My favourite girl NOT selected for Morning Musume.

Before I begin, I want to give a shout out to International Wota, a meta blog site that was the inspiration for me creating my personal blog, in order to contribute to their site. Thanks!

One thing that is absolutely great about our modern culture and the proliferation of the internet is that it allows people to share things in near-lightning speed. Well really, it depends on your ISPs bandwidth allotment, but you get my drift. Having been only recently enlightened to the existence of Morning Musume and Hello! Project (since late 2003, just when the 6th generation was getting into the groove, and also just before Aya Matsuura began her decent into H!P mediocrity) I was a newcomer to the cycle of graduations from and auditions into the group. But getting back to the original point I was making, the proliferation of the internet has allowed people from all parts of the world to learn about each other's cultures, and I will always be grateful to those people in Japan who have recorded every television appearance of Morning Musume on Japanese television and shared it with...the world.

Think about it for a second. Not just Morning Musume and H!P have benefitted from this, really everyone in the world has, but just to focus on Morning Musume and H!P it is amazing to think of the fanbase these groups have OUTSIDE of Japan. To put this into comparison, in the 80s, in the height of her JPop Idol power and glory, hardly anybody had heard of Seiko Matsuda outside of Japan and parts of Asia. Her attempts to break into the North American market were met with relative nothingness and obsurity, even after recording a duet with Donny Wahlberg, who at the time was part of the biggest boyband in North America at the time, New Kids On The Block.

Without today's technology I think I still would have become a fan of Morning Musume and H!P. But because of the technology I am able to absorb as much information and minutiae as I can, one of which is watching the birth of Morning Musume in 1997 on Asayan.

Perhaps I am more than a little skeptical than others of the audition process for Morning Musume. I'm of the belief that Tsunku and UFA know well in advance of the final selection who they will be selecting for the group. All those cross cuts and anxious waiting is all just showmanship. To me, the selection committee looks for archetypes to fill certain roles in the group rather than on any merits such as singing or dancing ability, and for the most part, each girl has fulfilled her role. And for the most part, I can't dispute any of Tsunku's and UFA's decision. The one exception perhaps was Hitomi Yoshizawa who was intended to fill the "intelligent beauty" role, a role she played for her first year of membership until it was decided that a tomboy persona was more fitting for her.

But in 1997, this was all new territory. I still believe that Tsunku knew who he wanted to be in Morning Musume before the final auditons: Yuko Nakazawa to be the strong older leader, Kaori Iida to be the glamour girl, Aya Ishiguro to be the outspoken one, Natsumi Abe to be the promising ingenue, and Asuka Fukuda to be the little sister and to give the group a far-reaching and younger fanbase. The other girls not selected just couldn't fit any other roles. But one of those initial finalists should have been chosen, in my opinion, to fulfill a role, that one was Yumie Matsumoto.

Now, looking at the original 5 girls chosen to be in Morning Musume it is difficult to see her being part of that group. In fact, its hard to see any of the "rejects" being part of the group after the winner is chosen and begins to fill her role. But there was something about Yumie Matsumoto that makes me feel as though she should have been chosen. She was cute but not overly cute and her singing and dancing were above par. Even Okamura called her "charming" and knowing my feelings (or lack thereof) for Charmy Ishikawa, Yumie Matsumoto was genuinely charming. In hindsight, not including her in Morning Musume was a missed opportunity, especially in light of Asuka Fukuda's quick departure from the group.

So, Yumie Matsumoto, wherever you are, to me you should have been in Morning Musume.