°C-ute

Over the last weeks there've been a lot of topic I'd have liked to cover, most of them being concerts.

FS3, for example, or Yuuchan's graduation concert.

But since an injury on my right hand was keeping me from typing longer texts, I didn't and I'm not going to do them now.

Instead, I'll talk about something quite the opposite of my usual topic(s).

I'm an old-school fan.

Okay, I haven't been into J-Pop for long, but still I prefer the Morning Musume of 1998 to 2005, or rather everything Hello!Project.
Give me a concert or a random clip from 1999 and you'll have me squeeing like a little kid.

Today's line-up leaves me rather cold, unless some graduated members are involved.

So that I find myself fangirling over the H!P kids catches me as rather strange.

There's no other "active" act in H!P right now that has me hooked more than Berryz and °C-ute have.

(by active, I don't include Coconuts, Melon and Country Musume, for now)

But as much as I love Berryz, I am drawn more to °C-ute, for whatever reason.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Berryz. There's no girl I don't like and I completely worship Momoko and Saki, and maybe even Miyabi and Maasa, and their songs all have me bouncing in no time except for their debut single.

Yet when °C-ute entered my view ...

They haven't yet done anything, per se. All they do is act as back-up for concerts (something I hate when it comes to Country Musume, because they deserve so much more) and cover songs.

But they do that with such an energy and such spirit that I am completely smitten whenever they appear on screen.

My absolute favorite is Megumi. She was annoying back in ZyX, but so was Airi in Aa! because I simply wasn't into the kids by then.

But after she played that bad-ass in Goto Maki's "Yokohama Shinriku", she has won a special place in my heart.

She can sing, she can dance, she has personality, a killer smile and, as the "Wonderful Hearts" Flets have made me realize, a body that betrays her age.

Seriously, she's not turning 14 for another four months ...

Personally, I think she should be the leader should Tsunku ever decide to have °C-ute release a single.

I don't really see Erika as a leader personality, and Megumi definitely has one.

But of course, there's still the second oldest °C-ute member, Maimi, my second favorite, and if there's the slightest chance that someone else but Erika will be leader, then it's Maimi.

In some aspects she seems an opposite to Megumi and I don't mean the dance/sing/smile department (even though hasn't yet filled out as well as Megumi).

Rather I'm talking about the personality.

Where Megumi seems mature and a tad more serious than her fellow members, Maimi is bright and cheerful and a typical 14-year-old, if I may say so.

Neither aspect is negative, neither Megumi's early maturity nor Maimi's sunshine personality.

I'm just pointing out my two favorite °C-ute members ... ^_^

Of course, the others deserve to be mentioned as well.

First, there's Erika, the "ugly" Cutie, just as Kei-chan has often been called the "ugly" Musume.

Okay, I admit, her teeth are a bit scary, but apart from that she's really pretty and seems to be coping well with that one not-so-pretty feature of hers.

Airi ... the star of °C-ute since she debuted with Aa! back in 2003 as the 9-year-old lead singer.

She has a great voice, even if a somewhat weak voice, by which I don't mean she can't sing. But she lacks a certain power, if you know what I mean. All Airi fans will hate me now!

Chisato ... such a cutie! Not really more to say. She hasn't yet done anything that has caught my interest except being cute. But she's damn good at that!

Saki ... to me, Saki will probably always be the cutie who "threatened" Yasuda Kei during the Sports Festival 2004, right in the beginning.

Kei's face was just priceless, even though I would have loved to see some other reaction's (Yuko, especially).

For the longest time, Mai seemed too young to be in any group, until I came across backstage pics from the H!P Selection Collection Tour 2005 ... Mai striking a pose ... and what a pose!!!

She's 9 and seems to have no trouble keeping up with her seniors!

Last but not least, I'm curious what Tsunku's planning with the H!P Eggs, since a) he's holding a second Eggs audition and b) since he added one of them to °C-ute.

Blandly, Kanna is cute and fits in well with the other °C-ute members.

But what strikes me most about her are her ears ... Gocchin's ears. See!?

I have no idea how old she is, or how tall, but it would be funny if she would also fit into the height-age-order.

Erika is the oldest, and the tallest, Mai is the youngest and the smallest!