Yamapi-Hadakanbo preview

NEWS member Yamashita Tomohisa will be releasing his 4th solo single, Hadakanbo, on January 19th.  It kinda seems like Yamapi is going to be like Tegomass where they release a single or two a year, and an album every so often. Which I'm completely ok with. There's nothing wrong with getting more bang for your buck JE.


The song is a complete 360 from anything Yamapi has released and is used to making. The music itself is a mix between disco, soul, and jazz. The music sounds like if you took NEWS's Koi no ABO, Kanjnai8's It's My Soul, and Tackey & Tsubasa's Ai wa Takaramono and mixed them together you might get this song.
The song is so random and old fashion sounding that I absolutely love it! Every single part is amazing. And the way Yamapi sings it is so beautiful. From the vocalizing before verses, the perfect sounding high notes, the heart melting way he says Hadakanbo towards the end, and the overall smoothness in which it's sung. This is literally Yamapi's best solo single since Daite Senorita.

NTV Best Artist 2010 performances!

NTV aired their Best Artist of 2010 special yesterday. The idol line up included: Arashi, AKB48, KAT-TUN, NEWS, Perfume, Hey! Say! JUMP, and Tackey and Tsubasa.


The lineup was pretty much expected. Lots of Johnny's and AKB48. I really wish more female idols were the best artist's of 2010. Don't get me wrong, I love JE, but I'd love to see some variety in these shows.


Here are the clips of the performances from the show.



Hey! Say! JUMP + Tackey and Tsubasa:


Hey! Say! JUMP's performance is supposed to be a medley but it's not really. They sing Ultra Music Power and "Arigatou" ~Sekai no Doko ni Itemo~. Tackey and Tsubasa sing Venus and Ai wa Takaramono. I was actually pretty excited they performed Venus, because I love that song.


AKB48:



This is their performance of Iiwake Maybe. I was pretty sure they did a medley, if they did I can't find of video of it. Sorry. :/

Arashi:


Arashi performed 3 songs. Their 3 songs were Believe, Happiness and Monster. Monster is my personal favorite. But 3/5 of their pants were wayyy too tight. And MatsuJun has jacked up hair. XD The fangirl screams when they walked near them were pretty loud and intense.


NEWS:


NEWS performed Kibou ~Yell~ and Fighting Man.


KAT-TUN:


KAT-TUN performing Real Face and Going. I don't understand why they aren't singing Change UR World.

Johnny wants to know your favorite artist

I opened my email today and got my December newsletter from Johnny's International. If there are fans out there that still don't know what that is, it's a Johnny's newsletter written in English. Basically it tells you who's the guest on Tackey CHANnel, who's having a concert, general JE updates, and they are starting out their international ticket sales. If you haven't signed up yet, you can do so here.


Anyway, I got my email today and the second piece of news said to tell us your favorite Johnny's artist. They asked to cancel my email delivery and re-register with my favorite artist or group.

Here's what I submitted.

When they asked for favorite artist I was 100% going to put my favorite Johnny's artist, Nishikido Ryo. But then I started to think why JE asked my favorite artist in the first place. And honestly it could pretty much only be for 2 reasons.

The first reason being, Johnny wants to know which artist is most popular with foreign fans, or perhaps which JE artist is popular in a specific country. Maybe for possible overseas concerts or maybe even debut. Hey after all, Jin is debuting in the US, Tegomass debuted in Sweden and Arashi was just featured on Peruvian TV recently. Stranger things have happened. It can't just be to count how many foreign fans they have because that's what the email service is probably mostly for in the first place. Come on Johnny open up a Hawaiian fanclub and tour, it works for H!P. Then we can get Alo-Hello JE. Sporadic AnAn shoots and Hey! Say! JUMP's recent magazine shoot in Hawaii aren't really enough shameless Johnny's shirtless photos.

The second reason is more mundane, and most likely the reason they asked, they want to personalize your newsletter. This way they'll be able to keep you updated on your favorite group's or artist's every move, to shell out the maximum money. And to tell you when international tickets are available for your favorite artist. I mean if you selected Yamada Ryosuke, you'll get updates about him, Hey! Say! JUMP, and NYC. Which is why I selected NEWS instead of Ryo-chan. I love Ryo-chan and I love NEWS, but Kanjani8 not so much. And I don't want constant updates about Kanjani8. I also really wanted to put Hey! Say! JUMP, because my love for JUMP and NEWS is almost even. But NEWS has been and always will be my favorite JE group. if they're one of the least popular groups or not.

