AKB48 Win The Japan Record Award

AKB48 won the highly coveted Japan Record Award today at this year’s 53rd Kagayaku! Japan Record Awards which was held at Tokyo’s New National Theatre. It was Flying Get that won them this award. Last year AKB48 were also nominated but failed to capture the big prize so I’m happy that they’ve gone one better this year.

All of the members that appeared at the awards ceremony broke down in tears when the announcement that they had won was made. As they were making their way down to the stage following the announcement, it looks like Tomochin had a nasty tumble. Hope she’ll be OK for tomorrow night’s performance and hasn’t damaged anything. Yes, they’ve won many awards in the past but THIS is the big one as far as Japanese music artists is concerned and to have won this prestigious award shows how far AKB48 have come in the past 2 years. Even Aki-P who also appeared looked like he was about to start tearing up when Acchan and Takamina thanked him!!

I’m sure I say this on behalf of all of us fans – we’re so incredibly proud of you (AKB48) right now. Many congratulations.

Here’s a clip from the award ceremony when the announcement was made and a performance of Flying Get. It’s not a very good performance vocal wise as the girls were still very emotional and you can hear their voice breaking at times. Be quick in watching – this won’t stay on Youtube very long.

Details On AKB48’s Kouhaku Appearance Unveiled

Members of AKB48 yesterday unveiled to the press their plans for their appearance on NHK’s annual music spectacular Kouhaku Uta Gassen. Not content last year with just AKB48, SKE48 and NMB48 appearing on the show – all members of the 000 family will take part this year. So that’ll be AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, JKT48 and SDN48 – a total of 210 members!! How the hell is the stage going to accomodate all of them!!

They’ll be singing a special medley titled “Kohaku 2011 AKB48 Special MIX ~Ganbarou Nippon!” which consists of 3 of AKB48’s biggest hits this year (Flying Get, Everyday Kachuusha and Kaze wa Fuiteiru). After performing the medley, the members will attempt to form a human letter.

I’d like to say that I’ll be watching Kouhaku as it happens but there’s so many people taking a look at the streaming live broadcast I usually can’t connect so I’ll probably wait until somebody uploads the footage on Youtube.

BTW – the 000 family will be the 5th artist to perform. Ayumi Hamasaki will open the show as she usually does so she can go and do her own live New Year’s Eve concert.

J-Pop Top 100 Songs Of 2011

It’s that time of year again when I compile a list of the best 100 J-Pop songs I’ve listened to during the year. IMO 2011 was slightly better than 2010 in terms of great music coming out in Japan. It was tough as it always is in doing this countdown but overall I’m satisfied with what I picked.

Anyway, give me a shout about what you think of the chart.

