We tackle Juice=Juice, an idol group under Hello! Project. They've just released their latest single '
Jidanda Dance / Feel! Kanjiru yo' on the 26th of April! We'll be having a close-up look at Juice=Juice!
- Last year, you completed your 225-show tour, and your first Budokan performance was also a great success. The other day, you announced that you'd have an overseas tour. Could you please tell us about your future goals?
Miyamoto Karin: When I checked out the videos of our Budokan performance, I found so many things that were lacking. Our facial expressions, singing, dancing, everything was still lacking. So I want to focus on improving those first. We can always go higher with our singing and dancing, so we have to keep up honing our performances.
Takagi Sayuki: I had vocal cord nodules, and immediately underwent surgery the day after we had finished our Budokan performance. I think that I have to study how to bring out my voice, and I'm currently in the midst of tackling it as through discussions with our vocal coach.
Miyazaki Yuka: I'm also focusing on voice training! our vocal coach told me '
I'll fix you up this year!' And I told him that I'd like to do so too. I immediately went and reviewed everything with my coach, from my vocalisation and whatever else. But I had no place to test things out, and I was unable to sing when we were rehearsing for our livehouse tour from February. By changing things, I wasn't able to sing well even when I wanted to. I ended up being at my very worst. I had no idea what to do, so I consulted my coach and we thought together about how to deal with it. That's when singing started becoming fun again!
Takagi: I've always intended to go for voice training, but there are a lot of things that I don't really understand. I'm glad to be praised for for my good singing. But I'll be thinking lots and lots about how to get better, starting from my vocalisation. Partly since there are parts of me that I personally have yet to acknowledge. It'd be great if I could enjoy singing because of that. It's tough though. (
laughs)
Uemura Akari: I'd like to increase my repertoire of facial expressions. There are times when I feel a bit spent in the middle of concerts, so I'd like to be careful about how I appear on-screen. I'm not good at playing for the camera, and when the cameras turn to me in the middle of a concert, I'll be watching the audience, not the camera.
Kanazawa Tomoko: I'm fascinated by feminine seductiveness. So my goal for the year is to refine my sexiness and seductiveness. We've always thought that we'd be a group where each and every member puts forward their own forte. So I thought about what I'd use as a weapon. I haven't found anything so far, and I'm feeling the pressure to work hard at everything.
Miyamoto: Also, I'd like to cherish the feelings and passion I experience at every concert. I think that it's important to to enchant the audience with our passion at times when they can only watch Juice=Juice. We might face language barriers when we go abroad, but the excitement and heat of concerts is something that's common all over the world!
Kanazawa: For overseas artistes and actresses, even if you don't understand what they're saying, you can feel it through their eyes and gestures when you watch dramas, movies, or music videos. So I'll build up my femininity so that I can make overseas fans feel that way too.