The newsletter also says you don't have to change, which means you'll probably get the same general newsletter as before. And if neither or these things don't happen, what was the point of this? If they aren't using this information for something, why ask? I doubt at the top of the newsletter it will now say your favorite artist is Arashi, or Tanaka Koki, or NYC, or Tadayoshi Ohkura. I mean, I think you know your own favorite artist. But there has to be some sort of reason Johnny wants to know.

NEWS are Fighting Men

Words cannot describe how excited I have been for NEWS's new PV to be released. And now that it has I feel like I can die happy. Mostly because the PV is amazing. I saw the first 10 seconds and I was in love already. Yeah that might have been a little premature, but after watching the whole PV the early reaction was justified. Just like I said a few days ago, this looks like NEWS's most expensive PV ever. There is just so much going on in the PV. Two different group dances sequences, each members solo dance, their story line, their singing close ups, the walking part in the beginning. I mean this video is just far from boring. And it's probably hands down my favorite, and the best, NEWS PV pretty much ever. I can't even express into words how much I love this PV. It's just fantastic. It's PVs like this that makes fangirling NEWS easier.
By the way, I am a RABID NEWS fan so be prepeared for an overdose of screencaps. :D

I hate the blur scenes. They're such a tease.
 

Intense! No, seriously. After this flew by I was ready to kick things into high gear. Maybe I'm just a little too excited. XD

This PV has just gotten significantly sexier.
 

Sometimes Kei-chan is super adorable.
 

Is there ever a time Yamapi doesn't look hot? Let me rephrase that, is there ever a time Yamapi doesn't look hot when his hair isn't ugly? XD
 

Shige always has to thrown in some weirdness.
 

My god Ryo looks bangin'.
 

Scenes like this will never not C-ute's Forever Love PV. I know this has been done a million times before Forever Love and will be done a million times after it. But it will just always remind me of Forever Love.
 

Yamapi looks hot and slightly girly at the same time. Nice all seeing eye logo on the flyers  in the background. XD

Woah unflattering extreme close up.
 

Wow, is every member really going to watch themselves on some sort of device?
 

No, seriously every member. Here's the Yamapi cap I didn't bother taking before.
 

Come on this makes 4!
 

Stupid dance move is stupid.
 

Lolz they're all singing along to themselves dancing. Of course I had to use Ryo for the cap. At least that's a completely unique way to do the close up singing parts.
 

For some reason Massu actually looks hot in this PV. O_O
 

Massu kinda looks like Naruto when he does that. But look at Shige next to him all sexy. XD
 

Awesome! I totally wasn't expecting the megaphone. And Shige looks way too happy to be using it. His eyes are like bulging  out.
 

I guess I should have at least one picture of Tegoshi.
 

I hate how cute this was.
 

Rip off! He has the same phone as Massu.
 

Or maybe he doesn't. XD
 

Hot!

I love how Ryo has to be the last one to leave.
 

How cute.
 

NEWS-Fighting Man PV preview

With less than 2 weeks until NEWS's new single,Fighting Man, is released we finally have a preview for the PV. Since this preview was on some morning news shows its a very decent 1:30 preview.

I am absolutely impressed with how the PV looks. I mean this looks like it was the most expensive NEWS PV ever filmed. From some reason NEWS always gets extremely cheap PVs. And the best always go to KAT-TUN and some times Arashi. Actually everything from Weeeek on isn't really cheap looking. But it's not expensive looking either. This PV isn't expensive looking but it does seem like it cost more to make.


Even though a majority of the PV is just dancing I still think it's pretty awesome looking. The dance scenes look really energetic and fun to watch. The dance in the PV looks like it uses more punch moves than in the Music Station performance, which is weird. But whatever. It's also really awesome that every NEWS member gets 3 different outfit. And then each member has their little close up/story like they did in Sakura Girl.
And of course Ryo looks the best in the PV.

NEWS's Fighting Man on Music Station

NEWS preformed their news single, Fighting Man, on today's episode of Music Station. Since I am beyond in love with the song I had to make a post about their appearance. It honestly feels like an utter tease to watch them perform it live and not have a PV yet. But I'll live, since it will probably only be another week or two before the PV comes out.


