Not long ago on her show, Sayumi urged listeners to vote for their favorite Morning Musume song. These were the results:

10. Wa~ Merry PinXmas
09. Furusato
08. Do It Now!
07. Nai Chau Kamo
06. Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago
05. Resonant Blue
04. Yowamushi!
03. Mikan
02. Aruiteru
and the top vote getter:
01. It’s You!

Morning Musume Revolution

Two years after their last album, Morning Musume have released their 9th album “Platinum 9 DISC” including four singles, featuring album versions of live songs and solo songs for the first time. Listen to this album, attend their spring tour, have a taste of the recent Morning Musume and feel the revolution!

Interview:

- Your highly anticipated new album “Platinum 9 DISC” has been released. We want you to tell us more about the album-exclusive songs. “SONGS” is a perfect opening song, raising the curtains like a marching band, isn’t it?
Takahashi Ai: It is. It makes you feel that something is about to start.
Niigaki Risa: When the song starts, you get fired up, and it’s really cool, too. We’ve been talking about how we can’t wait to perform it live.
- Don’t you think this song is a perfect opening song for concerts too?
Michishige Sayumi: Ahh, that’s a very good question. (lol)
Takahashi: That’s a secret though. (lol)
- The third song, “Ame no furanai hoshi de wa aisenai darou?” is a regular in Hello!Project concerts, but this time it’s been released on CD for the first time as a Morning Musume song.
Tanaka Reina: First time? ….. You’re right! It doesn’t feel that way, since we sing it all the time.
Niigaki: In this version, the chorus is sung by Morning Musume members only, but we split up into two groups to sing the high and low-pitched parts, so I think it has a new feel to it.
- What did you think about the Chinese lines in the chorus of this song, Junjun and Linlin?
Linlin: I was very happy. I feel close to this song since it has Chinese lines. I could put my feelings into it, too.
Junjun: Fans said that they were close to tears when they heard us sing in Chinese in a concert and now they try their hardest to sing the Chinese parts with us in concerts. I’m happy that even if we sing in Chinese, it still reaches the fans’ hearts.
- The fourth song, “Take off is now!” and ninth song, “Jounetsu no kiss wo hitotsu” are two songs of a different type sung by Ai-chan, Risa-chan and Reina-chan.
Tanaka: It’s the first time that the same combination of members got to sing two songs (in one album).
Niigaki: We’ve performed “Take off~” already a few times in concerts, and it was really fun.
- Since “Take off~” is a cool number, the atmosphere in the concert hall completely changes when you perform it, doesn’t it?
Tanaka: Aren’t you curious about what the fans think of this song?
Niigaki: I am. The only thing I know is that when we’re dancing during “Take off~”, all the fans are just standing there staring at us. I feel like “Eh! What? I’m being watched!!”. (lol)
Takahashi: As for “Jounetsu~” on the other hand, it’s one of the songs I want the fans to listen to carefully. The lyrics are quite mature.
Niigaki: They really are. You’ll see when you read the lyrics…
Takahashi: It’s about things you normally don’t get to experience as a woman, or… how should I put it… it’s meaningful. It’s a song about a second woman…. What do you call that?
Mitsui Aika: (Quickly) Adultery? (lol)
Takahashi: Right. That’s it. (lol) That’s why I think these two songs are both surprising in their own way. It makes you think “So, they’re trying out this kind of songs, too.”
- The fifth song, “Watashi no Miryoku ni Kidzukanai Donkan na Hito” is Aika-chan’s solo song.
Mitsui: I was very happy since it’s my first solo song. But at the same time, I felt a lot of pressure. When I performed it for the first time during the previous tour, I was very nervous during the whole concert and felt like crying. Nervousness really gets the better of me. But the fans were totally fired up and I felt like I had overcome a hurdle after it. It’s still a secret, but I might get to perform it in the current tour too, so please look forward to it.
Michishige: The way you just said that, you totally gave it away. (lol)
- The seventh song “Guruguru JUMP” is sung by Koharu-chan, Junjun and Linlin and it was already performed in the previous tour.
Kusumi Koharu: This song is so much fun that you could almost say it was written for live concerts. In this song, you can mess around as much as you want. When I sing this song, I feel like I’m part of the 8th gen. (lol)
Linlin: When I sing this song and hear the intro, my tension rises in an instant. It steadily rises until I feel like flying off into the heavens. (lol)
