some MOSUMO cool info :mrgreen:
Morning Musume (ƒ‚[ƒjƒ“ƒO–ºB) is an all girl J-Pop group from Japan. Japanese producer Tsunku started the group in 1997 through a female rock vocalist audition for his band Sharam Q held on the Japanese TV show "Asayan". The winner of the audition was Heike Michiyo, later to become a soloist part of Hello! Project. Soon afterwards Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the runnerups. They were issued a challenge to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single ?Ai no Tane? within 5 days. They managed the feat in four days in a very grass roots manner, and Tsunku kept on with his mission to create one of the most famous all-girl groups, giving them dance and vocal lessons. The group is particularly well-known for its shuffled line-up, with "graduations" occuring each year ("retiring" a girl from the group), then holding auditions to fill in open slots.
In the beginning of 1998 the girls were ready to start off with their first official single "Morning Coffee." The success of this single (hitting No. 6 on the Japanese pop charts) brought them 3 new members (Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, and Sayaka Ichii), for a total of 8. Their third single "Daite! HOLD ON ME" hit #1 on the charts.
In 1999, after several more releases, Asuka Fukuda left the group in order to focus on her studies. Expectations for the third generation audition were to admit two new girls to the group, but ultimately, only one girl was added to the group, Maki Goto, the youngest member of the group at a mature-looking thirteen years. The success of the 7th single "LOVE Machine" with the addition of Goto dramatically increased the idol popularity of the group, while arguably making Goto the most popular member of Morning Musume.
In 2000, Aya Ishiguro left the group to marry drummer Shinya of the rock band LUNA SEA. Four new members joined the group two singles later (Rika Ishikawa, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago), and gave the group a completely different feel by adding in the young twelve-year old duo of Tsuji and Kago.
Since 1999 Tsunku had created "sub-units," which were smaller groups that used members from Morning Musume. Tanpopo was created with a serious, mature look in mind, featuring Kaori Iida, Aya Ishiguro, and Mari Yaguchi; Petitmoni had a fun, spunky feel to it, headlined by Sayaka Ichii, Kei Yasuda, and Maki Goto. Ishiguro's absence in Tanpopo as replaced by Rika Ishikawa and Ai Kago, and Ichii's slot in Petitmoni was filled by Hitomi Yoshizawa.
Minimoni was later created by member Mari Yaguchi, which was a group intended for young children. The "requirement" for membership was that members had to be under 150 centimeters tall. The group (including Nozomi Tsuji, Ai Kago, and Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume) scored a #1 hit with their debut single, "Minimoni Jankenpyon!"
The popularity of Rika Ishikawa prompted Tsunku to "rent her" to the rather dormant group, Country Musume.
2000 also saw the creation of "summer shuffle units," in which all members of Tsunku's big idol family, Hello! Project, were shuffled around to form three summer groups.
2001 marked a huge image change for the group, transitioning from a mature, pop Morning Musume to a much more cutesy, happy group. As an idol group, they were extremely successful, drawing comparisons to the popularity of former girl idol group SPEED. "Renai Revolution 21" continued the trend of happy pop songs, becoming a staple hit for the group. Morning Musume also began their tradition of performing in musicals each year, breaking new ground as idols with their hit musical, "LOVE CENTURY."
Group leader Yuko Nakazawa graduated in April to pursue a solo career, and put Kaori Iida as the new leader, with Kei Yasuda as the subleader.
At the end of 2001, four new girls joined the group as the fifth generation: Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno, Makoto Ogawa, and Risa Niigaki. Their addition brought the roster to a group high of thirteen girls.
Late 2002 was marked by the graduation of Maki Goto and a mass re-shuffle of the sub-units. Tsunku removed Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Ai Kago from Tanpopo, adding in Asami Konno, Risa Niigaki, and Ayumi Shibata (of Melon Kinebi) to join Rika Ishikawa. Tanpopo only released one single with this line-up before the group was put on a indefinite hiatus status. Makoto Ogawa and Ayaka Kimura (of Coconuts Musume) joined Hitomi Yoshizawa in Petitmoni to replace Kei Yasuda and Maki Goto, but the group did not even release a single, only performing in concerts. Their song was later released on the CD Petit Best 4. However, all of these subgroups remained dormant in their activities, except for Minimoni.
In the beginning of 2003, three new girls were added as the sixth generation: Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka. After a successful appearance on the New Year's music program "Utagassen Kouhaku" with several Morning Musume members dancing as backup, Tsunku also added in Miki Fujimoto, who was originally an up-and-coming solo singer under Hello! Project, to the group as part of the sixth generation. Also around this time Mari Yaguchi would graduate from Minimoni and be replaced with Ai Takahashi. Mari Yaguchi was put in charge of training and assisting the up and coming group of Hello Project Kids.
In January 2004, Natsumi Abe (known as "the face of Morning Musume" to the general public) graduated, leaving Kaori Iida as the final original member of the group. Around this time it was also announced that members Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago would also depart in August, and would continue on as a duo group, "W".
