An Iyo Matsumoto Reminder By Proxy

Iyo Matsumoto at the 2013 FNS Kayosai

Even though I’ve been a huge fan of Iyo Matsumoto and Yuki Saito in recent years, I’d completely forgotten about the time they appeared on the 2013 FNS Kayosai, and I was reminded in the strangest way- by coming across a screencap of Iyo Matsumoto at the FNS on some guy’s blog…that was STOLEN from MY original blogpost!

I’d been online looking for pictures of Iyo and when I came across the pic of her at the FNS, my first thought was, “OH yeah, she was on the FNS, I gotta re-watch that!” and then going, “HEY! That’s MY picture!!!” when I saw my “Zscan” watermark in the corner.

This was just before I’d turned my blog private. SO MANY people were just taking my content for their own blogs (not jsut pictures, sometimes entire entries and sometimes COMPLETELY, with just their “header” on top of mine!!!), I just gave up. I turned it back to public some years later but took my blog off Google search engines, which helps the online content thievery some. That's also why each entry is now tagged "Posted by Zdorama" with my address.

So in the MOST SARCASTIC way I can, I say “Thank You” to that blogger for reminding me of this wonderful FNS appearance…with my OWN picture!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Morning Musume's OG Reunion on the FNS Kayosai

There was a time there in the early aughts where Hello Project group Morning Musume was my favorite J-pop group, and for awhile there my favorite song from them was their debut single "Ai No Tane". This was the original 5-member group who were told if they sold a certain amount of copies they would officially become Tsunku's new act (and once they did he decided to add three new members of his own) and so it was a thrill to hear that they would be reuniting for a performance at this year's FNS Year End Concert Special!

Back in the day I was totally in love with Aya "Ayappe" Ishiguro so I was particularly excited to see her again (and YES, she looked BEAUTIFUL!) , but what surprised me even more was the appearance of Asuka Fukuda, the "main vocalist" of the group who was the first to leave the biz for a "normal" life. Members like Yuko Nakazawa and Kaori Iida occasionally appeared in reunion acts over the years but I didn't realize that this would be the first time seeing Asuka since Gen2!

Seeing the girls again was so thrilling and hearing the wonderful song again brought tears to my eyes!

Such a sincere and emotional performance!

It was such a thrill to see these girls again!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

FNS Kayosai 2015!

2015 FNS Kayosai

Haven’t caught the FNS Kayosai in a while but wanted to see what Chisato Moritaka was going to be offering us this year~ Since she was co-host I thought they’d showcase a few of her songs, and made a point to grab the special when it came up! Chisato's stage ended up being a tofubeats remix of her 1995 song “LaLa Sunshine” ...I was disappointed that she didn't do another medley like before, but still, she looked and sounded as terrific as she always did!

Chisato Moritaka: LaLa Sunshine with tofubeats

Woooot! Gal still GOT IT!

 The FNS Kayosai is pretty famous for bringing back old nostalgic guests, and they did it again this year, surprising me with the return of My Little Lover! Boy, I really liked this act back in the day and it was great seeing them again, performing their classic “Hello Again”! Mmm, Akko-chan has aged gracefully!

My Little Lover Akko

"Hello Again" My Little Lover

It was Johnny’s groupV6’s 20th Anniversary, so they opened the show with a medley of their past hits sung with other johnnys groups like NEWS, Sexy Zone, Tackey and Tusbasa and the like- When they got around to singing “Honey Beat”, it really took me back! Too bad they didn’t do “Over”, my all-time favorite song from them…

V6 20th Anniversary Medley!

And on the Johnny’s front, this is the first time I’ve seen KAT-TUN since they because a foursome (yes, their name should be a proper KTUN right now) and it looks and sounds like they’re doing just fine without Tanaka and Akanishi! And taking a look at NEWS, it looks like quite a FEW Johnnys groups are now down to 4 members, ne?

KAT-TUN

NEWS

Once again the Year End specials were a big GIRL GROUPS thing, with acts like the E-Girls Super Team, Momoiro Clover-Z and the AKB48 troupes out in full force! Morning Musume’15 did a rousing perf of “Love Machine”, making me realize just how long it has been since Momusu were the “new” gals on the block!

Hello Project and AKB48 "Love Machine"

Hello Project and AKB48

E-Girls

Dream

Flower

Happiness

 Whoa, and check out HAPPINESS! Seems like only yesterday they were a cute little group singing catchy little tunes (I just loved their single Happy Talk), now they've all grown up into these cool and sultry groovin'  ladies!

Happiness

AKB48 and Momoiro Clover Z

The Cute, The Zany: Momoiro Clover Z

And speaking of Girl groups, on the SKE48 front,  just before their stage singing “Okey-Dokey”, Team Leader Miyazawa Sae announced her graduation! An emotional performance for the girls!

SKE48

Pretty Sae Miyazawa Announces Graduation

  One complaint I had about this year’s broadcast was the AWFUL sound! Oh, the VOCAL track was fine, but all the other music:  Guitars, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, etc, were mixed down SO low that you just couldn’t really get into the songs… this is the FNS, folks, Get yo STUFF TOGETHER!!!
   Not that any mixed-down backing music stopped Kiyoe Yoshioka from making the most of HER peformance- She and Ikimonogakari were, in my opinion, one of the best performances this year, so cute, so fun, and she was so over-the-top GENKI! Oh, if ONLY the music was a bit LOUDER!

Ikimonogakari

Kiyoe Launches into the Stratosphere!