Junjun: When I heard that I’d be singing this song, I got very nervous. This song is cheerful and cute and I was worried if I could express all that. Kusumi-san and Linlin were born in the Heisei period (1989–present), while I was born in the Showa period (1926–1989). (lol) But when I sing it and dance to it, I feel like a child again and the fans dance with us in concerts, too. Now, it’s a lot of fun.
- The 10th song, “It’s You” is Sayumi-chan’s solo song.
Michishige: It’s the first time I got to sing a solo album song, so I was really happy. Therefore, I really want you all to listen to it, but there are those spoken lines in this song. Thinking about how you’ll get to hear those lines makes me feel so embarrassed… Ummm, everyone who’ll listen to the album after reading “Kindai”, please prepare yourselves before you listen to it. (lol)
- The melody of the song, as well as the atmosphere of the song feels different from your usual character, doesn’t it?
Kamei Eri: Like a little devil.
Niigaki: That’s right. When I first heard that Sayumin will sing alone, I thought it’d be a cute song, but when I actually listened to it, I was surprised that it’s the cool and sexy type of song.
Takahashi: It’s embarrassing for you because it’s different from your usual character.
Michishige: In this song, it’s more like I’m looking down on others than acting spoiled…
Kamei: You’re always like that, though. (lol)
- The 12th song, “Kataomoi no Owari ni” is Eri-chan’s solo song.
Kamei: This song is about a boy and a girl who have always been good friends, and about the feelings of the girl who wonders if they think of each other as more than just friends. You often say, “It’s only fun until you start dating,” right? It’s a cute song about the little feelings of excitement in one-sided love, like, “We talked a lot on the phone today,” or “I wonder if he’ll feel the same for me one day~?” So, I found it was easy to sing.
- Well then, the spring concert tour that accompanies this album has started.
Takahashi: This time, it’s different from all our tours so far. There are many opportunities for each member to shine, so I want you to pay special attention to each one of us. It’s full of surprises too, in terms of the choice of songs to be performed and choice of members to perform them.
Kamei: I think it will betray all expectations, in a good sense.
Tanaka: There won’t be many songs that all nine of us sing together, but when we do sing together, I think it’ll feel even more powerful.
- Now the last question. Since you’ve released your 9th album with nine members, I’m sure the number “9″ is a fated number for the current Morning Musume, but please tell us your individual lucky numbers or favorite numbers.
Mitsui: “397″. It was my entry number in the audition.
Takahashi: It’s amazing you still remember that.
Mitsui: Mom told me, “Your number means “bloom” (sa ku na = 397). Bloom like a flower.” I remember she asked “Isn’t that why you won the audition?” and I replied, “You’re saying I won because of my entry number?!” I like the number 397.
Michishige: It’s “4″ for me, because you read it like the “shi” in “shiawase” (happiness). I use my lucky number whenever I need a number.
Takahashi: The first number that came to my mind is “0″. If you were to express “0″ as a color, I think it’d be white. It’s like it can turn into anything.
Junjun: “2″ for me. In Chinese, you pronounce “2″ like “Ai” (love). I think loving someone and being loved by everyone is something to be very happy about. That’s why 2 is my favorite number.
- Your birthday is in February, too.
Junjun: Ahh, I hadn’t thought about that. (lol)
Niigaki: It’s “8″ for me. I was born at exactly 8:08 and it seems like many things related to the number 8 kept happening from when I was small, so Mom and Dad told me “8 means infinity, it’s your lucky number.”. Now I always overly aware of the number 8.
Linlin: “3″ for me. I was born in March, I joined Morning Musume in March too, and I’m 154.3cm.
Kusumi: It’s “7″ for me. The audition I won is the “Lucky 7 Audition”, my debut single was the 27th Morning Musume single, released on July 27th and my Tsukishima Kirari debut single was released in July, too. 7 in all of them. Even my birthday is in July.
Tanaka: It’s “1″ for me. My birthday is on November 11th of the 1st year of Heisei, so I thought it might be 11, but I chose 1 because “number one” is always good.
Kamei: I think it’s “1223″ for me…
Takahashi: Your birthday.
Kamei: You noticed?
Michishige: It’s the first thing one would guess. I bet you just couldn’t come up with any other number. (lol)
Kamei: Well, don’t you think your birth date is a lucky number? That’s why I use it for the PIN of my phone too…
Everyone: EH!?
Takahashi: You can’t tell others your PIN! Change it directly after this!
Kamei: Nah, the PIN is more than 4 numbers. Of course there are more numbers after the 1223.
Takahashi: I said don’t tell others about your PIN! (lol)

