[PrivateLaughter]

Maybe it makes someone happy but Ayumi Hamasaki didn't get much more time than AKB...

[DarkScorpion]

richardthebrave, on Dec 31 2009, 01:50 PM, said:

the total time of their appearance plus the short talk is 3 minutes and 36 seconds

It is still 3 minutes and 36 seconds more than H!P and that is all I care about.

[hamburger]

Anyone know if Sayaka made it into the SMAP performance? I can't tell from the video but I hope she didn't miss it cause she was going to get too emotional over MJ.

Inwe, on Jan 1 2010, 03:15 AM, said:

I don't agree with AKB48 should've wear MSSL costumes, I like that they have different costumes for each performance, it gives more fresh image and shows that AKB48 is as cheap as H!P.

Yeah I see what you're saying. I just thought the MSSL costumes were a lot better.

[Inwe]

PrivateLaughter, on Jan 1 2010, 12:26 AM, said:

Maybe it makes someone happy but Ayumi Hamasaki didn't get much more time than AKB...

The queen of J-Pop is declining, like H!P. She even had to apologize for her own performance.

[bangaboy]

Inwe, on Jan 1 2010, 03:29 AM, said:

PrivateLaughter, on Jan 1 2010, 12:26 AM, said:

Maybe it makes someone happy but Ayumi Hamasaki didn't get much more time than AKB...

The queen of J-Pop is declining, like H!P. She even had to apologize for her own performance.

Did she???
Well, maybe it's time for the new queen....
Since AKB48 can't become a queen (queens????), I vote for my fave J-Pop Singer Mai Kuraki, which I'm sure many will disagree..

This post has been edited by bangaboy: 01 January 2010 - 02:55 AM

[DarkScorpion]

Ayumi has not been relevant for ages. Celebs in Japan have a very short shelf-life regardless of how famous they used to be. Utada is a great example of this.

[bangaboy]

DarkScorpion, on Jan 1 2010, 04:45 AM, said:

Ayumi has not been relevant for ages. Celebs in Japan have a very short shelf-life regardless of how famous they used to be. Utada is a great example of this.

I heard that Utada had gone inter or something. And also that after her divorce, her song get better.
On the other hand (which I also heard), Ayumi's song has got worse (don't know how much worse) since she got ear problem.

Well, at the very least, I know that Mai Kuraki still got fame in Japan. She also release some good singles this year.
Makes me happy...

This post has been edited by bangaboy: 01 January 2010 - 03:58 AM

[PrivateLaughter]

bangaboy, on Dec 31 2009, 07:56 PM, said:

Well, at the very least, I know that Mai Kuraki still got fame in Japan. She also release some good singles this year.
Makes me happy...

You can't compare Mai Kuraki to Ayu. Sure, they both are now in the business for almost the same time but if you look at the first week sales of their last singles... Well, Ayu still got it. Not as much as in the early '00s but more than Mai K. xD
Yes, I'm an Ayu fangirl but I just compare numbers here~

[bangaboy]

PrivateLaughter, on Jan 1 2010, 05:26 AM, said:

bangaboy, on Dec 31 2009, 07:56 PM, said:

Well, at the very least, I know that Mai Kuraki still got fame in Japan. She also release some good singles this year.
Makes me happy...

You can't compare Mai Kuraki to Ayu. Sure, they both are now in the business for almost the same time but if you look at the first week sales of their last singles... Well, Ayu still got it. Not as much as in the early '00s but more than Mai K. xD
Yes, I'm an Ayu fangirl but I just compare numbers here~

hahahaha....
Well, without you telling me, I know that she still lose to Ayumi (Acknowledge defeat ). Both numbers and also performance (I'm talking about concert), she lose. She even lost in that Koibito ranking 2009 (Ayu is about 5/6 and Mai is 9, eventhough she is younger).
However, I'm Mai-K fan, so can't help to hope she will be better than Ayu someday...

And seeing the list of 60th Kouhaku, it also sad to know that Mai-K isn't in the list

Well, just hope that this year, miracles will happen to those who believe in them...

[PrivateLaughter]

I really liked Mai Kuraki when I first got into JPop. My first JPop songs that I liked were the Detective Conan (Case Closed?) openings. Always and Winter Bells were one of them xD
So, it's not like I dislike Mai Kuraki~

bangaboy, on Dec 31 2009, 08:36 PM, said:

Well, just hope that this year, miracles will happen to those who believe in them...

There are a shitload of artists out there that really need some miracles XD

[BluCherri]

akb48 have sold well this year yes but they won't get a better set on kouhaku until they're more established as being permamently selling well unfortunately...it's just that type of show >_>

[bangaboy]

^
What are the requirements to be on the list of this show???

