Tsunku: Hire Kaya today, right NOW!
No longer will Kayano Masuyama have to endure wearing ridiculous Halloween garb as she did here for AKB48, summer 2007.
Tsunku, I know you’re reading this. I know for a fact that at least your people monitor these blogs. Didn't I suggest earlier this year that Aika get some mascara and lips? And, in the last two Morning Musume singles, did she not do exactly that, and has her popularity not soared as a result?
Well, listen, and listen good. I've got another one for you, Tsunku, only a lot bigger this time around. The top young female singing and dancing prospect in all of Japan is just sitting out there like a ripe apple waiting to be picked. Kayano Masuyama, 13, abruptly graduated from AKB48’s vaunted “A” team on Nov. 30.
Kawaii time for Kaya in AKB48’s first-ever major concert in late January 2007.
Get on the phone right now and call her agent. I think it’s Parfit Production. Do it now before Avex does. Sure, Kaya says she’s involved as an actress in films right now, but so have been a bunch of Morning Musume members (recall Rika and Ayaya in “Yo-Yo Cop?"), and it hasn't them from singing and dancing on top of it. But she sings, Tsunku. She dances. She’s had a ton of experience with AKB48 and already has a following.
And Kaya could well be the best Momusu of them all. She’s Hagiwara, Yaguchi, Momoko, Suzuki and Miyabi all rolled up into one! What ... are ... you ... waiting ... for?
Dressed in yellow underwear during AKB48’s single “Bingo” makes Kayano stand out.
Remember in 2006 when all the auditions kind of fell apart and you never really made a choice, just picking up Aika as an afterthought? Remember the year before when you parachuted Kusumi into the mix, straight out of anime-land? Remember that “ace” you were hunting for that never really materialized?
Well here she is, big as life, and ... available! If the two existing AKB48 concert DVDs are any indication, Kaya is a mega-talent who has been misused as a performer and abused as a kid. She got burned in a Japanorama episode by the BBC’s Johnathan Ross last year when she was still 12 (check her comment at the 0:25 mark), because right after her quote, Ross talked with AKB48’s seedy boss who said the girls were providing cell-phone talk services to customers, going well beyond singing. This inadvertently connected her name to AKB48's dubious marketing practices.
Hmm. Maybe Kaya has better sense than the rest of the girls and decided to back away. She was also jerked around by AKB48, demoted to the "B" team but brought back to the "A" team again when another unexpected graduation hit. Talk about unappreciated. And she was stuck with doing all these kiddie songs with dumb costumes.
But with all that sideshow idiocy aside, Kaya is a shining talent and has that Hello! Project spark in her eyes. The famous “Antenna Girl” is a free agent, and Tsunku, you had better make your move.
Graduations loom at all levels. Sayu is expendable with Morning Musume. Umeda won’t long put up with forever being fourth fiddle to Maimi, Suzuki and Hagiwara in °C-ute. And Risako is likely to depart Berryz Kobo, having been passed over for Buono! In favor of Momoko and Miyabi.
Kayano Masuyama today: Superstar material.
The answer: Fresh talent, and Kaya has it. She can skip the Egg stage; Tsunku, you're going to have to raid the Eggs big-time, anyway, to plug some serious holes in late 2008.
Yep, some great concerts are ahead, but after the April 20 “battle concert” between Berryz and °C-ute, shaky times loom.
Make your move, Tsunku. Do ... it ... today!
This is Rad signing off – for now.
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How is that "inadvertently" and "dubious"?
I can't really say anything about this girl's talent since I don't follow AKB48. So I'll believe you and say that she could be a good addition to Hello! Project.
That said, she hasn't gone through a H!P audition. Is there any member that ever got in without some kind of audition? That looks unfair to me.
Also, do you know why this girl graduated from AKB48? Because, although I don't know it, I doubt this group likes to lose members with no good reason, especially if she's as competent as you say. Maybe she got out of her own will, and doesn't even want anything more to do with the idol life.
About what you said of Japanorama... How exactly is her name connection to AKB48's "dubious" marketing practices "inadvertent"? The group has a cell-phone talk service with the otaku, all of them do it, and since she was in the group, she's obviously included in that. There's nothing "inadvertent" in that, it's a pretty clear connection. And there's nothing really "dubious" in that, you know... Although you'll probably say you like the music and the art and whatever, the idea of this group is not to produce wonderful music, but to make their otaku public happy while they live through their socially impaired lives. Good music is a welcome bonus. That's why this group is called AKB (Akihabara, the Otaku Mecca, a neighborhood in Tokyo dominated by the otaku) and does daily shows.
Auditions, etc. ...
The announcement of Kaya's graduation was recent on the AKB48 web site, and a big fan of hers was saddened to learn that one of AKB48's best had graduated, and informed me on another forum. Kaya's Wikipedia listing also states she graduated on Nov. 30, and that site does a lot of fact-checking and is considered reliable. But, sure, these stories can sometimes get exaggerated or even be wrong.
As for auditions, Kusumi did not go through the regular process; yes, she did audition, but it was never really made public. Neither JunJun nor LinLin went through the normal process, either; Tsunku saw then in China and liked what they might bring to Morning Musume.
Plus, most kids that audition for H!P are pretty raw. Kaya's got hours of live concert experience behind her, and is clearly one of the best AKB48 has produced. Her addition would be superb for H!P; it would be like the Yankees adding a first-rate free-agent pitcher.
Kanna never really auditioned for C-ute; she was dropped in from the Eggs is a way that has never really been explained. It was rumored that Tsunku was already having issues with Megumi and might have to drop her from the group in 2006 which he eventually did, so I guess Kanna might have been some sort of insurance. Kanna, by the way, has been excellent for C-ute just as JunJun, LinLin and Koharu have been for Morning Musume.
You are absolutely right about the real reason for AKB48's existence. It's just a shame the journalist has to place this kid's bio right next to the creepy part about cell-phone talk between girls and the fans. I didn't know AKB48 went quite that far with its "fans."
But the AKB48 music, in my view, is quite excellent, especially the larger group numbers, and Kaya is a big part of that.
I greatly appreciate your feedback.
Signed, Radicalipton
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