Wednesday 30 November 2011

Poll Winner + NEW Giveaway!

Congratulations SUNNY!


omg me? awesome.


What a fantastically heated poll. You guys LOVE Sunny and Taeyon, they were head to head for a long time. Just last night Sunny was only 1 vote ahead! Here are the stats.

Sunny got 18 votes (23%)
Taeyon got 15 votes (19%)
Sooyoung got 13 votes (16%)
Yoona got 10 votes (12%)
Jessica got 8 votes (10%)
Hyoyeon got 6 votes (7%)
Seohyun got 3 votes (3%)
Yuri got 3 votes (3%)
Tiffany got 2 votes (2%)

It seemed like some of you changed your mind near the end as I saw some members go up and down quite erratically! Thank you all for voting and make sure to vote in the new poll!

What is your favourite Morning Musume album?

+

NEW Giveaway!



Oh hay there Berryz.


So readers, it is your lucky day, here at Ichigogo!★ We are doing another giveaway! You could WIN a Limited Edition B - Berryz Koubou single from 2011 'Heroine ni Narou ka?'
It includes the obi, a DVD with a 'single dance shot' version of the PV on it, and a ticket to an event. It comes from a smoke-free home and is in very good condition.

You must be a follower of my blog to enter, and you must answer the following question in a comment on this post.

What is your favourite Berryz Koubou song and why?

Good luck everyone, and the winner will be announced 2 weeks from now!

Worldwide entries welcome!

Monday 21 November 2011

Top 10 Current Idol Vocalists.

WHOAH! SHE CAN SING!

Who are your favourite idols? Well forget about them. This is about the best singers in idol groups. Current and active only. I may also make a former idols best vocalist's list as well, but that will be a lot harder than this one. I am not including any vocalists who are being promoted as serious singers, even former idols who are now artists are being excluded (eg: Maki Goto).

Here they are! The top 10 current idol vocalists! (In my opinion xD)


10. Risa Niigaki (Morning Musume)- Now the longest serving member of Morning Musume, she's always had a deeper voice than most, but can also hit falsetto notes with a beautiful flowing sound. Her voice is now carrying Morning Musume though, as she is by a very long shot better than their next best vocalist. Reina Tanaka.


9. Yuko Oshima (AKB48 Team K) - I remember her being a lot better than they give her credit for now, maybe because she is constantly trying to make herself sound cute, but her voice is actually very good. Listen to 'Kinjirareta Futari' - it's delicate, it's husky, and she sounds very good hitting either high or low notes. They need to give her more ballads to sing as she is very good at conveying emotion.


8. Ayano Konishi (Tokyo Girls Style)- This girl has some serious pipes on her. Sounding better than idols twice her age, she was born to sing and perform. Apparently her nickname is 'perfect voice' - I can see why. Tokyo Girls' Style as a group are ridiculously talented in both singing and dancing, and I'd eventually love to see some solo careers come out of them. Especially Ayano.


7. Miyabi Natsuyaki (Berryz Koubou and Buono!) - Always, since she was very young, being one of the best Hello! Project vocalists, she has a very unique sounding voice that you can always spot, being a tad on the nasal side in the high register, yet when in the low register, she sounds fantastic. Always a front girl since the very first Berryz single, I have a feeling she will be one of the (few) girls who will succeed after Hello! Project disbands.


6. Sayaka Akimoto (AKB48 Team K) - Extremely underrated as a vocalist, her deep and husky voice is perfect for rock songs like Blue Rose, DiVA is the most vocally powerful sub group in AKB48 and her voice is often dominating of other members because of it's power. She can also handle ballads and different styles of music. She has proven herself so many times and yet she still doesn't get the promotion she really deserves. Media Senbatsu for next year! Sayaka! I will vote for you!


5. Sayaka Yamamoto (NMB48 Team N) - WOW. Was my first thought when I heard the clearness and clarity of this beauty's voice. Her version of Bird is incredible, and it seems like this is really the vocalists AKB song, as Sayanee, Yuka, and Takamina have all gotten it as their lead songs. She will be the Takamina of NMB, whether she stays as popular as she is, or it goes up and down, she will probably always carry their songs with her great voice that can hit a varied range of notes.


4. Airi Suzuki (C-ute and Buono!) - Another H!P vocalist carrying the franchise. Although oddly, she sounded better when she was younger (anyone remember Aa!?) her voice is usually is quite high, and she is arguably one of the best, if not the best vocalist in current Hello! Project. Most of the H!P kids turned into very good talents, singers and dancers bar a few who never seemed to improve, but Airi was very good right off the bat. Her audition song was BoA's 'Kimochi wa Tsutawaru' and she was about 9 years old. Incredible.


3. Yuka Masuda (AKB48 Team B)- Originally from Team K and smashing most of the other girls vocals from AKB (especially from Team B)out of the park, Yuka continually proves her worth by doing beautifully strong versions of songs. The duet on the revised stages of 'Anata to Christmas Eve' with Sayaka Akimoto was fantastic.


2. Reiko Nishikunihara (SDN48) - While not the prettiest idol, and definitely one of the oldest in the idol industry right now. Her voice is incredible, it is a shame she doesn't get into any of the SDN A-sides, as she is the best vocalist in SDN48. Hands down. Hopefully for their last single all the girls get to shine. I'd like to see her get an enka or classical music career after SDN.


1. Minami Takahashi (AKB48 Team A) - Nobody can really dispute this. (Well, feel free too though!) She is the queen of AKB48 and supports many, many songs with her strong and deep vocals. She gives everything she sings such a depth and emotion. I hope that eventually she gets her own solo career, as even though she may not be as popular as Acchan or Yukirin, she is infinitely more talented.

How about you? Who do you think has the best voice? Or has potential to one day have a great career?

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Ue Kara Mariko Previews + Covers out!

Ue Kara Mariko [上からマリコ] - AKB48's 24th Single!




In September, Mariko Shinoda was the winner of AKB48's 2nd Janken Taikai, to determine who would be the senbatsu for this, the most recent single.

Some fantastic girls got into this, including Sayaka Akimoto (Team K Captain), Sumire Sato (Team B), Ayaka Umeda (Team K), Minami Minegishi (Team K), Tomomi Kasai (Team B) and Shizuka Oya (Team A). A few we haven't seen in A-sides before.

The original title was 'Hashire! Penguin' but that has been moved to be a Team 4 song for the theatre version of the single.

Here is the preview!



I like it, but I still would have preferred that it was a bit more rock style. I wanted a 'Blue Rose' esque A-side, that would have been incredible. It is still a very catchy song though, and since we haven't heard the entirety of it yet, it may still get better.

The covers are also out!







Gorgeous! If not a bit..well..photoshop heavy. I almost wish it was just Mariko on the cover alone. They've done it with Atsuko, why not with Mariko too? I will still probably be ordering though. I like the Team A cover, but I'd prefer the Team K song! Perhaps I will order both? Ah it's quite exciting.

What do you think of the covers and preview?