[2015.06.29] Hina Fest'15 - The Girls Festival

[Shoujo Q]

The annual Hina'Fest/Satoyama Festival  thread (That I forgot to make and sad no one else did!) 
 
 
Premium Acts
 
<div>3/28 16.30 :: Anjurumu and Juice=Juice</div>
<div>3/29 10.00 :: Morning Musume</div>
<div>3/29 16.30 :: C-ute</div>
 
 

Special Acts and their Group Names
 
<div>Group A 3/28/15</div>
<div>Solo - Makino Maria</div>
<div>2 person team - Haga Akane, Tamura Meimi (Hagatamu)</div>
<div>3 person team - Sayashi Riho, Wada Ayaka, Suzuki Kanon (Suzuki Kanon ni Peaberry wo Soete)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Group B 3/29/15 (Day)</div>
<div>Solo - Ozeki Mai</div>
<div>2 person team - Murota Mizuki, Kudo Haruka (HAMIIZU)</div>
<div>3 person team - Uemura Akari, Uta, Ikubo Haruna (Patisserie)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Group C 3/29/15 (Night)</div>
<div>Solo - Fukumura Mizuki</div>
<div>2 person team - Ishida Ayumi, Sasaki Rikako (Date Shimai)</div>
<div>3 person team - Nakajima Saki, Miyazaki, Sayuki (SYS)</div>
 
 
Stage Setup
It's a 360 stage!

 
 
Day 1
 
Setlist 

Spoiler: [+]

 
<div>MC1 - Maimi, Momochi</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Angerme Premium (Main)</div>
<div>1.Otome no Gyakushu - Angerme</div>
<div>2.Yume Miru 15sai - Angerme</div>
<div>3.Chikyuu wa kyou mo ai wo hagukumu - Angerme</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Juice=Juice Premium</div>
<div>4.Wonderful World - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>5.Ca va? Ca va? - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>6.Date janai yo uchi no jinsei wa - Juice=Juice</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC2 - Okai Chisato, Fukumura Mizuki</div>
<div> </div>
<div>7.Ten Made Nobore! - Hello Pro Kenshuusei</div>
<div>8.Kanojo ni Naritaii!!! - Hello Pro Kenshuusei</div>
<div>9.Itooshikutte gomen ne - Country Girls</div>
<div>10.Hajimete no Happy Birthday '15 ('15 meaning Updated ver.) - Country Girls</div>
<div>11.Seishun kozou ga naiteiru - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>12.Yuugure wa Ameagari - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>13.The Middle Management - C-ute</div>
<div>14.Kiss Me Aishiteru - C-ute</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC3 - Momochi, Ayumi</div>
<div> </div>
<div>15.Sakura Night Fever (Kimura Kan cover) - Hello! Project</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC4 - Airi, Eripon</div>
<div> </div>
<div>16.Zenryoku! Pump Up!! - Up Up Girls</div>
<div>17.Bijo no Nokemono - Up Up Girls</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC5 - Manaka, Uta</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Solo, Duo, Trio shuffle corner </div>
<div>18.Daite yo! PLEASE GO ON (Goto Maki) - Makino Maria aka Marian&Hearts;LoveRin (solo)</div>
<div>19.Suki Sugite Baka Mitai (DEF. DIVA) - HagaTamu (Haga Akane, Tamura Meimi) </div>
<div>20.Tanpopo (Tanpopo) - Suzuki Kanon ni Peaberry wo Soete (Suzuki Kanon, Wada Ayaka, Sayashi Riho)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC6 - Wada Ayaka, Miyazaki Yuka</div>
<div> </div>
<div>21.Koi Doboro - Country Girls</div>
<div>22.One Two Three (Updated) - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>23.Tsugi no Kado wo Magare - C-ute</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Juice=Juice premium </div>
<div>24.Romance no Tochuu - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>25.Hadaka no Hadaka no Hadaka no KISS - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>26.Samidare bijo ga samidareru - Juice=Juice</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Angerme Premium</div>
<div>27.Eighteen Emotion - Angerme</div>
<div>28.Uchouten Love - Angerme</div>
<div>29.Taiki Bansei - Angerme</div>
<div>30.Short cut - Hello! Project</div>
<div> </div>
<div>end.</div>

