momusu

Morning Musume, also known as Momusu, is the lead group of Hello!Project. H!P is made up of pop artists and groups produced by Tsunku, former singer of Sharan Q.

In 1997, Tsunku held an audition on the ASAYAN talent search show to choose a female rock vocalist to join Sharan Q. Heike Michiyo won the audition, but Tsunku saw greater potential in five of the remaining contestants so he challenged them to sell 50,000 singles in 4 days. He named them Morning Musume. They recorded the single Ai no Tane and succeeded in selling 50,000 copies. He gave them a record deal and the rest is history.

Momusu quickly became one of Japan's top all girl groups. It originally started as a 5-member group, however, before its second single was released three more members were added. This began a series of additions and 'graduations' which have seen members come and go, some remaining in Hello! Project as solo artists or in other units.

In April 2000, the group began hosting a television variety show called Hello! Morning (Haromoni) which further increased its popularity. A massive amount of Morning Musume merchandise has been released such as calendars, photobooks, posters, etc. They have even starred in their own Playstation 2 game called Space Venus.

The number of members generally remains around the 10-14 mark - the highest was 16 for a short time. Momusu members often also take part in sub-groups and shuffle units, which release their own singles and albums.

Currently, there are 9 members. As of June 1, 2007, the leader is Takahashi Ai and the subleader is Niigaki Risa.

Source: theppn.org

Members