Tsunku also announced in April 2004 that Kaori Iida would graduate January 2005, and Rika Ishikawa would follow in May 2005.
crap!!! Rika Ishikawa will grad. next year :banghead:
Morning Musume (ƒ‚[ƒjƒ“ƒO–ºB) is an all girl J-Pop group from Japan. Japanese producer Tsunku started the group in 1997 through a female rock vocalist audition for his band Sharam Q held on the Japanese TV show "Asayan". The winner of the audition was Heike Michiyo, later to become a soloist part of Hello! Project. Soon afterwards Tsunku decided to form a girl group consisting of five of the runnerups. They were issued a challenge to sell 50,000 copies of their demo single ?Ai no Tane? within 5 days. They managed the feat in four days in a very grass roots manner, and Tsunku kept on with his mission to create one of the most famous all-girl groups, giving them dance and vocal lessons. The group is particularly well-known for its shuffled line-up, with "graduations" occuring each year ("retiring" a girl from the group), then holding auditions to fill in open slots.
In the beginning of 1998 the girls were ready to start off with their first official single "Morning Coffee." The success of this single (hitting No. 6 on the Japanese pop charts) brought them 3 new members (Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, and Sayaka Ichii), for a total of 8. Their third single "Daite! HOLD ON ME" hit #1 on the charts.
In 1999, after several more releases, Asuka Fukuda left the group in order to focus on her studies. Expectations for the third generation audition were to admit two new girls to the group, but ultimately, only one girl was added to the group, Maki Goto, the youngest member of the group at a mature-looking thirteen years. The success of the 7th single "LOVE Machine" with the addition of Goto dramatically increased the idol popularity of the group, while arguably making Goto the most popular member of Morning Musume.
In 2000, Aya Ishiguro left the group to marry drummer Shinya of the rock band LUNA SEA. Four new members joined the group two singles later (Rika Ishikawa, Hitomi Yoshizawa, Nozomi Tsuji, and Ai Kago), and gave the group a completely different feel by adding in the young twelve-year old duo of Tsuji and Kago.
Since 1999 Tsunku had created "sub-units," which were smaller groups that used members from Morning Musume. Tanpopo was created with a serious, mature look in mind, featuring Kaori Iida, Aya Ishiguro, and Mari Yaguchi; Petitmoni had a fun, spunky feel to it, headlined by Sayaka Ichii, Kei Yasuda, and Maki Goto. Ishiguro's absence in Tanpopo as replaced by Rika Ishikawa and Ai Kago, and Ichii's slot in Petitmoni was filled by Hitomi Yoshizawa.
Minimoni was later created by member Mari Yaguchi, which was a group intended for young children. The "requirement" for membership was that members had to be under 150 centimeters tall. The group (including Nozomi Tsuji, Ai Kago, and Mika Todd of Coconuts Musume) scored a #1 hit with their debut single, "Minimoni Jankenpyon!"
The popularity of Rika Ishikawa prompted Tsunku to "rent her" to the rather dormant group, Country Musume.
2000 also saw the creation of "summer shuffle units," in which all members of Tsunku's big idol family, Hello! Project, were shuffled around to form three summer groups.
2001 marked a huge image change for the group, transitioning from a mature, pop Morning Musume to a much more cutesy, happy group. As an idol group, they were extremely successful, drawing comparisons to the popularity of former girl idol group SPEED. "Renai Revolution 21" continued the trend of happy pop songs, becoming a staple hit for the group. Morning Musume also began their tradition of performing in musicals each year, breaking new ground as idols with their hit musical, "LOVE CENTURY."
Group leader Yuko Nakazawa graduated in April to pursue a solo career, and put Kaori Iida as the new leader, with Kei Yasuda as the subleader.
At the end of 2001, four new girls joined the group as the fifth generation: Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno, Makoto Ogawa, and Risa Niigaki. Their addition brought the roster to a group high of thirteen girls.
Late 2002 was marked by the graduation of Maki Goto and a mass re-shuffle of the sub-units. Tsunku removed Kaori Iida, Mari Yaguchi, and Ai Kago from Tanpopo, adding in Asami Konno, Risa Niigaki, and Ayumi Shibata (of Melon Kinebi) to join Rika Ishikawa. Tanpopo only released one single with this line-up before the group was put on a indefinite hiatus status. Makoto Ogawa and Ayaka Kimura (of Coconuts Musume) joined Hitomi Yoshizawa in Petitmoni to replace Kei Yasuda and Maki Goto, but the group did not even release a single, only performing in concerts. Their song was later released on the CD Petit Best 4. However, all of these subgroups remained dormant in their activities, except for Minimoni.
In the beginning of 2003, three new girls were added as the sixth generation: Eri Kamei, Sayumi Michishige, and Reina Tanaka. After a successful appearance on the New Year's music program "Utagassen Kouhaku" with several Morning Musume members dancing as backup, Tsunku also added in Miki Fujimoto, who was originally an up-and-coming solo singer under Hello! Project, to the group as part of the sixth generation. Also around this time Mari Yaguchi would graduate from Minimoni and be replaced with Ai Takahashi. Mari Yaguchi was put in charge of training and assisting the up and coming group of Hello Project Kids.
In January 2004, Natsumi Abe (known as "the face of Morning Musume" to the general public) graduated, leaving Kaori Iida as the final original member of the group. Around this time it was also announced that members Nozomi Tsuji and Ai Kago would also depart in August, and would continue on as a duo group, "W".
Tsunku also announced in April 2004 that Kaori Iida would graduate January 2005, and Rika Ishikawa would follow in May 2005.
crap!!! Rika Ishikawa will grad. next year :banghead:
![[image]](http://img78.exs.cx/img78/363/LMKohaku.jpg){kind=link}
![[image]](http://www.musume.it/profimg/aya.jpg){kind=link}