<div> </div>
<div>Day 2 </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Morning Concert Setlist</div>
<div>

Spoiler: [+]

<div> </div>
<div>
<div>MC</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Premium Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>1.Seishun kozou ga naiteiru - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>2.Yuugure wa ameagari - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>3.TIKI BUN - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC</div>
<div> </div>
<div>4.Ten Made Nobore! - Hello Pro Kenshuusei</div>
<div>5.Seishun Beat wa 16 - Hello Pro Kenshuusei</div>
<div>6.Itooshikutte gomen ne - Country Girls</div>
<div>7.Hajimete no Happy Birthday!'15 - Country Girls</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC</div>
<div> </div>
<div>8.Wonderful World - Juice=Juice </div>
<div>9.Ca va? Ca va? - Juice=Juice</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC</div>
<div> </div>
<div>10.Otome no Gyakushu - Angerme</div>
<div>11.Tabidachi no haru ga kita - Angerme</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC</div>
<div> </div>
<div>12.The Middle Management - C-ute</div>
<div>13.Tokaikko Junjou - C-ute</div>
<div> </div>
<div>MC</div>
<div> </div>
<div>14.Sakura Night Fever (Kimura Kan cover) - Hello! Project</div>
<div>15.Start - The Possible</div>
<div>16.Zenryoku Banzai! My Glory - The Possible</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Solo, Duo, Trio shuffle corner </div>
<div>17.Genkimono de Ikou! (Mano Erina) - Ozeki Mai solo</div>
<div>18.Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee! (Otome gumi) - Hamizu (Haruka, Murota Mizuki)</div>
<div>19.Ajisai Ai Ai Monogatari (Biyuden) - Patisserie (Haruna, Uemura, Uta)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>20.Koi Doboro - Country Girls</div>
<div>21.Ijiwaru Shinaide Dakishimete yo - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>22.Taiki Bansei - Angerme</div>
<div>23.Tsugi no Kado wo Magare - C-ute</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Premium Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>24.Toki wo Koe Sora wo Koe - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>25.Wakuteka Take a chance - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>26.Wagamama Kinomama Ai no Joke - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>27.Brainstorming - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>28.One Two Three (Updated) - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>29.Renai Revolution 21 (Updated) - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>30.Dokkan Capriccio - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>31.The Matenrou Show - Hello! Project</div>
<div> </div>
<div>end.</div>
</div>

</div>
<div>
<div> </div>
<div>Evening Concert Setlist</div>
<div> </div>
<div>

Spoiler: [+]

