Idol group C-ute released their new single, “Kiss Me Aishiteru“, on February 23rd. The track features more mature lyrics and a club sound that breaks ground for the group. According to leader Yajima Maimi (19), the group strove to express their “sex appeal” in their vocals.
The danceable, high-intensity track is C-ute’s 15th single, and it puts them in new territory. The song deals with the anxiety a woman feels when she senses that love is almost over.
The strongest vocalist in the group, Suzuki Airi (16), says recording the song was a process of trial-and-error, since, “For any musical phrase, there is a different way to convey it. The ‘I love you’ lyric at the end was the toughest part, since you have to put so much emotion into those short words. We had to record it over and over again to get it right.”
In singing about a girl who falls so dangerously in love, Yajima says she can sympathize with the protagonist: “To be so excessively in love, so much that you reach the point of insecurity… I think that kind of love would be wonderful.”
The PV for this song has quickly achieved popularity on online video sites, with YouTube views having surpassed 870,000 at the time of this article. In the year going forward, Suzuki says she wants to show the world a new, more adult C-ute. “It’s great that so many people have watched our video already, but we want to reach out to even more people, and hopefully we have a chance to perform overseas.”
“Kiss Me Aishiteru” is being released on the Zetima label. First-run limited edition recordings in three versions (A, B, and standard) will contain serial numbers for drawings with a DVD and event ticket prizes. C-ute’s new album, “Cho WONDERFUL?“, goes on sale next month on the 23rd, and their spring tour kicks off April 30th at Nakano Sun Plaza.
Girl group KARA has been making headlines with their public dispute against their Korean agency, DSP Media. Anxious over group tensions, fans are growing increasingly concerned about how the girls may not be able to complete their activities together; this includes filming for their on-going drama, “URAKARA“.
Luckily, their fears about “URAKARA” have been assuaged, as TV Tokyo’s president Shimada Masayuki (66) assured viewers that the drama will continue to film. On February 24th, the president brought up the issue during his regular interview with TV Tokyo and expressed, “They will be shooting the drama as scheduled. We can breathe a sigh of relief”.
KARA will be shooting in Japan until this weekend, and then they will return to Korea temporarily. The girls are scheduled to return to Japan again sometime during the first 10 days of March to continue shooting the drama.
Anisong singer Nakagawa Shoko announced last week that she would be releasing a new single titled “Sakura Iro”. Delighting her fans, the star has just updated her official website with more information on the upcoming release!
The single will come in the standard ‘CD+DVD’ and ‘CD-only’ editions when it drops on March 23rd. The DVD included with the CD+DVD version will feature the music video for “Sakura Iro” and its making-of movie.
A couple weeks back, tokyohive covered a radio rip preview of NYC’s “Yume Tamago“, and now a PV preview for the same track has been shown on Japanese TV!
The clip is about 35-40 seconds long, but it’s enough to get a good feel of the content in the PV, so check it out below!
Since last week’s announcement that Japanese idol heartthrob Yamashita Tomohisa was going to perform on this week’s M! Countdown, fans have been waiting with much anticipation.
The leader of NEWS was in town to plug his album release, “SUPERGOOD, SUPERBAD“, on March 2nd, and also his two day Korean concert on April 16th and 17th at the KBS 88 Gymnasium.
The moment fans have been waiting for has finally arrived, as Yamashita Tomohisa performed an electrifying stage for his hit song, “Party Don’t Stop“!
AKB48’s sub-unit “Not yet” has released a PV preview for their new single, “Shumatsu Not Yet“, which will be released on March 16th.
Oshima Yuko, Kitahara Rie, Sashihara Rino, and Yokoyama Yui are seen in the preview dancing in bright colored clothes while masked “cheerleaders” dance in the background for them.
Morning Musume leader Takahashi Ai appeared on the February 22nd episode of children’s television show “Oha Star,” where she and ex-Momusu member Kusumi Koharu sang an old Morning Musume song together.
Kusumi looks visibly excited and yells, “Ai-chan! Ai-chan! Welcome!”, when Takahashi enters the stage at 1:19. During this episode, the cast of “Oha Star” displayed their arigatou no ki (a tree decorated with cherry blossom-shaped thank you notes) and sang the 2007 Morning Musume tune, “Sayonara no Kawari ni,” which was released when Kusumi and Takahashi were in Morning Musume together.
