will become official members”. Call them what you want the S/mileage fan base at the live gave them overwhelming support and cheers and it`s only an issue of time before the sub member label gets dropped at least by fans.

So just who will make up S/mileage 2nd generation ? They are Katsuta Rina, Kosuga Fuyuka, Nakanishi Kana, Tamura Meimi, and Takeuchi Akari.

Rina

The ever Egao [smiling] Rina is a newly promoted H!P EGG .Rina is from Tokyo and is 13 and is good at gymnastics .



Fuyuka

Fuyuka is from Kanagawa and is 13 ,she is good at karate and performing the Tea Ceremony

Kana

Kana is from Osaka and is 14 ,she is good at impressions and sports

Meimi

Meimi is the youngest of the new members at age 12. Meimi is from Gunma and her  special skill is room arrangement
Akari

Akari is a genki newly promoted H!P EGG. This energetic idol is 13 and is from Saitama .She should be a fan favorite of Morning Musume`s next leader Niigaki Risa as she can do impressions of Mickey Mouse.

She also is the cousin of C-ute`s Yajima Maimi

Of the five that joined some faces that drew fan attention across the world are missing . The popular Ribbon-Chan is a member of the Avex Academy Idol group DELUXE COLORS! ,much like Riho was an academy performer before joining Morning Musume .

The very popular and wota top choice Karin is still in play for Morning Musume 10th gen .


When asked about the new members,the first generation members said the following: Ogawa said, “Honestly, at first I didn’t like the idea of having new members.”

Wada who was the most outspoken when the audition news broke , claimed that she did not want to baby sit any new members ,that maybe another member should be leader . She later explained that the other three members were already a handful for her at times . Wada now has had three months to think about this and offered her views on the new members . Wada responded by saying “I want everyone to become official members.”

I am not really surprised by Wada , change is hard , and as leader she will rise up and meet this new challenge .In time Wada will help S/mileage grow to become a new powerful family .

While S/mileage didn`t get their wish of getting sexy members ,they loaded up on cuteness and that is hard for wotas to fight off ,the results should payoff nicely for S/mileage.




New Members Profile
http://s-mileage.jp/info/2863

S/mileage 2nd Generation Audition Final Round

S/mileage Audition Update

We are getting down to the end and it`s four Eggs including Korean audition winner, Jang Da Yeon  and eight new hopefuls in the final round , which one or ones of these girls will join S/mileage.

Who is your favorite to join ?

DiVA Generation 2 Auditions

DiVA Generation 2 Auditions

For the first time in history an AKB48 sub unit will be adding non AKB48 .The group who I believe could break away completely from AKB48 and have a major impact career ,DiVA is adding generation two members.

Applicants will be between 18 and 23 and must have dance experience, no raw trainees in this audition. The audition will last three rounds with the final round consisting of performing in front of the members of DiVA. Everyone who passes will become Office48 agency members and members of DiVA. No word if this will open the door to AKB48 membership for the winners.

Who knows maybe DiVA will become a super idol group  of it`s own ,with multiple teams .Why not with HKT48 forming Akimoto already has over 200 girls in his empire ,what’s 30-48 more right .

S/mileage + EGGS + Auditions = Generation 2?

S/mileage + EGGS + Auditions = Generation 2?

The final 50 of the S/mileage generation 2 auditions featured eight H!P EGGS and 42 other girls .Will the EGGS have an advantage ? Should and EGG or two be new members ,will you be happy with that ?

One or more of these girls could  become new members of S/mileage

First up the EGGS
3001 - Mogi Minami (from 9th Gen Momusu auditions) ,3002 - Miyamoto Karin ,
3003 - Katsuta Rina ,3004 - Otsuka Aina (from 9th Gen Momusu auditions) ,
3005 - Takeuchi Akari ,3006 - Kaneko Rie ,3007 - Takagi Sayuki,3008 - Nagazawa Wakana ,



As for the total audition ,I was away and can not tell you much about it ,sorry

S/mileage Visits Their Gen 2 Audition

S/mileage Visits Their Gen 2 Audition

S/mileage took the time to do a drop in visit of their generation 2 auditions .An excited S/mileage greeted the collection of generation 2 hopefuls for a short conversation.

The first thing that I noticed was that H!P has a marketing gem sitting in that room ,if they pass the audition. S/mileage could become the first H!P unit to have twins as members .That's right S/mileage fans we have twins wanting to enter S/mileage ,and if there is any chance of them passing you have to take them ,just for the marketing and media fallout. Besides, they are already picking up fans .

S/mileage did treat the young idol hopefuls to one last memory a reverse handshake were the idols run the line and not the fans.

S/mileage 2nd Generation Audition Update.

S/mileage 2nd Generation Audition Update.

The auditions are officially underway and if your a fan or not of these auditions, they can`t be stopped and the value of the decision is the devil in the details as they say.

These auditions were a long time in coming in fact Tsunku decided that they would move forward on the night the group won the “Rookie of the Year Award” at the 52nd Japan Record Awards.

When looking at what type girl or girls will be joining the group, Tsunku said the following.