[HPMS]

richardthebrave, on Dec 31 2009, 09:09 AM, said:

http://gallery.nihongogo.com/1261740993/ga...19_12_76748.png

I looked at that for 2 seconds and noticed Cindy right away.

They shouldn't have sent her to SDN , but I'm glad she was at Kouhaku.

[lolcat]

Uhm... I love the fact that the girls are on Kouhaku, and the choreographies were both really well made. RIVER was a complete display of precision, and Namida Surprise was fun with the girls spelling letters and shit. I also like how it was a live performance (I could tell because Acchan's pitchy voice was all over the place XD). That's a good thing about having 72 girls on stage, they don't sound bad at all!

But... I hate the costumes they used for RIVER, they take away 99% of the cool factor of the song even though the girls are singing and dancing their hearts out
Also, I know I'm going to get flamed for this but WTF Namida Surprise??? I mean... I know that it's upbeat and stuff, but singing Happy Birthday on Kouhaku just looked kind of... out of place I know that i'm probably alone on this thought but birthday songs are lame because they can (or at least should) be sung when somebody is, well, you know, having a birthday. Why not go with anything else... I think Hikoukigumo would've been quite pretty in contrast to RIVER, and it's a recent song now that it's been re released as a B side

Good grief, I always ramble too much...

[xyish]

Cat, on Jan 1 2010, 04:08 AM, said:

Also, I know I'm going to get flamed for this but WTF Namida Surprise??? I mean... I know that it's upbeat and stuff, but singing Happy Birthday on Kouhaku just looked kind of... out of place I know that i'm probably alone on this thought but birthday songs are lame because they can (or at least should) be sung when somebody is, well, you know, having a birthday.

60th Kouhaku? Birthday/Anniversaries ending in zero are usually made a pretty big deal.

[bangaboy]

Cat, on Jan 1 2010, 06:08 AM, said:

But... I hate the costumes they used for RIVER, they take away 99% of the cool factor of the song even though the girls are singing and dancing their hearts out

I think 99% of the cool factor of RIVER is consist of:
-The dance in the beginning of the song
-The part after they shout "RIVER" until the end.
For me, The costume won't have effect as long those 2 points are performed...

This post has been edited by bangaboy: 01 January 2010 - 06:03 AM

[lolcat]

LOL yeah, Kouhaku's anniversary... Birthday cake VTR included and all...

[LurkingAnonymous]

So, I finally got around to watch the AKB segment on YouTube. Granted, I didn't check out the other artists' performances for the moment so I don't know how it actually measures up to the rest, but even when considered alone I found it overall pretty cool and brillantily executed in spite of all the restrictions.

I loved their costumes (As much as I appreciated the MSSL ones, they would've been way too drab for such an occasion, vivid colors are the way to go) and the clothes change halfway through the song was pretty ingenious (On a side note, for a split second I almost mistook the second ones for Iiwake Maybe's, until the camera zoomed in. Am I the only one?). The choreography was also nothing short of amazing, especially when they huddled together to form the letters AKB. And maybe I'm getting too old to recognize shapes and numbers at first sight, but was the pattern of that formation they stood in at the very end of the performance supposed to hold any particular meaning?

Also, after watching the girls in action I sort of understand now why they decided to scale down the amount of participants from 100 to a mere 72. I can see that the stage would have had enough room to hold the whole projected number of performers and all, but the dance routine was overall fairly complex and managing everything down to the smallest details would have probably proven too troublesome if they were all to perform.

So, all things considered, my sole gripe is the song itself, though my beef with it has more to do with the total running time than anything else, since that's what spoiled it for me.
I mean, setting aside just two minutes for their performance is an inequity, plain and simple, especially if you consider that's approximately half the length of an average AKB song. Now, how the hell is it humanly possible to squeeze not one but two of them into two minutes without having to cut down the content to below the bare minimum? It doesn't help either that all the awesome parts in River and Namida Surprise, such as the rallying cry at the beginning and the part where they all shout "River!" together, are just marginal elements of the songs (read, the first stuff to be trimmed away for time reasons) so in the end all that they got to sing was just the refrains plus the intros and outros.

In retrospect, perhaps they would've been better off settling for just one song (like River, even singing one stanza would've been enough) but utilizing it to its fullest potential, like I recall someone suggested a while back.

This post has been edited by LurkingAnonymous: 02 January 2010 - 01:30 PM

[zabitan]

I think everyone made a lot of good points. For me, the main complaint is the time. An extra 2 minutes or so wouldn't have hurt.

