Morning Musume
Morning Musume to Cover Pink Lady
Submitted 2008-09-08 02:26 PM
The 37th single from Morning Musume has finally been announced. "Pepper Keibu" will be a cover of the legendary jpop duo Pink Lady's debut single, and it will be released on September 24th.
This follows Takahashi Ai and Niigaki Risa's recent appearance as Pink Lady on the drama "Hitmaker Aku Yuu Monogatari", which was a retrospective of the life of the late songwriter Aku Yuu. The c/w will be "Romance", another Aku Yuu song originally performed by the singer Iwasaki Hiromi.
In addition, on the 26th of November Morning Musume will release "COVER YOU", an album featuring songs all written by Aku Yuu. It will include a cover of "Izakaya", a duet between Takahashi and the original singer Hiroshi Itsuki.
Hello! Project News Update 2008-05-25
Submitted 2008-05-25 04:36 PM
Goto Yuuki, brother of Goto Maki and former EE Jump singer was found guilty on May 21st of robbery and assault and was sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison. He was the ringleader in the crime which saw 48 reels of copper cable (worth around ¥470,000/US$4500/£2300/€2900) taken from a construction site in July 2007, and left a security guard with a broken nose. Maki was in court for the sentencing, and afterwards apologized to reporters for her brothers actions.
Morning Musume began their asian tour last night with a concert in the Taipei Nankang Exhibition Hall. They also recorded an appearance for the Taiwanese "Hello Project New Star" TV show, the auditions having started earlier that day with around 1000 girls taking part.
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Hello! Project News Summary 2008-04-27
Submitted 2008-04-27 03:09 PM
Morning Musume sold just over 48k copies of their single "Resonant Blue" in its first week, reaching number 3 in the weekly chart. That is the third highest sales figure of their last ten singles.
This week saw the release of three Hello! Project singles. On the first day, C-ute reached number 2 with "Namida no Iro" while v-u-den were number 8 with their final single "Nannimo Iwazu ni I LOVE YOU". Meanwhile, Fujimoto Miki's solo return "Okitegami" was number 14 for its first day.
Kago Ai has signed to a new agency called "Mainstream", and she mentioned on her blog that she has agreed to appear in a Hong Kong movie. No further details are available yet.
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Hello! Project News Summary 2008-04-20
Submitted 2008-04-20 05:50 PM
Morning Musume's 36th single "Resonant Blue" was released this past Monday, reaching number 2 and selling approximately 25k copies on its first day. Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina and Junjun arrived in Taiwan on the 16th to promote the single and the Taiwanese leg of Morning Musume's Asian tour on the 24th of May. The third leg has been announced and will take place in Shanghai on the 28th of June.
Mitsui Aika was released from hospital on the 17th after having her appendix removed. She performed at the Morning Musume concert on the 19th in Nagoya sitting on a chair on the stage.
To promote "Cinderella the Musical", a special unit, "High-King", has been formed. Consisting of Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina, Shimizu Saki, Yajima Maimi, and Maeda Yuuka, they will release a single "C/C (Cinderella/Complex)" on June 11.
Matsuura Aya opened the 25th National Confectionery Exposition at Hijemi Castle on the 18th. The show is Japan's largest confectionary exhibition, with over 800 companies participating. Meanwhile, Ishikawa Rika was in Shibuya on the 20th to participate in a promotional event for the new soda "Fanta FuruFuru Shaker", where she performed with comedy duo "Speed Wagon".
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Morning Musume to star in Cinderalla The Musical
Submitted 2008-03-01 11:17 PM
It has been confirmed that Morning Musume are to appear in "Cinderella The Musical". This will be another joint production with the all-female theatre company "the Takarazuka Revue", following on from the 2006 staging of "Ribbon no Kishi".
It will run for 33 shows at the Shinjuku Koma theatre in Tokyo, from August 6th to August 25th. No details of the casting has yet been revealed, but they will be joined by 20 dancers.
Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou and C-ute make the Kouhaku
Submitted 2007-12-04 11:49 AM
Morning Musume will compete at the Kouhaku this year, which will be the tenth time for the group. They will be joined for the first time by both Berryz Koubou and C-ute.
This is the 58th New Years Eve show, where musical artists are split into two teams and compete in games. The Hello! Project groups will be part of the red team. Joining them will be artists including: BoA, Koda Kumi, Leah Dizon, Hamasaki Ayumi, Nakajima Mika, Angela Aki, Nakagawa Shouko and (interestingly) AKB48 who also make their first appearance.
Full list (Japanese)
Information: Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Fujimoto Miki quits Morning Musume
Submitted 2007-06-01 10:05 AM
Morning Musume leader Fujimoto Miki has quit the group, one week after Friday magazine revealed that she was in a relationship. The former soloist, 22, was pictured out with Shouji Tomoharu, 31, from the comedy group "Shinagawa Shouji".
This comes less then one month after Fujimoto became leader, and mirrors how Yaguchi Mari left the group. Takahashi Ai will become the new leader, with Niigaki Risa as the new sub-leader.
Fujimoto is expected to continue on with her duo GAM, who last week released an album and started on a concert tour. She will complete the GAM tour, but has been removed from the Hello! Project summer concerts next month. Official Announcement
Yoshizawa Hitomi graduates from Morning Musume
Submitted 2007-05-06 02:15 PM
With the final concert of the Sexy 8 Beat tour over, leader Yoshizawa Hitomi has completed her graduation from Morning Musume. It took place in front of a 15,000 strong crowd at the Saitama Super Arena just north of Tokyo, and the fans held up white glowsticks during the ceremony.
