Official Confirmation – Meetan’s Fate

I’ve just watched last night’s edition of AKBingo which was a Megumi Ohori special revolving around the 15th November 2008 when her fate was decided whether she’d stay in AKB48 or not. Although I’d mentioned in a previous post that it looked more than likely that she’d passed her challenge it wasn’t 100% certain.

As it stood on the final day of promotion by Meetan the total was just above 8,500 copies so she’d have to shift another 1,500 and there was a long hug session to do which was taking place in a Music Vox store somewhere in Tokyo. The morning session didn’t look promising – half the room where the hug session took place had empty seats. As the afternoon session was about to begin, something unexpected took place. With the pressure mounting and nerves taking hold Meetan started to cry and hyperventilate badly backstage. Staff on hand took care of her and I was really worried seeing her in that state. The Bad Boys had to go on stage to talk and joke with the fans until Meetan was better. She did come back and managed to complete the session OK.

Then it was time for the final part – the evening session and yet another surprise for Meetan. Some of her colleagues from AKB48 had come down to support her which shocked her as she wasn’t expecting it. Some might call it cheating but what’s wrong with a little help from your friends. They sat down at a desk and put Megumi’s CD in bags for the fans that had bought the single. A big bonus for those that was just expecting a hug from Meetan was they also got a handshake from other AKB48 members. The room for the hug session was full to capacity and I think this gave her confidence. At 9.30pm it was all over but before the announcement is made to her regarding the grand total – like many other Japanese shows they have to prolong the agony by having tearful speeches made by her colleagues.

So what was the total in the end? She managed to sell 1,539 on the day increasing her total to 10,125! Just about scraped over the 10k mark but it was heartwarming to see tears of joy on her face. Bottom line is she stays in the group. After all the humilation and embarassment she’s endured over the past month at least it wasn’t in vain. Way to go Meetan! Please Akimoto don’t even think about trying to do something similar to Nonti!

Meetan – Has A Miracle Occurred?

Judging from reports coming out of Japan it looks very likely that Meetan has passed her challenge of finally reaching 10k within a month with her debut solo single. Last time I reported that she had sold 7200 copies and that it needed a miracle of sorts for her to sell 2800 in 4 days.

On Saturday it seems her single jumped up to no.13 on the Oricon Daily Charts which in itself is a remarkable turnaround plus she had her final hug event which was a marathon session. She might have cheated on this though by getting some of her friends in AKB48 to help her out. It’s said that Acchan and Mariko turned up to support her and they might have gently persuaded the wotas there to buy a few more copies of Meetan’s single. Apparently during Saturday’s Team K concert Meetan was all smiles – another sign that she’s succeeded.

Those that hope the result will be announced on this week’s edition of AKBingo will be disappointed to know that they don’t intend to do that until the following week’s show (11/26/08). I have to admit that I never thought she’d achieve 10k after the 2nd week but well done to her. I’m glad she’s done it and after all the humiliation over the past few weeks she deserves to stay in the group.

Week 3 Figures Are In/Meetan’s Final Countdown

The sales figures for week 3 are in and Oogoe Diamond has now upped it’s total to 64,141 selling an additional 5,635 copies. Sales would have been higher but for the disastrous result on Sunday when the song dropped to no.42 in the Oricon Daily charts. The previous days had seen the song in the top 20. I’m still confident that the song can reach 70k.

Oogoe Diamond Theatre Version Cover CD

“It’s the final countdown” was what 80’s rock band Europe sang about and for Megumi Ohori it’s definitely the final countdown and whose future in AKB48 will be decided in the next couple of days. With 10k the target figure she has to reach before November 15th, her total so far stands at 7,200 copies. Another hug event is planned (one that is scheduled to last for 8 hours!!!!) and never underestimate the power of the wotas. She might yet achieve a miracle and reach the magic total. It looks unlikely but you just never know. We’ll soon find out her fate.

Is Meetan Doomed?