“I’m (looking) for members who seem like they’ll motivate S/mileage and Hello! Project. I might even pull girls from the Eggs. I have been thinking of adding Eggs into S/mileage. Basically, I’m looking for their appeal to the public.”

He went on to add.

That he plans to add at least one, but the door to adding up to six girls to S/mileage after auditions are over is open. “Three or four sub-members, and one or two regular members. “If I add six members, they’ll all be sub-members, but if there’s a girl whose outstanding I’ll make her a main member.”

When it comes to the mind of Tsunku, what he says and means can often be lost in translation, not to mention he is probably the most unpredictable producer in the idol genre today.

Whatever the true motivation for these auditions S/mileage is about to enter for better or worse a new era in their young history.

Future Member ?

S/mileage Generation 2 Auditions

S/mileage Generation 2 Auditions[Updated Video]

When S/mileage first formed, there was a round a about hint that the group was unfinished .

This comes  from a statement that Tsunku made at the time that the member’s lineup was not fixed, meaning the current lineup was not the final.

It was announced at S/mileage’s first year major debut anniversary that S/mileage will be holding generation two auditions.

First round of interviews and singing will start on June 4, around the same time that Morning Musume will be starting their auditions; now how will this work for the staff?

According to H!P officials  any middle school or high school girl  wanting to audition for Morning Musume can also audition for S/mileage .Audition winners will be placed in one of the two groups .  S/mileage audition age range by the way is listed at 13-18 by May 1,2011 .

This brings up a very important and unanswered question ,will S/mileage have graduations now ?

Audition paper , in Japanese
http://s-mileage.jp/member-bosyu.shtml


S/mileage onstage reactions

Morning Musume 9th Gen Auditions 4th Stage.

UPDATED

Morning Musume 9th Gen Auditions 4th Stage. [Related Update]

Morning Musume has entered what is expected to be their final audition stage .With media no longer focusing on Hello!Project as much in the past and H!P/Up-Front not very open about their operations , little is known about what is going on , outside of 4th stage call backs have started.

We have no information on how many new girls have passed the three stages, how many EGGS or Nice Girl Project! Trainees who are also eligible to audition have passed or are in consideration for membership.

Expect the final members to be announced at or near the graduation concert.

Related post I did when the auditions started , related to the EGGS
http://pureidolheart.blogspot.com/2010/08/egg-members-can-audition-for-9th-gen.html

EGG & NGP Members Can Audition for 9th Gen Musume

 UFA/H!P has announced  through Tsunku`s blog that any member of the H!P EGG training school and any Nice Girl Project ! trainee aged 10-17 yrs old as of August 1st ,2010  who asks to enter the auditions can do so . Any EGG or NGP member that requests to audition for Morning Musume 9th generation will enter the auditions after the first round ,giving them another advantage over non H!P hopefuls .


There are only two NGP trainees that meet the age requirements, so really this is more about which of the EGGS will be joining Morning Musume  ,currently 20 members of the EGGS program qualify. 

They are

 Sainen Mia
 Mori Saki
 Kitahara Sayaka
 Komine Momoka
 Saho Akari
 Okai Asuna
 Sekine Azusa
 Arai Manami
 Kaneko Rie
 Maeda Irori
 Fukumura Mizuki
 Takeuchi Akari
 Miyamoto Karin
 Satou Ayano
 Kizawa Runa
 Tanabe Nanami
 Takagaki Sayuki
 Katsuta Rina
 Nagasawa Wakana
 Kudo Haruka



I will not say that the audition is now rigged, only that the outcome is now “heavily” favored for the EGGS   members to pass.

My feeling is that they already know what EGGS  member they want to enter Morning Musume and that this “EGG/NGP Audition eligibility” is just a way of  publicly saying that everyone had a fair chance of entry  without upsetting wotas who may feel that their EGGS deserves to be a member.

The EGGS members that are true candidates to enter Morning Musume, have likely been “requested” to audition and their audition is likely for show.

There is no point of placing advanced trained professional idols in an hopefuls audition, against girls who before the audition were idol dreamers singing Karaoke covers, unless two things are at play.
1. There is real concern over the talent quality of the audition pool
2. There will be a certain number of EGGS  members joining Morning Musume along with non-EGG finalists.

Having trained idols go through this audition, gives the decision makers a pool of pre -trained idols, who are ready to step into any group, with very little additional costs, and a pre-established fan base.


Some leading candidates.
Just briefly running through the list, the member that is most likely ready for a main unit is Kitahara Sayaka.




Others to keep a watch on are Saho Akari , Fukumura Mizuki ,Arai Manami she would give Musume a member with glasses,  Maeda Irori and Chisato of C-ute little sister Okai Asuna .

What has gone from a maybe they will find someone that fans will like audition ,has now gone into the ,lets make sure we get this right audition.

Nothing happens in this industry by random chance, just as the entry of JunJun and LinLin was to get a foothold into China, the entry of the EGGS/NGP into the audition was preplanned with a reason behind it, after all, they would not be changing the rules of the audition after the announcement unless some EGGS/NGP were going to be members or strongly considering to add them.

This will be unlike any other audition before, which trained idols will be joining? We will soon discover.