KAT-TUN stars in SUZUKI “SOLIO” CM + announcement of new single!

KAT-TUN has been chosen as the face for new compact car “SOLIO” (SUZUKI), and a new CM featuring the members has begun airing on December 25th.



In the new CM, KAT-TUN’s new song titled, “ULTIMATE WHEELS” is being used, the new single will be released on February 2nd!

It will be released as 3 different versions. Currently there’s no more information than that but we will report the details when it’s revealed!

Below is the new CMs (Short ver. and long ver.), and its making video.



1 minute 15 second version


SOLIO × KAT-TUN-TVCM making film


KAT-TUN SOLIO Message


Source: Alkapop, All-About-the-Best, TokyoHive

Johnny's Juniors' Singing Battle to be aired on New Year's Eve

There's gonna be a Johnny’s Jr. singing battle (like a "Young Kohaku") to be aired on New Year’s Eve.



On November 27th, a huge concert featuring Johnny's Jr. members and trainees – "Nenmatsu Young Touzai Uta Gassen! Touzai Jr. Senbatsudaishugo 2010!" – was held at the NHK Hall. The concert was held in the format of a singing battle between the "A.B.C-Z + Johnny’s Jr. Senbatsu" (East) team and the "Nakayama Yuma + Kansai Johnny's Jr. Senbatsu" (West) team.

A.B.C-Z members acted as hosts, and a total of 250 Jr.'s performed on the stage; there were 4 stages in all (once on the 26th, and three times on the 27th), which pulled in approximately 14,400 fans.

For the 27th’s afternoon concert, KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya and NEWS' Yamashita Tomohisa showed up as "Shuji to Akira" (a special temporary unit) and performed "Seishun Amigo" together. NYC also appeared as a guest, but one of the more exciting factors was that a new group was introduced for the first time! Named "Ja(PA)Nese(HI)! (ジャＰＡニーズＨＩ！)", the group consists of 52 members who were chosen amongst the trainees by audition.

On New Year's Eve, the concert from the night of the 27th will be broadcasted as "Toshiwasure! Johnny's Touzai Uta Gassen" on TV Asahi (15:30-16:45 PM).

Additionally, the president of JE, Johnny Kitagawa, stated that he was aware of NHK's "Kohaku", and that he always wanted to make a "Young Kohaku" since it's difficult for young artists to be invited to the awards show. He also said that he is planning to make it an annual event like "Kohaku".

Source: Tokyohive

On Saturday, approximately 250 members of Johnny's Jimusho participated in a concert event at NHK Hall in Tokyo. Titled "Nenmatsu Young Tozai Uta Gassen," three separate performances were held that day, revolving around an "East vs. West" battle between the Johnny's Jr. and Kansai Johnny's Jr. groups. A.B.C.-Z led the East team, while Yuma Nakayama (16) led the Kansai side. The program featured more than 20 songs, including a special medley of hits by popular Johnny's Jimusho artists.

During the medley, the Jrs. were joined on stage by several special guests: Tackey & Tsubasa (for Shonentai's "Kamen Butoukai"), Kazuya Kamenashi (for Masahiko Kondo's "Sneaker Blues"), Tomohisa Yamashita (for SMAP's "Shake"), and NYC (for Arashi's "A-RA-SHI"). Kamenashi and Yamashita (as Shuji to Akira) also performed their song "Seishun Amigo."



One of the highlights was when all 250 attending performers sang Masahiko Kondo's "Midnight Shuffle." Another was the introduction of a new Johnny's Jr. group called "Japanese HI!," written as ジャPAニーズ HI! Some news sources, such as Oricon, report the group's name as simply ジャPAニーズ. Oricon also notes that the group consists of 52 Johnny's Jr. trainees.

The last of the three concerts on Friday will be broadcast by TV Asahi as a special program on New Year's Eve at 3:30pm.

Credit: Tokyograph

TOKIO & Arashi to hijack the TV for New Year’s Day, Johnny's Juniors on New Year Eve

It’s been reported that two variety shows featuring JE groups will be broadcasted in a “relay style” for New Year’s Day. Running for five and a half hours, the two shows have been identified as “THE Ultraman DASH Kiseki no 3-pun kan wo Mokugeki seyo” and “Arashi ni Shiyagare New Year’s Day 2.5 hours special“.



For the first, it will be hosted by the members of TOKIO, who will introduce experts on difficult subjects or interests; the group members report on the experts completing unique tasks, such as getting fully-dressed while sky diving, or breaking an egg while bungee jumping. TOKIO’s special will air at 6:00 p.m to 8:54 p.m on January 1st.

Right after TOKIO’s show ends, Arashi’s “Arashi ni Shiyagare New year’s day 2.5 hours special” will air. The show is a special edition of their variety show “Arashi ni Shiyagare“. On this program, the group will welcome two sets of secret guests to the show – interestingly enough, the Arashi member will not be informed of who these special guests will be. “Arashi ni Shiyagare New Year’s Day 2.5 hour special” will air from 9:00 PM to 11:24 PM.



Although their concepts are completely different, in the beginning of each show, there will be a talk portion in which both TOKIO and Arashi members come out together.

As for their juniors, there's gonna be Johnny’s Jr. singing battle (like a "Young Kohaku") to be aired on New Year’s Eve.