Well, that's the report for THIS year's offering! See Ya All NEXT year!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Bridging The Gap: FNS Kayousai 2013

FNS Kayousai 2013 with SMAP and those Familiar Chandeliers

  From just glancing at the guest list for this year’s FNS Kayousai Concert, I knew I was in for a trip down memory lane, and MAN! Did I EVER! From the very first chords of the FUN opening song “Shake” by SMAP, I KNEW I was in for one HELLUVA nostalgic trip! Sure, there were a lot of newer artists, but for me it was ALL ABOUT the 90’s throwback theme-so much FEELS!!!!

TOKIO Nagase Tomoya and Yamaguchi Tatsuya

 After a few of the newer acts,TOKIO came up, and doing one of my VERY favorite songs of theirs from yesteryear, AMBITIOUS TOKYO! Gotta tell ya, I was singing right along with them-Too bad it was a shortened version! Still love the parts where Tatsuya Yamaguchi sings his lines- I’ve always loved his voice in this song!

Fujii Fumiya: "I Love You, Sayonara"

Makihara Noriyuki Collaborated with Kis-My-Ft2 for his classic “Fuyu Ga Hajimaru”, Fumiya Fujii continued the Nostalgia vibe by performing “I Love You SAYONARA”, (his old CHECKERS hit) and  Moritaka Chisato teamed up with ABCZ for a most unexpected perf of her song…(wait for it…) “Jin Jin JingleBell”!

Moritaka Chisato and ABCZ

When Luna Sea came out with the opening strains of their rocking song “Rosier”, soon as I heard that drum intor and droning guitar line, I was all like “HECK YEAH!” Man, when I read the guests that were appearing on the show, I was already stoked to see them, little did I know that they’d be performing the hits I knew and LOVED so well!!

LUNA SEA: Rosier

Aikawa Nanase and Nakagawa Shoko

Looking pretty much the same as she did 15 years ago: Nanase Aikawa

Speaking of Rocking, the duet between Nakagawa Shoko and the original Japanese Pat Benatar Aikawa Nanase doing her song “Yume Miru Shoujo Ja Irarenai ” was pretty solid, and my GOSH, Nanase looks EXACTLY the same as she did 15 years ago! A little later she came out and performed another one of her BIG hits, "Break Out"!

TRF with Kusanagi Tsuyoshi

Then finally, one of the acts I was really looking forward to seeing came out, the original Tetsuya’s Rave Factory, TRF, and they went right into their signature song…EZ-DO Dance! Eh, wait, WHAT? EX Do Dance? Not Crazy Gonna Crazy? Awww…Oh Well, at least they didn’t do SURVIVAL Dance, that would have just been tragic! Moving on…

Duets: Kishidan and SCANDAL "One Night Carnival"

Besides all of these classic acts, of course a BIG part of the FNS Concert is having the artists collaborate with one another (like the groovy "One Night Carnival" by Kishidan and girl rockers SCANDAL)  or with the newbie artists singing along with the seasoned acts, and though all of them were interesting, the ones that really made me smile were the collabs between Go Hiromi, Yuzu and those pretty and genki Nogizaka46 girls, so much FUN, and the high-tension ROCKING “White Breath” duet between TM Revolution and Mizuki Nana!

Go Hiromi, YUZU, and Nogizaka46

Mizuki Nana and TM Revolution: White Breath

Such a thrill to see the 80's Idols of the past onstage once more, with girls like Yuki Saito, Yoko Minamino (still as adorable as ever!), Yui Asaka, Iyo Matsumoto, and even Yoko Oginome all singing their classics, now as fine looking ladies! Yoko Oginome, in particular (doing her 80’s hit “Dancing Hero”) shows she still gots the power to rev up the energy, gotta say! So Sexy and COOL!

Saito Yuki and Momoiro Clover Z

C-C- Girl!! Asaka Yui 

Minamino Yoko

Oginome Yoko

Matsumoto Iyo

Iwasaki Yoshimi wi E-Girls

Iwasaki Hiromi wi E-Girls again

My vote for best “Passing the Torch” of styles goes to the duet between Koda Kumi and original Sexy Vixen Linda Yamamoto, BOY they both like they were having fun!!

Koda Kumi and Yamamoto Linda

And my vote for “Strangest Collaboration" HAS to be the duet between Yashiro Aki and “Demon” Kogure…who in the world dreamed up such a duo? ? Even MORE strange than the pair-up is how Aki’s epic Enka style totally matched Kogure’s Overly Dramatic music PREFECTLY! Plus they were having such fun, ya just HAD to laugh!

Yashida Aki and Demon Kogure

And for touching moments, I have to admit, I got a bit teary-eyed watching Tomomi Kahala (along with Tetsuya Komuro) doing a VERY sweet rendition of “I’m Proud/I Believe”, though Tomomi’s mumbling to Komuro at the end WAS a bit awkward…what was up wit dat?

The spirit of this Concert was the cooperation between acts to bring new and exciting versions of songs, and nothing sums up the goodwill and happy vibe of the shpow better than the collaboration between E-Girls and SKE48 joining to sing their version of “Nandetatte IDOL”, proving that the power of Idols lives on!

Of course, besides all of these aforementioned perforamnces, there were a lot of artists singing their latest songs like Arashi, KinKi Kids,even Yamashita "Yamapi" Tomohisa doing his "Summer Nude" song, but for MY money, the real heeart of this show is the duets and NOSTALGIA! Aw, this was yet another GREAT year for the FNS, and I gotta say, the Kohaku has a LOT to follow up to! Thanks for the Memories!!!

PS: I noticed that this year they FINALLY got away from showing that darn Chandelier on the ceiling every time it came back from commercials, LOL!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com