100 EXILE – Each Other’s Way
99 AAA – Daiji na Koto
98 9Nine – Shining Star
97 Negoto – Charon
96 Aqua Timez – Mayonaka no Orchestra
95 Mai Kuraki – Your Best Friend
94 Idoling!!! – Yarakai Heart
93 Ayahi Takagaki – Takaramono
92 SDN48 – Ai, Juseyo
91 Nana Mizuki – Scarlet Knight
90 Maximum The Hormone – Greatest The Hits 2011~2011
89 Mika Nakashima – Dear
88 Yui Horie – Presenter
87 You Kikkawa – Kikkake wa You!
86 Kana Nishino – Distance
85 Buono! – Zassou no Uta
84 SDN48 – MIN MIN MIN
83 Kie Kitano – Kizuna
82 Happiness – Wish
81 Nana Mizuki – Junketsu Paradox
80 FLOWER – Still
79 YUI – Green a.live
78 SCANDAL – Haruka
77 Angela Aki – Hajimari no Ballad
76 JASMINE – ONLY YOU
75 YGA – Jounetsu Heroine
74 KAT-TUN – Ultimate Wheels
73 JUJU – Kono yoru wo Tomete yo
72 Sphere – Hazy
71 Morning Musume – Only You
70 KARA – Jet Coaster Love
69 miwa – 441
68 Tokyo Girls Style – Limited Addiction
67 Eri Kitamura – Be Starters!
66 ClariS – nexus
65 KARA – Winter Magic
64 PASSPO – Vivi Natsu
63 SCANDAL – Pride
62 Afterschool – Diva
61 Koda Kumi – Pop Diva
60 YUI – Hello~Paradise Kiss
59 Super Girls – MAX! Otomegokoro
58 May’n – Scarlet Ballet
57 Perfume – Spice
56 Superfly – Ai wo Kurae
55 Tohoshinki – Why? (Keep Your Head Down)
54 4Minute – Heart To Heart
53 Aoi Teshima – Sayonara no Natsu
52 SCANDAL – Love Survive
51 L’arc En Ciel – Good Luck My Way
50 Infinite – BTD
49 NMB48 – Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo
48 Perfume – Laser Beam
47 Supercell – My Dearest
46 EXILE – Rising Sun
45 Kis-My-Ft2 – Everybody Go
44 4Minute – WHY
43 Girl Next Door – Silent Scream
42 no3b – Answer
41 French Kiss – If
40 DiVA – Cry
39 Idoling!!! – Don’t think. Feel!!!
38 Kaoru to Tomoki, Toma ni Mook – Maru Maru Mori Mori
37 Not yet – Shuumatsu Not yet
36 Bump Of Chicken – Tomodachi no Uta
35 Namie Amuro – Love Story
34 Meisa Kuroki – Wired Life
33 French Kiss – Kakkowarui I Love You!
32 Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 – Hettapi Wink
31 FictionJunction – Stone Cold
30 Atsuko Maeda – Flower
29 2NE1 – Go Away
28 French Kiss – Saisho no Mail
27 Arashi – Lotus
26 no3b – Kuchibiru Furezu
25 Namie Amuro – Fight Together
24 JASMINE – ONE
23 Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 – Valentine Kiss
22 SKE48 – Pareo wa Emerald
21 DiVA – Tsugi no Uragawa
20 B’z – Don’t Wanna Lie
19 Tomomi Itano – Fui ni
18 AKB48 – Ue kara Mariko
17 AKB48 – Sakura no Ki ni Narou
16 Not yet – Pera Pera Perao
15 Atsuko Maeda – La Brae Ave
14 NMB48 – OH MY GOD!
13 SKE48 – Banzai Venus
12 Not yet – Naminori Kakigoori
11 AKB48 – Everyday Kachuusha
10 AKB48 – Kaze wa Fuiteiru
09 AKB48 – Flying Get
08 SKE48 – Okey Dokey
07 Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 – Kibou Sanmyaku
06 Koda Kumi – Ko-so ko-so
05 Shoudo Jidai – Mr Taxi
04 Namie Amuro ft Afterschool – Make It Happen
03 Tomomi Itano – Dear J
02 AKB48 – Seishun to Kizukunai Mama
01 AKB48 – Gondola Lift

AKB48 Bring Festive Cheer To Fukushima

Merry Christmas everybody and I hope you’re all having a wonderful time during the holiday period.

It’s been one hell of a year for Fukushima residents with nothing much to bring them joy in a region that was devastated by the tsunami/earthquake in March and then by the nuclear disaster that unfolded. Several AKB48 members along with the theater manager Togosaki went to Fukushima yesterday to bring some festive cheer as part of the Dareka no Tame ni project. Kojima, Sasshi, Yukirin, Lemon, Ranran and Yagi dressed in cute Santa outfits bought some gifts for the kids and performed some songs and it was nice to see those that came to see AKB48 were smiling and enjoying themselves. AKB48 have been at the forefront of those Japanese celebrities/musicians that have tried their best to help those in the Tohoku region. I’m sure the residents of Fukushima yesterday were delighted they came down on Christmas Day by giving their precious time to bring some happiness into their lives.

Could The Kouhaku Effect Possibly Propel AKB48 To Break Morning Musume’s Love Machine Record?

I admit that when Flying Get was released during late Summer and saw the huge sales figures for it during the first week on release, I really did think that Morning Musume’s record sales for Love Machine would be broken easily. Surprisingly that didn’t happen but AKB48 are now creeping ever so slowly to the 1.64m sales that Love Machine achieved all those years ago. So far Flying Get has sold 1.57m and it is still selling a couple of thousand copies every week.

We all know that when the annual Kouhaku Uta Gassen show is aired, CD sales of the artists that participate usually sell extremely well afterwards which is called the Kouhaku Effect. Consider this scenario in January 2012. AKB48 come off a triumphant appearance on Kouhaku and sales of Flying Get shoot up. 70k is a lot I know to sell especially when the majority of fans have already bought the single but should they sell 40k of the single in one week that would leave them 30k to aim for to overtake Morning Musume. That figure looks quite achievable over a number of weeks and I think that’s what’s going to happen. Whichever way we look at it, I truly believe AKB48 will pass Love Machine’s record next year. Not by a lot of copies I grant you but enough to claim the title of being the best selling idol song ever.

UPDATE: Sales of Flying Get are now up to 1.608 million which means they need to sell 38,135 more to overtake Morning Musume’s Love Machine. Stay tuned for more updates as they come ever closer to the target.

