Bikkuri Project

Wow. People are talking about Kouhaku like it’s the worst thing to happen to Hello Project since Aibon discovered nicotine. There were a lot of things that I think could have been better, but it certainly wasn’t the horrible disaster that people are making it out to be. I’ve actually heard it called a travesty, and that is just ridiculous. Let’s review

The Song Choice- This part seems to be the point drawing the most criticism,so I’ll tackle it first.Yes, Love Machine gets performed a lot lately, but I think that since the 10^th anniversary is now over, we won’t be seeing it nearly as much anymore. It was the “10^th anniversary party” after all. How could they not sing Love Machine? Don’t forget, we are h!p fans, but the average Japanese citizen is not seeking out every live broadcast featuring Morning Musume. This performance may well be the first time they’ve seen Morning Musume do Love Machine since Kouhaku a couple of years ago, if even then. This isn’t a phenomenon that only applies to Morning Musume. To draw an example from this year’s Kouhaku, you can bet that no matter how much new music SMAP produces, people are still going to be wanting them to sing Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana, because it was their biggest hit, and that’s what they’re known for. If people see the Rolling Stones, they expect to hear “Satisfaction”, if people see Journey they want to hear “Don’t Stop Believing”, and if you go to the Spice Girls reunion show, you’ll be disappointed if they don’t sing “Wannabe”. Random examples, I know, but they’re the first ones that came to mind. If you have seen the latest Morning Musume Concert, or the set list for the latest h!p Wonderful Hearts Concert, you will notice that Love Machinedoes not appear.For the devoted fans who come to their concerts and watch their every performance, they will sing other songs. For average Japanese people who maybe see them once a year, it’s Love Machine. Personally, I would have prefered another song, but given the circumstances, the choice makes sense.

I do strongly agree that Berryz should not have sung Tsukatta ni Kataomoi. Special Generation would have been a much better choice.

The Length-

Yeah, it should have been longer. Agreed 100%. By the time you started to get into one song, they were on to the next one. Though to those who are saying “C-ute won new artist of the year! They should get more attention”, they won that award the night before. It was just a wee bit late to change the entire format of the performance, even if they wanted to.

The Costumes-

Were they too much? Absolutely not. Have you seen Kouhaku? Everyone wears ridiculous and flamboyant costumes. It’s tradition! Besides, anything is better than that giant fuzzy red tophat Sayumi wore a few years ago. I personally thought that the costume change was executed very smoothly, thanks tothe Eggs help.

The Audience Reaction-

Here’s the thing. This was not an audience of crazy h!p wota like we’re used to seeing, and you can’t expect them to react as such. From what I could tell, the audience was primarily middle-aged Japanese men and women, many of whom were wearing suits. Polite clapping is probably considered a huge outburst for them. I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that they were not jumping up and down and screaming.

The Singing Quality-

I’m sorry, other than Yurina’s mic apparently malfunctioning, what exactly was wrong with the singing? I may be deaf, but I do not think it was a bad vocal performance. I would go as far as to call it a good vocal performance. Even Koharu’s line sounded pretty good. If you want to hear bad, check out Ayu’s number, or, God forbid, Leah Dizon. Both of those girls were so out of tune it was kind of painful, even if they looked great. H!P is not known for producing the best singers in the world, but they were faaar from the worst singers at Kouhaku, that’s for sure.

Soo.. it could have been a lot better, but it also could have been a lot worse. Please stop freaking out people. I garuntee you that we’ll be seeing a lot less of Love Machine in 2008 now that the 10^th anniversary year is over, k?