The concert also marked the first on-stage appearances of new Chinese members Junjun and Linlin as members of the group.
Yoshizawa joined the group in April 2000 as part of the fourth generation. She will remain in the Hello! Project, and her first job will be to replace an unwell Tsuji Nozomi in the play "Itsu no Hi ka Kimi Kaeru".
Morning Musume become Japan's biggest selling female group
Submitted 2007-05-01 01:06 AM
With their latest single selling 54k for its first week, Morning Musume have surpassed Pink Lady in total sales and become the highest selling female group in Japanese history.
Kanashimi Twilight reached number 2 in the Oricon weekly chart, beating out new songs from ORANGE RANGE and WaT. It is their most successful first week since Iroppoi Jirettai was released in July 2005; both songs received a boost from including the chance to win tickets to handshaking events. It was also the final release before the graduation of Morning Musume's popular leader Yoshizawa Hitomi, and also the last before the debut of Chinese members Junjun and Linlin.
Pink Lady sold a total of 11,036,000 singles in their career, while Morning Musume have now so far sold over 11,085,000 singles with line-ups featuring 25 different girls over ten years.
Morning Musume gets two new Chinese Members
Submitted 2007-03-16 12:39 AM
Tsunku was due to make a major announcement on this weeks Hello! Morning, but the official site has beaten him to it. Morning Musume are getting two new 8th generation members: 19 year old Junjun, and 16 year old Linlin. Both are from China, and will form a big part of the companies push into the rest of Asia.
Linlin has been performing as part of the Hello! Project Eggs, and is the mysterious ponytailed egg ("Poni-chan") that we had been trying to identify. She was introduced to Tsunku by a friend, and had obviously impressed him.
Junjun took part in auditions in Beijing around the same time as the Happy 8 auditions were being held.
Announcement: http://www.helloproject.com/newslist/shinmember_0703151946.html
Tsunku's Comments: http://www.tsunku.net/comments.htm
Yoshizawa to graduate from Morning Musume
Submitted 2007-01-03 12:19 AM
Morning Musume leader Yoshizawa Hitomi will graduate the group at the end of the groups spring concert tour. The final concert will take place on May 6th in the Saitama Super Arena. Yoshizawa, 21, will remain active in the Hello! Project in an unknown role. Official announcement
Sub-leader Fujimoto Miki will take over control of the group, and next in line Takahashi Ai will become the new sub-leader.
Tsunku's comments
Yossi's comments
Morning Musume 8th Generation Announced
Submitted 2006-12-11 12:01 AM
Today saw the results of the Morning Musume Happy 8 auditions to find new members for the group.
In a surprise move, Tsunku once again chose only one girl: Mitsui Aika, 13, from Shiga prefecture. Aika becomes the 9th and youngest member of the current group, and the 23rd member in the groups history.
Morning Musume hit Number 1
Submitted 2006-11-14 12:12 PM
With Aruiteru selling 41k singles in its first week, Morning Musume have reached the number 1 spot in the Oricon chart for the first time since Souda! We're Alive in 2002.
This is their 10th number one, finally surpassing Pink Lady's record to officially make them Japan's most successful female group ever.
Ogawa Makoto graduates / Happy 8 starts / 31st Single
Submitted 2006-08-27 11:21 PM
With the final performance of the Ribbon no Kishi musical completed, fifth generation member Ogawa Makoto today graduated from Morning Musume to study overseas in an unnamed English speaking country for an unconfirmed length of time. Ogawa joined the group from the Morning Musume LOVE Audition 21 shown exactly five years ago yesterday, and is said to be staying as part of the Hello! Project.
The eighth generation auditions began today in Okinawa, with the first round running for the next two months. The winner(s) will most likely not be ready in time for Morning Musume's 31st single, which has just been announced as a 8th of November release.
Morning Musume 8th Generation Auditions Announced
Submitted 2006-08-06 10:08 AM
After weeks of speculation, the inevitable 8th generation Morning Musume auditions were officially announced by Hello! Project producer Tsunku on Hello! Morning last Sunday, 30th July 2006.
With Konno Asami having graduated a week ago, and Ogawa Makoto graduating later this month, the group will soon be down to just 8 girls, the lowest number since Goto_Maki joined in 1999. The auditions, to be known as "Happy８期 (Happy Hachi ki)" start on the 27th of August, with the first round auditions taking place all over Japan until the 22nd of October.
Official site with details and the application form.
Hello! Project + WaT = Volleyball World Championship
Submitted 2006-07-24 10:52 PM
It was announced today that Morning Musume, DEF.DIVA, and Berryz Koubou will be teaming up with boyband duo WaT to sing the TBS theme song for the 2006 Volleyball World Championship being held in Japan from October 31st to December 1st.
The combination will be known as WaTxHello!Project and the song will be titled Ready Go!.
Konno Asami graduates (updated)
Submitted 2006-07-24 12:15 AM
Morning Musume's 5th generation member Konno Asami has graduted from Hello! Project at the final concert in the Wonderful Heartsland tour.
Update: As this was also her last concert, Ogawa Makoto, who graduates in August, made her graduation speech. This came as a surprise to fans, who had not prepared glowsticks or any tributes as they had for Konno. Ogawa will appear in the upcoming Ribbon no Kishi musical, before graduating from Morning Musume in August to study overseas.
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