Well I can honestly say I had absolutely no idea this song had English in it. Obviously Fighting Man was in English, but I mean beyond that. And it's funny because my favorite chorus parts are the English lines. Even though they aren't pronouncing the words 100% correct, collectively it actually sounds really good. And after watching the live it seems the megaphone line really was Shige after all. I have no idea why I thought it was Tegoshi. I think that's probably the biggest compliment Shige will ever get on his singing. XD

Now on to the best parts of the performance.

Ryo looks pretty fine. I love how his hair is. I was afraid because in recent magazine scans Ryo had some pretty ugly hair. XD




 
 
 
 
 
 

Lolz random poses in the background.
And Ryo has the best oufit.

I'm not feeling Yamapi's hair. It's the same style that Kame had. I cannot remember when he had it though!

WTF is up with Tegoshi's hair? He looks even more womanly than usual. Unless he's going to go jam with Montley Crue later. XD








I'm sure this line just means don't be a wet blanket. o_o










I'm sorry but the slow motion punch move is lame.

Massu looks so bad.

Cute!

Cuter!

Cutest!

Adorable. And Ryo's shocked do no want face is priceless.











As always, if you want to watch this performance you'd better do so fast. You know before Johnny's streaming nazis have it taken down.

NEWS-Fighting Man radio rip

With a little over a month until the release of NEWS's new single, Fighting Man, we finally have a radio rip of the song. Which is of course a HUGE step up from the concert rip that sounded like it was recorded in a wind tunnel. And after listening to the preview, it obviously sounds nothing like Reggae. XD

The whole overall feel I get from this song is breezy. Just breezy. I know that sounds like a completely random word to describe it, and it is. The song just sounds light and airy. The sort of carefree vibe that a majority of NEWS songs have. The song sounds like it could be used for a CM or be the a song filler in a drama. I'm sure a lot of Non-NEWS would pass this song by because it's pretty simple. But the simplicity is what I like about the song. I like that with just the first listen I can automatically tell it's a NEWS song.


I absolutely love how the chorus is sung. It just gives the song a very fun feel. I also love the group parts where they sing fast. I also absolutely love how much you can hear Massu's voice throughout the song. I'm obviously a Ryo fan, but Massu's voice just fit so well with this song. So I love how you could hear his vocals the most during the chorus. Much like in the song Weeeek you mainly hear Ryo's voice in the chorus. I also love Tegoshi's (it also oddly sounds like it could be Shige o_O) solo line where it sounds like he was singing through a megaphone. I love that effect. It automatically reminded me of Otsuka Ai's Happy Days.


I really love everything about this single. I like the song 100% more than Sakura Girl. Sakura Girls is probably my least favorite NEWS A-side. So I'm glad NEWS released another overly upbeat single, instead of another more serious one.
 

NEWS new single Fighting Man + Concert preview

In NEWS's forth album, Live, they included a piece of paper that said "coming soon a new single." I don't think fans anticipated a new single announcement this quickly! During their Tokyo Dome concert NEWS announced they will be releasing a new single on November 3rd entitled Fighting Man. Which just happens to be Nishikido Ryo's birthday. I demand a special Ryo edition for such occasion! :D

Now I never make entire posts about the announcement of new singles, since I find it completely pointless. I usually wait until radio rips to come out before I even mention a new single on my blog. But since NEWS announced it at a concert, they also performed it. So we have a extremely LQ concert rip. But hey at least it's a preview!

I am extremely excited to see NEWS releasing more then one single again. Since last year they only released Koi no ABO and concert DVD. I became a NEWS fan in 2008, and I honestly think that was the best year for NEWS. They released 3 singles, an album, and a concert DVD. There was also the Kurosagi movie. I wish NEWS would have another year like that. Since NEWS is one of the least popular and underrated JE acts, and I honestly can't figure out why.

But anyway more about Fighting Man, and less about pointless NEWS comments. The rip physically hurts my ears. So please do not ask me for any sort of actually opinion on the song itself. All I can actually hear is everyone got solos and the song sounds like it has a reggae. Though don't quote me on the reggae because some parts sounds heavy rock, and others sound futuristic. XD I wish NEWS had wotas. Because Hello!Project concert rips are always close to perfect quality. This kinda sounds like someone recorded it in a tunnel. But I shouldn't really complain, because whoever recorded this didn't have to record it at all.

So here's the rip. Don't kill the messenger on this one.