More On Wasamin’s Debut Solo Single

As I reported last week, Wasamin will release an enka debut solo single on February 1st. Details about the title track, CD cover and b-side have now been revealed. The title track is called Mujin Eki (Station Without People) and it’s being written by none other than Aki-P himself. Wasamin will also cover Heavy Rotation in her own enka style. That should be interesting to hear.

The limited edition version of the single will come with a DVD which will feature the PV of the title track, making of, a documentary about the history of Wasamin plus a message from other members of AKB48 to celebrate her solo debut.

As you’ve seen above, this is apparently the cover for the single. Wasamin definitely looks more mature than what we’ve usually seen her in AKB48 and WH7 garb. Even though I’ve said I’m not keen on enka, I will definitely support Wasamin and buy this single, if only to hear her unique take on Heavy Rotation.

DiVA Increases By 6 Members To 10!

Today saw the AKB48 Kouhaku contest at the Tokyo Dome City Hall and if you were one of the lucky ones that saw it on Youtube or through Google+ then I hope you enjoyed it.

There was a big announcement made at the beginning of the event. That much touted DiVA audition that was supposed to happen if I remember rightly at the beginning of the Summer and then everything just went quiet…..hell I thought the auditions had been a bust and nothing was going to happen but how wrong I was. As from today DiVA has 6 brand new members – and none of them are currently in the 000 family. These are 6 outsiders whose lives will now suddenly change forever.

The 6 new members are: Ayaka Yamagami, Satoko Kasuya, Yuina Inoue, Yuuki Futama, Atsuko Furukawa and Noramu Fuku. Check out the video below which serves as an introduction to the new members. Personally I thought DiVA was fine as it was with 4 members but Aki-P said that there was something missing and they were incomplete. He seems to think that DiVA will improve with more members, just like EXILE did when their membership increased.

DiVA also performed a new song called ‘Lost the way’ which may or may not be a new single for the unit.

Mayuyu Goes Solo In 2012

Don’t panic folks, Mayuyu isn’t leaving AKB48 to go solo in 2012 but she will release her solo debut single which has a tie-in with a late night drama series that she’ll be starring in called Sabadoru (Saba Doll). Little details have been released about the plot of the drama other than the fact it’s set in a high school.

The title of the track is called Synchro Tokimeki and apprently there’s supposed to be an 80’s vibe about the track which kinda excites me. The song will be the theme tune for Sabadoru and if you want to catch Mayuyu acting alone for the first time without her AKB48 friends it all starts Friday January 13th on TV Tokyo in the early hours of the morning.

I was really surprised when I saw this piece of news but I’m delighted for Mayuyu and can’t wait to hear her track. Synchro Tokimeki will come in 4 versions (3 Limited edition and 1 Regular) on February 29th.

2011 Really Has Been The Year Of AKB48

It will come as no surprise to anybody that AKB48 have completely dominated the end of year charts and have topped 7 out of 16 categories in the Oricon 44th Yearly Ranking.

The 7 categories that AKB48 came out on top was:

Total sales, by artist – 16,280,000,000 yen (a new record for a female group)
Number of copies sold for singles – Flying Get – 1,587,000 copies (new record for a female group)
Sum of sales for singles – “Everyday, Kachuusha” 2,150,000,000 yen
Sum of sales for singles by artist – 9,590,000,000 yen
Number of copies sold for music blu-ray discs (BDs) – “AKB ga Ippai” 148,000 copies
Sum of sales for music BDs – “AKB ga Ippai” 1,010,000,000 yen
Sum of sales for music BDs by artist” – 1,010,000,000 yen

In addition, AKB48 became the only artist to release 5 different million selling singles in a year. Nobody has ever done that before. Not even their closest rivals Arashi has managed to do that. I’d love for them to go head to head in the charts in 2012 but Johnny’s too scared for that to happen as he would know who would eventually prevail. I’d like to see though how they did in the other 9 categories. I’m sure they weren’t far from being no.1 in them too.

Takamina, Yuko and Mariko were on hand to receive the 7 awards by Oricon. Mariko although happy to receive them is aiming for more next year!!

I’m so happy and proud of AKB48. They thoroughly deserve these awards. Congratulations.

no3b – Pedicure Day Full PV

The trio of no3b will be releasing their new single (their 8th) called Pedicure Day on December 28th and the PV for the song has just been uploaded on Youtube. How long it will stay there is another question so be quick if you want to watch it. I really like this song and the PV features the girls waking up and getting ready for a party at their house with some friends. The single will be released in 4 versions (3 Limited Edition and 1 Regular).

Enjoy the PV