<div>Premium C-ute</div>
<div>1.The Middle Management - C-ute</div>
<div>2.Tsugi no Kado wo Magare - C-ute</div>
<div>3.Akogare My STAR - C-ute</div>
<div> </div>
<div>4.Ten Made nobore! - Hello Pro Kenshuusei</div>
<div>5.Crying - Hello Pro Kenshuusei</div>
<div>6.Itooshikutte gomen ne - Country Girls</div>
<div>7.Hajimete no happy birthday! - Country Girls</div>
<div> </div>
<div>8.Wonderful World - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>9.Ca va? Ca va? - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>10.Otome no Gyakushu - Angerme</div>
<div>11.Tachiagirl - Angerme</div>
<div> </div>
<div>12.Seishun kozou ga naiteiru - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div>13.Yuugure wa Ameagari - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div> </div>
<div>14.Sakura Night Fever (KAN) - Hello! Project</div>
<div>15.Konna Watashi de yokattara - Kikkawa You</div>
<div>16.Urahara Temptation - Kikkawa You</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Solo, Duo, Trio shuffle corner </div>
<div>17.Sakura Mankai (Sakura gumi) - Fukumura Mizuki solo</div>
<div>18.DANCE & CHANCE (Coconuts Musume.) - Date Shimai (Ayumi, Sasaki)</div>
<div>19.Kawaii Kare (Melon Kinenbi) - S.Y.S. (Nakajima Saki, Miyazaki Yuka, Takagi Sayuki)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>20.Koi Doboro - Country Girls</div>
<div>21.Ijiwaru Shinaide Dakishimete yo - Juice=Juice</div>
<div>22.Taiki Bansei - Angerme</div>
<div>23.One Two Three - Morning Musume. '15</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Premium C-ute</div>
<div>24.Ooki na Ai de motenashite - C-ute</div>
<div>25.Ai wa itsumo itsumo - C-ute</div>
<div>26.Hitorijime shitakatta dake na no ni - C-ute</div>
<div>27.Midnight Temptation - C-ute</div>
<div>28.Dance de Bakoon - C-ute</div>
<div>29.GamushaLIFE - C-ute</div>
<div>30.Bokura no Kagayaki - C-ute</div>
<div> </div>
<div>31.Meguru Koi no kisetsu - Hello! Project</div>
<div> </div>
<div>end!</div>

</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Video DUMP!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>
Video Announcing Hina'Fest and Special Units
Video Announcing the groups have to think up their own group name/short discussion
Video with long discussion with Group A on group names.
Video with long discussion with Group B on group names.
Video with long discussion with Group C on group names.
Video with Solo Acts. (I actually didn't watch this so I don't know what they are talking about.)
Livestream where they announce the Unit names and other things. (Fukubun!) [With Maimi, Mizuki, Ayaka, Yuka]
Video promoting the collab between App game Nintsuku and H!P 
</div>
</div>
<div>Videoof Maimi, H.Mai, I.Haruna, F.Kanon, U.Akari and O.Mai promoting the App game (that H!P had a collab in) in cosplay. :D</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Concert Footage</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Unit Performances for Day 1</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Satoyama Footage</div>
<div>Opening Ceremonies</div>
<div>Erina + Country Girls</div>
<div>Ayaka, Meimi + Arai Minami (Upupgirls) for Gunma Promo</div>
<div>Risa+Manaka for Yamanashi Promo</div>
<div>Airi and the tale of the Technical difficulties.</div>
<div>I have no idea what's going on, but Morning Musume join in later do dance background for Love Machine.</div>
<div>Okayama Promo with a lady I don't know (but she sounds familiar) and Musume</div>
<div>Strawberry Stuff with C-ute</div>
<div>Tokyo Bay Promo with T.Akari and O.Marina</div>
<div>Satoyama Fest with Lovendor, Bitter+Sweet, Eric, Takui and some other people.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Nintsuku Footage</div>
<div>Press conference</div>
<div>Country Girls playing the Game</div>
<div>Juice=Juice playing the Game</div>
<div>Angerme playing the Game</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>

[Farrah]

Welp, that clip pretty much sums up all I have to say about the state of H!P's vocals these days lmao.

[Shoujo Q]

They have to sing the whole song and for newbies like Maria and Akane, that's a lot. xD
 
Maria started out fine but then the rap hit and she went sailing down the river of no breath for the remainder of the song. Meimi had her moments where she shined and then a few flat notes (She's more suited to musical style songs.) and Akane, well... bless her for trying. Of course it was Peaberry with a little bit of Zukki. I was never a fan of Ayaka's voice till she joined Peaberry and toned it down now she's tolerable. 
 
I've learned to accept Japanese vocals being on their own special level.

[Haru]

Maria has been an Egg/KSS since 2012; I feel like there's no excuse for her to still sound like this.

[Shoujo Q]

She may have been a trainee, but I think they focused more on dancing then they did singing since that's what they are mainly used for and it's not like they have as many concerts as traditional H!P groups. From what I can remember they only had lessons once or twice a week, probably more if it was a around the time of one of their Trainee concerts. It's not like she sounds terrible. She started out fine, it's just she can't control a full song by herself yet. I doubt anyone at her level could. So I give her mad props for doing it. 
 