NEWS Live CMs

For the promotion of their 4th album live NEWS made 3 different commercials. Well, they're not so much different as just being different versions of the same commercial. But different nonetheless. The three versions are dubbed the Yamapi version, the Massu version, and the Kei-chan version. Which is a kind of unfair to the other members if you ask me. But i guess it's fair when you take into account that Tegoshi and Ryo have recently starred in their own solo commercials. As for Shige, I don't know. I guess everyone just hates him. XD

Since I only know minimal Japanese let's focus on what's really important during these commercials, their overall looks.
Yamapi: I am completely ecstatic that his "what was he thinking" perm is all but a distant ugly memory. And he's back to having sex hot hair. It's pretty similar to my favorite Yamapi hairstyle, his Kurosagi hair, yet it's a little different. I guess it's a little more mature.
Massu: I don't find Massu to be all that attractive to begin with but he's even more so with blonde hair. I don't understand why he went back to his Tanabata Matsuri hair as if that was a good look for him.
Tegoshi: Pretty much the same as usual.
Shige: Shige's hair is an abomination! It looks like his Sakura Girl hair but worse. He looks completely hideous, which makes me uber sad.
Ryo: Looking the same but still adorable.
Kei: Kei looks incredible. His short cut and dark hair is probably my favorite Kei hairstyle. Whenever he has his hair like this he look incredible. I absolutely hate his constant blonde hair. With his dark brown hair he moves for a pitiful 3/10 to a solid 7/10.

Overall I think the CMs are pretty much standard new album CMs. Nothing extremely amazing going on. Except for Ryo of course. Maybe it's because of my obvious Ryo bias but I was paying the most attention to Ryo throughout the commercials.


From when he's the only one slyly smiling in Yamapi's CM.


To when he's the only one not laughing in Massu's.

Or when he's the first one to laugh at Kei. I'm always drawn to Ryo.


Anyway, here's a mash up of all 3 commercials.

NEWS Live album preview

My favorite JE group ever NEWS is releasing their 4th album on September 15th. Which is 2 days from now! You might remember I made about a month ago about my dilemma about deciding between NEWS's and Miyavi's CDs. Well, in the end I ultimately chose NEWS. However, because of my mom's stroke I was unable to have her buy it for me. Which I'm pretty sad over. But my mom assured me that I will get it when she is gets a little better and we actually have the money for it. XD

Details about this album have been coming out periodically over the last couple weeks. But due to my infection I couldn't blog about it. And I am extremely upset over that. I missed the whole moment of glee when the tracklist was released, and gushing over the covers. I feel like I missed out on a lot. I mean the song previews are even out! And have been for over a week! But whatever, I'm a HUGE NEWS fangirl and I intend to blog about their album to it's full extent. Starting with the tracklist. The track list to Live is as follows:

1: Koi no ABO0
2: LIVE
3: Umare shi kimi e
4: Supernatural
5: Aki no Sora
6: 2hito/130000000 no Kiseki
7: Dancin’in the Secret
8: Wonderland
9: Sakura Girl
10: BE FUNKY!
11: D.T.F
12: Naiyou no nai Tegami
13: Endless Summer
14: Share
15: Forever (Unplugged Ver.)

And here's the preview for each song.



The first songs that sticks out to me are Share and Forever. Obviously because they were both sang at NEWS's Winter Diamond Party concerts. But they stick out for different reasons. Share sticks out to me because Share should not even be on the album. Share was released as a b-side track on their Koi no ABO single. Yes I do like the song Share. And yes I wanted a live version of it as soon as I heard it. But releasing it on the album seems lazy to me. Like they needed one more song on the album and just threw it in there.
And Forever sticks out because as soon as I heard it on the Live Diamond DVD I wanted it to be released on an album. It was like Snow Express all over again.
Overall I am completely in love with what I hear. They're the standard happy sort of good feeling songs like I love about NEWS so much. And of course I love NEWS's super upbeat songs over their softer ones. So 2hito/130000000 no Kiseki, Wonderland, Dancin in the Secret, and Be Funky being my immediate favorites. And Aki no Sora, D.T.F, and Live becoming my secondary favorites. As always NEWS delivers more than I expect. I don't know about you guys, but whenever my favorite artists announces a new album at first I am extremely happy, but after that I'm in a state of utter panic. I am always worried what if the album turns out to be utter garbage. And I do that will all my music. From Idol music to Jrock to American music. I hope I'm not alone in that. XD

I also have a random thought about the album. Is it supposed to be live, as in to live, or live, as in they're performing live. I have no idea what I'm supposed to even call the album! XD