What’s in a soloist? Pt 1(5th & 6th MoMusu)

One question that has been going through every wota’s head since Hello! Project announced that the Elder Club is going to graduate is: who the hell will fill in where nacchi, ayaya, mikitty and all the other soloist big shots were just a few years ago?  Our best bets are within Hello! Project right now; it’s too dangerous to start an unknown audition winner as a soloist as was planned for v-u-den’s Miyoshi Erika, so H!P’s best bet is to dip into the current stock of vocalists from the remaining groups and let them try their hand at soloist work.

Let’s start with the most established group: Morning Musume.  Morning Musume’s got a track record of setting off both successful and unsuccessful solo careers: Nacchi, Yuuchan, and Gocchin come to mind.  Now that MoMusu’s members have established themselves in the idol world, it’s time for some of them to move on, especially after rumours of Eri’s graduation after both last year’s spring concert and when it was originally announced that Morning Musume’s last concert of the spring season would take place at Yokohama Arena (a rumour that proved to be untrue). So let’s start witht he leader, shall we?

Takahashi Ai

I must say that since Aichan has become leader, she’s really stepped up.   She’s tried desperately hard to give herself more of a personality, her performances keep getting better and you can tell she works hard, and that all the member try their hardest to support her as well.  While she seems like an obvious choice for a solo artist, i don’t think that right now would be a good idea unless she was a less active soloist.  If she got maybe one single every two quarters and only performed them at Morning Musume concerts it’d be fine, but become a full time soloist would be a little too much for Aichan without her graduating, and to be honest, Morning Musume doesn’t need that right now.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before she does become a full fledged soloist, but for right now she should get a little bit of a break.

SOLOIST?: give her some time, then we’ll talk.

Niigaki Risa

Gaki obviously makes a good second hand support for Aichan- it’s relatively common knowledge that they’re best friends within Morning Musume.  Whether or not that would translate over to her abilities to have a solo project outside of Morning Musume is debateable, however.  She did manage pretty well with Robby & Kerobby and Athena & Robikerottsu, but the real question is whether she’d be able to handle releasing solo music.  We know she’s got the personality to handle it, too; she’s always excited and makes you believe that no matter what ridiculous fluffball she’s got on her head, or what kind of bustle she’s got on her ass or how childish she looks,   she looks and sounds like she’s truly enjoying herself.  She was, after all, a Morning Musume fan when she was young and is living her dream right now.  Her solo career could take off if handled correctly, but it’s got to be a song that fits the Gaki we know and love.

SOLOIST?: If debuted correctly, Gaki could definitely pull it off.

Kamei Eri

Eri’s a tough one to really make a soloist decision about–she’s best known as a performer for her dancing abilities.  That’s not to say she’s not a good singer, but when you’re known for your dancing, you’re going to end up with difficult dances, right?  And when you’re on your own, doing difficult dances and singing is a little bit of a push.  Her personality, on the other hand, is perfect for a solo career.  She’s got a very silly personality, and could handle on her own for promoting a single or something on TV.  A lot of Eri’s personality is really based on how dumb she acts on air–her silly anecdotes (because who can forget the knee thing from utaban in 2004?) and tendency to overreact a bit.  She’s silly, which gives her a good personality to go solo with.

SOLOIST?: If she can balance her singing and dancing, she could definitely pull it off.

Michishige Sayumi

Sayu has always been known as the worst singer in Morning Musume.  A lot of people fear to hear her voice in any shape or form outside of backup vocals and cute ’sayu’ lines like her infamous ‘na no ni, doko ittan da yo!’ and ‘Shabondama!’ from her debut single back when she was 13.  But to be honest, she’s got a lot of fans and she’s got the cute personality to pull off a solo act. Not to mention she’s one of the best dancers Morning Musume’s ever had (she’s probably in the top 5, at least).  She really has improved since she started, and as I go around the videos on youtube, I don’t see as many ‘omg sayu’s so bad at singing she should just go away’s any more.  Most people seem to be looking forward to hearing how she’ll improve for the next single or what cute thing she’ll do next.

Today I was fishing around H!O, and in the recent discussion for the 2009 Wonderful Hearts concert, there was a conversation started about Sayumi.  I’m not quite sure how it started, but it eventually turned to a ‘Solo Sayu’ debate, which partially inspired this blog post.  One person, username Nizmo gave a few reasons as to why sayu would make a good soloist.  I’ll quote them directly, so I don’t misinterpret their quotes or mess anything up, so here’s what it said:

“1. Sayu has one of the biggest hardcore wota fans among MM.
2. Sayu has the right mindset in appealing her idol-ness, by that I mean she fits the “S” role with her snappy “tsukkomi” personality. And yes, she has to have the “S” personality to be worshipped enough to have a wotagei dedicated to her.
3. Sayu has all the required assets, all she needs now is a solo single to firmly establish her stature as a goddess.
4. Sayu also has something extra that Mikitty does not have, a sense of humor and her ability as a “geinin”.
5. Going back to 1, yes she has one of the most hardcore fans, and yet she has not fully unleashed her potential, just think about THAT.”

look at number 3; ‘. . . all she needs now is a solo single to establish her stature as a goddess.’  If sayu went solo, she’d be an idol goddess.  How amazing is that?  They describe some terms about her personality (such as a tsukkomi-type, meaning that she often butts into conversations and is very straightforward, although I guess you could say that Sayu’s Tsukkomi isn’t a planned thing) and honestly, her personality is very good for a solo career.  When Morning Musume promoted Resonant Blue on Music Fighter in 2008, Sayu took a minute long chunk of the show to ask tsunku for more japanese lines in their next single.  She’s very self-absorbed, but not in a bitchy way.  It’s cute and I like that in sayu (which is probably why she’s my third favourite in Morning Musume).

SOLOIST?: (everyone but the sayu wota are going to hate me for this, but. . .) YES PLEASE NOW.  SHE COULD BECOME AN IDOL GODDESS.

Tanaka Reina

Reina’s a difficult idol to judge.  She’s very attention grabbing and likes to be known and heard and seen and everything.  When she’s not on camera she jumps in it’s face, especially in backstage videos.  Vocally, she’s either amazing or crap, depending on your opinion of her.  Personally, I like Reina’s singing voice, so as a soloist I think she’d do decent.   She’s currently the ‘face’ of Morning Musume– She’s been in the center of the front row for the last two releases, and in their last single, she was the only member with solo singing lines (sayu’s ’sayu line’ doesn’t count)

She’s extremely popular among wota, and her name is at least familiar to the general public, as with the rest of the members in this post, as she debuted when Morning Musume was still a popular group, so, though she wouldn’t be guaranteed a spot on the top 10, she wouldn’t completely fail like SHIPS has.  Vocally, it’s kind of hard to know what kind of music she’d be able to sing solo.  Her voice has a good range, but never seems to fill in ballads well.  She seems to be well suited to R&B and hip-hop songs like C\C and Memory ~Seishun no Hikari~, so I think that her style would get a little boring after a while.  She’s on the fence, but she would make a good soloist and she would always have the safety blanket of MoMusu until she graduates.

SOLOIST?: Possibly, but test the soloist waters while still in MoMusu.

So there you have it– Morning Musume’s 5th and 6th generation members.  This is a series that I’m going to continue– I won’t stop till i’ve covered everyone (I think)  The Next post is going to cover the 8th generation: Mittsi and the Pandas (Koharu’s already a soloist, so she doesn’t need analyzed xP )