Credit: Ronin@H!O

KonUsaPi #121 2009- 01- 27 by Sukoshi

Here’s this weeks’ KonUsaPi:

This weeks’ playlist:
1. Morning Musume: Nai Chau Kamo
2. Erina Mano: La La La ~ Sou Sou Sou
3. Kame & L.N.K.: School Life
4. Morning Musume: Ai Araba ~ It’s All Right
5. Morning Musume: Nai Chau Kamo — Yep, she played it twice!!

-Recently Sayu went home to Yamaguchi.
-Back home she owns this fine aged cat which she hasn’t seen for a very long time.
-Seeing the cat again was very surprising. It’s shocking just how fat the cat has become.
-Sayu imagined her cat would have gained weight because it was winter time, just like how some people get fat in the winter and thin in the summer…but the cat is beyond chubby, it’s fat and flabby~
-Her cat, Cherry, resembles her owner but it’s also a little ditsy looking
-Even though it just ate, it would go meow for more food. When you give it more food it has no problems eating it all. And that’s probably how it got so fat.
-the amount it gained is just amazing.
-What’s even more surprising is how fat the tail has gotten.
-it’s tail used to be very cute in that it was curly but now she just doesn’t know
-the cat’s still cute with it’s flabbiness but Sayu thinks it might be quite the handful
-well it’s okay since it’s cute but it was still quite the shock.

QUIZ SHIGESAGON

[what is the prefectural flower of Yamaguchi?]

-Dokubana? (Poison flower)
-Sayu gets the answer wrong by saying the flower is “Poison Flower” but she explains there really are poisonous flowers in Yamaguchi.
-On the way to elementary school there are poisonous flowers in which she was told by a friend, “If you touch these you’ll die!”
-Even though you’re to never touch them, she did touch them once. It ended up being okay since she’s still alive but she had to desperately wash her hands
-she hasn’t seen the poisonous flower in Tokyo but a lot of them bloom in Yamaguchi.
-it’s a really cute pink flower but it’s totally black in the middle where pollen should be. Everyone says to be careful to not touch the pollen cause you’ll die from it.

the correct answer is “Natsu Mikan” flower (Brassica rapa)

[How do you pronounce the first month (of the year) in English?]

-Snow. First month? October? June?

answer: January

-jun aasaa?
-January? What is that? Someone’s name?

[Are there times when you get mad at your sister?]

-Sayu had to really think about this one but couldn’t recall anything
-maybe they fought as kids but she can’t remember.
-her sister doesn’t like to stir up trouble. she’s the type to hold it in and not saying anything.

-her sister’s friend was over at their house to hangout one time. When Sayu got home, the friend said she was leaving cause she had a cold and wasn’t feeling well.
-her sister was really worried and told her friend to visit the hospital while she was leaving their place
-Her friend said she’ll go to the hospital the next day. So the next day her sister mailed her friend and asked her if she went to the hospital
-her friend replied “Yes. I went to the hospital. Dentist.”
-since she was really worried over her, you’d expect her to get mad at her friend for going to a dentist instead of a doctor, but her sister simply said “Oh is that so?” in a normal way.

[listener compliments Sayu's skin and asks how she get it's so nice?]

-Sayu says her skin isn’t nice at all. For tv and concerts she covers it up with concealer.
-since the listener that’s asking for advice is the same age as her, she thinks it’s not a problem (it’s part of youth)
-to keep the skin pretty there’s face lotions and moisturizing creams but Sayu says the best thing to do is avoid stress.
-Stress is the worst thing for skin and there’s no recovering from that.
-acne from eating too much chocolate isn’t a problem because it clears up pretty quick but skin probs while being stressed never clear. So you should be careful of that.
-Sayu isn’t stressed right now but last year in August, she got a rash (spots?) on her neck which never cleared up.
-The doctor says it’s from stress.
-well Sayu thinks it’ll clear up someday
-Recently her acne has gotten pretty bad though. It now being winter, the most delicious time for chocolates, she just couldn’t resist. She ended up eating a whole bunch of chocolate which resulted in getting pimples the next day.
-Lately she’s been thinking positively…in that she thinks her skin is like the sky full of stars.
-when she got 3 pimples she thought it looked like Orion.
-Recently She likes to think she has winter skin.
-Sayu said this with Reina and the make-up artist around. Reina giggled while the make-up artist was like “huh?”
-Sayu thinks Reina’s kind for laughing. so she was like “Lookie Reina, it’s a shooting star” while moving her face about. Reina was trying to keep her voice down but was laughing a lot.
-It makes Sayu’s really happy thinking of how Reina can be so honest and laugh at so many things.
-Skin problems are okay, just laugh it off. It’s really just a matter of time anyways.