The lyrics of the song express the feeling of wanting to say “thank you” rather than “goodbye” when the time comes to part, perfectly fitting with their thank-you tree and the touching story of a girl named Natsuko, who thanks her friend for the good times they had together rather than saying goodbye when her friend moves away.
Popular K-pop group, Brown Eyed Girls, will hold their first Japanese solo concert at the Tokyo International Forum on April 29th.
The girls released the Japanese version of their hit song, “Sign”, back in January, and this month, they attended back-to-back launch events on the 18th and 19th.
At the concert, the Brown Eyed Girls are scheduled to perform around 20 songs. An extravagant stage including a live band is planned.
First and foremost, Johnny’s Entertainment is known for producing male idols, and while many have tried to make a name for themselves as an actor, only a few are actually competing in the same league as full-fledged actors.
This year, Ikuta Toma, one of the very few talents within the agency who are solely focusing on acting, was the first Johnny’s talent to win an acting award in the 54 year-long history of the “Blue Ribbon Awards“.
Is Ikuta just one single shimmering light of hope among countless of cringeworthy idols-turned-actors? No. There are a few more Johnny’s talents that can actually act, and the mobile portal of goo/NTT DoCoMo have asked their users which of them have been delivering the best acting performances so far.
You can tell by the number of votes that it was a very popular poll, but can you guess who won? Scroll down and find out whether the actual results prove you right.
Horikita Maki (22) is set to star in her first lifestyle drama, “Umareru,” this spring. The show, which will begin airing in April on TBS (Fridays at 10:00 PM), contemplates the idea of life through the story of a 51-year-old pregnant mother.
Horikita is the oldest daughter in her family and is working at a publishing company when she learns that her mother, played by Tanaka Misako (51), is pregnant. At first, she worries about her mother’s physical condition and is against the idea, but when she is forced to research middle-age pregnancy for an assignment, her way of thinking begins to change. Explained Horikita, “This drama is centered around life, and the idea that everyone on this earth is connected in some way. I want to create a drama that makes an impression on its viewers.”
The script is written by screenwriter Suzuki Osamu (38), who asserts, “I know many people who have become pregnant later in life. This show will feature less-commonly known information about middle-age pregnancy, and other topics that most dramas don’t cover. I hope this will be exciting for our viewers.” Playing the younger brother who must shoulder his family’s troubles is Kanjani8’s Okura Tadayoshi (25).
(Check out the full results for the album ranking here.)
Music DVD Weekly Ranking
1. “Koshi Inaba LIVE 2010 ~en II~” – Inaba Koshi : 2/16 2. “LIVE DVD ‘THIS IS MY BUDOKAN?!’ 2010.11.28″ – ONE OK ROCK : 2/16 3. “ARASHI 10-11 TOUR ‘Scene’ ~ Kimi to Boku no Mite Iru Fuukei~ STADIUM” – Arashi : 1/26 4. “Kessei 10 Shuunen, Major Debut 5 Shuunen Kinen! Perfume LIVE @ Tokyo Dome 「1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11」” – Perfume : 2/9 5. CNBLUE 2nd Single Release Live Tour ~Listen to the CNBLUE” – CNBLUE : 2/9
(Check out the full results for the music DVD ranking here.)
Pop singer Kuraki Mai has just unveiled a short teaser for her upcoming single, “1000 Mankai no Kiss”!
“1000 Mankai no Kiss” will be released on March 9th, and appears to be a pop song with influence from the 90s. For fans who couldn’t wait for the single to drop, Kuraki has released a forty-second teaser of the music video. The clips switch between close-ups, shots of Kuraki singing in a dark room, and scenes showing the singer running happily along the beach.
Singer Nishino Kana and technopop group Perfume are both scheduled to appear on the February 25th episode of “Bokura no Ongaku,” which plans to feature a special talk section between these incredibly popular stars.
Although Perfume has been in the music industry much longer, they are actually about the same age as Nishino. During their chat, the four lovely ladies plan to talk about life as a college student.
Since Nishino is the main guest this week, she will perform her latest single, “Distance”, and a special acoustic version of her song “Kimitte” as a collaboration with the instrumental unit, TSUKEMEN. Her performance will be the first time that the singer has appeared on the music show.
The episode will air on February 25th, 11:30 PM JST.
Popular actor Shirota Yu will debut as a singer under the name “U“, and he will release his debut single, “U“, on May 4th.