It will be interesting to see how O.Mai does since she's only been in the company for not even a year yet. 

[Farrah]

In the nicest way possible... Maria was off-key for literally more than half of that performance haha.  And Peaberry were only on key for about fifty or sixty percent themselves.  I don't expect these girls to sound like Whitney Houston or Aretha Franklin or even, hell, BoA or Namie Amuro.  But being able to sing a whole song without going flat or sharp more than, idk, 5% of the time, is something even your average choir kid can probably pull off (unless you performed this experiment and accidentally pulled aside that one kid who took it for an easy class and lipsyncs their way through every lesson haha).  People keep bringing up training, but training is generally used for polishing pre-existing talent, not conjuring new talent from the great beyond.  Training can sometimes work miracles and uncover talent you never would have suspected, but that is very, very, incredibly rare.


I don't want to sound like I'm bashing or beating a dead horse here, I swear.  There are things I really like about recent H!P - musically, H!P is more interesting to me right now than it was in that awkward post-golden era, pre-platinum era time.  But it's weird how Hello!Project-lead-singer went from Goto Maki or Takahashi Ai to Riho or Sakura, and Hello!Project-couple-of-solo-lines went from Kamei Eri or Kago Ai, to Masaki or even Ayumi (for real, Ayumi gets solo lines and is damn near completely tone deaf).  


H!P has always had injustice in this regard - everyone knows Nacchi started off pretty terrible yet got more lines than Ishiguro Aya or Iida Kaori.  But even young Nacchi could sing circles around pretty much everyone in current Morning Musume.  If anything, it's interesting to me how the standard got lowered so much.  I don't feel like most of H!P's modern day lead vocals would have cut the mustard for H!P back in the day other than Airi and Chisato (maybe Karin).


Oh god, look at me writing a novel over here LOL.  Sorry to hijack.  I guess it's because I felt very accosted by that cover of Tanpopo okay!   It's one of my favorite H!P songs of all time.

[Purin-chama]

I don't know. I would compare Riho with Nacchi. Both go flat a ton. Even when Nacchi was in her solo career,her lives were still going flat. She has a lot more pleasant tone than Riho though.


I thought all the girls here did a lot better job than I was expecting. Maybe my expectations were just super low. The only one I thought sounded down right bad was Riho. That keeping in mind the amount of experience everyone has.


Maria has NEVER done a solo performance this large before. She's done them with the trainee festival two years but she never was the strongest vocals there, and the venue was a lot smaller. That being said, I was surprised by her. She didnt have the greatest vocals, but she kept her energy up and never looked nervous once.


Same with Akane. The two of them were great and I thoroughly enjoyed their performance the best. I was surprised with how in sync the two were about 85% of the time. To me, it looks like Meimi was training her with how to get the song down, visually and even a bit of vocally, which probably helped the success of their song for me.


Tanpopo... It should have been better. Ayaka always knows how to deliver a song. Kanon sounded like she fit the song, and Riho should never sing that song again.

[MejraThea]

Akane really surprised me, I thought her opening line was Meimi. Duu has nothing on the deep voice claim anymore.
 
Riho didn't suit the song, I agree. She does really well on musical type songs, but this song where it had those really soft/quiet opening lines, her voice doesn't go very well. But I enjoyed it anyway.

[Farrah]

As far as energy or performance, everyone did well (especially Maria), but that's not really what I'm talking about LOL.  I'm talking strictly their ability to sing on key without sounding like they're being strangled.  Ayaka and Riho were kind of amazingly awful to me considering they're both lead vocalists.  


Nacchi is frequently pitchy, and has horrible vocal control - but both her pitch and vocal control are easily superior to Riho.  Time and experience will often take someone from passable to good, or from good to great.  But I see absolutely zero natural singing ability in Riho, Ayaka, et al.  Ayaka was a popular egg turned front girl because popularity, Riho was a good dancer turned front girl because stage presence.