I have nothing specific against Ayu. In fact, around the early 2000's I was a pretty big fan. I think what killed it is that she puts out new songs too fast and that diminishes the quality and excitement.

Am I the only Rina Aiuchi fan here?

Not a big fan of SMAP, but I agree that their MJ tribute was decent. The best point is that they didn't try to sing it all and just did the dances.

[K2110]

I may be turning cause I found Arashi's performance quite decent, they did have a nice year after all. About AKB's performance I wasn't too much into it actually, even tho the choreography spelling AKB and shit was nice, too many girls and like it was said before the songs weren't really appreciated. However I liked their performance after that on CDTV, I think it was their first performance there and they did it decently, obviusly with less girls, River + Iiwake Maybe ws a nice combo. I laughed my ass off finding that one of the Exile dude's an Acchan fan and turned into a creepy wota when AKB was on stage xD.

On a side note I didn't know that Namida Surprise, Iiwake Maybe and River got into the top50 singles for the year, shows how much important they're becoming even tho their best was River at 21st spot.

[zabitan]

Yeah, the CDTV appearance was a nice surprise. The mix of members was interesting. I guess a lot of girls were too tired or too young to stay up that late. Even leading up to their performance there was some decent time spent with the girls on stage with the other guests, making mochi and stuff. But the whole night was mostly an EXILE fest. Well, Perfume are there too.

Out of all the pretty boy groups, I can probably respect Arashi the most, even though I'm no way interested in them as a real fan.

[K2110]

I'm no fan either, just found out about them a few months ago on one of their shows which cracked me up so I started looking for them (more shows) and a few songs because as gay as they may be singing Arashi's songs on Karaoke is bound to get me some chicks, at least more than if I start singing AKB and MoMusu for sure I think the young ones were the only ones that were sent back, dunno if they U18 night shift applies for New Year Performances as well but only 18yo+ were performing I think. And yes even though it was an EXILE fest, I think they did a pretty decent work hosting it as well, the Karaoke part was good except that Becky is a freaking attention whore not to mention fugly She cut half way thru Takamina's song only to make it sound horrible I laughes when he sunglases dude from EXILE said that he was way too tired to do more shit cause he had been rehearsing since morning for the Kouhaku and didnt had any break.

[zabitan]

Yeah, dude, I was happy when Takamina began singing! And then she got cut off!

I think the members of Arashi (and even SMAP) are better actors than singers. I can handle them in small doses when they are in dramas or on variety shows.

I still can't deal with EXILE much though. But thanks to them, my girls Dream appeared at the very end!! Minus Kana though.

[richardthebrave]

Becky irritates me... why cut off Takamina.. is Becky drunk??

[zabitan]

Drunk with power!

To be fair though I think the point of the karaoke thing was to pass the song on to different people. However, Takamina got cut off too fast.

[HPMS]

richardthebrave, on Jan 1 2010, 12:40 AM, said:

Becky irritates me... why cut off Takamina..

Cause Takamina is a much better singer

[richardthebrave]

HPMS, on Jan 1 2010, 11:35 PM, said:

richardthebrave, on Jan 1 2010, 12:40 AM, said:

Becky irritates me... why cut off Takamina..

Cause Takamina is a much better singer

the more reason takamina shouldn't have been cut off

[WabukiSensei]

Who was the lady singing Orion (song no. 10)? Her voice is superb

This post has been edited by WabukiSensei: 02 January 2010 - 01:30 AM

[atskv9]

WabukiSensei, on Jan 1 2010, 10:18 AM, said:

Who was the lady singing Orion (song no. 10)? Her voice is superb

Looking at the info on the right and seeing that I recognize everyone but this person, I'd say it's Shimatani Hitomi.

[K2110]

zabitan, on Jan 1 2010, 05:39 PM, said:

Drunk with power!

To be fair though I think the point of the karaoke thing was to pass the song on to different people. However, Takamina got cut off too fast.

I think she made it look like that cause she butchered the song >.< Takamina's face was like WTF when she got cut off, then Becky passed the song

[WabukiSensei]

atskv9, on Jan 2 2010, 06:55 AM, said:

WabukiSensei, on Jan 1 2010, 10:18 AM, said:

Who was the lady singing Orion (song no. 10)? Her voice is superb

Looking at the info on the right and seeing that I recognize everyone but this person, I'd say it's Shimatani Hitomi.

Thanks!

After watching the bit with Takamina, I gotta agree with everyone. Becky totally cut her off. Give the girl a chance to shine, for goodness sake, you've already sung in two different songs!