[February 11th is junjun's 21st bday...have you decided on a present?]

-hasn’t decided yet but Junjun’s easy to figure out since Junjun and Sayu have similar taste
-Junjun likes cute things, pink things, girlie things
-Mitsui’s birthday, on January 13th, is what Sayu’s really worried over.
-She gave Mitsui a purse, well a big pouch that can be used as a purse.
-Mitsui and Reina are the tough ones to get gifts for
-Junjun on the other hand is easy to understand so even though she hasn’t decided, it wouldn’t be a problem.
-the staff inform Sayu that Mitsui’s birthday is actually January 12th. Sayu doesn’t believe it.
-She mixed it up because her own birthday falls on a 13th
-Sayu apologizes to Mitsui

[what did the members or your family say about your Otona no Gakuryoku Kentei QUIZ tv appearance?]

-After getting home from the hello pro concert at Tokyo Nakano sunplaza, Sayu, her mom and brother watched the quiz show together.
-her brother had a good laugh
-her mom said something like “Even though you got it wrong you saved it with a smile”
-she told her grandma, grandpa, cousin and uncle to watch it. She told them, they have to check it out, with a lot of confidence.
-when haromoni was around she would write to her grandpa and tell him to watch it and he would always mail back that he watched it and that she was cute.
-but this time with the quiz show, she didn’t get any mail at all. Not from her grandpa, grandma, nor uncle.
-one of her classmate friends mailed her about it but she didn’t get anything else so it was shocking
-she hasn’t gotten any feedback other than from her mom and brother. Not even from her dad. She thinks her dad must have been shocked at his daughter for not knowing elementary knowledge.

Manga

-In the past, Sayu didn’t really see herself growing up
-she thinks her youth is still at the jr high level (meaning that she still has the mentality of jr highschooler..emotionally anyways)
-when she read shoujo manga she would think that she’s still a jr highschooler cause the books would always be about older people that are in high school
-but now when she reads manga, she’s older than all the characters
-the character introductions would be like “I’m Karen, 17. I admire such and such senior”
-she’s amazed that it’s about characters younger than her
-it makes her wonders if she’s grown or not.

Funny Faces

-Reina’s hen gao (strange/funny face) is cute yet really weird. she’s really good at making weird faces.
-Koharu tends to overdo it and it turns out absolutely horrible. Eri too.
-Reina’s hen gao is a face that makes you laugh. It makes you laugh but it’s really weird yet funny and interesting while still being cute.
-Kusumi koharu’s hen gao on the other hand is a face that doesn’t make you laugh.
-Sayu’s fine with it cause she’d just tease Koharu about it and tell her to stop
-but if you ever see Eri’s…it’s like something you can’t look at…it’s like looking a bug.
-Sayu reasons it’s like how some girls are bad with bugs. Sayu’s not scared of bugs but other people get creeped out by the mere thought of them.
-Sayu thinks it’s better for Koharu and Eri to stop with the faces. Well she especially wants her most beloved Eri to stop because it’s troubling to her.

Sleeping Nude

-Yesterday, her sister was sleeping nude again even though it’s winter.
-well there’s a futon so it’s not a problem but her nude sister called Sayu over to turn off the lights.
-Sayu had to turn the lights off quick cause she didn’t especially want to always be looking at that
-Sayu’s well aware of her sister’s nude habits but she wasn’t expecting the whole turn off the lights thing *shudders*
-well that’s her oneechan for you

Naichau kamo

[scenario: saying Naichau kamo after a harsh dance lesson]

-If there was a really harsh dance lesson she’d only say “naichau kamo” in a really quiet voice…well she wouldn’t even voice it, she’d try to hold it back and not want to talk about it with anyone else she might really cry.

OnDiet wrote

In one of the corners, Sayu was given several situations whereby she has to say “Naichau Kamo” which also means “I might cry” in English.