They have their strengths as idols, but I fail to see any strengths in their vocal performance.  All I expect from idol vocalists, even main ones, is for me not to be physically cringing for more than a line or two per song haha.

[momoirosaya]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Haru" data-cid="186647" data-time="1427554159">
Maria has been an Egg/KSS since 2012; I feel like there's no excuse for her to still sound like this. </blockquote>Just because she's been training doesn't mean she's going to sound great if she doesn't have singing as a natural skill. Also eggs only have lessons like once or twice a month I think, so she'll have to work harder at singing every single day if she wants to get better. But she does have a lot of potential if she works hard at it.

[Banana]

^ I'm not 100% sure, but I thought it was once a week. 
 
About Maria, she is ALWAYS that pitchy. It's not just because she's singing solo, lol. I know because they gave her a lot of lines during her time as a trainee for some odd reason. 

[momoirosaya]

^I looked it up, your right. It's every Saturday for 3 hours.

I think I must have had to been thinking of the fact that some girls only go to lessons once or twice a month because they're far away (like in Hokkaido). I think I heard in one of the KSS interviews in the Aichi that Maria and girls closer to there went to though? Not 100% sure, it might have been Osaka.

[Farrah]

Yeah, there are clips of Maria sounding awful even singing with other people if I recall correctly?  Some of these girls will just probably never develop a sense of pitch.   Idols can get away with that when there's just one or two in a group, but a lot of the new line-ups are even as much as 50% tone deaf gals, and at least half of the lead vocalists are only slightly better.


You can't blame it all on training either.  I didn't take singing lessons until I was sixteen or so, but comparing clips of me at 11 to clips of me at even 13 is a noticeable difference.  If someone has any natural ear for it, they will be able to improve a good bit without formal training.  Pitch should not be a major problem for someone more than a year into singing.  It's not their fault - they just probably weren't born for it.  I just wish H!P would start picking more girls that were, to balance out the scales a little because they feel more unbalanced to me this era than ever before.

[momoirosaya]

Just finished the video and I would have to say the best sounding group was Hagatamu. Meimi is always awesome. Akane kind of talk sings, but she has potential.


Even though a Riho dang it nicely, those kinds of songs really don't fit her vocal tone. Nor do they fit Ayaka's, but Ayaka's fits better than Riho. Usually I don't like Kanon's voice, but I loved it here. She went flat a couple times, but I'd love to hear her sing this as a solo song.


I feel like Maria always chooses powerful songs to sing solo, or songs that require a lot of stamina. They should've had her pick an easy song, that shows her voice at it's best.

[Farrah]

I feel like Haruka and Mizuki tend to also pick horrible solo choices so I guess we can add Maria to that list.  It's depressing that Zukki is a) a non-singer in her group and b) the one with the least lines in that performance, because she's easily the only one in it who sounded decent LOL.

[Noa]

#Justice4Kanon
 
No but honestly only Meimi and Kanon sounded that good. It's kind of amusing when think about it, because the average person can sing decently at least but it seems like H!P just keeps finding all the ones who can't.

[Anderei]

Well, I doubt the girls they pick are the best vocalists out of all their options. They've just made it their lowest priority these days. I'm pretty sure it's the last thing they look at considering 12th gen.

[arcobaleno]

Very little idol groups seem to care about vocals, judging from nearly ALL of the popular ones. It's just not that important anymore, next to looks, possible personality charms/quirks, and maybe dancing talent.

[Anderei]

These days, I'd say it's not important if absolutely everything else is done pretty well.


Which isn't the case for MM. They've got cheap MVs, terrible covers/costumes a lot of the time, not a lot of tv presence, and now they can't sing to just top it all off. They're mostly cute, but lots of groups are cute.

[kira]

I agree -- for example, Momoclo can get away with their lackluster singing ability (they're super pitchy) because everything else is done well.
 