[Inwe]

Becky is probably trolling with the wotas, or she wants to try being butt-kicked by the whole AKB-army. I wish I can punch her IRL though. AKB is being relegated to back row and when they sing hey had to share the singing with others, give TakaMina her chance to shine at solo!

zabitan, on Jan 1 2010, 02:16 PM, said:

I still can't deal with EXILE much though. But thanks to them, my girls Dream appeared at the very end!! Minus Kana though.

EXILE is damn old for boygroup. They have members in their 30 or 40s~! Most of their members are glorified backup dancers.
I still handle them better than THSK or BIG BANG though, I can't stand them. THSK is better because they actually bother to learn Japanese, but BIG BANG, I want to punch them when I watch their interview with CDTV (or was it JRA? I forgot).
Arashi/SMAP are Johnny's idols, they do not have to be able to sing. But they are good actors and good entertainers all-around. They're my favorite Johnny's groups, and in Arashi's case, it took them lots of years for them to reach where they are now, unlike that buggy-eyed demon boy.

[zabitan]

I agree with you. I think Becky was either too hyper and didn't know what she was doing or she had something against AKB. Maybe she's jealous and wants to be a member.

I still have no idea why EXILE is so popular. For the last few years working in junior high schools in Japan, I am always confused when girls say how much they love EXILE. It's not so much because they are older, it's because their singing and dancing is nothing special. Notice how when they added new members one of them is a younger pretty boy. Ha, ha!!

Like you said, Arashi and SMAP have at least earned their success, so even though I am not a real fan of them I can at least respect and understand their positions. So when girls say that they like Arashi, I really can't say anything negative to them. I think only older women like SMAP these days though. For awhile, KAT-TUN was the big group but now it is mostly Arashi and EXILE that the teenage girls like the most (and News).

[hamburger]

I don't think Becky did that to be mean-spirited. She was probably just joking around, but I can understand how people could get offended.

[zabitan]

48 members of AKB on Bistro SMAP right now!

Takamina asked for kaiten zushi and got rebuked. Ha, ha!

What will they make for 48 guests?!

Oh snap! They are doing kaiten zushi.

[zabitan]

And Nakai-kun goes for the info we need. The top three rules of AKB:

1. The girls bathe together.

2. The no boyfriend thing. When asked whether they would chose boyfriends over AKB, most of the girls chose AKB.

3. They have to write their names on their food/drinks or else other members will eat/drink it.

This was/is a really good appearance and it's long too (still going!). It brought some joy into my pitiful life.

[atskv9]

Thanks for the heads up! Bistro SMAP is always amusing

Also, damnit these 2ch wota are fast. I already ran into a screencap of the winner getting his kiss

[Inwe]

zabitan, on Jan 4 2010, 05:56 PM, said:

1. The girls bathe together.

I want pics/videos, they need to prove it to their fans!!

Quote

2. The no boyfriend thing. When asked whether they would chose boyfriends over AKB, most of the girls chose AKB.

Explain Onigiri. Explain her!!!!
I've just realized from your wording... "most of the girls"? That means some of the girls choose boyfriends over AKB48, did they show which girls choose which answer?

[zabitan]

Nakai made a point to joke about some girls keeping quiet but it's a bit too quick to get a good idea of which girls it was. Hopefully when you guys watch it, you'll pay close attention to that part.

Yeah, wota are damn fast these days. Kusanagi getting kissed by all three team captains was cute. I don't think Yukirin kissed him though. Takamina's reaction afterwards was adorable.

[richardthebrave]

what??? they kissed Kusanagi???

[zabitan]

Yup. But Yukirin just kind of went in close and her lips didn't touch his face. At least that's how it looked to me. Takamina and Sayaka were really blushing afterwards.

Takamina =

[richardthebrave]

zabitan, on Jan 4 2010, 09:43 PM, said:

Yup. But Yukirin just kind of went in close and her lips didn't touch his face. At least that's how it looked to me. Takamina and Sayaka were really blushing afterwards.

Takamina =

yeah just watched the Youtube link.it seems Yukirin is not willing to give any man a kiss yet

[WabukiSensei]

I think that's like the second time I've seen an AKB girl kiss a guy. The first was Sae in that drama (and Sae's was a full blown mouth-to-mouth)

[HPMS]

zabitan, on Jan 4 2010, 03:19 AM, said:

48 members of AKB on Bistro SMAP right now!

Nakayan posted that on her blog, but I had no idea Bistro SMAP was a TV show.

So what's all this about kissing AKB girls?

[zabitan]

Actually it's a segment of their show SMAPXSMAP. They had a live 4-hour special tonight. AKB were the first guests. In the Bistro segment four SMAP members make food for the guest(s) and then the guest(s) choose which food they liked best. I guess it's customary to kiss the chef!