Hello! Project

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The Hello! Project (short: H! P) is an amalgamation of Japanese singers and girl groups under the UP-FRONT agency.

history

In the summer of 1997, the musician and producer Tsunku was looking for a singer for his band Sharam Q as part of a casting on the TV show ASAYAN . When the hoped-for success with the winner Michiyo Heike did not materialize, Tsunku made a second attempt and formed another group from five of the remaining ten finalists in the casting. In order to survive as such, the girls had to independently sell 50,000 copies of their single Ai no Tane ( 愛 の 種 ) within a week in November 1997 , which they succeeded in doing. This made them Morning Musume .

In the following years the Hello! Project further expanded. There were castings for other groups ( Country Musume , Taiyo to Ciscomoon , Coconuts Musume , Melon Kinenbi , Sheki-Dol ), and other groups were later formed with the participation of former Morning Musume members ( vu-den , W , GAM and Ongaku Gatas ). For this purpose, new solo artists were added after Michiyo Heike (e.g. Yuki Maeda and Aya Matsuura ) and individual Morning Musume members gradually began their solo careers (e.g. Yuko Nakazawa , Natsumi Abe and Maki Goto ).

In addition to the so-called main groups, the first subgroup was launched in 1998: Tanpopo (dt. ' Dandelion '). It initially consisted of three Morning Musume members. Other subgroups were added later, some with Morning Musume participation (especially Pucchi Moni and Mini Moni ).

Another concept that was thought up in the early Hello! Project times was the shuffle units. From 2000 to 2005, almost all Hello! Project members were divided into three groups each year on a specific topic (e.g. 2000: colors, 2001: festival, 2003: elements). Until 2002, these groups competed against each other for the most CD sales, after which the songs of all three groups were each published on a joint CD. In 2004, instead of three groups, a large group was formed from all the Hello! Project members at the time. Short-lived advertising groups (e.g. Pocky Girls and Venus Mousse for the confectionery product Pocky ) and sports teams ( Gatas Brilhantes HP for futsal and Metro Rabbits HP for kickball ) were also created later .

The Hello! For a long time, Project was seen in two of its own weekly television shows: Hello! Morning from April 2000 to early April 2007 and Haromoni @ from then to September 2008. Both programs were broadcast on TV Tokyo .

The next big development step took place in 2002: A junior research group called Hello! Project Kids was launched, which formed the basis for today's bands Berryz Kobo and ° C-ute . The Hello! Project Kids were u. a. funded by subgroups (ZYX, Aa!) and by participating in music videos by other Hello! project artists (e.g. W and Miki Fujimoto ). In 2004 Berryz Kobo was formed from eight girls, and in 2005 from seven girls ° C-ute.

Two years later, another junior research group was launched: Hello! Pro Egg (since 2012 Hello! Pro Kenshūsei ), initially with 31 girls. These girls have in Hello! Project the status of trainees / idols in training. They regularly receive free dance and singing lessons and regularly take part in plays and as background dancers on Hello! Project concert tours. Ideally, the trainees should focus on a later career in Hello! Project or generally be prepared as an idol . Some girls have made the leap from trainee to regular Hello! Project member or idol . Six new groups have been created so far ( S / mileage , THE Possible , Up Up Girls , Juice = Juice , Kobushi Factory and Tsubaki Factory ). Erina Mano made her debut as a solo artist in spring 2008, two others made her debut outside of Hello! Project ( Yū Kikkawa and Sayaka Kitahara ).

Over time, some girls left Hello! Project again to either pursue other career paths or to retire from show business entirely. For the most part, they "graduated" from Hello! Project. In the case of a graduation, the departing member is bid farewell to the other (group) members and the fans in a ceremony (farewell speeches and one last song sung together) during a concert. Usually this is the last concert on a Hello! Project or group tour. There were, however, individual cases in which a girl did not graduate, but from a group or from the Hello! Project got out. Examples are Mari Yaguchi and Miki Fujimoto at Morning Musume (both members had to leave Morning Musume because they had a boyfriend) and Ai Kago regarding the Hello! Project (she was fired after several scandals).