Anyway I love Tanpopo so I was excited to see them perform that, but I think Riho went into it with the wrong singing style or something.

[Purin-chama]

I don't see why people are focusing on their singing ability to be truthful. Yes, they used to have stronger vocalists within H!P as a whole (there was also a wider range of ages with older and younger girls) but not much has changed from old H!P to new H!P. They just have less girls on a whole. They pick girls who have potential to shine or grow. Some do more than others, but some fall flat. The girls that can't sing are usually made leads. Look how long some of the girls were there and didn't improve. 

[Farrah]

I wouldn't say they have less girls in general, really - yes, H!P cleaned house a few years ago when they got rid of Elder Club and whatnot, but that's not really relevant is it?  There have always been shitty singers in H!P, but they were definitely more spread out in the past.  Momusu is the biggest it's been since Shabondama yet the "strong" singers are weaker than they used to be, and the "weak" singers are more plentiful.


 It's hard not focusing on the quality of performance when they're getting paid to perform.  I can't even enjoy H!P concerts anymore, I kind of can't just ignore it LOL.  I used to love sitting back and binge watching Momusu concerts but as a musician (or anyone with a sense of pitch, really, regardless of hobbies or experience), when more than half the group is singing out of tune, it's almost painful to listen to.  I mean yeah, I think we all used to recoil when Junjun or Sayumi would just totally flub a line, but those lines were spread out amongst many more lines from several other stronger vocalists.  


That balance just isn't there anymore and it's really dampened the fan experience for me - H!P concerts always have low production value, so the live singing is a big chunk of what makes them worth watching.  Instead of choosing, I don't know, two really good singers and two or three meh singers to cover for the oh-god-make-it-stop singers, they've given the vast majority of the lines to Riho who ranges from "meh" to "oh-god-make-it-stop", and thrown some scraps to the "meh/passable" crowd of Sakura and Mizuki.  The new girls of Momusu, ANGERME and Country Girls are cute, and energetic.  But so is everyone else in every other idol group so it doesn't feel like enough.


They're in a shitty position now of a) editing the audio a ton in post production, making the concert feel way less immersive, and b) overloading the songs with group lines, taking away a lot of the emotion and texture.  It's just frustrating to think of how easily they could have avoided that by making better choices when holding auditions, and by focusing in on honing the talents of the girls they already have that show potential. 
Anyhow,     I'm rambling and maybe even off-base right now, so I will chill on the Debbie Downer routine haha. It's just... a damn shame to me, what can I say.

[smtmissin]

Morning Coffee misled me to believe that Riho was able to make her voice sound smooth. I was so wrong. The trio sounds the worse.  Maria and Akane-Meimi performance are much more tolerable. At least they have my bias. If I don't like Maria so much I may not have been able to sit through the whole thing (same for all Maa-chan's solo in the past) but I guess eye candy is better than nothing.

[Banana]

^^ I agree that Riho ranges from meh to awful and Mizuki is usually meh, but I really do believe that Sakura is meh-to-good (lol), which is what I would say about Ai and some of the other strong singers when they were at her age and level of experience. I mean, there's plenty of performances where Ai and Maki and others sounded pretty shaky and strained. Sakura has weak performances, but she also plenty of good ones, too. :( 
 
As for focusing too much on the vocals, I like the music and I just want to hear the songs sung decently. Even the best singers they've had were far from perfect and could be really grating at times, but they were good enough for me. C-ute and J=J (and sort of/almost Angerme) still have enough people who are good enough, but the other groups don't. But that's just me. (My singing standards are probably lower than Farrah's, lol.) 

[Shoujo Q]

I added a whole mess of videos from the Satoyama and Nintsuku live streams. @-@ 

[Vikitty]

RIho ruined Tanpopo.
 
As with everything else she touches.