“U” will be released as a triple-A side single which consists of “Sisyphus“, “Heart of glass“, and “U“, and all three songs were written and composed by Shirota himself. Shirota has been interested in music as he started to make his own music since he was teen, and finally, he signed with Avex.
The concept of the songs is “passionate and sexy”, which suits Shirota’s character.
The songs have already started distributing in 19 European countries, and the “Chaku Uta (R)” (ring tone) for one of the songs, “Sisyphus”, will start distributing on February 23rd. His first step as a singer will be the mini-live event at Lazona Kawasaki on February 28th.
Actress Ueto Aya made a guest appearance at Japan’s biggest kimono-centered event, the “Kimono Queen Contest 2011“.
“I’m sorry for interrupting.” That’s how Ueto made her surprising entry at opening of the event. After a short greeting, she introduced her gorgeous black kimono. She stated, “I chose a stylish and beautiful kimono with a fan and crane pattern for today.” Further, she introduced the theme of this year’s contest. “The theme for today is ‘wannabe adult’. I’m 25, I’m already becoming one,” she said with a smile.
She continued to talk about more things related to kimonos. “For my coming-of-age ceremony, my grandma gave me a light purple kimono with the pattern of a night-blooming cereus and added the brooch my mother was wearing for her coming-of-age ceremony. It’s a very precious item to me.” About the times she likes to wear a kimono, she replied, “Usually I like to wear a kimono when I’m going out for a meal or when I’m going to watch a play. It would be a dream if I could wear one every day. I think it’s a great privilege for women to be able to wear kimonos.”
Ueto also recalled her own first beauty contest, which became an important stepping stone to where she is now. “I was in sixth grade and completely felt out-of-place. However, I hate to lose and therefore came up with choreography and went up on stage. I worked hard for the prize, but knew that it would be impossible to win. I couldn’t believe it when they called my name. I didn’t know why I was chosen, but I was very grateful.”
It is already the 42nd year that the “Kimono Queen Contest” is being held in Japan. Ueto’s agency, Oscar Promotion, is sponsoring the contest in which girls have to properly dress and wear a kimono and look beautiful at the same time. College student Natsume Yuika was chosen as the queen, and another young woman, Sato Riho, won the Oscar Promotion Award, which could open the door to a promising career in the future.
Sandara Park releases an angelic CF for “Nikon”
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Nikon Imaging Korea has just released a jaw-dropping commercial with 2NE1‘s
Sandara Park.
The idol shed her quirky style and emerged as a gorgeous woman w...
Idol group C-ute released their new single, “Kiss Me Aishiteru“, on February 23rd. The track features more mature lyrics and a club sound that breaks ground for the group. According to leader Yajima Maimi (19), the group strove to express their “sex appeal” in their vocals.
In singing about a girl who falls so dangerously in love, Yajima says she can sympathize with the protagonist: “To be so excessively in love, so much that you reach the point of insecurity… I think that kind of love would be wonderful.”
“Kiss Me Aishiteru” is being released on the Zetima label. First-run limited edition recordings in three versions (A, B, and standard) will contain serial numbers for drawings with a DVD and event ticket prizes. C-ute’s new album, “Cho WONDERFUL?“, goes on sale next month on the 23rd, and their spring tour kicks off April 30th at Nakano Sun Plaza.
Morning Musume leader Takahashi Ai appeared on the February 22nd episode of children’s television show “Oha Star,” where she and ex-Momusu member Kusumi Koharu sang an old Morning Musume song together.
First and foremost, Johnny’s Entertainment is known for producing male idols, and while many have tried to make a name for themselves as an actor, only a few are actually competing in the same league as full-fledged actors.
Horikita Maki (22) is set to star in her first lifestyle drama, “Umareru,” this spring. The show, which will begin airing in April on TBS (Fridays at 10:00 PM), contemplates the idea of life through the story of a 51-year-old pregnant mother.
Popular actor Shirota Yu will debut as a singer under the name “U“, and he will release his debut single, “U“, on May 4th.
Actress Ueto Aya made a guest appearance at Japan’s biggest kimono-centered event, the “Kimono Queen Contest 2011“.
Ueto also recalled her own first beauty contest, which became an important stepping stone to where she is now. “I was in sixth grade and completely felt out-of-place. However, I hate to lose and therefore came up with choreography and went up on stage. I worked hard for the prize, but knew that it would be impossible to win. I couldn’t believe it when they called my name. I didn’t know why I was chosen, but I was very grateful.”