On November 27th, a huge concert featuring Johnny's Jr. members and trainees – "Nenmatsu Young Touzai Uta Gassen! Touzai Jr. Senbatsudaishugo 2010!" – was held at the NHK Hall. The concert was held in the format of a singing battle between the "A.B.C-Z + Johnny’s Jr. Senbatsu" (East) team and the "Nakayama Yuma + Kansai Johnny's Jr. Senbatsu" (West) team.

A.B.C-Z members acted as hosts, and a total of 250 Jr.'s performed on the stage; there were 4 stages in all (once on the 26th, and three times on the 27th), which pulled in approximately 14,400 fans.

For the 27th’s afternoon concert, KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya and NEWS' Yamashita Tomohisa showed up as "Shuji to Akira" (a special temporary unit) and performed "Seishun Amigo" together. NYC also appeared as a guest, but one of the more exciting factors was that a new group was introduced for the first time! Named "Ja(PA)Nese(HI)! (ジャＰＡニーズＨＩ！)", the group consists of 52 members who were chosen amongst the trainees by audition.

On New Year's Eve, the concert from the night of the 27th will be broadcasted as "Toshiwasure! Johnny's Touzai Uta Gassen" on TV Asahi (15:30-16:45 PM).

Additionally, the president of JE, Johnny Kitagawa, stated that he was aware of NHK's "Kohaku", and that he always wanted to make a "Young Kohaku" since it's difficult for young artists to be invited to the awards show. He also said that he is planning to make it an annual event like "Kohaku".

Source: Sanspo, Chunichi sports
Credit: Tokyohive

Yamapi to Embark on his First Solo Tour around Asia in January 2011

NEWS member Tomohisa Yamashita (Chinese: 山下智久; born April 9, 1985) will be starting his first solo tour around Asia in January 2011, with a plan to hold 27 concerts in 10 Asia cities over the course of a few months starting from January 29th to May 10th. Although most concerts will be held within Japan, the tour will include 10 shows in 5 cities outside Japan, starting with Hong Kong.



Yamashita aka YamaPi reportedly became interested in starting international activities after NEWS performed overseas in Taiwan in 2007. Now he has finally got his chance to perform on his own for overseas audiences. With Korean pop music currently enjoying a boom throughout Japan and other parts of Asia, Yamashita said that he hopes to show fans "what only Japan's Johnny's can do."

“I’m going to do things like flying. I want to make it a huge performance that will show people the power of Johnny’s,” Yamashita said.

“I want to throw in a few traditional things like Japanese sword fighting, and basically show everyone something that only Japan’s Johnny’s can do,” he said.

“I want people to see me sing and dance.  I’ve started to re-learn the basics of dancing, I’ve got three dance coaches to help me, and I want choreograph some sequences as well,” he said.

Yamashita will be just the third Johnny's Jimusho (agency) artist to go on a solo overseas tour, after Masahiko Kondou (Chinese: 近藤真彦; Age: 46) and Jin Akanishi (Chinese: 赤西仁; born July 4, 1984) who has officially left his group Kat-tun to make his solo debut in the United States.



It has been reported that Yamashita said watching fellow Johnny’s star Jin Akanishi (26) embark on a solo US tour had given him motivation.

“I hope we can motivate each other.  We never talk about work but I did call him up to say, ‘have fun’,” he said.

Yamashita also said he would like to perform in the US, but has assured fans he will not be leaving NEWS.

“I’ll keep working with NEWS.  Please don’t worry.  I think they’ll come see me (in concert),” he said.

The tour is currently scheduled to start with two concerts in Hong Kong on January 29-30. Yamashita will take a break in February, presumably to promote the live-action "Ashita no Joe" movie which he stars in. He will then resume the tour in early March with some domestic concerts. Besides Hong Kong, his overseas shows will also be held in Taiwan on March 26-27, Korea (Busan) on April 16-17, Thailand on April 23-24, and Korea (Seoul) at the end of April. It will be the biggest number of overseas venues a Johnny’s artist has performed at to date, and is expected to attract some 236,000 fans. (Why isn't he coming to Singapore and Malaysia? Too bad for the fans, gotta travel overseas to watch "Nama"Pi)

Yamashita released his third solo single titled "One in a million" on July 28, 2010, and currently has plans to release his first solo album in January just before the tour starts. Some songs will be entirely in English, and Yamashita himself is also writing lyrics for some other songs. He also revealed that the music style will be a mixture of club music and R&B.

ASIA TOUR SCHEDULE

Hong Kong @ HITEC Star Hall

>>Sat, Jan29, 2011, 8pm

>>Sun, Jan30, 2011, 8pm

Taiwan @ Taipei, National Taiwan University Sports Center

>>Sat, Mar 26, 2011, 7:30pm

>>Sun, Mar 27, 2011, 7:30pm

Korea @ Busan, KBS Hall

>>Sat, Apr 16, 2011, (show time to be confirmed)

>>Sun, Apr 17, 2011, (show time to be confirmed)

Thailand @ Bangkok, Thunder Dome

>>Sat, Apr 23, 2011, 7pm

>>Sun, Apr 24, 2011, 7pm

Korea @ Seoul

>>Venue, show date & time to be confirmed

Source: Tokyograph, Johnny's International Email Office