First week of sales is over for Megumi Ohori’s single and whilst 3,969 CD’s sold isn’t too bad I thought the figure would be slightly higher. I didn’t realise the challenge was to sell 10k over a month (thought it was to sell 10k in a week) but even so I don’t think she can make it. I’m sure she’ll do her best to keep on plugging her CD wherever she is but most fans have bought the single last week. To sell 6,000 CD’s in 3 weeks doesn’t look hard on paper but she’ll struggle to shift them. If she does manage to go over 10k it’ll be a miracle. The question now is will producer Akimoto go ahead in 3 weeks time and graduate her should she fail in the challenge?

EDIT: Do the producers of AKBingo enjoy embarassing the poor girl? On last night’s show they made her go to the small seaside town of Izumizaki to promote her single armed with a hand held tape player which has a microphone attached and a rucksack full of her CD’s. Meetan sang to an old couple near the sea where she was shivering although they bought her single. She then made her way to the shopping district where she camped herself outside a shop and proceeded to sing to the small crowd which had gathered. It didn’t make any impact as absolutely nobody bought her CD so she packed up and trudged off looking a bit downhearted. Future previews of this segment has her singing in front of a banquet and camping outside somewhere in a sleeping bag. Doesn’t look like fun to her at all.

AKB48’s new single Oogoe Diamond is released this week and it’s already doing well after one day as it’s listed as being No.3 in the Oricon Daily Charts. I’m hoping it’ll stay in the top 5 all week.

Here’s the PV accompanying the single for everybody to enjoy:

Meetan’s Week Of Reckoning/Leah Dizon

It’s finally here folks. Meetan’s solo single is released today in Japan which will determine whether she stays in AKB48 or not so go out and buy it from CD Japan or HMV Japan as they both count towards the Oricon Charts. Meetan unfortunately also has to humiliate herself by hugging 1,200 fans who buy her single. We all know about the meet and greet events in Japan where fans can shake hands with their idols but to hug them – well that’s a first isn’t it. I feel sorry for Meetan having to hug that many sweaty wotas but then again if I was in Japan right now I’d definitely buy her single in order for me to have a hug from her!! There’s apparently going to be 4 seperate hugging events taking place (300 fans each) in Akihabara. I hope she survives the experience!! Most of all I wish her the best of luck in selling 10,000 copies, I don’t want to see her leave the group. It’s gonna be a close call but I do think she’ll reach it.

EDIT: As if 4 hugging events wasn’t enough, Meetan also had to further humiliate herself thanks to the producers of the TV show AKBingo. Last night’s show (15/10/08) had Meetan being forced to peddle her CD around some shops with a cart I presume in Akihabara. Nothing wrong with doing that but it was the rather revealing lingerie dress she wore that made it worse. It made her look no more than a cheap prostitute going round with a sign saying GET IT HERE. It didn’t make her look good at all and you could see on her face she didn’t want to do it. I know the girl’s got a sexy image but that was a bit too much. I felt rather embarrased for her. I did find it funny though that in one shop she took Ayumi Hamasaki’s CD out of the way to make room for her own!!

Surprising news this morning was hearing about American model Leah Dizon’s shotgun wedding last Friday. The gravure idol and singer has also announced she’s 4 months pregnant and that the man she married was her stylist. She’s ceasing all activities immediately but she plans on coming back. I’m sorry Leah but I think this is it for you now. Whatever popularity you had before will not be the same when you come back. That virginal image you tried to portray is now gone, people will forget about you and move on to somebody else. Leah’s record company obviously will try to make some money from her absence by perhaps releasing a single or two just to milk the cow. Congratulations anyway, I hope she’ll be a good wife and mother.

EDIT: Leah and her new husband did a press conference yesterday to tell everybody about her marriage. Her husband is 29 years old and is called “Bun” (probably only a nickname). Well to pardon a pun – he’s got Leah a “bun” in the oven (sorry couldn’t resist that!). He looks like Johnny Depp apparently and has worked for artists such as BoA.