One of the situation was that what if Eri, who is always with Sayu, graduates from Morning Musume. Sayu responded with a very real “Naichau Kamo”. She said that she can never imagine this happening neither have she thought of it before and she might not even want to think of it. Sayu admits that she finds Eri funny. She brings up something that happened recently during Hello! Project 2009 Winter Wonderful Hearts Kouen ~ Kakumei Gannen ~. As we already know, SayuEri have been playing a skit-liked pairing during the end of the MC with the Makotos and Mano.

During one of the concert days of the concert tour, the first concert MC, not many fans laughed at SayuEri’s skit-liked MC so they started worring about the second concert. Both of them wanted the fans to find the skit funny so they went to the usual staffs that helped them with their MCs for advice and were told that SayuEri are funny when they’re disorganised. The staffs added on that SayuEri practiced too many times for the first concert, therefore the MC was too perfect and since SayuEri were too confident after those practices, it only made the MC not funny. The staffs told them to only practice once. Eri agreed with it so they only practiced once, but the girls were pretty pressurised because they can only have one practice session before the real thing starts. At that time, Eri said “Yabai (Omg)” with amazingly lol expression on her face, making Sayu laugh really hard even though they were about to start the concert. Sayu said she was able to have such a good laugh all because of Eri. If she don’t have Eri who is always together with her through the happy times with her, she might cry.

Halfhearted

-Everyone says Sayu’s halfhearted but Sayu defends herself and says that she’s actually not halfhearted but the things she thinks up to say don’t exactly work out
-Gaki san would say “You’re really halfhearted aren’t you, Sayu”
-It’s like whenever Gaki san would change her nails, Sayu would always say that it’s cute. but Recently when she didn’t change her nails Sayu still said it was cute. Hence Gaki san said she’s halfhearted.
-and when Gaki san only cut her nails, Sayu said “Ooo gaki san did you change your nails?” hence earning her another “you’re halfhearted” comment

-Then there was this:
Sayu: “Ah! Gaki san, did you change your cellphone?”
Gaki: “nope”
Sayu: *yabai*
Sayu: “Oh…um..I made a mistake. I meant you did something with the decorations right?”
Gaki: “I didn’t change the decorations, Sayumi.”
Sayu: *yabai*
Sayu: “Ah! you added a strap to it!”
Gaki: “I didn’t change anything.”

-she just kept digging a deeper hole for herself and got yet another “you really are halfhearted” comment
-Sayu still thinks that’s not true.
-so to clear herself she thought the next time Gaki san changes her nails she’ll definitely be the first to comment on them
-and as if prepared for that, a mail comes from Gaki san saying “Sayumi, I’m doing my nails right now. N-A-I-L-S.”
-Sayu replied saying she understood and that she’ll come up with something good to say for tomorrow
-and then the next day she totally forgot about the nails
-then Reina comes along and asks Gaki san if she changed her nails
-which triggers panic in Sayu, leading Sayu to exclaim “Ah! for reeeal!” (HONTO dAaaa!) while taking advantage of the situation

Steaky

-Last year’s New Year’s Eve soba was tempura soba. It was made by her grandma when Sayu went over to eat at her place in Yamaguchi.
-in the morning, before she had the soba, Sayu went to the market. She bought a LOT of puffer fish, yellowtail, and sea bream.
-It’s been awhile since Sayu last had puffer fish so this time she had her fill of it. Everything was fresh and delicious so she ended up eating a very surprising amount.
-her granny then said “Don’t just eat fish, have some teaky, teaky.”
-apparently her granny calls steak, teaky
-At first Sayu didn’t know what that was but she was like “oh! I want some teaky”
-after having steak as well, she was soo full. By the time the new year’s soba was ready, Sayu was so full she could only eat take a bite

[what's good about entering the entertainment world ?]

-There are a lot of good things. When it comes to joining morning musume, the best thing was being able to meet the members.
-As for the entertainment world, the best thing is the discovery of the flat iron.
-the flat irons the make-up artists use are super super powerful. They are 180 degrees in heat and make your hair super straight.
-She didn’t know there was something that can make your hair so straight so fast until she entered the entertainment world.

[what's the tough part?]

-As for hardships, there are a lot of those as well. In terms of Morning Musume, it would be dancing and singing. Like when you can’t remember dance moves or can’t dance a part well, you feel that it’s tough.
-but surprisingly the toughness leads to good results.
-The hard part and the good part is something you feel together.