Oct 24 2007
Some Kids Have All the Luck
First is Suzuki Airi. She’s cute, and she is one of the best singers in h!p kids (in my opinion), so why was she left behind when Berryz Kobou was formed? I am aware that Berryz was originally intended to have a rotating roster, but the fact is that the Berryz girls were promoted, and the other h!p kids were ignored until very recently when they began releasing actual singles as Cute. When they have someone like Airi on the roster, having her occasionally dance backup at other h!p concerts while worse singers are getting to release singles in Berryz doesn’t seem like it was a wise decision.
The next thing is the eggs. It seems likely that some of them are more talented/cute/whatever than some of the h!p kids. However, because the h!p kids joined first, they are promoted while the eggs are, for the most part, stuck as background dancers hoping that someone will drop out of one of the main kids groups so they can join like Kanna did. Now, I understand that seniority is important in Japan, and the h!p kids have, essentially, “paid their dues” being the backup dancers. But, from a business standpoint, and h!p is a business after all, it seems like they could utalize their talent resources more effectively.
And so the final point. When it came time to add new members to Morning Musume, were either of these groups even considered? I’m not counting LinLin, because she was only an egg for a few months. There is appeal in holding open auditions, creating the idea that any girl has a chance at getting in. I don’t think they should stop doing that. Also, as Cute and Berryz continue to establish themselves, it’s probably too late to move any of them to MM. Let’s say though, that three new members are going to be added as the 9th generation of morning musume. Wouldn’t it make sense to hold open auditions for one or two spots and fill one or two of them with the most qualified egg(s)? I was thinking that maybe none of the eggs were actually good enough to be in a “real” group. But, after watching the Ongaku Gatas video, I saw at least one, maybe two of them that I think should be promoted to a better group. After all, you’ve got to give the eggs some hope.