GROUPS
The following are the groups and units Eri has participated in.
Morning Musume.
Morning Musume is one of the most popular japanese girl pop groups in Japan. They have a long history dating back to 1997 when 5 girls: Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe, Yuuko Nakazawa, Aya Ishiguro, and Asaka Fukada formed 1st generation MM. What makes this group interesting is its ever growing and ever changing lineup. Every few years they would graduate old members and have auditions for new members. Eri, along with the rest of 6th generation officially joined the group on January 19th 2003. Their sound ranges from all kinds of music genres from rock, R&B, swing, and even kiddie. They are all managed by the great producer Tsunku, the mastermind of all Hello! Project. The current lineup is at its 8th generation and a total number of 9 members. Their newest generation includes 2 members from China, a first in MM history. |
6th Generation Morning Musume
Eri, along with Sayumi and Reina auditioned in the 2002 Love Audition in hopes to join Morning Musume as its 6th Generation. The three girl were chosen as finalists. Their audition song was Morning Musume's "Do it! Now". There was a (unofficial) public internet poll in which Sayumi ranked #6 and Reina at #8. Eri was not included in the poll. But it was producer Tsunku's final decision of who should be in the finals and Sayumi, Reina, and Eri advanced to the finals. Hello Project soloist Miki Fujimoto had originally auditioned to be in 4th Generation but did not make it but was later called back to become a soloist. The news of her joining 6th Generation Morning Musume came as a shock to her as well as the young 3 finalists who thought they had lost the audition because of her addition to MM. Since Miki was automatically put into the group, it was up to the remaining 3 to make it into the group. They went through a "bootcamp"-like training, constantly practicing singing and dancing. There were alot of struggles, intimidation, and tears in that audition. During their training they had to sing Melon Kinenbi's "Akai Freesia" which none of them have heard before to make things fair. They also had to dance to Morning Musume's "Do it! Now". Eri did very well at dancing. The original idea was to choose one (or two) out of the 3 to join the group. But in the end, Tsunku chose all 3 of them to join the group, making the current group a total of 16 members at the time (before the Yasuda and Abe graduations). 6th Generation officially joins the group January 19, 2003. |
Morning Musume. Sakura Gumi
In late 2003, Morning Musume had been split into two groups: Sakura Gumi and Otome Gumi. Eri is the only 6th gen member to be in Sakura Gumi, while the other 3 6th gen members were in Otome Gumi. 6th Gen did not know that they've been separated till they noticed that Eri was wearing a different costume from theirs. Everyone thought it was the end of Morning Musume when the 2 groups formed but, of course, Tsunku had a plan. Each group had a different style and were lead by a member from 1st Generation MM. Sakura Gumi were known for their pink outfits and ballad songs. Their 1st single "Hare Ame Nochi Suki" is a slow and sad song. Their 2nd single "Sakura Mankai" is about first love. Both groups did well with their singles with Sakura Gumi slightly leading over Otome Gumi. Eri was often been mistaken for sounding like fellow member Kago Ai whose lines often follow each other in the songs. There have been no news about the Gumi groups since their 2nd singles in 2004 therefore both groups are on hiatus at this point. |
H!P All Stars
H!P All Stars was the collective shuffle unit for 2004 consisting of all 46 members of Hello Project at that time, including the Hello Project Kids. They were formed to celebrated Hello Project's 7th year anniversary and released one song "ALL FOR ONE & ONE FOR ALL". This is the only shuffle unit Eri participated in.
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Metro Rabbits HP
Metro Rabbits H.P. is not a musical group but a kickbase/ball sports team for Hello Project. They competed with (and lost to) a group of elementary school kids in the Hello Project Sports Festival 2006.
Team:(in order by team number)1. Tanaka Reina, Morning Musume 7. Kamei Eri, Morning Musume 9. Takahashi Ai (captain), Morning Musume 18. Okada Yui, v-u-den 22. Ogawa Makoto, Soloist 29. Niigaki Risa, Morning Musume 34. Miyoshi Erika, v-u-den 37. Michishige Sayumi, Morning Musume 77. Kusumi Koharu, Morning Musume |