At the beginning of 2006 the Hello! Project finally divided into two large concert units:

  • Hello! Project Wonderful Hearts (consisted of the then current bands and soloists)
  • Hello! Project Elder Club (consisted of former Morning Musume members, veteran bands and soloists as well as "remnants" of old bands)

After both groups toured for years (Wonderful Hearts in summer and winter, the Elder Club in winter only), the members of the Elder Club graduated from Hello! On March 31, 2009. Project. Since then, Wonderful Hearts has encompassed the entire Hello! Project. Ai Takahashi of Morning Musume became the new leader .

In the fall of 2011, the Hello! Project artists released a joint single entitled Busu ni Naranai Tetsugaku (ブ ス に な ら な い 哲学). The single was released under the name MoBeKiMaSu , which is composed of the first katakana of the group names or soloist surnames:

モ = Mo (rning Musume)
ベ = Be (rryz Kōbō)
キ = Ki = K i yūto = ° C-ute
マ = Ma (no Erina)
ス = Su = Sumairēji = S / mileage

Since spring 2012 Hello! Project with TV Tokyo as part of a television program called Satoyama Life , in which Hello! Project members and trainees are actively involved in agriculture and gardening. In the course of this collaboration, four new subgroups were created in August and October 2012. In March 2013, three more subgroups emerged under the banner of the "Satoumi Movement", which refers to the sea.

The project has been undergoing a major overhaul since 2013. Many of the founding members have withdrawn completely from the public eye and only appear at anniversaries (such as the 20th birthdays of Morning Musume 2018 and the entire Hello! Project 2019). The long-lived groups Berryz Kobo and ° C-ute broke up, while long-established members like Erina Mano left the project. In addition, more and more new groups have been founded since 2013:

Current leader of the Hello! Projects is Mizuki Fukumura from the Morning Musume group.

formation

Rod

  • Producer / Songwriter : Tsunku (until 2014)
  • Singing training: Hidenori Sugai
  • Choreography: YOSHIKO

groups

Former groups (selection)

  • Berryz Kobo (Berryz 工房; 2004–2015): Long-lived group founded from the Hello! Pro Kids, the predecessors of the Kenshūsei .
  • Buono! (2007–2017): Group made up of members from ° C-ute and Berryz Kobo. Many of her songs were theme songs for anime and other shows.
  • Coconuts Musume (コ コ ナ ッ ツ 娘｡; 1999-2008): The majority of the members came from Hawaii. From May 2004 to April 2008, the last member Ayaka (ア ヤ カ) was led under the group name.
  • ° C-ute (2005-2017): Group from the remains of the Hello! Pro kids and unofficially the "rivals" of Berryz Kobo.
  • Country Musume / Country Girls (カ ン ト リ ー 娘 。/ カ ン ト リ ー ・ ガ ー ル ズ; 1999–2009 and 2014–2019): Initially founded as a Hokkaido local group to sing about country life. Revived in 2014 under former Berryz Kobo member Momoko Tsugunaga.
  • Kobushi Factory (こ ぶ し フ ァ ク ト リ ー; 2015–2020): Founded by members of Hello! Pro Kenshūsei as the successor group to Berryz Kobo. Sister group of Tsubaki Factory.
  • Melon Kinenbi (メ ロ ン 記念 日; 1999–2010): The only main group that did not change members during its existence.
  • Minimoni (ミ ニ モ ニ; 2000–2004): A subgroup aimed at children that often contributed songs to Hamtaro films.
  • Petitmoni / Pucchi Moni (プ ッ チ モ ニ; 1999–2003): After Tanpopo, the second subgroup that initially only included Morning Musume members.
  • Taiyō to Ciscomoon / T & C Bomber (太陽 と シ ス コ ム ー ン / T & C ボ ン バ ー; 1999–2000 / 2008–2009): A short-lived main group that reunited a few years later for an album and concerts.
  • Tanpopo (タ ン ポ ポ; 1998–2003): The first ever subgroup of Hello! Project.
  • vu-den (美 勇 伝; 2004–2008): A main group consisting of three good-looking girls.
  • W (ダ ブ ル ユ ー; 2004–2007): A popular duo that consisted of two former Morning Musume members.
  • ZYX (2003): With this subgroup the Hello! Project-Kids (today's bands Berryz Koubou and ° C-ute ) sponsored for the first time.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ museumstuff.com The history of the band from Tanpopo.