[aine]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Farrah" data-cid="186651" data-time="1427556817">
Oh god, look at me writing a novel over here LOL.  Sorry to hijack.  I guess it's because I felt very accosted by that cover of Tanpopo okay!   It's one of my favorite H!P songs of all time.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Farrah" data-cid="186673" data-time="1427573586">
Anyhow,     I'm rambling and maybe even off-base right now, so I will chill on the Debbie Downer routine haha. It's just... a damn shame to me, what can I say.
</blockquote>

I enjoyed reading those thoroughly. And my impressions are similar, even though not backed by any musical background.
 
Except that I don't mind Riho's singing. Where she lacks in technicalities, she makes up with charisma or whatever you want to call it. But I do admit she sounded out of place in Tanpopo. In fact I'll even admit that Kanon gave the song much more justice, even though she's too nasal for my taste and her and Riho are on the extreme ends of my like-dislike scale.
 
MM and rest of H!P seem to be victims of many poor decisions lately and you are completely right that the balance of actual talent and 'idolness' needs to be brought back. I still have no idea how the 12th gens will turn out, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Shoujo Q]

Woops. Satoyama started again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejs6mqmbNMk Here's the youtube link. 

[JPope]

[quote="Farrah"]
I don't want to sound like I'm bashing or beating a dead horse here, I swear.  There are things I really like about recent H!P - musically, H!P is more interesting to me right now than it was in that awkward post-golden era, pre-platinum era time.  But it's weird how Hello!Project-lead-singer went from Goto Maki or Takahashi Ai to Riho or Sakura, and Hello!Project-couple-of-solo-lines went from Kamei Eri or Kago Ai, to Masaki or even Ayumi (for real, Ayumi gets solo lines and is damn near completely tone deaf).  


H!P has always had injustice in this regard - everyone knows Nacchi started off pretty terrible yet got more lines than Ishiguro Aya or Iida Kaori.  But even young Nacchi could sing circles around pretty much everyone in current Morning Musume.  If anything, it's interesting to me how the standard got lowered so much.  I don't feel like most of H!P's modern day lead vocals would have cut the mustard for H!P back in the day other than Airi and Chisato (maybe Karin).

 
[/quote]
 
 
<div>
<div>This is very close to a post that I had written a few days ago and decided not to post, because I didn't want beat the same dead horse that you and I have been flogging recently, but yeah, totally agreed on every point. We've defined "good singer" down so far that someone like Zukki is considered to be one of the best "good singers" in the group, when the truth is she's not even as good as Kago was at her worst. The same goes for Sakura. I've been as guilty of propping Sakura up as anyone else in the H!P fandom, but for really real, she's not that good. She'd be in the lower third of the Golden Era lineups. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>No, most of these girls would never have made it past the second cut of auditions 10 years ago. Akane is brutal, and probably the worst singer ever in MM. She is worse than Koharu fucking Kusmi. Cogitate on that for a while. Since no one in Japan seems to care about actual singing chops in their idols, she is likely to never improve.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I'm in this for the music, and always have been, and I care far less about what the girls look like than how well they sing. So this extreme lack of talent is moving me dangerously close to "deal breaker" territory. The magic of studio technology can mask the obvious flaws of being off key, but it can't create a compelling performance. There are no Miki Fujimotos or Aya Matsuuras or even Yuko Nakazawas creating compelling performances in H!P right now. (Fujimoto singing "Shining Itoshiki Anata" still grabs me by the balls whenever I hear it.)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Morning Musume currently sports a lineup of girls who are all arguably worse singers than teenaged Natsumi Abe, and that just won't do. Discovering Jpop was my second musical awakening, and I'm not sure how many more times I can listen to songs that are important to me being butchered by a bunch of tin-eared teenaged girls who seemingly couldn't care less about the songs or performing them. At some point I just won't care to listen to them anymore.</div>
</div>

[WonderBuono]

I really want to participate in this conversation about vocals, as I've been bothered the continuous decline in good voices not only in H!P, but for idols in general.


But really I'm just irritated right now that Dailymotion keeps crashing my browser and I can't watch the dang video! >:(